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  1. #26
    Join Date
    Dec 2008
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    Vacationland
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    5,912
    I have some slight noise in my single pivot Bantam which has RF cinch cranks. What's the rap with those Woo?

  2. #27
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Location
    livin the dream
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    5,761
    The "Santa Cruz Squeak." Learn to love it.
    Best Skier on the Mountain
    Self-Certified
    1992 - 2012
    Squaw Valley, USA

  3. #28
    Join Date
    Aug 2008
    Location
    Central VT
    Posts
    4,806
    I had same the creaking after a few hundred miles on the Hightower. I was convinced it was rear hub but re-torquing the pivot bolts fixed it. It's been nice and quiet ever since.

  4. #29
    Join Date
    Mar 2006
    Location
    in your second home, doing heroin
    Posts
    14,690
    Rotate your cassette. Like literally just take it off and put it back in a different position. Those cassettes bite into aluminum cassette bodies really badly and can create play.

    Those aeffect cranks are cinch style, but pretty much do the same thing, just take them out and put them back in, loading with the preload ring again and rotate the ring and/or spider.



    The reason I ask is because 99.99999999% of the time I get a bike creak, it's these two things.
    Besides the comet that killed the dinosaurs nothing has destroyed a species faster than entitled white people.-ajp

  5. #30
    Join Date
    Sep 2010
    Location
    Golden, Colorado
    Posts
    5,868

    Santa Cruz Hightower 29er & 650b

    Quote Originally Posted by HankScorpio View Post
    I had same the creaking after a few hundred miles on the Hightower. I was convinced it was rear hub but re-torquing the pivot bolts fixed it. It's been nice and quiet ever since.
    The single pivot bikes may be different, but all Santa Cruz VPP bikes have adjustable pivot bearings in the lower links. Learn how to keep em tight and lubed and the bike runs smooth for a LONG LONG time. If they get a little loose they'll begin to squeek. You might be able to perceive some play by grabbing the seat tube and pulling up on it. Its like maintaining the oil in your fork. Once in a while type of thing. Pinkbike has a video on it I think. Easy to do.

  6. #31
    Join Date
    Jan 2011
    Posts
    660
    Strawjack- Check out the Hightower forum thread on Mtbr. Go to the last/latest page. A few posts up there are very specific instructions for all the bolts. This info was posted to try to eliminate areas that commonly cause squeak.
    And if you really want to get your geek on, then read through all the posts. There's a whole lot of chaff, but there is also some useful info.
    Loving my Hightower!

  7. #32
    Join Date
    Oct 2003
    Posts
    1,748
    Quote Originally Posted by smmokan View Post
    Yep, to me it just looks like a nicely updated version of the LTc... which is definitely not a bad thing. Pretty sweet looking bike, that's for sure.

    I don't get the whole 27.5+ thing but hey, if it gets more people riding, then that's a good thing.
    Don't you have a mojo 3? You must not have it set up on the plus side of the world? I ride that bike set up plus and I loved it. That in mind I'm not sure the plus tire thing actually added anything that a good 2.4 wouldn't have added. I'm on the prowl for a mojo 3 I liked it so much.

  8. #33
    Join Date
    Jun 2006
    Location
    earth
    Posts
    5,076
    Thanks all for the feedback.

    So I didn't have a lot of time to deal with this last night, but I did pull, clean, and lube three bolts...pivot points. This is what I discovered -


    I wasn't too excited to see the rust. One bolt had no sign of locktite or grease and the two others had signs of both, but were rusted as well.

    Beyond that I tried to dial in the noise and the headset, shock, bars...whatever!...was making a wicked noise also. I went through all of those bolts and reset them with the torque wrench and it's still noisy as hell.

    Not super happy with this, but the bike rides awesome! Just ordered some ear plugs

  9. #34
    Join Date
    Jun 2006
    Location
    earth
    Posts
    5,076
    So went to the shop and they told me the headset needed a cleaning, so I pulled that apart to clean and re-grease. When the fork came off that's when ball bearings went flying. Found the source of my noise

    They also pulled the serial number from my dropper post and that thing is getting warrantied also.

    A lot of failures on this bike so far.

  10. #35
    Join Date
    Mar 2015
    Posts
    551
    Quote Originally Posted by strawjack View Post
    So went to the shop and they told me the headset needed a cleaning, so I pulled that apart to clean and re-grease. When the fork came off that's when ball bearings went flying. Found the source of my noise

    They also pulled the serial number from my dropper post and that thing is getting warrantied also.

