here’s the gen (I work on Specialized bikes day in, day out..)

you don’t want any grease or other funny lubricants between the steel bearing and the carbon fibre seat in the headset

the forks tend to have a metallic seat on their crown. I would always add a smear of Shimano Anti-Seize to this seat before dropping the bearing into place. and then wipe off any excess Anti-Seize from the fork steerer.

regarding the bearings into the headtube, its always a dry fit after degreasing the bearing seat (Iso Alcohol is ideal). If the frame has a metallic seat for the bearing in the head tube cup, then a light smear of anti-seize is ideal

Once the fork is sitting in the head tube with bearings installed, I’d put a light smear of Shimano Anti-Seize on the metal compression ring before sliding it down the fork steerer onto the top bearing. Headset top cap can be fitted dry onto the compression ring.

If you find your steering binds once the steerer’s compression bolt is torqued to 5nm using torque wrench, add a shim (or two) between compression ring and headset top cap, as something you can get a spacing variance causing the skirt of the top cap to compress or drag on the frame head tube

5 psi?

more like 5-bar (approx 70psi) which is very hard for a MTB

I run Specialized Purgatory, Captain and Fast Trak tires in 29’er using stan’s no-tubes and typically run 30-35psi

although sometimes I go riding with the tires at 20-25psi if I have not pumped them up for a week and am feeling too lazy to use the track pump next to my bikes, before going out the door!

Roval Traversee aluminium

approx 460gm (allowing for variance in individual rims) for nice and wide, eyeletted rim that has proven very tough in the past 2 years

damn shame you cannot buy them aftermarket! I have managed to garner several from wheelsets with failed stock hubs, rebuilt onto Hope Pro II Evos to great effect.

depends on where you regularly ride your bike?

my local trails (the ones I ride 90% of the time) are faster on my hardtail 29’er, than they ever were on my full suspension 26″

I timed many runs and rides on both wheel sizes as a proper comparison

And feel much more fun on the 29’er simply because I am riding faster and it feels more direct, a little more “body english” is required than the FS which just seemed like a lazy ride on those trails

its mainly fast rolling singletrack XC with steep climbs and steep descents, some tree roots, but no rocks, and fireroads linking the singletracks

@gee

well this was the weird thing about the older King headsets

many riders swore by them, including BMX riders who were probably the most abusive riders using that product, or so we assumed

it was really when the longer travel (130mm+) single crown suspension forks became available that the older design King headset design started to show its flaws

for customers riding XC with wheels on the ground, or shorter travel forks (or rigid forks including the BMX guys), the headset worked without issue

however, for the newer more aggressive riding customers with the longer travel forks (especially once going past 140mm+) the issue with the top cap surfaced

nowmefeelinit – Member
esher shore said »
something to understand about coaching is that the top riders often are not the best coaches
many top riders cannot quantify what they do, or how, because they have been riding so long its instinctual
a good coach has a very different and specific skillset, and this is something many comment Jedi has in abundance which includes patience and communication, and ability to analyse what is happening, why and making the necessary corrections
Actually, whilst typing, esher shore said it better than I did. This ^….

Stu

too true

a few years ago I was asked to do a section for the “Haynes” bike skills book, as well as riding the bike on the wooden trail at esher, I was asked to contribute the “how to” for this section

no shame in admitting they had to “rewrite” my how to, as my inane ramblings probably made no sense to anyone!

-run Shimano 105 SPD-SL road pedals / Specialized BG Sport road shoes on the road bike

-run Shimano 520-SPD mountain pedals / Shimano mountain SPD shoes on the commuter (700c sports hybrid)

-run Specialized Bennies flat pedals / 5-10 sam hill shoes on the mountain bike

different pedals for different jobs!

quality shoes and pedals for each of these different job:

-road bike I want a “fitted bike” (cleats, footbed, shims and bike all setup by BG Fit bike fitter), efficiency, power, high cadence

-commuting bike I want easy clip in / out at traffic lights, comfort and ability to walk in my shoes past road works, or across red traffic lights when late to work

-mountain bike I want feel of trail, ability to corner aggressively on edge of tire traction using ‘body english’

