CaBLING (MTB content)

[I-S]

Been doing some fettling over the past week or so, getting the bike ready for the new season. Managed to get out on the bike on saturday and sunday (getting used to using the helmet cam too).

So... I totally disassembled (ie to a pile of bits on the floor) and rebuilt the forks, serviced the rear shock, disassembled and serviced the rear mech, disassembled and serviced the pedals (they didn't need it, but Amsoil GHD is sooooo goood!), took the cranks off and partly sorted the BB (need a bb tool that can actually get over the ISIS axle!), scrubbed the chain out (waste of time as it's filthy again now... need an ultrasonic tank), etc.

However, the only real changes to anything are that I put HEL performance braided brake hoses on, and changed the rear mech cable over to full-length outer (with an outer to match the new brake hose).

So, my new caBLING:

[g6acb]

Sounds like youve been busy - any noticible difference on the brakes with braided hoses??

My bike is feeling the effects of a week in wales - going to have to do the maths this weekend on costs of repairs vs new full sus bike factoring in the body ache element of a week on a hard-tail..... I dont think riding it on the beach in the snow did it many favours /pan

I checked my chain for stretch and it was off the scale - new chain was a nightmare on the worn rings and cassette so it would appear a whole new drive train is in order :thinking:

[I-S]

After getting the brakes really truly and properly bled, yes, they're a little firmer. The difference really isn't objectively worth the cost of the braided hoses. However, this bike has got about as far as I can reasonably go with it (lighter seatpost and SRAM front mech are the only things I can think to do to it now), so I decided to see how big the difference is.

I'm starting plans to build up a second bike... Singlespeed hardtail, either steel or Ti frame, 4-5" front travel and another set of Louise discs. Oh, and 2.3-2.5" tyres. It would basically be for winter hacks and mud, when I can't be bothered to look after derailleurs and service rear shocks, etc. Just trying to decide between cheap steel (on-one inbred), expensive steel (cotic simple) or cheap Ti (Hi-light HM-III... rebadged airborne out of the same chinese factory).

Hoping to produce some reasonable videos once I get the helmet cam thing right. Saturday's vid corrupted, and sunday's revealed that the cam was zeroed at too close a range so it pointed down too much, and picked up a mud spot after a minute and a half. Hope I'll get something this weekend.

[mattpage]

Looks identical to Goodridge cables.
They make a bigger difference on some bikes than others. They were great on my old hope minis, but no real difference on the mono minis.

Should be rebuilding my bike this weekend, bout time too!

[I-S]

It depends on how good the stock hose is I guess. From what I can tell (and have heard elsewhere) the magura stock hose is pretty good, whilst I've also heard that the shimano hose is really soft.

The gear outer thing was interesting... I read that full-length outer leads to higher friction (obviously) because of more outer length, and less "snappy" gear changes because of more flexibility in the longer outer. However, because I could better optimise length and routing compared to the pre-cut shimano outers I had before, the overall outer length is only about 3" longer, and the gear cable itself is about 9" shorter with the better routing. Not having it picking up grit on the previously exposed section on the swingarm should rapidly improve matters...

[g6acb]

Take it you sorted out you pay quibles then Isaac.... brandashing phrases arround like cheap steel on-one inbred :pimp2:

[I-S]

No :(. I've just sold off a load of hifi though. Anyway, I've been planning this steel SS for about 18 months and still not done anything... I rarely ride my other SS anyway.

Inbreds are cheap... go for £75 or so on ebay. Saw a set of on-one reetard SS wheels go for £80, and can get a pair of Louise for that. SS drivetrain is cheap, Magura Asgard or Vidar forks about £100. £100 for finishing kit, so about £500 all in.

[I-S]

I've uploaded the okish bit of the helmet cam video to youtube, just waiting for it to come available.

