Ask the experts

[jono]

Somehow missed where you'd already tried 609. Not shocking that it doesn't last, I guess, given the twisting/off-axis loads at those holes, but did it hold up at all?

Next up: dipping in queso? Or just drip some really hard/low temp wax mixed with a little carbon paste in there?

[jm2e]

Gonna need a lot of queso for that pie plate. But sounds genius. Crock pot that shit for days.


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[smmokan]

Best tool to clean junk off derailleur pulley wheels? I usually just use something with a straight edge like a flathead screwdriver, but there has to be a specific tool out there, no?

[toast2266]

Best tool to clean junk off derailleur pulley wheels? I usually just use something with a straight edge like a flathead screwdriver, but there has to be a specific tool out there, no?

Squirt it with an air compressor until it's spinning at a bazillion rpm. Wear eye protection.

[frorider]

Maybe try smacking the rivets with a punch to expand them slightly?

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Yes this has been on my mind for a while as a possible solution. A friend has a machine shop where we could do this right but he’s been busy.

I really had hoped the silicone caulk would keep the dust out but nope.

Having a 12 spd wide range (533%) with a med cage shifter just works so damn well, I’m reluctant to throw in the towel & just go full SRAM XX or X01 like my other bikes have.

Anyway snow is coming this week, bikes will hopefully gather dust for a while.

[frorider]

Jono, the green loctite didn’t seem to lengthen the creak free period (2-3 rides) significantly. In retrospect I should’ve heated up some mixed epoxy & put it in there (after cleaning with IPA) rather than the silicone caulk. Now that caulk is blocking the way.

[XXX-er]

I believ there are several types of green ? some of it is sleeve and bearing retainer, which I used on creaky race face crank/ square taper spindle and it 100% cured the creaks, which didnt matter cuz then junior snapped the spindle

[jono]

That's the one. Gets into tight spaces but has light bond strength so it needs to stay in compression. Helps if it's wet during the press fit, but thin parts in dissimilar materials gonna flex a bit.

Caulk blocking is always a delicate challenge.

[frorider]

Yup I’m using the sleeve & bearing retainer loctite. Great stuff IME.

In terms of hammering it out to improve the fit tightness, that’d be a no brainer if it were an aluminum tab in a steel hole. But it’s the reverse case obviously, so I’m not sure I can get that steel tab to flare out much.

Garbaruk doesn’t sell a 9-46 or 9-48 12 spd cog last I checked but I’ll refresh my memory on that.

Edit: just ordered a 10-48 garbaruk cassette. I’ll keep the Leonardi, might put it on the fatbike since that only sees snow not dust

[toast2266]

If you really feel like futzing with it, you could drill and tap the rivets and install small bolts. With a drill press it wouldn't be particularly difficult. 50/50 odds on success though.

[Andeh]

Best tool to clean junk off derailleur pulley wheels? I usually just use something with a straight edge like a flathead screwdriver, but there has to be a specific tool out there, no?

That's got to be once of the most annoying parts to clean. And it always takes longer than I expect, so that I really should just pull the chain off and clean it properly, but I never learn my lesson and always do it with a flathead and/or pick. Oh, and get the black gunk everywhere.

I'm guessing the right way to do it is pull the derailleur off (if using Transmission) or pull the wheels out, then spray with iso and scrub with a brush, preferably one of those ones with bristles on 3 sides.

[XXX-er]

I like that park tool with hookie thing on one end and a brush on the other end to clean between DER gears but running Squirt I usually just add more Squirt & usually don't bother to clean

When I ran squirt on an indoor trainer the Squirt just flaked off

[Falcon3]

Hot waxed chains is the only answer here. I’ve been riding all fall/winter now, multiple times a week and my chain, derailleur, and cassette look brand new. No grime or grit at all. Took me all of 5 minutes to remove the chai , dunk it in wax, and then reinstall once cooled while the bike was just sitting in the stand.

[J. Barron DeJong]

Hot waxed chains is the only answer here. I’ve been riding all fall/winter now, multiple times a week and my chain, derailleur, and cassette look brand new. No grime or grit at all. Took me all of 5 minutes to remove the chai , dunk it in wax, and then reinstall once cooled while the bike was just sitting in the stand.

Yep. No need to ever clean chainrings, cassettes, or pulleys once you go Queso.

[Wes Mantooth]

I recently moved a pair of Dominions over to a new bike. Routed the rear hose w/ a new olive & barb and did a full bleed, everything felt nice and crisp on the lever and did a few test rides around the neighborhood etc. I don't have a crow foot for my torque wrench so I tightened the compression nut by feel, airing on the side of caution as usual. Yesterday was at my buddy's house before a ride and used his crow foot to try and torque the nut properly. It got like 2 more full rotations into the master cylinder (still about the same # of threads exposed as the other side) and I stopped going for fear there was something not working correctly with the wrench. I squeezed the brake after and it was spongy with the lever pulling almost all the way to the grip, but no sign of leakage anywhere. Did a quick master cylinder bleed at his house and pulled a ton of air out of the system along with adding more fluid. No fluid leakage around the nut during the bleed and the system felt fully pressurized by the end. Went for a ~3 hr ride and the brake worked perfectly. So, main question is what happened there..? Anything to be concerned about longer term?

