Winter 2017 Random MTB Talk Thread

[beaterdit]

Yeah, I remember seeing the patent, they basically just made a lot of notches in the metal for carbon to bond to as much surface area as possible before curing. Not sure if these are the new or old design, hard to tell. I think they put that design in place when the old next sl (not the new g4) cranks came out.

Yeah these look like the new inserts. There are two offset star shaped rings on the insert, pretty wide too. As well as the insert ripping out, some metal tabs broke off the insert.

[Telemarketeer]

Is it worth upgrading a perfectly good 2x10 XT setup to 1x11 on my Ibis HDR or should I just wait and get a new bike next year?

[funkendrenchman]

Is it worth upgrading a perfectly good 2x10 XT setup to 1x11 on my Ibis HDR or should I just wait and get a new bike next year?

Yes. Front derailleurs suck. And you can get all the range you need from an 11-46 cassette.

You can probably do it for less than $250. In fact I have a barely used 11-46 Shimano cassette I can sell you for $55 shipped. I'm swapping it for a 10-44 Hope cassette.

[smmokan]

You can get a full XT drivetrain for $345 on Chain Reaction... assuming you can keep your current crankset, sell off the XT crank and you've got your setup for under $250.

[evdog]

Just go 1x10, at zero cost. You don't need the extra size cog out back or extended range cassette. If you have lots of steep climbs you will suck wind for a couple months til you get in better shape, then you will be fine and better for it. When your drive train wears out, buy whatever cassette and ring you prefer.

[Dantheman]

Just go 1x10, at zero cost. You don't need the extra size cog out back or extended range cassette. If you have lots of steep climbs you will suck wind for a couple months til you get in better shape, then you will be fine and better for it. When your drive train wears out, buy whatever cassette and ring you prefer.

I'd still recommend a NW ring since chain retention with a ramped/pinned ring and no FD is going to suck. Leave the small ring on though. If a climb is kicking your ass and you need to cry uncle just take a 30 second break and shift it by hand. I did this for years.

[kidwoo]

So my cranks were definitely beat to shit. RF says $240 crash replacement for new G4s. I'll take it. Prolly run them too honestly.

Plus you have an extra!


You need to ride opposite footed for a while.

[jm2e]

Wow. We're still discussing 1x10 conversion?
Like Kidwoo said, just buy a kit from the UK if you aren't already tinkering with 1x10.

On a random side of the debate, I just got an 11-42 10 speed Sunrace cassette to go on my 6" travel 4 year old 26er. The bike still destroys trails, and the new cassette will give me just a little more granny than my 11-36 gave me. This is costing me a little less than if I'd gone with an M8000 Cassette, shifter and RD. But frankly, the M8000 setup on my wife's trail bike has been underwhelming enough that I'm not sold. Fucking up my chainline with that 11th cog doesn't give me a net advantage. If I can back pedal with an "old fashioned" cassette, it'll be a better system.

[jm2e]

I'm actually thinking the best system right now might be:
Sram 11 speed cassette (better chainline)
paired with
Shimano RD and Shifter (better shifting)

[Gunder]

Speaking of snapping carbon.

LOLZ

Fuuuck....

I had an almost identical failure of a pair of xx1 cranks last year.... when will these mfg learn how to properly bond the aluminum insert into the carbon layup.....

[jm2e]

That failure doesn't look like it has anything to do with the insert. It's not like the insert stripped out and the arm is otherwise intact. Looks more like they designed the arm to be plenty strong, but forgot to account for the weakening affect around the area that has two large holes and receives all the lateral shock loading.
I'm no mechanical engineer, but I'd design version 2.0 to have a little extra material right around THAT ONE SPOT WHERE THEY ALL BREAK.

[Dantheman]

Wow. We're still discussing 1x10 conversion?

No, not really.

On a random side of the debate, I just got an 11-42 10 speed Sunrace cassette to go on my 6" travel 4 year old 26er. The bike still destroys trails, and the new cassette will give me just a little more granny than my 11-36 gave me. This is costing me a little less than if I'd gone with an M8000 Cassette, shifter and RD. But frankly, the M8000 setup on my wife's trail bike has been underwhelming enough that I'm not sold. Fucking up my chainline with that 11th cog doesn't give me a net advantage. If I can back pedal with an "old fashioned" cassette, it'll be a better system.

