Is your headset slightly loose?

At £130 an end you’re twenty quid short of being able to get the xtr ones off rose bikes. If i were in your position I’d save for an extra week and go for the pimp ones…

Northwind – Member

Maybe… Or maybe the current wall thicknesses are thicker/stronger than they need to be from that perspective, so it’s something that can be reduced without ill effect but which is needed because of the current bar radius. Who knows? Easton hopefully… Is impact resistance something to worry about in a bar as it stands? can’t say I’ve ever given it any thought.

I’m not necessarily saying it is something to worry about. However have they potentially over done it ala the example I gave of alloy frames in the 90’s. Whilst i know you’re unlikely to impact damage a bar in a normal crash situation. It’s not beyond the realm of possibility that say a small awkward crash on some rocks could lead to impact damage on the bars. Potentially effectively righting them off as all of these additional strength gains would be moot once the cross section has been affected. It just appears to me to be a retrograde step essentially in the interest of introducing a new standard. I don’t think the road bar example as given be njee has any relevance as road bars are unlikely to ever be in a collision situation in normal operation either whereas mtbs/ers regularly crash.

I will however wait with baited breadth to see whether or not the industry starts to accept this new standard and whether or not in long run they do turn out to be be stronger, lighter, stiffer and most crucial of all more versatile.

Reposted in this other thread seeing as I hadn’t seen it before I started this new thread. I reckon just let this one die as there’s no need to have 2 different threads about the same thing.

In reply to Messiah and Northwind: I posted the bellow in a separate new thread as I didn’t see this one. However with that in mind would you care to answer/explain the questions I’ve set out?

Now Easton are saying their new bars with their new standard are stronger, stiffer and lighter yet they’re much bigger than previous incantations. Now unless they’ve found some new wonder material that has a lower specific density than what they were making them out of before surely this means that the material they’re using has to be inherently thinner walled to loose this weight. Especially considering there’s more surface area to cover considering they’re actually greater in diameter and wider in width. So the next question on that basis has to be, whilst they may be stronger, etc, are Easton sacrificing versatility e.g. impact resistance to get this improved strength, etc?

As for want of a better way to put it. It seems very reminiscent of the early/mid 90’s when frame manufacturers discovered they could make significantly lighter, stronger alloy frames using massively oversized tubes. Though the problem was the alloy was so thin on many of the tubes, downtubes especially, that if you dropper your bikes sideways on a sharp rock you seriously risked damaging it as there simply wasn’t enough material there to cope with an off axis impact.

Now would anyone care to explain to me how Easton can overcome this?

A lot of effort but the end result of this is simply amazing http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/gallery/2011/jun/09/barbecue-pulled-pork-in-pictures

Blur TRc which is effectively the updated version of the Blur4x

rootes1 – Member

just for interest according to the bible of definitive facts (wiki) re scale of output

in 2002 Giant made just under 5m bikes in one year.. (imagine it is more now?)

Nissan in 2010 made just over 4m vehicles.

The relevant question is not how many bikes/cars either manufacturer made. Rather what % of Giant’s production was high end high performance bikes and what was BSOs. Similarly how many performance cars did nissan make? Sure you can buy a Nissan micra for **** all but how much does a GTR cost comparatively? And what percentage of the micra’s parts are so homogenous that they’re actually used on 10/15/20+million cars per annum?

The amount of R&D and material design in top end bikes is a reasonable justification

I would dispute that, but of course, it’s entirely subjective whether you think that the R&D justifies the price.

A typical high end carbon fibre frame will require up to 4 custom machined moulds for it’s manufacture. These will range between an average of 4k and 20k depending on the quality of finish and complexity. Now in the development process it wouldn’t be unreasonable to believe that say 3 different design iterations may occur in a single frameset. Now if the frame has 4 moulds at an average of 10k each that’s 120K before you’ve got your finished frame. Once you got your finished frame design you’ll have to have your 4 mould in for instance the 4 different sizes you want to manufacture the frame in. That’s a further 160k, if you really want to mass produce the frame you may require multiple copies of each individual mould. So for instance for 1 high end CF frame you may require 280K of tooling in it’s development and manufacture to be absorbed before you ever pay a single overhead in the manufacturing process. For a something like a santa cruz carbon fibre or say niner bike that will be manufactured in compartatively small production runs e.g. less than 10,000 per annum that’s 300 on the cost of each frame just in tooling. This doesn’t include for the cost of testing, sampling, materials, wages, painting, etc. used in the frames manufacture.

