Anyone have anything they'd like to rant about?

[jamal]

Smoke is here. I guess I have to set up the trainer again? Drive to north idaho? Not ride a bike for a few days? So many bad options.

[rideit]

Goddammit, I’m an idiot. Was fixing my wife’s stuck caliper piston. Bled it, closed the bleed port, fine. Got the piston moving, pressed it in…and BLAMMO, huge oil leak out of the reservoir bladder at the lever. Whoops, forgot to crack the bleed port! Overfilled, game over.
The bitch is that I did this EXACT same thing four years ago when I got my new XTR stuff.
Memory ain’t what it used to be.
Thank god I found a brand new lever for $35.00, hopefully it’s not vaporware…

[John_B]

I've been riding bikes for 3 decades and when installing a new chain on my bike it still takes me at least 3 tries to route it correctly.

[VTskibum]

Too many beers deep I ran chain on wrong side of the pulley bridge(? Dunno what it’s called little tab between top and bottom pulley), then took me 3-4 rides to figure out wtf was wrong. It wasn’t making nearly as much noise as I thought it would have, but did feel like I was pedaling through concrete.


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[rideit]

I wouldn’t call it a ‘rant’, but check out THIS bullshit.
https://www.nashbar.com/fox-suspensi...01-510/p668182


“Next item on sale: one half of an ice cream sandwich, $1.99

[mtnjam]

Sounds like a lack of motivated leadership.

Don't get me started on that. I've built miles of trail with SWIMBA and for some reason they decided long ago that they were going to piss off all of the other trail managers in the area with new ideas for freeride trails back when those were popular. I think the thing that pisses me off the most about SWIMBA is that they COULD work with other land managers, but due to the reason above, SWIMBA has been stamped with a DO NOT WORK WITH.

[Canada1]

Too many beers deep I ran chain on wrong side of the pulley bridge(? Dunno what it’s called little tab between top and bottom pulley), then took me 3-4 rides to figure out wtf was wrong. It wasn’t making nearly as much noise as I thought it would have, but did feel like I was pedaling through concrete.


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I rode the whole enchilada that way once. Didn't realize it until I was cleaning the bike. All day the bike wasn't quite right!

[John_B]

Too many beers deep I ran chain on wrong side of the pulley bridge(? Dunno what it’s called little tab between top and bottom pulley), then took me 3-4 rides to figure out wtf was wrong. It wasn’t making nearly as much noise as I thought it would have, but did feel like I was pedaling through concrete.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

That was mistake #2. #1 was forgetting to route the chain through my rear triangle. There wasn't an exact #3 this time but dropping the chain and quicklink into gravel a couple times ought to count.

[evdog]

Not really trail building time of year, but it grinds my gears when your local trail advocacy organization purchases a spendy piece of equipment like a really nice trail machine, but all it has mostly done in the last 5 years is sit in a storage area collecting dust.

Could be a blessing in disguise. The only thing worse than having a mini ex and not using it is having one and using the shit out of it but having no clue how to build good trail with it. Local group seems to be on a mission to turn every inch of trail into a dirt sidewalk.

[Falcon3]

Bike shop I bought my first FS MTB from advertises “free tuneups for life!”
Of course that marketing is all over their website and social media but it doesn’t say what that includes. So I call and ask what’s in the free tuneup and am told:

“We take it fully apart, throw everything in the parts washer and reassemble. Check all the suspension bearings and headset/BB, true the wheels, the whole shebang”

I drop the bike off and ask them to do a couple things to parts they’ll have off anyway since they take it all apart and am told the free tuneup isn’t a disassembly, it’s just a minor wheel true and a drivetrain adjust. If I want them to do all the stuff they said was free on the phone it’s $200.

Follow up on this one!

Got a call from this shop while they were working on it and they said my chain is gone, need a new derailleur, cassette, maybe chainring, and both brake rotors are below minimum. I told them kindly to do the free tuneup and give it back to me.

Got home and checked the bike out. Both rotors are at 1.75mm (1.8 is new, 1.5 is min). Chain is barely at .5 so ok, I put a new one on. After their “tuneup” the damn shifting wouldn’t even index so I retuned it, with the new chain on, the cassette indexes perfectly and nothing skips or is hung up (cassette has 1400km but has been regularly cleaned as has chain). Cassette and chainring look fine.

What a shit show. I’m not usually one to leave bad google reviews but man, I’m certainly not buying anything from them again.

[VTskibum]

F'ing Karens ruining fun for everyone. Bitch about kids not getting outside, but then block the attempt for multiple years running.

Cliff notes; uppity neighbors built upscale houses that back up to woods, town nearby has had a pump track in the planning since ~2015 (before houses came in I believe), unleash NIMBY/Karens. In the meantime there are already very short trails through these woods that allowed(?) or at least tolerated bikes, some kids built some tiny jumps and then they start ticketing people for riding bikes back there. Finally after years the pumptrack made it into the town master plan and folks aren't giving it up.

Creating petitions and the like, but now they're using the "natural habitat" as their rationale. Love the random stock pictures and you can clearly see someone's house (likely one of the creators of this petition/site). Meanwhile this is in a fairly densely populated town already and there are something like 30-40 acres across the street from this 1 acre wooded plot. Ridiculous

https://savemalvernshabitat.com/malv...t-bicycle-park

[skaredshtles]

F'ing Karens ruining fun for everyone. Bitch about kids not getting outside, but then block the attempt for multiple years running.

Cliff notes; uppity neighbors built upscale houses that back up to woods, town nearby has had a pump track in the planning since ~2015 (before houses came in I believe), unleash NIMBY/Karens. In the meantime there are already very short trails through these woods that allowed(?) or at least tolerated bikes, some kids built some tiny jumps and then they start ticketing people for riding bikes back there. Finally after years the pumptrack made it into the town master plan and folks aren't giving it up.

