Ask the experts

[jono]

Full confession: I’ve been using Park Tool grease on my XT 12 speed der. clutch and it’s always shifted like a champ.

Most of the time the biggest reason to use the "right" grease is to avoid mixing incompatible greases. Match the viscosity and maybe the temperature range and you will usually get similar performance. But if you happen to put the wrong two greases together you might get reactions. Some combos make a horrible sticky paste.

Did you clean out the original stuff super well? If you know for sure you didn't, that would be a nice endorsement for the Park stuff.

[J. Barron DeJong]

One could read the specs and see what type of grease it is

SDS:
https://si.shimano.com/api/publish/s...06-ENG-CLP.pdf

https://si.shimano.com/api/publish/s...08-ENG-GHS.pdf

It’s a Calcium Sulfonate Complex grease, synthetic base oils, and additives. Doesn’t sound like a run of the mill grease, and I’m sure they must have had a reason to spec that grease instead of using something like their ‘Shimano Special Grease’ which is a more run of the mill Calcium Sulfonate grease.

ETA: This is most definitely not the same grease as the current ‘internal hub’ grease

[Andeh]

FYI, for the 6 months or so that I owned an XTR 12, I mistakenly used the "Shimano Special Grease." The original grease was wearing thin after like 100 miles. The Special Grease seemed to last about as long.

[HankScorpio]

Most of the time the biggest reason to use the "right" grease is to avoid mixing incompatible greases. Match the viscosity and maybe the temperature range and you will usually get similar performance. But if you happen to put the wrong two greases together you might get reactions. Some combos make a horrible sticky paste.

Did you clean out the original stuff super well? If you know for sure you didn't, that would be a nice endorsement for the Park stuff.

Yeah. Every time I service the clutch it comes completely apart and it gets a good clean before grease and reassembly. The Park grease seems last a while in there.


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[Powder Ho]

When the valve gets goobied up w/ sealant do you clean it or just replace the core when you revive the sealant?

[Dee Hubbs]

I like to replace valve cores often. They are less than a dollar a piece when you buy a 10+ pack.
If you have them on hand you'll use them often, or be less likely to break a valve head off if you actually have spares.

[Iowagriz]

I replace the core each year. Like others had said, cheap and easy.

My OCD also makes me store my bike with the stem down. I told myself that if it was at the top of the tire (in storage), it would allow Stans to drip to the core as the low point and contribute to blockage.

[simple]

Don't fall for this bullshit when buying them like 100s of buyers did

https://www.amazon.com/Stans-No-Tube...dp/B0026B52MW/

You get one valve not 50

[toast2266]

What the hell are you guys doing that requires replacing valve cores so often?

I think I've replaced like 5 in my whole life.

[simple]

The same reason people have massive Stan's boogers in their tires. Too much sealant. The tubulars on my CX bike probably suffer from that as well.

[Canada1]

Some clutch grease education.
Slick honey rated to 250’F
Most high temp water proof grease. Rated to 560’ F.
Some synthetic grease 1000’f.

I think as long as your hitting 560 or above, and not mixing you’re good. I put on 1000’ this service.

Yes, I reviewed and looked at this after this issue. I had all three types of my grease in the garage already do to car shit.

[XXX-er]

well how often are you servicing spragg clutches and what grease does a spragg clutch need ?

[skaredshtles]

What the hell are you guys doing that requires replacing valve cores so often?

I think I've replaced like 5 in my whole life.

[jackstraw]

Is this a reason to go with Sram? I've never had to do anything to my derailleurs. Well, adjust the B-gap screw.

[simple]

Shimano don't care about mountain biking. Ebikes and gravel are their focus. If you buy one of their high end clutch derailleurs, chains or pedals don't expect it to last very long. You are paying for weight reduction not Durability.

[Dee Hubbs]

Some clutch grease education.
Slick honey rated to 250’F
Most high temp water proof grease. Rated to 560’ F.
Some synthetic grease 1000’f.
I think as long as your hitting 560 or above, and not mixing you’re good. I put on 1000’ this service.
Yes, I reviewed and looked at this after this issue. I had all three types of my grease in the garage already do to car shit.

well how often are you servicing spragg clutches and what grease does a spragg clutch need ?

The actual spragg clutch mechanism is not what needs to be serviced/lubricated. The internals of the spragg clutch are lubricated in the factory with a light oil, it's the outer housing of the clutch and the tension band that encompasses the clutch housing that needs to be lubed.
The spragg clutch controls the speed of the derailleur arm pivoting backwards. This is not adjustable, the clutch is set to a predetermined value to control the speed of the pivot, and is fixed.
The tension band controls the movement of the derailleur arm pivoting forward. When the arm wants to move forward, the derailleur arm pivot and clutch housing rotates forward within the tension band. This tension band can be adjusted to increase or reduce the friction/speed of the derailleur arm pivoting forward, it's this interface between the tension band and clutch housing where the lubrication is needed.
Another way to picture it, its like a freehub, the inner clutch spins in one direction, and the whole housing spins in the opposite direction.
Also the tension band pressure can also be reduced by turning off the switch on the the outside of the derailleur.

[teledad]

My rear dropouts have these rear facing threaded holes. What are they for? Bike is a litespeed t5g.

