Ask the experts

[SchralphMacchio]

Hahahhahahahaha.

Yo C, how old is are the cassette and chainring? I usually do the chainring when I do the cassette. If it’s a GX cassette it should be fine for 2 maybe 3 chains.

I always do the cable and housing when I do the chain. Do you have a cable cutting tool? Electrical pliers or other snippers will not work well for cutting shift cable housing.

[XXX-er]

real cable cutters are a good tool to own but before i got real park cable cutters I would take the old housing to the LBS and get them to cut me pieces same as the old and charge me by the foot, also get some housing & cable ends

a red sanding disc chucked in my drill also works well to face housing ends

[Cocximus]

I have klein cable cutters and very sharp small wire cutters(amazon $10) that look like cable cutters for everything between 24# to 10#. They are the best strippers I own. When they dull they become flex conduit an AC(cable) stripper. That is expert advice. They were never that good for cutting bike housings. A slower moving angle grinder is my favorite. This is amateur advice.

Re shimano brakes. Yes, it turns out they only need burping. I always went full bleed, but burping did it. Weird, it's almost like the cylinder does not have a reservoir.

[sfotex]

Other then real cable cutters the only thing that has worked well for me is a Demel with a cut-off disk

[zion zig zag]

Kapvoe $20-30 clear/gray photochromics on Amazon are surprisingly great in PNW low light forests. I used to run clear year round because our forests are so thick, and these work fine. Much more comfy than the UVEX/Honeywell Hypershock safety glasses I used for years until Honeywell gradually kept raising the price on them, and honestly these clear fog a little better than the Honeywells too due to being further from my eyes. I have not tried the Kapvoe photochromic ones with flash tint.

I ordered a pair of these to try and they don't darken...at all. Maybe I got sent a regular clear lens? I'm going to exchange them for another pair to see if I just got unlucky.

[Dantheman]

I ordered a pair of these to try and they don't darken...at all. Maybe I got sent a regular clear lens? I'm going to exchange them for another pair to see if I just got unlucky.

I wouldn't bother with an exchange, they did the exact same thing for me. Maybe they'll darken at high noon, but apparently full sun at 4:30 pm days after the solstice isn't enough UV to do it.

[SchralphMacchio]

Bummer guys! I’m not lying when I say both of my pairs of the model I linked above, mine with black frame and my wife’s blue frame, do work as advertised and work well. I just rode with them in Oakridge under a variable clear to cloudy to clear sky in and out of forest canopy yesterday. Should obviously darken within seconds under bright outdoor light. Could be a bin labeling defect at the manufacturer, but Amazon should take care of you. I live near a Whole Foods so it’s very easy to do returns etc.

[zion zig zag]

I wouldn't bother with an exchange, they did the exact same thing for me. Maybe they'll darken at high noon, but apparently full sun at 4:30 pm days after the solstice isn't enough UV to do it.

Well that sucks. Truth be told, I didn't love how much frame was in my low field of vision anyway.

[Wes Mantooth]

This might be a stupid question but how much does +/- 5mm in shock stroke length actually matter? Fully understand that in principle stroke amplifies travel and adding a longer stroke could put the linkage in a position it’s not designed for at full compression and I’m sure it varies frame to frame, but curious how much of an impact 5mm would actually make and if people ever over stroke a bike for a few mms more travel. I know the SB 130 LR for example uses a 2.5mm longer stroke, but are there geo tweaks along with that to accommodate it?

[grskier]

This might be a stupid question but how much does +/- 5mm in shock stroke length actually matter? Fully understand that in principle stroke amplifies travel and adding a longer stroke could put the linkage in a position it’s not designed for at full compression and I’m sure it varies frame to frame, but curious how much of an impact 5mm would actually make and if people ever over stroke a bike for a few mms more travel. I know the SB 130 LR for example uses a 2.5mm longer stroke, but are there geo tweaks along with that to accommodate it?

That's a bike to bike thing, and where people go through the stupidest (but sometimes fruitful) exercises on MTBR. Some bikes will have the tire hit the seat stay with the extra travel, others are fine. some it depends on the tire you are running, etc.

Look at the cascade links and how they talk about the shock travel, etc.

[toast2266]

This might be a stupid question but how much does +/- 5mm in shock stroke length actually matter? Fully understand that in principle stroke amplifies travel and adding a longer stroke could put the linkage in a position it’s not designed for at full compression and I’m sure it varies frame to frame, but curious how much of an impact 5mm would actually make and if people ever over stroke a bike for a few mms more travel. I know the SB 130 LR for example uses a 2.5mm longer stroke, but are there geo tweaks along with that to accommodate it?