Jedi has been highly recommended by many students, and from knowing Tony over the years I could add he is a good guy and a passionate rider who has put a lot in the “scene” with Herts Shore and then his coaching

something to understand about coaching is that the top riders often are not the best coaches

many top riders cannot quantify what they do, or how, because they have been riding so long its instinctual

a good coach has a very different and specific skillset, and this is something many comment Jedi has in abundance which includes patience and communication, and ability to analyse what is happening, why and making the necessary corrections

not saying I was a “top rider” but I used to regularly ride this kind of stuff, and would not have a clue where to start with coaching other riders! I would always recommend a proper coach like Jedi :)

no love for the “old” king headset design from me with the “o” ring top cap design (patent issues prevented the use of the Dia Compe ‘aheadset’ design that all other headset manufacturers seemed to use without issue / paying a royalty)

did not appreciate the headset constantly working loose, creaking, moving and top cap deeply scoring the steerer tube of my expensive forks

yes, king were beautifully made, and had lovely bearings, really liked their manufacturing / company ethos;

but based on the short life of both the “old” King headsets I owned, and the experience of many of my customers, and the poor warranty support we all received from the UK distributor, it was an item I could never recommend for aftermarket sales or custom bike builds

if their newer design using the compression ring under the top cap has solved this issue (it should have) I cannot comment as I have no experience with the newer model.

since the bike industry diversified with seemingly, a zillion different headset combos, people seem to run whatever actually fits, rather than worrying about the quality of the headset

with many of the modern frames running internal headsets (many carbon frames using bearings seated straight to the head tube or bearing seat), I would say that a regular routine of dropping the fork, wiping off moisture/dirt and and smear of anti-seize is more beneficial in the long term.

@mcgowan

thanks for the clarification. your english is much better than my Spanish:)

(my mechanic is from Alicante, we have communication issues the past 5 months!)

if Freeborn sold you the seatpost and shim, they should honour the warranty, unless you have bought a frame a little small and raised the seatpost above the bottom of the frame cluster, causing the seat tube stub to crack.

Devinci are well known for standing behind their warranty.

will never ride without glasses, whether different pairs of Oakley sunnies, Madison clear classes or Spy goggles for snow riding

not ever worth taking the chance with your eyesight

whether its a small piece of grit flicking into your eye on a fireroad, mud sprayed into your eyes on a downhill descent, a tree branch trying to gouge your eyeball out on a trail, or simply bright sunlight on a descent, protect your eyes!

you will get the opportunity to buy more glasses. I have never seen eyeballs for sale..or broken limbs rebuilt when something gets into your eyes and causes a crash.

@mcgowan

I have read every post and am still confused about what you expect from Freeborn?

your first comment “Last year I bought a Devinci Dixon from Spain.”

what does this have to do with Freeborn / Haven Distribution in the UK?

you claim your bought a Dixon from Spain (from the Spanish distributor?)

the bike industry is not Apple, we do not have “global warranty”? Surely, make your claim against the Spanish retailer / distributor rather than dragging Freeborn into this mess, especially in public on a forum?

@mcgowan

why slag Freeborn bikes off on an open forum when they did not sell the bike to you?

take it up with the original retailer you bought the bike from in Spain.

First port of call always resides with the original retailer, not the distributor of the brand of a new country you were not in, when you purchased the bike

this does not just apply to smaller brands like Devinci, even the big brands like Specialized have removed “Global warranty” because distributors for each country build a “cost” of an expected warranty claims into their margins

-did your original retailer in Spain supply the shimmed seatpost?

-or is this something you fitted yourself?

-did you use fibre grip (carbon paste) whilst fitting the seatpost?

-did you use a torque wrench (5nm) on the seatclamp when fitting the seatpost?