When you look at all of these types of expenses, typical production runs of high end bikes, the level of complexity in their, design, construction, component parts and the very high end materials used in them it’s a wonder a lot of them aren’t more expensive considering the number of hands they’ll typically go through before they get to the consumer. People have become used to cheap high production volume tat in this modern age and have lost all understanding of the cost and complexities of manufacture. So when something seems expensive usually they come to the conclusion that someone somewhere is ripping them off. Comparisons with cheap cars or motorcycles are poor as whilst your average performance mtb may not actually look like it has a lot technological development in it, it’s actually incredibly complex system that usually has much tighter constraints on it’s design than the average car part on the average car. For instance a replacement shock for a ford focus is probably a quarter the price of a fox fork but the shock for the focus will be manufactured in volumes that fox could only dream of and they aren’t even remotely as limited as fox in their design variables.

To be frank as a mechanical engineer I’m surprised bicycles are so cheap. Especially considering I’ve been doing this mountainbike lark for 20 odd years now and you’re getting an awful lot more for you money now than you did in 1990.

The obvious answer would be a Thomson Elite
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=8569

or the Masterpiece if you’re feeling really flush

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=9401

They’ve all ready been mailed, as have the manufacturer’s distributors. Unfortunately it’s not 100% as simple as just calling them up. As we’re based in Ireland so there’s the cost of international calls, etc. I was just really wondering if anyone has been through this with them to get a feel for whether or not it’s going to be a lot of trouble.

In the last year I think I’ve replaced about a set of tyres, a set of brake pads, a chain (maybe 2), a cassette, a middle chain ring and 2 stans valve inserts (the little takeoutable presta jobby rather than the valve). I also upgraded my stem and bars though those were upgrades so don’t count. All of the above baring the stans valves were as a result of wear and tear conducive with the amount of riding i’ve been doing. Which is probably 30-40 miles a week average with more over the summer than the winter. Though in saying that me and my riding buddies have mostly all been at this since our teens and we’re all well into our thirties now so it’s not like we’re taking it easy. However we all learned on rigid bikes or hardtails with less than 80mm of usable suspension so we all ride in a manner where line choice is key.

With all of that in mind i’d possibly echo some of the statements above about how much stuff some people break. I’d also possibly wonder about how the OP rides considering he’s managed to bend 3 rear mechs in under a year. Most/a lot of what he’s mentioned could possibly be put down to wear and tear if he’s riding a lot though the thing about the mechs would make me wonder about his riding style and if this also effects the number of other breakages.

As far as I know Shimano have a patent on the finned pads. So unless someone comes up with a clever work around on this it’ll only be non finned aftermarket pads that are available for these brakes. Which is of course assuming Shimano don’t license the design out seeing as well that outcome is pretty unlikely.

Carbon nomad. Though i’d have to agree with those above that say it’s a nonsense letting your existing chain device dictate your choice of new frame. When realistically pretty much every carbon AM frame on the market will cost in excess of 2-2.2K for the frame alone.

@nedrapier is that the Glacier Ronde exit/cosmiques? One of my favorite descents that.

I’ve a set of I9 XC wheels built up on Stan’s Arches. I’ve had them for about a year now and been riding them a fair bit both winter and summer predominantly on forest and moorland type trails, wicklow mountains outside of dublin, I’ve yet to have a single issue with them.

They’re light, durable, roll amazingly and the pick up is a thing that has to be felt to be believed. In fact it’s one of those things you didn’t realise how needed until you have it. Basically in simple terms they’ve been brilliant for me and they’ve had plenty of abuse including big offs and even large branches lodging in the spokes. All they have now is some scratches on the spokes, other than that they’re near perfect.

Plus and there’s no point denying this, which i believe is a major point considering how much they cost, they look pimp. Red hubs and red spokes. Oh and you get 4 replacement spokes when you buy them too. So if you’re an oaf maybe at some point factory spares maybe an issue but it certainly shouldn’t be a major one for most people for a considerable time frame. Finally just for reference sake i’ve been running them on a Chameleon with 140mm forks.

gonzy – Member

i’m surprised no-one’s mentioned or noticed that other “wonderous” bit of 90’s kit the good ol’ GIRVIN FLEXSTEM….flex being the operative word….maybe thats why he’s got the second set of bars…i found one in a box at home years ago….and that’s where its staying…

I also noticed that however i’ve an even greater question. How come the girvin is for an Aheadset? I’m ready to be proven mistaken but i reckon they stopped doing them long before quil stems met their demise.

Edit: So one article says he was doing stunts on the film in question but the crew list from IMDB for same doesn’t list him. Maybe he did do it? Kinda makes me want to see it now, even though it’s probably dirge

Clearly it’s this

here!

Industry Nine.

+1

Absolutely love mine & i haven’t had an iota of trouble from them so far.

The original source here!