Like grskier said, very much depends on the bike. But plenty of bikes have a leverage ratios somewhere in the neighborhood of 3:1, meaning 5 mm more stroke would add something like 15mm of travel. And assuming your eye to eye isn't changing, that extra 15mm is coming at the end of the travel. For non-high pivot bikes, the arc the wheel is following is going substantially forwards at the end of the travel, meaning there's a pretty good chance you'll run into clearance issues between the tire and the seat tube (or worse, a seatstay brace and the seat tube).

For something like the 130 LR, that bike gets overforked (10mm longer than the regular version). So a 2.5 mm longer stroke shock more or less matches the increase in travel at the front. The frame is exactly the same (and obviously has the clearance to accept the additional travel). Worth noting though that the longer fork slackens the bike a bit and raises the BB a few mm, which plays nicely with the extra travel in the back.

[Wes Mantooth]

Like grskier said, very much depends on the bike. But plenty of bikes have a leverage ratios somewhere in the neighborhood of 3:1, meaning 5 mm more stroke would add something like 15mm of travel. And assuming your eye to eye isn't changing, that extra 15mm is coming at the end of the travel. For non-high pivot bikes, the arc the wheel is following is going substantially forwards at the end of the travel, meaning there's a pretty good chance you'll run into clearance issues between the tire and the seat tube (or worse, a seatstay brace and the seat tube).

For something like the 130 LR, that bike gets overforked (10mm longer than the regular version). So a 2.5 mm longer stroke shock more or less matches the increase in travel at the front. The frame is exactly the same (and obviously has the clearance to accept the additional travel). Worth noting though that the longer fork slackens the bike a bit and raises the BB a few mm, which plays nicely with the extra travel in the back.

Makes sense! I've been looking at upgrading the shock on my Rascal so I got curious about putting on a 210 x 52.5 instead of a 210 x 50 to put it at ~136.5 since the leverage ratio I believe is 2.6. I already have it overforked with a 150 up front so I could see it matching nicely for the reasons you stated, and the frame appears to have plenty of clearance for it. Seems like modification wise it'd be nearly identical to what Yeti does with the 130 LR

[toast2266]

Makes sense! I've been looking at upgrading the shock on my Rascal so I got curious about putting on a 210 x 52.5 instead of a 210 x 50 to put it at ~136.5 since the leverage ratio I believe is 2.6. I already have it overforked with a 150 up front so I could see it matching nicely for the reasons you stated, and the frame appears to have plenty of clearance for it. Seems like modification wise it'd be nearly identical to what Yeti does with the 130 LR

Depending on the shock you have, it's often pretty easy to change the stroke length - it's usually just a matter of removing a spacer. You could just try it with your current shock and see if everything clears. Just change the stroke, mount it up, and bottom it out without any air in the shock. Just remember there's a bottom out bumper in there, so when it feels like you're at bottom, it can still move a bit farther.

[grskier]

Makes sense! I've been looking at upgrading the shock on my Rascal so I got curious about putting on a 210 x 52.5 instead of a 210 x 50 to put it at ~136.5 since the leverage ratio I believe is 2.6. I already have it overforked with a 150 up front so I could see it matching nicely for the reasons you stated, and the frame appears to have plenty of clearance for it. Seems like modification wise it'd be nearly identical to what Yeti does with the 130 LR

Call Revel and ask, those guys are awesome over there. I'm sure they get that question a ton, especially as a company with 3 FS bikes in the lineup not 5 like some of the bigger brands, so people are looking to tweak a bit.

[Boissal]

This might be a stupid question but how much does +/- 5mm in shock stroke length actually matter? Fully understand that in principle stroke amplifies travel and adding a longer stroke could put the linkage in a position it’s not designed for at full compression and I’m sure it varies frame to frame, but curious how much of an impact 5mm would actually make and if people ever over stroke a bike for a few mms more travel. I know the SB 130 LR for example uses a 2.5mm longer stroke, but are there geo tweaks along with that to accommodate it?