I ran my Dixon with a 31.6mm Reverb with zero issues, sold the bike 2 years ago and new owner is still enjoying the ride with zero issues!

something to understand about using a shimmed “dropper post” is that they introduce a stress/strain load to the seat tube that the frame was never designed for

it was designed for native 31.6mm and that is what you should have used, rather than cheaping out and bodging the fitment using a plastic shim to fit a smaller seat post into a larger seat tube

@failedengineer

I work in a “concept store” selling bikes ranging from £300 to £12,000

the guys who work in the store don’t earn much money, £16K a year including sales commission would be average

what the guys do is buy the entry-level, carbon fibre production road bike, strip the parts (sell them off on Ebay) and then transfer their existing groupset and wheels to the new frame

suddenly a £1200 bike becomes a very good quality ride, without spending silly money they cannot afford

I was surprised that we actually sold 9 x £12,000 bikes and over 30 x £4,000-£7,000 custom builds in the last trading year to paying customers ;)

wheels are incredibly strong when loaded vertically – a former Cytech trainer I worked with said you could load the weight of a family car onto a wheel in a vertical plane and it would not fail

however, laterally wheels are very vulnerable, even when using 3 cross lacing and built properly.

This is even worse for wheels using “radial” lacing which you tend to see on the front wheel of many new road bikes

its a tricky situation for sure, this “warranty” for “original owner only”

the bike companies will argue that they build the cost of operating a warranty programme into the margins included in the recommended retail price when a bike is purchased from an official brand dealer

once the bike is sold and purchased second hand, this warranty is void

you could argue that the company has already had their costs covered by the original purchaser, and therefore any 2nd hand claim should also be honoured?

Some companies like Turner will offer on the frame itself, not just to the original owner.

its always something to bear in mind when buying a new bike, and especially when buying 2nd hand, unless its from a close friend who is happy to pose as the person claiming warranty when it goes wrong at some point…

also have a stumpjumper with PF30 BB (its not BB30 as you mentioned initially, PF30 just means a nylon cup with the same BB30 standard bearing)

best setup if you want to stick with the “stock” setup using BB30 bearings and BB30 crankset

smear a good coat of Loctite bearing retaining compound when pressing new bearings into the plastic PF30 cups.

Then smear a good coat of Loctite bearing retaining compound on the outside of the PF30 cups. Press the cup/bearing into the frame using Park or similar press tool.

When installing the cranks, use Shimano anti-seize quite liberally. Smear a good layer on the outside face of the bearing package before installing the spacers, and also on the inside diameter of the BB30 bearing where the metal crank axle sits

the anti-seize will prevent water ingress and stop any creaking from metal-on-metal contact, its very tenacious even when regularly washing the bike

Make sure the pre-load is setup correct (either using the nylon shims or on newer systems, the pre-load ring and pinch bolt)

If moving to a HT2 adapter for PF30 / BB30 I’d recommend Wheels Manufacturing for mountain bikes as their delrin (plastic) adapters tend to be less noisy than the machined aluminium-alloy adapters Specialized supply with their frames / bikes

@MoseyMTB

you’d be surprised how clued-up the bike companies warranty departments actually are – people try it on all the time

I’ve had customers contact the brand in their own name, to then supply a proof of purchase in the original owners name.

or contact the company posing as the original owner, only then to supply their own details when they bring the “claim” into the store

had a similar experience in surbiton, surrey a couple of years ago whilst on the way to work 9am on a Sunday morning

came up to a “T” junction to turn right, slowed down and was suddenly thrown over the bars into the main road. thank god no traffic was coming

left bloodied and bruised (ripped shorts and jersey), and bike had damage (bent front wheel, ripped saddle, ripped bar tape, etc.)

managed to recover my wits and inspected the road. Found a deep “trough” in the tarmac where buses had been braking for the junction. When I say deep it was approx 5″ deep, about 4″ across and 4 feet long. Very hard to see as there was a road marking in front of this trough which being tarmac blended with the road

went back with a friend, took a camera and tape measure to photograph to scale this defect. Also took photos of all injuries, damage to bike and visited GP for check up.