[Roxtar]

I recently moved a pair of Dominions over to a new bike. Routed the rear hose w/ a new olive & barb and did a full bleed, everything felt nice and crisp on the lever and did a few test rides around the neighborhood etc. I don't have a crow foot for my torque wrench so I tightened the compression nut by feel, airing on the side of caution as usual. Yesterday was at my buddy's house before a ride and used his crow foot to try and torque the nut properly. It got like 2 more full rotations into the master cylinder (still about the same # of threads exposed as the other side) and I stopped going for fear there was something not working correctly with the wrench. I squeezed the brake after and it was spongy with the lever pulling almost all the way to the grip, but no sign of leakage anywhere. Did a quick master cylinder bleed at his house and pulled a ton of air out of the system along with adding more fluid. No fluid leakage around the nut during the bleed and the system felt fully pressurized by the end. Went for a ~3 hr ride and the brake worked perfectly. So, main question is what happened there..? Anything to be concerned about longer term?

The fitting was just loose enough to allow air in without allowing fluid out.

[Wes Mantooth]

That's what I figured, but the brakes worked totally fine up until tightening the fitting. I didn't take them on a full ride so maybe air would've shown up eventually, but rode them around and got them warm on some hills around town to test them out. Presumably if it was loose enough to allow air in the performance would've been bad from the get go. And during the initial bleed there was not an excess of air in there. It was the physical act of tightening the compression nut that changed something

[Tailwind]

Is it possible that there was air in the threaded section that was essentially pushed out as you threaded things in further? Or maybe it just subtlety changed the volume of the system?

I mean the two options are there was either air in the system previously that moved and became an issue or there was air that was pushed into the system.

That's what I figured, but the brakes worked totally fine up until tightening the fitting. I didn't take them on a full ride so maybe air would've shown up eventually, but rode them around and got them warm on some hills around town to test them out. Presumably if it was loose enough to allow air in the performance would've been bad from the get go. And during the initial bleed there was not an excess of air in there. It was the physical act of tightening the compression nut that changed something

[Andeh]

I've had a similar issue on Hayes when I didn't use a torque wrench on the nut. First time I bled them I tightened the nut to what felt like good and snug, felt good in stand, but then got spongy on trail. I redid it with a torque wrench and like you said, it was a solid 2-3 full rotations more than what I thought was good. Rebled and it was all good after that.

[Dee Hubbs]

The air bubble was in an isolated spot where it was not effecting the fluid movement. Tightening the compression nut then pushed the air bubble to a place where it effected the fluid in the system.
This is no different than an air bubble being stuck in the caliper and not effecting the performance, and suddenly that air bubble gets moved to a place where it's being compressed and makes the whole system suddenly become soft.

This is my favorite tool for torquing compression nuts, it's simple and attached to any common hex type torque tool. It's not as finicky as a crowfoot adapter with a big bulky 3/8 drive wrench.

[Andeh]

Do you have a link or product name for that? I have a smaller CDI torque wrench with a 1/4" drive that is OK with the standard SRAM crow's foot, but they're still finicky to try and keep perpendicular especially in that application where the wrench bumps into the bar.

[J. Barron DeJong]

The air bubble was in an isolated spot where it was not effecting the fluid movement. Tightening the compression nut then pushed the air bubble to a place where it effected the fluid in the system.
This is no different than an air bubble being stuck in the caliper and not effecting the performance, and suddenly that air bubble gets moved to a place where it's being compressed and makes the whole system suddenly become soft.

I don’t get this logic, unless I’m misunderstanding.

If there is an air bubble anywhere in the closed hydraulic system - from master cylinder to caliper - then that bubble is going to compress as system pressure builds and make the lever feel mushy. Doesn’t matter if it’s in a little nook of the caliper or in the middle of the hose.

[Wes Mantooth]

I like the looks of that tool. Crow foot attachments never feel great. I know the torque should be the same if set at 90 degrees but that’s a bad nut to severely over tighten and it felt like I was heading in that direction

[Dee Hubbs]

Do you have a link or product name for that? I have a smaller CDI torque wrench with a 1/4" drive that is OK with the standard SRAM crow's foot, but they're still finicky to try and keep perpendicular especially in that application where the wrench bumps into the bar.

It's a Magura Slotted Hex Nut Driver Bit - 8mm, or some generic brands make one, just search Slotted Hex Nut Driver 8mm.

I don’t get this logic, unless I’m misunderstanding.

If there is an air bubble anywhere in the closed hydraulic system - from master cylinder to caliper - then that bubble is going to compress as system pressure builds and make the lever feel mushy. Doesn’t matter if it’s in a little nook of the caliper or in the middle of the hose.

Fluid can push fluid while a bubble is isolated. Here is BB Infinite's Instagram shows an example of it.
Here is another photo from a Shimano service bulletin showing an example of a bubble trapped in the caliper. The bubble is this location after a bleed will produce a firm lever feel, until that bubble moves to a location where it's directly compressed by the fluid.


Yes in principle an air bubble anywhere in the system will compress more than the fluid and can cause a soft lever feel, but in an isolated area the fluid can completely pass the bubble and produce a firm feel, until that bubble is directly in the path of being pressurized.

[J. Barron DeJong]

… until that bubble is directly in the path of being pressurized.

If the air bubble is touching brake fluid, it’s in the path of being pressurized. The air pressure will match brake fluid pressure, very quickly, regardless of where it is in the system.