I ran my Orbea Occam with a 50mm stroke shock for a while then removed a spacer in the shock to bump stroke to 55 mm (required a damper bleed). It bumped the travel from 140 to 150ish so a 10% increase in stroke = a 7ish% increase in travel. No issues with frame clearance, and that was later confirmed by Orbea when they released a longer stroked version of the same bike with no changes to the frame or linkage. No changes to the geo whatsoever except that the BB got even lower on big hits. It made the bike more capable but it was mostly noticeable in oh-shit moments, the main limitations of the bike being from the geometry more than the suspension. And the person riding the bike of course...

[John_B]

the person riding the bike of course...

Can confirm that is still the limiting factor.

[Meconium]

Anyone know of a tip, hack or whizzbang that reminds you to raise a vertical rack back up before driving off? (VelociRAX)
Haven’t destroyed anything yet but it se inevitable.

[anotherVTskibum]

Anyone know of a tip, hack or whizzbang that reminds you to raise a vertical rack back up before driving off? (VelociRAX)
Haven’t destroyed anything yet but it se inevitable.

"remove before flight -- did you raise the rack?" on a piece of survey tape and left on the steering wheel before getting out?

[smmokan]

Anyone riding a Transition Spire? Curious to hear your thoughts on how it climbs, handles, etc. How do you have it set up? What don't you like about it?

[XXX-er]

Anyone know of a tip, hack or whizzbang that reminds you to raise a vertical rack back up before driving off? (VelociRAX)
Haven’t destroyed anything yet but it se inevitable.

I find it helps to develop a routine so ferinstance if I use my kitchen range I always turn on the hood light so if the light is on a burner is also on and mostly it works

it almost always works

[helldriven]

Anyone know of a tip, hack or whizzbang that reminds you to raise a vertical rack back up before driving off? (VelociRAX)
Haven’t destroyed anything yet but it se inevitable.

When you come back from a ride and pull out your keys to unlock your vehicle hang the keys on the rack, they are the reminder to raise the rack back up... if you forget and get in to drive you will have no keys and will have to go get them from the rack and you can lift the rack then if you have forgotten. Similar to what Lee just posted regarding the stove and light.

[XXX-er]

you can call me Al

[SchralphMacchio]

Anyone riding a Transition Spire? Curious to hear your thoughts on how it climbs, handles, etc. How do you have it set up? What don't you like about it?

I’m not, I know lots of mags are on one and can comment more authoritatively than I. I just wanted to chime in that I demoed that bike on the same day as several other Transition bikes at an event Transition was running (plus a RockShox guy was there) and the Spire is possibly the most impressive bikes I’ve ever ridden from an engineering standpoint. The RockShox tune on the Zeb and SDU felt soooo harmonious with then bike’s kinematics and geometry. Climbing and overall traction were incredibly impressive - so much traction with an air shock! I got on it before hopping on a Sentinel and I thought it climbed better than the Sentinel due to the front and rear center being so balanced and the suspension being so dialed out of the box. It’s a bike that I felt shrinks trails, which is good if you are trying to haul ass and you have lots of high speed trails near you, but less good if you have “small terrain” trails and just want to throw small whips off of roots and little tiny side hits. It’s a bike that I worried might feel boring below 20 mph as it is so damp and in control.

Smuggler Spire would be such a great 2 bike quiver. Smuggler makes slow trails fast / small trails big, rails corners and makes you feel like Bryn Atkinson, like you’re gonna drag your bars every corner and tear the corner knobs off the tires, while Spire makes fast trails slow / big trails small, like you are Minaar and everything is just smooth fast effortless and you have no speed limit, no traction limit, just stay on the gas and send to the moon.

[smmokan]

Awesome, that's a great writeup. I wonder how the Spire does in tight, slower tech? I ride in Whistler/Squamish/Pemby a decent amount, and then we have a few spots around CO that are similar in style. From the reviews, it sounds like the bike is more manageable than its large & long numbers show.

You hit the nail on the head, right now I have a Smuggler / Dreadnought, so the Spire would replace the Forbidden as my big bike.

[Spencer123]

I just did a lower leg service and increased the travel on my Fox 36 (Grip 2). I think the old seals had been leaking, not a lot of oil was left in the lowers. Put it all back together seemingly without issue. It feels fine around the neighborhood except it now sounds like a wheezing asthmatic. The damper could probably use service, but it wasn't loud like this beforehand. I didn't get into the damper side at all, just added the 40 cc of bath oil to that side lower. Anyway just having a full load of fresh bath oil can result in that? Can that just be the air equilization port (there was quite a bit of grease on the old one).

Any other ideas on things I might have messed up?

Thanks!