Ask the experts

**toast2266** · 08-02-2020, 08:16 AM

Originally Posted by jackstraw

The crown race seems really tight. How or would you force this on? (Fox fork)

That looks pretty normal. Smash that on with a pvc pipe. Just make sure the pvc is hitting the metal part of the race and isn't bungling up the seal at the edge.

**climberevan** · 08-02-2020, 08:28 AM

Originally Posted by Whiteroom_Guardian

Kind of a tough question to answer unless you have ridden a shit ton of different bikes:

I am on a 2017 Knolly Warden Carbon 155mm rear/160 up front. Built up full enduro race sled style. Push coil, Quadiem brakes, 741/742 wheels with hefty tires + cush core, etc. 35 pounds. It's a fun bike but you REALLY need to get it up to like 25 mph before it comes alive.

Friend wants to sell me a 2020 sb130. C1 build. Very light use. No brainer price.

Ideally I want something that is still fun that I can also go do 40 maybe even 50 mile day rides with. 7000' climbing days. Is the sb130 (this one currently weighs 30.5 pounds and if anything it will get heavier when I upgrade a couple parts) as "do it all" as everyone says or is it to meant like you can do a 7 mile dentist out and back or a 15 mile loop. I feel like most kooks who are into big long rides are doing them on true XC bikes.

Does that make any sense? If I really want to ride that long of rides or be competitive (stava nerd) on uphills do I need to hold out for like a sb115 or silimar?

I know I am overthinking this. I just don't want to spend a bunch of money on a bike that has too much overlap with my current bike. 5 pounds and 25mm of rear travel is quite a gap though.

Has anyone ridden both of these bikes?

Strava nerd here. I've been pining forreal XC bike on occasion as well, but so far the Ripley is working for fairly frequent rides in the 50-70 mi range. I can usually squeeze into the top 10 on long climbs, but I think it would be a lot easier on a 22# bike. However, on those same rides I'm also sometimes doing top 5 DH times, and that wouldn't happen on the XC bike, our at least it wouldn't be fun.

Prior to this I had a Trance which I'd put a longer shock on to give it 157mm of travel. It really smoothed out the chunky stuff, but I don't think I was actually faster on it. Obviously it was much slower uphill. I've ridden a Warden, and I think that its really active suspension must be sucking energy, especially in hour 6.

Basically every time I think about it critically, I realize I'm in my mid forties and am riding for fun, so sacrificing fun and safety on the down isn't worth it for a couple % on the up. The 25 year olds will still prob be faster. For me the 120mm bike with good tires on wide rims seems to be the perfect balance.

But, you know, N+1.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-T707A using TGR Forums mobile app

**Dee Hubbs** · 08-02-2020, 09:03 AM

Originally Posted by jackstraw

The crown race seems really tight. How or would you force this on? (Fox fork)

1.5" PVC as others mentioned. Make sure the "setting end" of the PVC is cut flush and smooth. Make sure you're race is on the right way, those Cane Creek ones kinda look like they can go the other way.
Or a flat head screwdriver with a big blade, tap alternating sides to make it go down evenly.
Or a trip to the bike shop and ask them to to smash it on for you.

If you're scared... watch this:

**XXX-er** · 08-02-2020, 09:15 AM

get the race warm & put the fork in the freezer

**teledad** · 08-02-2020, 11:18 AM

Yeah, fork in the freezer and race in the oven (careful not to melt the seal), then pound away. Or just get a headset with a split race.

**XXX-er** · 08-02-2020, 11:20 AM

probably be OK with hot water but the oven might melt the seal

**rideit** · 08-02-2020, 11:29 AM

Originally Posted by teledad

Yeah, fork in the freezer and race in the oven (careful not to melt the seal), then pound away. Or just get a headset with a split race.

Any race is a split race if you have a Dremel and you ain’t a bitch!

(Caveat: I haven’t actually tried this...)

**HankScorpio** · 08-02-2020, 11:43 AM

Originally Posted by rideit

Any race is a split race if you have a Dremel and you ain’t a bitch!

(Caveat: I haven’t actually tried this...)

Hope crown races are split. Just plop it on and go. I wish others would do this.

Sent from my iPhone using TGR Forums

**toast2266** · 08-02-2020, 11:45 AM

Originally Posted by HankScorpio

Hope crown races are split. Just plop it on and go. I wish others would do this.

Sent from my iPhone using TGR Forums

FSA does that as well. They creak and the headsets won't stay tight.

I would never purposely own a headset with a split race. Setting / removing regular races isn't difficult.

**donutlynx** · 08-02-2020, 12:29 PM

Originally Posted by Whiteroom_Guardian

Kind of a tough question to answer unless you have ridden a shit ton of different bikes:

I am on a 2017 Knolly Warden Carbon 155mm rear/160 up front. Built up full enduro race sled style. Push coil, Quadiem brakes, 741/742 wheels with hefty tires + cush core, etc. 35 pounds. It's a fun bike but you REALLY need to get it up to like 25 mph before it comes alive.

Friend wants to sell me a 2020 sb130. C1 build. Very light use. No brainer price.

Ideally I want something that is still fun that I can also go do 40 maybe even 50 mile day rides with. 7000' climbing days. Is the sb130 (this one currently weighs 30.5 pounds and if anything it will get heavier when I upgrade a couple parts) as "do it all" as everyone says or is it to meant like you can do a 7 mile dentist out and back or a 15 mile loop. I feel like most kooks who are into big long rides are doing them on true XC bikes.

Does that make any sense? If I really want to ride that long of rides or be competitive (stava nerd) on uphills do I need to hold out for like a sb115 or silimar?