At the time I was an experienced (former professional) freeride mountain biker and also road cyclist, so not a usual “user error”

contacted the local council, who denied all responsibility.

took it up with a local cycle club who had complained to the same council on a number of occasions about this “defect”; they put me onto a “no win, no fee” accident claims company.

they were given the run around by the council for 6 months with no result, as the council claimed they had “lost” any records of the cycle club’s complaints, someone vaguely remembered the complaints (phone calls and posted letters) but no written records could be found.

many of the ASL seen on the UK roads seem to indicate that filtering on the left is correct procedure?

of course this is the reality of the ASL in the UK

@tops 5

I would check the BB spacing of your bike. Its not uncommon to find Shimano HT2 cranks with incorrect BB spacing (too many spacers between BB cups and BB shell on frames with 73mm)

on 73mm it should be 1 x 2.5mm spacer on driveside, on 68mm its 2 x 2.5mm on driveside and 1 x 2.5mm on non driveside

this can cause a lack of engagement between the non-driveside crank arm and the axle stub

this will quickly strip out the splines, however its normally caught during assembly as the plastic safety plate with the steel pin will not engage into its pin locking hole on the axle if this spacing is incorrect.

other thing to check is torque on the 2 pinch bolts, both should be around 13nm with torque wrench to balance the clamping force shared across the non-driveside arm socket

modern bike chains will withstand huge NM loads (much more than even a professional cyclist can generate) without failure

a snapped chain normally indicates:

-damage to the drivetrain (a mangled chainring tooth, which deforms the chain whilst its running over that tooth)

-damage to the chain tool used to fit the chain or poor technique when using the tool(causing the side plates to deform, which will cause the chain to fail when suddenly loaded):-this is very common and can often explain repeated failures of new chains when fitted by the same bike shop mechanic or home mechanic using the same tool

-a freak event like trail debris caught in the transmission which then damages the chain or transmission components

-poor fitment, for example a chain cut too short on a single pivot suspension bike with excessive chain stretch, although typically this will snap the derailleur hanger or derailleur before the chain snaps!

-damage to the bike: a bent derailleur hanger allows the rear derailleur to collide with the rotating rear wheel, bending the derailleur and chain

riders that claim their “power” causes them to snap chains on a regular basis are somewhat confused about how much power they can output ;)

the Miche cranks always seemed a little soft (like many of the smaller brands) when I worked at Evans, its something I have seen before. The worst were FSA whose alloy cranks seemed to be made from cheese!

warranty can be tried, but they may claim its “bad fitment” or “lack of maintenance” rather than admitting they use cheap (soft) aluminium alloy

@nwill1

probably 150mm, because Float allow you to setup a proper sag whereas we always found with Talas being “sticky” it would give a false (sat high) sag setup

Float sits deeper into travel, so don’t be afraid of trying 150mm. The travel spacer kit will allow you to make further adjustments using the various spacers, so you can always experiment

we always did conversion from Talas to Float for customers, not the other way around

set your Float using internal travel spacers, and have fun riding!

@brooess

unfortunately its time for a new crank arm

your existing crank arm has a “flogged out” crank axle socket (the boss which fits over the BB axle) and it will just continue to work loose under load

there are various things you can try (as you have tried), but there is no real fix except for a new crank arm

just get a road bike, there is no shame in it, and it can great fun with useful benefits for fitness and time saving when you just want a quick ride to get the buzz

its really nice to own both a road bike and a mountain bike!

here are mine:

@thorpie

the Fox 32 Evo RL forks on my Stumpjumper 29’er needed replacing about 7 months in from new

they had developed a horrible creaking / clicking when braking hard, turning hard or cranking going up a steep hill.

All the usual suspects like headset, bar/stem, BB, crankset, wheel skewers, etc. had been checked or changed to eliminate these items from the inspection. I work in a bike shop as workshop manager so its much easier to undertake this work with minimal costs.

Mojo were actually very helpful. I had a conversation with one of their staff who explained that the CSU (Crown / steerer / upper stanchions) are manufactured to very precise tolerances using an expensive machine in their factory, and some of the fitments will fail the tolerance checks and are rejected after being pressed.