You'll be stoked. I just added one of the Sunrace cassettes, a RAD cage and AB oval ring to my drivetrain. No backpedaling issues.

[jono]

I'm no mechanical engineer, but I'd design version 2.0 to have a little extra material right around THAT ONE SPOT WHERE THEY ALL BREAK.

Can't speak for all the mechanicals not employed by SRAM, but I approve this message. It seems pretty odd to me that these cranks haven't grown noticably wider at the pedal hole.

[jm2e]

How much thought do you guys put into pads and rotors? And do you believe rotors become pad sensitive (i.e. Does a rotor previously used with resin not work well with metal? Theory being that it "absorbs" pad material)?

I almost always just get cheap pads from discobrakes. Because a) I've never really felt any difference between different pads, and b) It's really nice when you can simply do a bleed and change pads whenever you want to tune up your brakes, rather than trying to milk a set of pads for all they're worth until they implode, and c) seriously SRAM and Shimano rape you on pads.

[evdog]

I just stock up on pads when they go on sale. Since I run XT brakes on all my bikes it's easy.

Pads like Truckerco on ebay are dirt cheap, but I'll still buy Shimano pads when I find them on sale. Sometimes I've gotten them almost as cheap as the off brands.

[Dee Hubbs]

" I think I can get a few more rides out of these pads.."



The things you see working in a shop.

[One (+) Sentence]

and c) seriously SRAM and Shimano rape you on pads.

Shimano G01A pad's might be the most common replacement pads for Deore through XTR level brakes and cost about $12.

Shimano hasn't raped consumers on pricing in a long, long time.

[gravitylover]

Shimano hasn't raped consumers on pricing in a long, long time.

Boy there's a controversial statement

[jm2e]

Shimano G01A pad's might be the most common replacement pads for Deore through XTR level brakes and cost about $12.
.

Funny, I knew not about cheap Shim pads. Only thing I've ever seen was $20-40 options in the LBS.
Will certainly consider.

[robnow]

I've also been through 2 sets of the Next SLs, one a season. First one was the pedal insert because loose and was warrantied. Not sure what happened to the second as the shop noticed something and sent it back and fortunately they traded me for a set of Sixc. We'll see how those go.

I've been curious on the reputation of Intense in the US. I'm in Canada and their rep absolutely sucks, especially now that they're only being sold at MEC (Canadian REI). My shop which sells SC, Yeti, Trek and used to sell Intense has steered me away for years due to the way they handle warranty issues.

[ghosthop]

I've been curious on the reputation of Intense in the US. I'm in Canada and their rep absolutely sucks, especially now that they're only being sold at MEC (Canadian REI). My shop which sells SC, Yeti, Trek and used to sell Intense has steered me away for years due to the way they handle warranty issues.

a friend of mine works at an intense shop in UT. Seems like they have garbage rep support as well, the rep makes the shop pay to demo bike for customers, and then will get contact info from the customer and sell bike direct instead of through the shop. I got to ride one of their 5-6 in. bikes in the 6k range and it was meh. A bike that is 6k should be anything but meh.

[evdog]

Living in San Diego where Intense is basically a local company, they have a pretty high reputation here and *all* the cool kids are riding them. Seems like the new designs are riding great. I have a number of friends who I trust who are sponsored by or are in their ambassador program that have little but great things to say about the bikes. I got to try out a Primer in Fruita last winter, it rode great- better than some of the VPP Santa Cruz bikes I've tested lately. I could probably get a killer deal on Intense from my LBS but I've been pissed off by constant spamming of social media by another shop for every sale and shop ride, so I refuse to buy one. Petty, I know.

I can't comment on the warranty support but we have some great shops down here that take care of their riders and since Intense is an hour away support seems pretty good. I would hope a good shop would provide good support regardless of location. MEC didn't carry bikes when I was in Canada but they normally had a great return policy on stuff, same as REI. Maybe their support for bikes isn't that great though... I've never used REI for service. Personally I would lean toward a brand that my LBS sells since I know I'll get great service from them.

[jm2e]

I've seen a couple burly looking alloy Intense frames with catastrophic failures. That's anecdotal, but it's shit I wouldn't be able to overlook if I was shopping for bikes.