I know I am overthinking this. I just don't want to spend a bunch of money on a bike that has too much overlap with my current bike. 5 pounds and 25mm of rear travel is quite a gap though.

Has anyone ridden both of these bikes?

I haven't ridden either of those bikes, but my last all-day ride bike was 145f/135r travel and weighed 29 pounds. Many long rides (50 to 120 miles) with lots of vert (5 to 15k feet). Won a 24 hour XC duo race on that bike and an enduro race.

New rig is 140f/120r, and while it is definitely quicker on the uphills, I am probably going to miss the comfort and capability factor on the way down. On paper, the SB130 seems like the perfect bike, but at 30.5 pounds and rising...that might be too much for the all-around crown.

My guess is it won't replace a 150mm to 160mm bike if you are still planning on sending. But it sounds like you might keep the Knolly?

**jackstraw** · 08-02-2020, 12:29 PM

I just cut a hole in my bottom freezer door with the sawzall so the fork would fit and stoked the fire pit. Should be rolling shortly

**El Chupacabra** · 08-02-2020, 01:21 PM

Put some grease on the steerer where the crown will go. Hold the crown race with pliers, and heat it with a heat gun or hair dryer (don't melt the seal). Then pound away with the PVC pipe.

**XXX-er** · 08-02-2020, 03:27 PM

Originally Posted by jackstraw

I just cut a hole in my bottom freezer door with the sawzall so the fork would fit and stoked the fire pit. Should be rolling shortly

well the concept is about using cold/heat to assist with pressfitting parts

this assumes you have a chest freezer to put the fork in

or are smarter than a chest freezer

**rideit** · 08-02-2020, 03:47 PM

Okay, I have one.
Neighbor has a Syncros Boost, straight pull hub on his Scott Ransom. He can’t find measurements online anywhere or from Scott. He is looking to build it up with a 32 (I am assuming here) DT 481 27.5 rim. 3 X.
Anyone privy to this information, Or have a good tip on calculating hub flange diameter with straight pull? We just need spoke lengths, obviously.

**Whiteroom_Guardian** · 08-02-2020, 04:15 PM

I think I am gonna keep the Knolly for now.

Revel Ranger 29? Anyone been on one? I know basically nothing about this brand.

**alewi11** · 08-02-2020, 04:58 PM

Originally Posted by rideit

Okay, I have one.
Neighbor has a Syncros Boost, straight pull hub on his Scott Ransom. He can’t find measurements online anywhere or from Scott. He is looking to build it up with a 32 (I am assuming here) DT 481 27.5 rim. 3 X.
Anyone privy to this information, Or have a good tip on calculating hub flange diameter with straight pull? We just need spoke lengths, obviously.

No help here, but if it's straight pull I'm virtually certain it will be 28 hole

**rideit** · 08-02-2020, 05:00 PM

Good point. I will find out for sure ASAP.

**teledad** · 08-02-2020, 05:18 PM

Originally Posted by rideit

Okay, I have one.
Neighbor has a Syncros Boost, straight pull hub on his Scott Ransom. He can’t find measurements online anywhere or from Scott. He is looking to build it up with a 32 (I am assuming here) DT 481 27.5 rim. 3 X.
Anyone privy to this information, Or have a good tip on calculating hub flange diameter with straight pull? We just need spoke lengths, obviously.

Assuming he's rebuilding an existing wheel with a new rim - can he measure the current spokes and compare the old and new rim ERDs? E.g. if the ERD is increasing by x then the spoke length will increase by x/2 (maybe not exact for 3x, but close enough).

**rideit** · 08-02-2020, 05:20 PM

No, because he wants to go from a 29” rim to a 27.5”.
So it’s more ‘complicated’.

**forty** · 08-02-2020, 05:35 PM

pretty sure teledad is right...
(old erd - new erd) / 2 = x
old spoke - x = new spoke

dts spoke calc can do straight pull user defined, so if you have calipers can pop numbers in, theres one extra # to input for straight pull but its still pretty easy and dt has good diagrams of what to measure

but i think you can just do the math based on known #s

**Dee Hubbs** · 08-02-2020, 05:45 PM

Originally Posted by rideit

No, because he wants to go from a 29” rim to a 27.5”.
So it’s more ‘complicated’.

You have to reverse engineer the numbers. So you measure the old spoke length and the old ERD.
Use DT Swiss spoke calculator and input a stock DT Straight Pull hub with that old ERD. See what the spoke length calculates as.
Compare the calculated spoke length with the old spoke length. Example: Calc = 285mm, old spoke length = 288mm.
This means that Syncros hub is 3mm longer than DT Straight Pull hub measurements.
Change the ERD in the calculator to 29er rim that you want to build and add 3mm to the actual calculated spoke length. It's a direct translation of Xmm, not a percentage.

Sorry that is pretty wordy, but I hope it makes sense.

**teledad** · 08-02-2020, 05:46 PM

Yeah, 27.5 vs 29 shouldn't matter, it's just a bigger ERD difference.

**rideit** · 08-02-2020, 05:46 PM

I don’t think I passed this advanced trig course in college...

**EWG** · 08-02-2020, 07:16 PM

No grease on headset race. No split races. Don't overthink. All of that shit will cause issues later. They are made to be smashed on. Smash it on. You can always put an old stem on top of it if you want to protect the surface, and smash the stem with a conduit or PVC pipe.

I love the Park Tool headset race setter. It's one of my favorite tools that I own. When else do you get to use a hammer on a bike? And the sound changing from hollow to solid once it sets? So good.

You know you wanna smash it. So smash it.