[Paul Beazer]

Hmm, full length outer on the rear mech...
thats gonna be a real pain to lube when it does stiffen up. Regular lubircation , that the key!! :scholar:

[mattpage]

If your looking for a really nice Steel SS then I can highly recommend Spot.
I owned one for a few years and its probably the nicest riding bike I ever owned.

If I still rode SS enough I would still have it.
Full outers are definatly the best. Just buy the basic cables and they last ages. I guess if your worried about then becoming stiff you could add a few middleburn cable oilers.

[Paul Beazer]

If your looking for a really nice Steel SS then I can highly recommend Spot.
I owned one for a few years and its probably the nicest riding bike I ever owned.

If I still rode SS enough I would still have it.
Full outers are definatly the best. Just buy the basic cables and they last ages. I guess if your worried about then becoming stiff you could add a few middleburn cable oilers.
If you want good cables, the best i've ever used are the grey XTR cable sets. Mind you they dont come in a full length outer and are a bit more than normal Shimano cables. But they are FAR superior to ANYTHING i've used in the last 18 years.
Why full outers anyway? I have a mate with a Marin Mt Vision and he never has any issues with his split cable outers.

[I-S]

There's an exposed section of cable on top of the swingarm, right by the tyre. It gets crapped up pretty easily. The two open sections of the rear cable on the frame are absurdly short anyway and actually make the outer routing less good. The main reason was to match the rear brake hose though. This new outer I've got is actually lighter and smoother than the three bits of XT outer I was using before.

And I'm working on eliminating shimano from the bike. Once I do the front outer and front mech (I will do them simultaneously) then the cassette will be it. When that wears out, if I can afford it I'll go to an IRD cassette (since they're the only people who make a 9sp 11-28t cassette... wtf is the point of 32t?)

[I-S]

Here's the usable bit of the helmet cam video:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=qbG_IjzzAmI

[Paul Beazer]

And I'm working on eliminating shimano from the bike. Once I do the front outer and front mech (I will do them simultaneously) then the cassette will be it. When that wears out, if I can afford it I'll go to an IRD cassette (since they're the only people who make a 9sp 11-28t cassette... wtf is the point of 32t?)
Why are you so keen to get rid of Shimano? I know people bang on about dominating the industry, but most of their kit just works, and rather well at that. Having said that their chainrings are made of chocolate the the freehubs are poo (I killed an STX one in 2 weeks once). There are certain aspects im not keen on like the dual control shifters and low normal rear mechs (WHY??). But overall they are pretty good. I've tried lots of different SPD type pedals over the years and the Shimano ones are the best!
Cable oilers would be a good idea, although you may need to get the brake cable ones as the braided cables you've got look wider than normal gear cables. I've got them on both my bikes and they are a great idea.
Couldnt get the vid to work tho.

[pitslayer]

love mountainbiking.....me and a few mates used to do it all the time, before i passed my test...ive got a full sus baracuda, yes there cheap bikes, well mine wasnt at the time was like 500 quid i think....but its the best bike ever, my mates spent loads on there bikes, all ive ever bought is tyres, 2 cables for it lol, other than that its never broke....i bought another bike for 50 quid, took the front forks and disc off and upgraded the front end, again this was of another baracuda....
lets see ive thrown my bike away/bailed a fair few times....its hit trees very hard, the floor very hard, ive bailed off on the 100 foot drop, basically a 100 foot long near vertical gravel track in a qaurry which if you try usually ends in tears and broken bones no ones ever gone down it properly....its been chucked down that.....ive ridden it 30mph downhill into a motorway style barrier head on, and ground all the way around a corner on said barrier, on my handle bars....and after that ive not had to repair it once. best bike ever, i used to give it hell.....i lie actually it came apart once...stupid desgin and allen key bolt, which holds the bottom pivot in place(trailin arm to frame) that came loose when i landed a big jump.... nothing an allen key and a welder didnt fix......ive landed that hard sometimes ive blown out my rear tyre......its even better when your sitting at the top of a trail, and then your tyre just goes *psssssh* bugger lol


i still run all shimano, the 2 cables ive done are front and rear brake cables....looking at your vid, guessing your riding is proper mountain bike riding. prefer downhill my self its all good thow, might dig my bike out and go out for a ride on day