Mounts for a fender or a light rack. Should fit something like this: https://www.modernbike.com/product-2126260362

[Cocximus]

Thanks. I found Trek also has those. So no saddle bags with my electrician tools. My full toolkit weights under 50lbs. I don't haul it everyday, but I get the occasional service call or location change. Hopefully Milwaukee will come out with a carbon fiber edition.

I am trying to figure out why it is so hard to find thru-axles with M5 threads at the end. Robert axle has one for a specific rack that is way too overbuilt for my needs. Specialized makes a simple axle with M5 threads. I am waiting for them to get back to me with details on what thread the axle has. Other option I considered is just using a hex key axle and running a qr skewer through it. That might be the best since I could use my pinhead locking skewers.

[sethschmautz]

I have not ridden all of the recent crop of forks and I’m looking for 140-150mm travel 29’er fork to replace my wife’s Fox 34 (2018 spec, grip damper). I’m wondering what people like for lighter riders these days that will be most conducive to good small bump compliance and hopefully linear enough she can use mos rod the travel. Kitted she’s probably 115lbs.

I’m wondering about a pike ultimate or getting a fox 36 and sending it off to Push. Any thoughts on what seems to work well for lighter riders in this class?

Ideally looking used if someone has something hanging out…

I really liked the Manitou Mattoc MY21 that preceded my Mezzer. Small bump compliance was excellent. It topped out at 140mm and I needed a little more to balance out my bike (hence the Mezzer).

A friend of mine locally has highly recommended the MRP ribbon coil - especially for lighter riders. His wife is light and she really benefited from the coil due to the almost non-existent striction of the seals. I think that fork is a little heavier than an air fork like the pike, but as with everything, there is probably a trade-off.

If it were me I would buy the Mattoc (if 140mm is sufficient) but I really like all of the suspension I've bought from Manitou (and all of the Hayes bicycle group). They produce excellent products and if there is an issue, their support is excellent.

Seth

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[Dantheman]

I think that fork is a little heavier than an air fork like the pike, but as with everything, there is probably a trade-off.

Ribbon Coil 29 is ~300 g heavier than a Pike Ultimate 29.

Agreed on the Mattoc recommendation. The Dorado IRT spring should be great for light riders. My kid's fork with IRT is awesome and he only weighs 60 lbs.

[Tailwind]

I hadn’t thought to look into Manitou but I’ll do some digging for sure. I’ve read enough good things in recent years. One thing I do like about the pike is that I’m really comfortable doing basic service. That being said, I can’t imagine it would be much to learn. I’ll look into the Mattoc.

I actually had a Ribbon Coil that I really liked. The only concern I have there is that the ‘extra soft’ spring may not be soft enough. I am 155 lbs and found that the soft spring felt pretty dialed. They recommend the extra soft for anyone under 145lbs so I’ve wondered if being on the light side of that would mitigate some of the coil benefit. Strong recommendation for anyone looking to check out the Ribbon though.

I really liked the Manitou Mattoc MY21 that preceded my Mezzer. Small bump compliance was excellent. It topped out at 140mm and I needed a little more to balance out my bike (hence the Mezzer).

A friend of mine locally has highly recommended the MRP ribbon coil - especially for lighter riders. His wife is light and she really benefited from the coil due to the almost non-existent striction of the seals. I think that fork is a little heavier than an air fork like the pike, but as with everything, there is probably a trade-off.

If it were me I would buy the Mattoc (if 140mm is sufficient) but I really like all of the suspension I've bought from Manitou (and all of the Hayes bicycle group). They produce excellent products and if there is an issue, their support is excellent.

Seth

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[HAB]

There's a 95% chance it'll be fine because the various tire sealants aren't really all that different.

But there's a 5% chance it'll form mustard gas and your whole neighborhood will have to evacuate.

Having tried this a couple of days ago (in Toast's house, to avoid mustard gassing my own place) I can confirm that nothing happened and it worked fine.

[Boissal]

I hadn’t thought to look into Manitou but I’ll do some digging for sure. I’ve read enough good things in recent years. One thing I do like about the pike is that I’m really comfortable doing basic service. That being said, I can’t imagine it would be much to learn. I’ll look into the Mattoc.

Manitou service is pretty damn straightforward. I had 0 experience opening up a fork when I got my Mezzer and it took me about 15 minutes to drop the lowers and adjust travel. I did a full service a couple weeks ago (excluding bleeding the damper) and was done in about 30 minutes. Didn't need to buy any tools either which is really nice, just new seals and bath oil.

[radam]

Anyone have a recommendation for a smartphone mount they would trust on singletrack? I know a Garmin/wahoo/whatever would ultimately be better but I've got an old, small smartphone kicking around that would work just fine if there was a decent way to mount it (especially if it's an easy way to move it between a couple bikes)

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[climberevan]

Anyone have a recommendation for a smartphone mount they would trust on singletrack? I know a Garmin/wahoo/whatever would ultimately be better but I've got an old, small smartphone kicking around that would work just fine if there was a decent way to mount it (especially if it's an easy way to move it between a couple bikes)

Sent from my Pixel 3a using Tapatalk

Quad locks are bomber. The stick on one is fine too if you don't want a case or there isn't one for your phone.