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Thread: Ask the experts
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11-30-2022, 09:43 PM #9426
I don't know about the road bikes, but the Bikes Direct mountain bikes all have super old-school geometry with (relatively) steep HA, super-long seat tubes, and, in many cases, laughably short top tubes. Diamondback has the same problem.
I'm not sure whether road/gravel bike geometry has changed to the same degree, but I'd definitely look closely at the geo on those two brands before buying.
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11-30-2022, 10:51 PM #9427
How tall is your son?
If you have a 5 7/8" steerer, that's about 150mm. Most stems are around 40mm, and a headset is probably around 10mm, depending on the specifics. So you need a frame with a 100mm headtube. If you really needed to, you could probably make it work with up to 110mm, but you'd need to buy a low stack stem.
You'll have a bunch of options if your son is 5'5" and rides a small or maybe a medium. But if he needs a bigger frame, you're gonna need a different fork.
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12-01-2022, 11:29 AM #9428
He's 5'9" and typically fits a medium. I'm not 100% confident in my 150mm measurement. I measured from the lip of the crown race up to the top of the steerer. Since the current bike is 95mm head tube + 40mm stem + 15mm spacers, we're at 150mm without the rest of the headset. So maybe the correct measurement is closer to 160?
In any case, there's definitely 15mm of spacers with the current 95 mm head tube, which is why I'm asking if a 105mm head tube (which would give us more choices) and a total of 5mm of spacers could work.
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12-01-2022, 12:01 PM #9429
This is mainly for Gunder since he’s mentioned he uses it:
Zero Friction has added test data for Boeshield T-9 to their spreadsheet, and it’s… not great.
https://zerofrictioncycling.com.au/lubetesting/
Pretty high wear rates all around compared to the top performing lubes, even in the initial ‘clean’ testing.
Written report not yet up.
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12-01-2022, 12:06 PM #9430
I bet you'll be able to find something without too much trouble. I guess it kinda depends how much you want to spend. Just from a quick look in the PB buy/sell, there's something like this Yeti 5.5, which is a bit overpriced, but would work with your fork (90mm headtube). Or this GG Trail Pistol for a more reasonable price, which would also work (100mm HT).
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12-01-2022, 12:47 PM #9431
Be careful with the GG, their geo-adjust and frame-specific headset cups are pretty tall.
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12-01-2022, 12:53 PM #9432
Thanks. After our first pass through the frames on PB, we were hoping we could get away with spending in the $1,200 - $1,500 range (a bit less than the two frames you recommended). If we don't find anything that works though, the budget might have to go up.
I still feel like I don't have the knowledge to make a semi-educated selection though.
- What is the absolute minimum number/size of spacers we can get away with?
- Is it OK to go up/down 10mm in fork travel from how the manufacturer builds out their frames?
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12-01-2022, 01:16 PM #9433
I bet that budget is do-able. I wouldn't hesitate to throw out some low ball offers on frames. That Yeti, for example - $1500 would be pretty fair for a 4 year old frame that's a bit outdated.
Re: number of spacers - zero is fine. Sometimes a very thin (~.5mm) spacer under the stem can help keep things from creaking.
Re: fork travel - depends a bit on the frame. Generally I'd be more inclined to go 10mm over than 10mm under. You can also change the travel of your fork for pretty cheap.
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12-01-2022, 01:36 PM #9434
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12-01-2022, 01:38 PM #9435
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12-01-2022, 01:41 PM #9436Registered User
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Here's a contender in your budget/size: https://www.pinkbike.com/buysell/3454180/
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12-01-2022, 01:42 PM #9437
It's not an adjustment, you would have to replace the air shaft. So would require some tools and know how, or a trip to the LBS.
Forum Cross Pollinator, gratuitously strident
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12-01-2022, 03:13 PM #9438
Thanks, that caught my eye too.
Know how? When I take on a project like this, my motto is: Ignorance is bliss.