[I-S]

I just find other stuff works better. I've been using SRAM rear mechs since '97 and I like having a twist shifter on the right hand, which shimano don't offer. The 1:1 rear mechs work better for longer than shimano (my old ESP 9.0 didn't need readjusting once in many years) I have serious problems with XT front mechs (they catch stones which cause them to lock up) and will be switching to SRAM this year now that they finally offer a top-swing front mech. I had chainsuck problems with shimano chains which the PC-991 instantly banished. I don't like SRAM cassettes, and that is one area where shimano are better... however, I'm going to go to IRD because I want 11-28, which neither shimano nor SRAM offer.

As for pedals, I use Onza Hognesium. I broke my leg once because of a ski binding that didn't release, so I am generally not keen on bindings. Thus I use a light weight, grippy flat pedal instead.

[Paul Beazer]

I've never heard of stones getting caught in the front mech before!
Still, i hate shimano bottom swing mechs, they get play in the pivots very quickly, oh taht and they're pigs to set up properly! In fact i've got an old xt top swing mech which seems to be lasting forever. I have still got an original xtr top swing front mech lying around as it doesnt fit any of my current bikes, shame as its good as new. Do SRAM front mechs have the same leverage ratio as shimano?Be interested to see how they last......

[I-S]

It seems to be a common problem on MTBR with stones getting stuck in XT top-swing mechs. My previous bike's normal STX-RC front mech was better in many ways... The XT is too flexible and wobbly at the best of times (I've got three of them, two M750s and an M760... all are like this) to really work very well anyway. It's just the frame design on my bike means a top swing is necessary, and SRAM haven't had one until 2007 (I did have an X-gen which I bought by mistake... SO solid and non-flexible. Apparently the new X.9 is even better. Yes, they use the same leverage ratio as shimano.

[Paul Beazer]

It seems to be a common problem on MTBR with stones getting stuck in XT top-swing mechs. My previous bike's normal STX-RC front mech was better in many ways... The XT is too flexible and wobbly at the best of times (I've got three of them, two M750s and an M760... all are like this) to really work very well anyway. It's just the frame design on my bike means a top swing is necessary, and SRAM haven't had one until 2007 (I did have an X-gen which I bought by mistake... SO solid and non-flexible. Apparently the new X.9 is even better. Yes, they use the same leverage ratio as shimano.
Hmmm, when my XT one gives up, i MAY give one a bash. The bottom swing ones are a lot more expposed to crap, than the top swing ones.

[I-S]

Sure you don't have those the wrong way around?

Top swing have all their mechanical gubbins behind the seat tube where it gets sprayed with crap and stones from the rear wheel... bottom or conventional swing have it all on the side of the seat tube, above the chainrings. It's just an unfortunate necessity on my frame because of the suspension swingarm

[Paul Beazer]

Sure you don't have those the wrong way around?

Top swing have all their mechanical gubbins behind the seat tube where it gets sprayed with crap and stones from the rear wheel... bottom or conventional swing have it all on the side of the seat tube, above the chainrings. It's just an unfortunate necessity on my frame because of the suspension swingarm
Yep, had it the wrong way round! Same reason on mine, the "seat tube" is too short to have a bottom swing mech.

[mattpage]

I love SRAM too, but don't rate thier front mech or cassettes.
Stick with the shimano cassette and front mech, but go for SRAM everything else.

SRAM front mech is heavy and looks naff. SRAM cassettes dont last long and are heavy. shifting is slightly worse too.
I use a dura ace 12-27 cassette (184g!). Works brilliantly. You can make it a 12-27 by getting a new 11 and 12t, costs an extra £5 or so.
I'm going to try the cassette with a duo setup on front, 44, 30t this year. Combine it with a shorter BB axle to get a better Q-factor.