Ask the experts

[snoboy]

Problem: New carbon framed bike has a dropper seatpost that just won't stay put. Slips an inch or more on every ride.

Things I have tried in consultation with the manufacturer:
1 - loading it with Fiber Grip paste
2 - greasing the bolt and the inside circumference of the seatpost clamp lightly
3 - upgrading to a Wolf Tooth seatpost clamp
4 - over torquing the clamp to 9 nM
5 - replacing the front triangle (!) under warranty

Now starting to suspect the seatpost is somehow the issue since it is a problem in 2 different frames, although the first frame was determined to be out of spec from my caliper measurements, and the new one had an extra diligent QC round as was said to be "nice and tight".

Will continue with consulting with the bike company, as they have been great to deal with, but looking for any possible things I have missed? Tips, tricks, etc.

Anyone happen to know the acceptable tolerance for a 31.6 seatpost OD? Could the over torque have collapsed the seatpost OD (seems really unlikely - the dropper still works like butter.

[Huskier]

Problem: New carbon framed bike has a dropper seatpost that just won't stay put. Slips an inch or more on every ride.

Things I have tried in consultation with the manufacturer:
1 - loading it with Fiber Grip paste
2 - greasing the bolt and the inside circumference of the seatpost clamp lightly
3 - upgrading to a Wolf Tooth seatpost clamp
4 - over torquing the clamp to 9 nM
5 - replacing the front triangle (!) under warranty

Now starting to suspect the seatpost is somehow the issue since it is a problem in 2 different frames, although the first frame was determined to be out of spec from my caliper measurements, and the new one had an extra diligent QC round as was said to be "nice and tight".

Will continue with consulting with the bike company, as they have been great to deal with, but looking for any possible things I have missed? Tips, tricks, etc.

Anyone happen to know the acceptable tolerance for a 31.6 seatpost OD? Could the over torque have collapsed the seatpost OD (seems really unlikely - the dropper still works like butter.

Are you ready for the stupidest answer you've ever heard in your life?

Maple syrup.

I had the same issue. I would have to torque My clamp to the point that my dropper was nonfunctional. I tried carbon paste. I tried spray truck bed liner on my dropper. I couldn't fit a shim. At one point I was just like "You know what f*** it I'm going to glue the thing. Then I thought better of f****** up my $X,000 investment. So I did one stop better and I just coated my post with like a really thin amount of a certain sticky, -water soluble- substance (in case it made things worse and I had to reverse course), let it kind of air out to the point that it was tacky. It added just the right amount of stiction, and I have not had it slip since.

Admittedly, it may have been the combination of everything above that solved the issue.

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[jamal]

that's how you get ants

[g_man80]

Can you share what dropper and frame you’re dealing with?

[rideit]

I would probably try a good ‘ol PBR can shim, but hey, that’s a little ghetto.

[jono]

Similar on carbon bars: electrical tape. The adhesive is kinda similar to the maple syrup description, so if/when it gets a little mangled it still does the job. Haven't wrapped any onto a seatpost, but each clamp on my bars has a wrap underneath it.

[Wes Mantooth]

School me on shock tuning. I’ve been looking for a float X with a 2.5mm longer stroke to get a little more travel out of my Rascal and get a better performing shock than my old lowest model super deluxe that only has rebound adjustment. Finally found a few well priced takeoffs from Rocky Mountain instincts which use the 210 x 52.5. In addition to switching out mounting hardware, what’s the general procedure for “matching” the tune on the new shock? Will the bike ride like ass if I don’t send it in to have it precisely matched to the rascal tune code?

I have a rudimentary understanding of the different shim stack configurations that are optimized for each bike and get how it’d be different bike to bike based on varying suspension designs, but finding conflicting info on how major of an impact this is

I am very much a set it and forget it type guy, I just like riding my bike and not obsessing over the tiniest differences, but I don’t wanna invest in a replacement shock and have it suck because I was too cheap/lazy to make it work. If I have to pay a couple hundred bucks for a re-tune on top of the shock purchase that will probably steer me away from doing this


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[toast2266]

Just from a quick Google search, a rascal and an instinct have roughly similar overall leverage ratios and are both more or less linear-progressive curves. If it were me, I'd slap the shock on as is and see how it feels. Then you can wade into retuning if it's non-optimal.

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[PNW Lifer]

Doesn’t look like you got a reply. That’s not a bad way to do it, but you likely don’t need to get a new crank. You’re almost certainly going to be able to find a single narrow/wide chainring to fit your current crank that should work. Some 2x systems from about 10 years ago have a wonky BCD, it for the purposes you’re talking about probably fine. You’ll still probably want clutch derailleur, but even that will depend on how bumpy these cx/xc courses are. I ran 1x for this purpose pre-clutch. The setup you listed though should work fine.


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Thanks for pointing me in the right direction!

[GBB]

School me on shock tuning. Will the bike ride like ass if I don’t send it in to have it precisely matched to the rascal tune code?

I'm in a similar boat at the moment. Found a great deal on a new Rock Shox Super Deluxe coil and am wondering if my savings will be eaten up by getting it tuned to the bike.

I'm also a set it and forget it type of person. I'd prefer to get this right from the outset. Is investing in a bike specific tune worth it straight away?

[Eluder]

Can you share what dropper and frame you’re dealing with?

My guess is a Sentinel

[snoboy]

My guess is a Sentinel

yup

[jm2e]

Can you share what dropper and frame you’re dealing with?

My guess is OneUp


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[g_man80]

Yep, the OneUp dropper on my buddy’s Sentinel slipped the first couple rides. I’m not sure if it’s still giving him trouble.