Creating petitions and the like, but now they're using the "natural habitat" as their rationale. Love the random stock pictures and you can clearly see someone's house (likely one of the creators of this petition/site). Meanwhile this is in a fairly densely populated town already and there are something like 30-40 acres across the street from this 1 acre wooded plot. Ridiculous

https://savemalvernshabitat.com/malv...t-bicycle-park

"By preserving the natural land around us that has been here for thousands of years"

Oh, that's rich.

Fuckin' NIMBY's.

[zion zig zag]

F'ing Karens ruining fun for everyone. Bitch about kids not getting outside, but then block the attempt for multiple years running.

Cliff notes; uppity neighbors built upscale houses that back up to woods, town nearby has had a pump track in the planning since ~2015 (before houses came in I believe), unleash NIMBY/Karens. In the meantime there are already very short trails through these woods that allowed(?) or at least tolerated bikes, some kids built some tiny jumps and then they start ticketing people for riding bikes back there. Finally after years the pumptrack made it into the town master plan and folks aren't giving it up.

Creating petitions and the like, but now they're using the "natural habitat" as their rationale. Love the random stock pictures and you can clearly see someone's house (likely one of the creators of this petition/site). Meanwhile this is in a fairly densely populated town already and there are something like 30-40 acres across the street from this 1 acre wooded plot. Ridiculous

https://savemalvernshabitat.com/malv...t-bicycle-park

I like the multiple, capitalized uses of 'Dirt Bicycle Park.' But the stock photo of the burned out rainforest really sealed it for me.

[bagtagley]

"By preserving the natural land around us that has been here for thousands of years"

Oh, that's rich.

Fuckin' NIMBY's.

I mean, it's impressively vague. No mention of endangered species or pristine wilderness. Long enough ago to sound impressive, but not so long that you piss off the bible thumpers. They're definitely keeping some dramatic phrasing up their sleeves for later on.

[chicken feathers]

Follow up on this one!

Got a call from this shop while they were working on it and they said my chain is gone, need a new derailleur, cassette, maybe chainring, and both brake rotors are below minimum. I told them kindly to do the free tuneup and give it back to me.

Got home and checked the bike out. Both rotors are at 1.75mm (1.8 is new, 1.5 is min). Chain is barely at .5 so ok, I put a new one on. After their “tuneup” the damn shifting wouldn’t even index so I retuned it, with the new chain on, the cassette indexes perfectly and nothing skips or is hung up (cassette has 1400km but has been regularly cleaned as has chain). Cassette and chainring look fine.

What a shit show. I’m not usually one to leave bad google reviews but man, I’m certainly not buying anything from them again.

Thats BS...
they say a free tuneup includes a complete tear down & rebuild. I'd probably be skeptical based on that.

A few springs ago I was swamped w/ life, so I dropped the bikes off for service, and to get some parts replaced. Ended up being a complete PITA and a reminder to wrench on my stuff as much as possible.

[VTskibum]

I like the multiple, capitalized uses of 'Dirt Bicycle Park.' But the stock photo of the burned out rainforest really sealed it for me.

Actually missed that on the initial viewing. Also in a very unsurprising revelation, the person commenting on the article that lead me to that site also happens to live adjacent to the soon to be toxic waste zo... err I mean public park.

Bag of dicks isn't enough, think we need to bring in a truckload.

[Meconium]

Tapered steerer tube clamped in bike stand on the idiot spot.
Kind of like not putting the cap back on the toothpaste tube. Instead of a little mess on one’s razer, I got a good old direct hit of concreate on the air shaft valve when it squeezed out a few minutes later.

[Dee Hubbs]

Goddammit, I’m an idiot. Was fixing my wife’s stuck caliper piston. Bled it, closed the bleed port, fine. Got the piston moving, pressed it in…and BLAMMO, huge oil leak out of the reservoir bladder at the lever. Whoops, forgot to crack the bleed port! Overfilled, game over.
The bitch is that I did this EXACT same thing four years ago when I got my new XTR stuff.
Memory ain’t what it used to be.
Thank god I found a brand new lever for $35.00, hopefully it’s not vaporware…

Shimano now offers a replacement diaphragm for levers.

[rideit]

I actually have a working lever or two that I can poach, what I am not seeing is a step by step video of just how to remove them and replace them…

[Dee Hubbs]

I actually have a working lever or two that I can poach, what I am not seeing is a step by step video of just how to remove them and replace them…

Bleed the fluid out of the reservoir. Pull the brake lever to better access a 2mm reservoir screw under the lever body. Unthread it so it only shows 1 or 2 threads, do not unthread it completely. Once the 2mm reservoir diaphragm fixing screw is backed out, use your 2mm through top bleed screw to gently pry the diaphragm loose.
When placing the new diaphragm in the lever body, make sure the keyed notch is lined up.

If you really need a video I can send you one.

[NuMexJoe]

Dee, thank you. I don't even need any futzing with my Shimanos, but I'm compelled to say "you're awesome!" Thanks for your generous contributions to this island of misfit toys. My turn needing your expertise will surely come one of these days.

[rideit]

I’ll give it a go tomorrow, actually sounds fairly easy.
Thanks!

[rideit]

Dee, do you have a picture of the "2mm reservoir screw under the lever body"? I can't find it anywhere.

[rideit]

This is all I see.

[geomorph]

I'm sick of mountain bikers misusing the word loam. Loam is a specific percentage mixture of sand, silt and clay. Most of the time what is called loam is really organic humus or maybe topsoil. Words have meaning people!