    A lot of failures on this bike so far.
    Unfortunate that you feel that way about the bike. There's always going to be components that go bad. Price of admission to this sport can certainly suck, regardless of the brand. Love my HT.

  11. #36
    Join Date
    Apr 2004
    Location
    Three-O-Three
    Posts
    15,418
    Quote Originally Posted by justcuz View Post
    Don't you have a mojo 3? You must not have it set up on the plus side of the world? I ride that bike set up plus and I loved it. That in mind I'm not sure the plus tire thing actually added anything that a good 2.4 wouldn't have added. I'm on the prowl for a mojo 3 I liked it so much.
    Sorry, just saw this... I have the HD3 and a Mojo 3, but I have 2.5" DHFs set up on both. I might be tempted next spring to throw some of the new 2.8" DHFs on there, but the durability of the current tire options suck, and I think both bikes are awesome as-is.

    FWIW, I like my HD3 better than the Mojo 3, but it's complicated.

  12. #37
    Join Date
    Jun 2006
    Location
    earth
    Posts
    5,076
    Quote Originally Posted by Fred Pabst View Post
    Unfortunate that you feel that way about the bike. There's always going to be components that go bad. Price of admission to this sport can certainly suck, regardless of the brand. Love my HT.
    No, I totally dig my bike, just stating the failures so far. Mechanical stuff breaks, but this is just more than the past 3 bikes combined over the same period of time. The only true disappointment is the rusty washer and possibly bolts. That is complete bullshit imo, but minor in the overall performance of the bike.

  13. #38
    Join Date
    Aug 2008
    Location
    Central VT
    Posts
    4,806
    Quote Originally Posted by strawjack View Post
    No, I totally dig my bike, just stating the failures so far. Mechanical stuff breaks, but this is just more than the past 3 bikes combined over the same period of time. The only true disappointment is the rusty washer and possibly bolts. That is complete bullshit imo, but minor in the overall performance of the bike.
    You probably already said but how many miles on your Hightower? I'm approaching 500 miles on mine and based on your experience, I think its time to break it down, clean, re-grease and reinstall everything. I'm also planning on that damn Reverb failing soon so I can get it warrantied, sell it and get a Race Face Turbine dropper.

  14. #39
    Join Date
    Apr 2006
    Location
    SF & the Ho
    Posts
    9,299
    Quote Originally Posted by smmokan View Post
    Sorry, just saw this... I have the HD3 and a Mojo 3, but I have 2.5" DHFs set up on both. I might be tempted next spring to throw some of the new 2.8" DHFs on there, but the durability of the current tire options suck, and I think both bikes are awesome as-is.

    FWIW, I like my HD3 better than the Mojo 3, but it's complicated.
    Those two seem like some serious overlap. Why both, especially if not running balloons on the 3?

  15. #40
    Join Date
    Jun 2006
    Location
    earth
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    5,076
    Quote Originally Posted by HankScorpio View Post
    You probably already said but how many miles on your Hightower? I'm approaching 500 miles on mine and based on your experience, I think its time to break it down, clean, re-grease and reinstall everything. I'm also planning on that damn Reverb failing soon so I can get it warrantied, sell it and get a Race Face Turbine dropper.
    Not even the slightest clue. I'm not into tracking numbers, ski days, vert, any of that stuff. Never have and never will. When I skied everyday and someone posed that question, I could guesstimate by figuring out how many days the lift ran and then guess the amount of bc days before and after they were running. So, with that said, I've ridden it 25-30 days maybe, give or take 10. So yeah, no clue!

  16. #41
    Join Date
    Sep 2001
    Location
    Golden
    Posts
    6,383
    I'm considering buying a used 2016 hightower frame on pinkbike. Seems like a good option if I'm not willing to drop the coin on a newer rig. Duder has it setup with a DB Coil IL shock, any thoughts on that?

    I'd like to run normal (2.5) 27.5 tires and a 160mm fork, since that's what I have available, and I don't really get the plus size thing...Would this change the geometry enough to mess things up? Anyone tried similiar?

    Appreciate the info/suggestions...
    Drive slow, homie.

  17. #42
    Join Date
    Jul 2008
    Posts
    3,673
    Quote Originally Posted by Z View Post
    I'm considering buying a used 2016 hightower frame on pinkbike. Seems like a good option if I'm not willing to drop the coin on a newer rig. Duder has it setup with a DB Coil IL shock, any thoughts on that?

    I'd like to run normal (2.5) 27.5 tires and a 160mm fork, since that's what I have available, and I don't really get the plus size thing...Would this change the geometry enough to mess things up? Anyone tried similiar?