Thanks everyone, this place is great, and I learned a ton from the replies (I'm just a little concerned about the knowledge that all this information must have displaced)
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12-03-2022, 11:55 AM #9439Registered User
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- Apr 2020
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Question - is my headset fucked?
I have a zero-stack headset that was pre-pressed in a frame I recently built up. First few rides were creaky, so I took out the bearings, put a lot of grease everywhere, and put it all back together. Bottom bearing had seized to the cup, and I had to use a tire lever to pry it out. Looked over the bearing afterwards and it still looked good and rolled smooth, so I popped it back in. Now I'm having trouble with a perpetually loose headset. Sometimes it's fine at the beginning of rides, but almost always develops some play towards the end. I've gone so far as to torque the topcap to 10 Nm (!), which not only did not stop it from coming loose, but didn't even slow the steering like one would expect an over-tightened top cap would do.
I ordered an entire replacement headset from Cane Creek when they had their 40% off sale, so hopefully this won't be an issue much longer, but I'm still curious why cranking down on the top cap had so little effect on this headset. Everything looked fine visually, and the stem was completely loosened before tightening and torqued to spec once tight.
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12-03-2022, 12:03 PM #9440
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12-03-2022, 12:21 PM #9441Registered User
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setting preload adj before tightening the stem bolts is all the top cap does, once the stem bolts are torked you could even take the cap off and theoreticaly and the stem should hold the bearing adj 99.9 % of the time
but I'm wondering if you some how got wrong or bad parts, having to pry a bearing out sounds like something is broken or put togetehr wrong
I have had a head set loosen off which I fixed with a headlock deviceLast edited by XXX-er; 12-03-2022 at 01:24 PM.
Lee Lau - xxx-er is the laziest Asian canuck I know
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12-03-2022, 12:40 PM #9442
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12-03-2022, 03:44 PM #9443
Is the bottom bearing installed the correct way? The chamfers are different on each side to match the race on the fork and the cup in the frame. I imagine installing it backwards could result in the condition described.
Edit: check the top bearing too while it’s apart
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12-03-2022, 04:12 PM #9444
Race face crank won't come off? It's on a Blizzard fat bike. Pulled the bolt and the drive side wouldn't budge? What am I doing wrong?
Right after that fail I pulled the Dub 175 crankset and threw a new 165 on my Hightower no problem. I'm confused.
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12-03-2022, 05:17 PM #9445
Did the bolt come out when you unscrewed it?
It shouldn't. The bolt is captured in an outer aluminum disc, which is the self extractor. Sometimes that extractor disc will come unscrewed, which defeats its crank extraction purpose. If that happens, squirt a little lube in there so the inner bolt will spin against the aluminum disc more easily. Then re-install that bolt / disc and try again. Note that the bolt threads into the spindle bolt the disc also screws into the cranks. So screw the inner bolt in first, then the outer disc.
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12-03-2022, 05:32 PM #9446Registered User
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- Apr 2020
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Thanks for the replies!
I have a 15mm spacer under the stem and a 10mm one above... the clearance was a bit tight with the top of the steerer tube so I added another 10mm spacer on top and tried to re-tighten the headset. Same thing - no matter how much I torqued the stem cap bolt the headset did not compress. I also swapped out my Garmin mount stem cap for a normal one - no difference. I'm going to guess something is up with that bottom bearing but it's a little weird to me that it all feels fine until it comes loose on the trail. Thought if something was broken there would be more crunching/grinding. On the workstand the headset feels good after tightening the stem bolts - no movement when rocking back and forth with the front brake on and smooth rotation of the bars.
Also just checked and the bearings were in the right orientation. That would be a mistake I could see myself making but in this case they were good. No play between the bearing cartridges and the cups either
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12-03-2022, 05:38 PM #9447
Is the crown race one of the split ones that just slides on easily? I've had issues with those sometimes.
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12-03-2022, 06:05 PM #9448
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12-03-2022, 06:05 PM #9449Registered User
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- Oct 2015
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- 790
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12-03-2022, 06:18 PM #9450
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