Sorry I can’t offer additional suggestions beyond what’s been mentioned. Other than I’ve had good luck with Finishline Fiber Grip paste.

[snoboy]

I didn't want to throw anyone under the bus, as Transition have been great to deal with in trying to sort this issue out, but you guys have both nailed it.

I'm not sure if it's maybe the new frame somehow settling in, but my ride today was all good. Still not convinced that it's fixed, but hopeful.

I am using the Finish Line paste, but I was actually going to ask if anyone has had particularly good or bad experiences with particular brands?

[Falcon3]

I'm in a similar boat at the moment. Found a great deal on a new Rock Shox Super Deluxe coil and am wondering if my savings will be eaten up by getting it tuned to the bike.

I'm also a set it and forget it type of person. I'd prefer to get this right from the outset. Is investing in a bike specific tune worth it straight away?

The new RS SD Coil (the one with Hydraulic Bottom Out) is actually quite adjustable, and RS only makes a couple tunes for them, so likely you'd be able to make it work without much trouble.

[XXX-er]

I am using the Finish Line paste, but I was actually going to ask if anyone has had particularly good or bad experiences with particular brands?

the makers of carbon products usually include an little 1 application pack of carbon assembly paste, so I got some packs from an lbs and then a big tube from park, i think its all pretty similar

I tried ever thing on my brand new creaking carbon Yeti 5.5 and we had 2 that were doing the same creak. I tried plumbers tape, lithium grease, squirt chain wax, nothing stopped the creak. Carbon paste completely stopped the creak, I had to re-apply the next year, I even use carbon paste on non carbon bike parts

just be careful not to get any on the designated slidey bits

[J. Barron DeJong]

I didn't want to throw anyone under the bus, as Transition have been great to deal with in trying to sort this issue out, but you guys have both nailed it.

I'm not sure if it's maybe the new frame somehow settling in, but my ride today was all good. Still not convinced that it's fixed, but hopeful.

I am using the Finish Line paste, but I was actually going to ask if anyone has had particularly good or bad experiences with particular brands?

I was getting some seatpost creaking with my new road bike which I’d used Finish Line carbon paste to assemble.

Ended up getting some Park Tools Supergrip after reading some.

It does seem to be a bit more tenacious than the Finish Line paste, so I’d say it’s worth a shot if nothing else has worked.

[Canada1]

Garburuk Cassettes. My You Tube has been inundated with reviews talking about their being lighter than XTR and half the cost. One guy had the aluminum 52 bend. Any of you tried them and how did they work?

[kinkilla]

Garburuk Cassettes. My You Tube has been inundated with reviews talking about their being lighter than XTR and half the cost. One guy had the aluminum 52 bend. Any of you tried them and how did they work?

I've had one on my Trail Pistol for about a year now. They seem to be a little more finicky than the GX cassette that I replaced with tuning the shifting. Also, make sure to use a threadlocker (purple I think?) when installing on an XD freehub (no idea about MS) since I neglected that step initially. The cassette was loosening every third ride or so when I didn't have the threadlocker on. My neglect caused some of the aluminum teeth on the 52 to wear a bit sharp but it still works fine. I've got a replacement cog in my spare parts if that starts to get rougher but no need yet. After that and spending the time to get the shifting dialed in I've loved it. I also love how the second biggest cog is a better step to the 52 than the SRAM 42, at 45 teeth.

[Andeh]

My brother in law put one on the frame I gave him because the local shop talked about how light & cheap it was. Shifting quality is definitely rougher than normal Eagle. He said he wouldn't buy it again.

[jdadour]

My brother in law put one on the frame I gave him because the local shop talked about how light & cheap it was. Shifting quality is definitely rougher than normal Eagle. He said he wouldn't buy it again.

Same experience here. Shifted slightly worse, but my biggest issue was it pedaled rough when climbing in the biggest cog. Switched back to a GX cassette, and everything went back to normal.

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[evdog]

Cool, thanks. And those are preferable to the steripen type things?

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Another vote for BeFree here. Have been using for 4-5 yrs now. Only issue is occasionally the flow slows inexplicably and no amount of shaking or swishing will restore it. Not as easy to replace when you're on the road as they aren't sold everywhere like sawyers. But even the reduced flow is similar to Sawyer micro squeeze. And when they are flowing at full rate they are awesome. So fast. Even when just filtering a little it's much nicer. And I'm more likely to drink more because of that.

I used a micro squeeze earlier and eventually moved up to regular size Sawyer squeeze as it had better flow rate for maybe 1 oz extra weight. I found the sawyers had to be back flushed regularly even in clear water. And the bag they come with sucks to fill unless there are small waterfalls or strong flow, so I got a third party bag with wider opening. That's one reason I like the BeFree better, much easier to fill.

I used a Steripen for awhile and never had issues but I hate relying on battery powered devices if possible. And even in clear water you get some floaties in your bottle. So I prefer an actual filter to UV.

I'll keep using BeFree but wouldn't hesitate to use Sawyer squeeze again, just need a smart water bottle or other dirty water sack.

[wendigo]

Ok, someone talk me out of this:
https://outlet.wheelandsprocket.com/...edparentoutlet

Before I do something stupid.

Thanks for the link, my wife is jazzed on her new Felt VR Advanced 105, screaming deal. Told her imma steal the wheels.

[North]

Another "what rain jacket are you wearing?" I replaced a well worn Patagonia Torrentshell this season with a fancy Patagonia Granite Crest and it has been utter dog shit. Wets out in 5 min and turns into a cold wet bag. I've never returned a piece of outerwear before for poor performance, but might try with this one. Any recs? I tend to prefer mtb gear that is patterned for riding (drop tail etc.), but it's not a requirement.