    Appreciate the info/suggestions...
    IIRC it might lower the BB to a weird place, BUT not sure those frames back with the way things were in 2016, were all that low to start, Having said that, I’m not really sure.
    Do I detect a lot of anger flowing around this place? Kind of like a pubescent volatility, some angst, a lot of I'm-sixteen-and-angry-at-my-father syndrome?

    fuck that noise.

    gmen.

  18. #43
    Join Date
    Aug 2008
    Location
    Central VT
    Posts
    4,806
    Quote Originally Posted by Z View Post
    I'm considering buying a used 2016 hightower frame on pinkbike. Seems like a good option if I'm not willing to drop the coin on a newer rig. Duder has it setup with a DB Coil IL shock, any thoughts on that?

    I'd like to run normal (2.5) 27.5 tires and a 160mm fork, since that's what I have available, and I don't really get the plus size thing...Would this change the geometry enough to mess things up? Anyone tried similiar?

    Appreciate the info/suggestions...
    I had a 2016 Hightower for a few seasons. Great bike but I found the BB to be quite low, lots of pedal strikes. 27.5 x 2.5 is close to plus size but you're still dropping the BB a bit.

  19. #44
    Join Date
    Dec 2007
    Location
    Hell Track
    Posts
    13,844
    Quote Originally Posted by Z View Post
    I'm considering buying a used 2016 hightower frame on pinkbike. Seems like a good option if I'm not willing to drop the coin on a newer rig. Duder has it setup with a DB Coil IL shock, any thoughts on that?

    I'd like to run normal (2.5) 27.5 tires and a 160mm fork, since that's what I have available, and I don't really get the plus size thing...Would this change the geometry enough to mess things up? Anyone tried similiar?

    Appreciate the info/suggestions...
    I owned that bike. 27.5 wheels without plus tires won't really work. You'll be extremely low. I also don't think that's a great bike to put a coil shock on - I suspect you'll have issues with bottoming out.

  20. #45
    Join Date
    Jan 2009
    Location
    Saratoga Springs, NY
    Posts
    1,629
    +1 on 27.5x2.6 being too low. shit, I thought the bike was too low with 27.5x3.0 tires, but then again our riding is flat/rolling and techy, so you never stop pedaling. Also, thin 3.0 tires are no bueno (bike came that way, and I was not about to buy different plus tires to find out if 2.8s were better given my litany of pedal strikes)

    It's a good all-rounder though. I personally was always a little curious how the bike would've performed with a coil, but I also never got the chance to run a piggyback air shock like I really wanted.

  21. #46
    Join Date
    Dec 2002
    Location
    cow hampshire
    Posts
    8,298
    Quote Originally Posted by Z View Post
    I'm considering buying a used 2016 hightower frame on pinkbike. Seems like a good option if I'm not willing to drop the coin on a newer rig. Duder has it setup with a DB Coil IL shock, any thoughts on that?

    I'd like to run normal (2.5) 27.5 tires and a 160mm fork, since that's what I have available, and I don't really get the plus size thing...Would this change the geometry enough to mess things up? Anyone tried similiar?

    Appreciate the info/suggestions...
    Like everyone has mentioned, it won't work. Way too low. I'm still on my bike as a 29er and smashing the shit out my bb is just too common. I'm on my second bash guard.

  22. #47
    Join Date
    Sep 2001
    Location
    Golden
    Posts
    6,383
    Right on, thanks guys. Think I’ll pass on it...

  23. #48
    Join Date
    Oct 2005
    Location
    Washoe Valley
    Posts
    361
    OK, just to add to the discussion, I own a 2018 Hightower which was the last year of the 27.5/29 option. I demoed the bike both ways and decide to buy the bike in the 27.5/2.8 option and get a second set of 29/2.35 wheels complete and ride both. This combo was easy as I could transition wheel sets without having to readjust my brakes. so after riding both I thought the bike was a great bike in the 29 mode and just so so with the 27.5. I decide that the 2.8 tires were holding the bike back and put on a set of 2.6 Recons. This was a disaster as I started to have a lot of pedal strikes. I helped this problem by adding more air to the shocks and tires. Still...... I finally had a big pedal strike on a rock directly under the bike not a side strike. It fucking threw me OTB into a rock pile and a trip to get my arm sewed up. Anyway, after recovering from that I took my 29 set and remounted with 29x2.5 DHF and Aggressor rear and haven't looked back. So a costly experiment........

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