He said that the market has demanded ever lighter components, and Fox could make a heavier fork with a thicker crown that would be more tolerant of fitment, and even allow re-pressing, but the weight penalty would be similar to older Marzocchi forks

basically, they use a coat of grease between the steerer and stancions and the crowns when they are pressed into place.

with time, and especially with regular cleaning using solvents like Muc-Off this grease will ‘leach’ away and allow a metal-on-metal contact which manifests itself as a creaking or clicking.

he said Fox have noticed this issue is much more common in the UK as riders are riding all year around in bad weather which means regular bike cleaning. he advised keeping cleaning products away from the CSU.

he said its not a structural issue and would never cause a safety issue, but its recognized as very annoying and so Mojo will replace the CSU within the 1 year warranty period, free of charge.

From dealing with older Marzocchi forks, Windwave (Marzocchi UK distrib) had a service where the forks were returned and they could remove, grease and repress the fork steerer using a hydraulic press on their premises, because the Marzocchis were overbuilt especially in the crown

I was very glad to get a new CSU fitted to my fork (along with the free service they rebuild the fork)…

…but have ongoing concerns that I have never used Muc-Off for cleaning my bike (I only use soapy, warm water and then rinse), and now that the warranty period has expired, I would be looking at something like £250-300 for a new CSU and rebuild if this problem raises it head again

perhaps time to look at Rockshox if this problem occurs again?

@jimmers

check out the “hope hoops” option too

Hope hubs on Mavic Open Pro rims with Sapim double-butted spokes and brass nipples

great price, light enough for fast riding but also have an excellent durability (especially for potholed roads and wet weather / road salt) and very cost effective to repair / service using regular spokes / nipples and Hope hub parts available from pretty much any UK bike shop

@njee20

yup same frame as the roubaix road bike – the Zertz even say “roubaix” on them

same wheel set (road wheels) and road bike caliper brakes

@mrblobby

the SM-PCE1 is actually available for consumers to buy, despite what some bike shops have been telling riders

if you have bought a Di2 equipped road bike, and want to be able to maintain your bike at home (and have a PC) I would ask the dealer to sell you the Shimano kit at a reasonable price so the shop makes a small profit

(I guess this would be around £150 bearing in mind trade price, VAT and shipping to dealer and the dealer’s admin time to order the item)

the full diagnostics access is brilliant, the best example was the 2012 Paralympics (spelling?) where we had a lady who asked us to switch the rear mech shifting function to the left shifter as she found it hard to use her right hand on a constant basis. I won’t say who she was, but it was awesome to see her on TV and the results she got ;)

the 1/2/3/constant shift function is also clever to suit riders needs.

@mrblobby

the 11 speed Di2 with the USB port will only allow firmware upgrades.

it will not allow access to the diagnostics package. this requires the SM-PCE1 kit.

we’ve had a number of customer with firmware problems the past few months. Its normally sorted with a firmware update.

Be aware that some shops will not know how to do this properly, which may have caused the ongoing issue. Unless the mechanic has been trained by Madison / Shimano it may be hit and miss if they actually know what they are doing. I have seen instances where mechanics have “skipped” parts of the full procedure.

We’ve also had several customers with faulty STI shifters, either from a hard crash (requiring purchase of new shifters)

or just an electrical fault has developed into one of the micro-switches. Madison have always sorted this under warranty quickly.

Stumpy Evo is very capable in both wheel sizes

26″

29’er

perhaps, a much better choice for UK riding than the Enduro (an awesome bike for the right application)

would only buy an enduro I lived in the Alps or Vancouver and wanted a bike that could still climb up to access gnarly DH and FR trails which would require shuttle or lift access if you chose a DH specific bike.

I use these, sold under “KF” amongst other brand names:

seem to work well, have been using them for 10 years. Come with large rawl-plugs and screw-bolts. Currently have 4 bikes on them, 2 road bike, MTB and hybrid

only time I had an issue was hanging up a Banshee Scream freeride bike that weighed nearly 50lbs. Middle of the night, heard a massive crash, plugs/bolts had ripped out of brick wall, bike lying on floor, no damage thankfully.

in our shop we can sell 6-10 pairs of S-Works road shoes a day

people obviously appreciate / want them, despite the price tag

personally, being a poor bike mechanic? I have the basic Specialized Sport road shoe with the BG footbeds and shims, works just fine for me.

we’ve been trying the Fenwick’s Stealth lube for the past month on staff bikes (road, cyclo-x and mtb) since we stopped buying Finish Line

very impressed with the Stealth lube – downside is that it’s terrible to apply; very viscious and the pipette does not really work!

but once its dropped onto each roller, then worked in with a rag whilst back pedalling the transmission, the chain becomes very clean and very quiet.