Failing all of the above, though i reckon the freezer heat idea is the best so far, if you’re feeling brave gently file a small amount of material off of the crown race seat on the fork. As unless your LBS is particularly good they’re unlikely to have a crown race cutting reamer set let alone a 1″ crown race shoulder cutting die. Which means they’ll probably be doing this themselves anyway.

A simple to solution to a complex problem in the days before bike suspension was really understood

Would it not be easier & cheaper to go up a disc size rather than trying to change the calipers on your breaks.

Failing that just buy a replacement post mount m975 caliper as i’m sure they’re switchable with M965. Rather than pricking about with cross compatability issues with different model ranges.

At a guess i’d say that is a hard tail as the obvious presumption would be that is a bottle cage mount & probably on the seat tube as the norm is to have your bumpf on low(ish) on the set tube. With all of that in mind I’d assume it’s a carbon version of the P7 or similar. Considering they’re all ready made in the far east & development &set up manufacturing costs on a CF hardtails are probably considerably less than on a full sus. This way they’d be able to judge market reaction before going head long into building a full CF range.

Apparently the non UST RQ’s when new have some sort of moulding powder/residue on them which inhibits the sealant to an extent. If you give them a rub down with isoprpyl alcohol (i think) it clears this up a lot. Have mine running tubeless with Stan’s. Took a while & a fair bit of fluid to get them fully sealed. Now they’re sealed they run perfectly though. I’d say I have to check/pump up the air level in them maybe once a fortnight.

It’s perhaps worth noting that the well known about fault with this frame occurs as a direct result of repeatedly bottoming out the shock. So whilst the OP may have only used it sparingly he’s either canned it whilst he was using it or the previous owner had fairly thrashed it. Just because the frame was aesthetically in good condition does not it hadn’t been ridden hard.

But ignoring that I too am also intrigued to find out what the outcome has been.

One of the local wieght weenies here raves about Cannondale Coda cranks. may need a BB30 bottom bracket though.

So you were bashing the tube profusely to get something to come out of the end & when it eventually worked. This happened –

I had to go for one of those strange hobbly walks whilst swearing profusely

Industry Nine!

Got it off with some gentle persuasion. As to the steel cassette aluminium freehub thing well i wouldn’t do it either but the good people at the Specialized bike co obviously don’t agree. As that’s the way it came from them.

I’ve 2.2 RQs on Stans arches which have a narrower internal width than the arch & they’re running no problem.

samuri – Member

You will miss it when it’s gone. There is no funner bike.

Seconded! Just had a beautiful evening spin with the mountains all to myself. Didn’t see a soul.

No one?/Bump.

As a number of folks above 5mm allen keys, **** loads of them. I always said if I became rich I’d set up a bicycle tools company & sell allen key sets with 2 5mm allen keys per set.

Also currently missing a CO2 inflator which has never been used, numerous park tool spoke keys, several chain tools and a whole host of other stuff. As has been said above mostly tools. If I were a more suspicious person i’d possibly be blaming my mates on the missing tools more so then the “wormhole”.

* sorry about the list but your tiles, skirting and walls all looked perfect so couldn’t slate that *

If you like that swept plaster look 🙄

Dublin?

Had an XT one last about 2 1/2 or 3 years. Though this did involve taking it out every 3-6 months once it got creaky. Take off the bearing covers, thoroughly degrease, dry out properly once degreased & then regrease. I’m about 13 stone(ish), ride reasonably hard & mtb all year round mostly in Wicklow mts. So i suspect no different in terms of weather, weight or riding style to the masses of BB destroyers on here. I personally suspect an awful lot of people who are BB killers could probably elongate the lifespan of their BBs considerably if they just applied a little TLC once their BBs start playing up. At least this is certainly the case for the shimano ones anyway.

@ don simon

I think you’ve misunderstood me. I was just trying to say that should i be lucky enough to get a job spannering in a bike shop i would be thankful for the opportunity and that I believe it’s as valid a life choice as any other. At no point did i ever mention anything about how much better than others I am or anything even remotely close. I certainly didn’t say i would be expecting certain demands about respect or anything of the sort. Should it have come across as that way to you then I’m sorry but at no time was that my intention. I was just trying to state in a reasoned fashion that based on past experience both working & personal I believe i have the appropriate skills to do the job based on having talked to the guys in a couple of local shops.

@ project

I do have previous experience of working in bikes shops, one of which was particularly high end. So whilst i can understand what you’re saying re: the difference between a home mechanic & a professional one & training up staff i don’t believe in this particular instance it’s of huge relevance.

I’d also say fixing bikes is a trade as opposed to a profession though if you’d like to split hairs over the difference between the 2 i won’t argue with you over it.

Mechanical