Seems to stay put, but does not cause a build up of dirt

went with my Missus to “Cyclopark” in Gravesend, Kent to try out their road circuit for the first time – only to find someone had booked it out privately for a race and it was shut to the public. their website had not mentioned this. Spent on £30 for 2 train tickets to get there, cheers Cyclopark!

But, we ended up riding around Gravesend, then back to NW London through Dartford, Bexleyheath, up Shooters Hill, down into Greenwich Park and along the Thames.

Crossed Tower Bridge which was closed off to road traffic – fantastic!

Then ended up in the City of London riding through all the closed roads from the earlier Ride London event (I guess before the Pro race started)- fantastic feeling with no cars on the roads.

Watched the Pro race on the TV after finishing the ride.

One of those days which had gone very wrong at Cyclopark, ended up well, just under 40 miles of pleasant road riding on a sunny although windy day.

@PeterPoddy

glad to hear of your experiences, and that funding Cytech training from your own pocket was worth it!!

It can be expensive for people who have no funds put aside, and I would not take a “career development loan” to fund a Cytech qualification, because the return on the investment can be limited. If you can find an employeer willing to take you on and train you(if you have some experience) this is often the best route.

I would also challenge any experienced mechanic to NOT learn something from doing a formal training like C&G or Cytech

I certainly learned many new things, and also why I was doing those things, I was already doing and had been doing for years. There is nothing more worrying to me than an arrogant mechanic who feels they cannot learn anything new because they “know it all!”.

I always appreciate any day when I add something to my knowledge, whether its working on an unusual bike, or coming up with a work around for a problem on a customers bike that needs repairing

Glad to hear you are enjoying your new job. If you are ever visiting London please come look me up in Covent Garden :)

@fisherboy

I would not pay for Cytech I or II out of my own pocket, because its expensive and time consuming and the bike industry pays poorly for even good mechanics

however, if you are of the right age (under 25?), the Government will pay for it as part of the apprentice training scheme

otherwise, find an employer willing to take you on, and willing to put you through Cytech I and II as an investment in your professional development; its the best way to do it as you will also get lots of “on the job training” which is just as essential as passing the final exam and getting the paper certificate

I have given freshly qualified mechanics with cytech II (who went and did an intensive “crammer” courser/exam) job interviews (including a practical assessment) who could not even assemble a road bike (Specialized Allez) to a competent level within a reasonable time frame!

Experience is very, very important; but having Cytech can be the difference of getting a job interview / job, just like having a degree can now be an entry requirement for many retail management trainee positions.

I was lucky to get Cytech I and Cytech II through Evans Cycles when I worked for them, just before they stopping training mechanics to Cytech and took it in house with their “Evans Training Academy” ‘Bike Builder’ qualification (which could be considered worthless outside of that company).

even here in London, the average wage for a Cytech II mechanic working for a big chain is only £14,000. Workshop manager with Cytech III is generally only £16,000-£17,000. LBS will generally pay a little more to poach good staff from chain stores.

One of the big problems with Evans stopping Cytech is suddenly the other chain stores and LBS have lost their source of well trained Cytech qualified mechanics ;)

Park are not the same as some mechanics or bike store staff will remember from 5 years ago

definitely “cheaped out” on their manufacturing quality during this period :(

get reasonable non-bike specific tools from Draper, Stanley, Halfords, cannot go wrong really..Knipex make very good cutters

A problem with tools is that they can be easily damaged if misused.

Expensive tools do not fare any better if misused. They also get borrowed (stolen) or mislaid. Better to loose cheap tools than expensive tools.

A good shadow board is worthwhile. Get 3/4″ or 1″ ply, paint it black and use a tippex white pen to mark out your tools. I can come back from being on vacation for a week, and immediately know which tool is missing from my workstation!

This is what we use in my workshop: