Ask the experts

[John_B]

Piss on them when they overheat. If it happens frequently then you'd better really make sure you are hydrated. Or have a prostate condition.

[Sandbox]

You know..... this info doesn’t seem to be overly expert level. With all the coviders on the trails now I’m looking forward to peoples face as they round the corner and I’m attempting to arc it onto my levers....might empty the trails out a bit after I do it a couple days in a row....I like it!


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[grskier]

What are the consequences of going with too short of a stem (other than cramping the cockpit a bit)?

[jackstraw]

What are the consequences of going with too short of a stem (other than cramping the cockpit a bit)?

Seems like the more slack and the longer reach the stems are much shorter these days.

[toast2266]

What are the consequences of going with too short of a stem (other than cramping the cockpit a bit)?

It makes climbing worse. You're moving your hands / weight further behind the front axle. The front end will get more wandery on steep climbs.

And arguably the same could be said for mellower descents. Tires get traction when you put weight on them. A shorter stem shifts your weight backwards. On flatter terrain, a short stem, especially combined with a slack head angle, can make it harder to weight the front end. New bikes with longer reach measurements mostly counter that. But still, personally I find that going to the shortest stem possible will make most bikes handle a little weird.

[grskier]

It makes climbing worse. You're moving your hands / weight further behind the front axle. The front end will get more wandery on steep climbs.

And arguably the same could be said for mellower descents. Tires get traction when you put weight on them. A shorter stem shifts your weight backwards. On flatter terrain, a short stem, especially combined with a slack head angle, can make it harder to weight the front end. New bikes with longer reach measurements mostly counter that. But still, personally I find that going to the shortest stem possible will make most bikes handle a little weird.

OK, that's sort of what I figured, but needed the internet to tell me. I went from a 50mm to a 32mm and think I want to bump that up to a 40mm or maybe a 45mm. I feel off the back a little. and, after reading a few things and asking here a few cm can make a lot of difference on how that front end loads and reacts.

[toast2266]

OK, that's sort of what I figured, but needed the internet to tell me. I went from a 50mm to a 32mm and think I want to bump that up to a 40mm or maybe a 45mm. I feel off the back a little. and, after reading a few things and asking here a few cm can make a lot of difference on how that front end loads and reacts.

Yup, definitely. I ride a 50 or 40 on most bikes. A 32 feels weird to me in most situations.

[Muggydude]

Has anybody had experience with oval chain rings? My ripmo came with a 28T on it. I’ve been going nuts trying to figure out what’s causing this sort of thwudding/crunching/creak type feeling on the bike. It only occurs when I’m pedaling hard (i.e. uphill not down). It kind feels like maybe the chain is coming off the chain ring hard. You can hear it too

The cassette and derailleur are almost new and look pristine. Chain is not old either. Pedals and drivetrain move extremely freely when the bike is on the stand, and you can’t hear or feel it when the bike isn’t under load.

My only other though is possibly the BB, but there’s no actual creak sound and bearings are good. No play.

So that leads me to think somehow the oval chainring is to blame or if this is normal. The bike still pedals fine and I haven’t had any problems, just an annoying feeling and sound. Seems like it does it in all gears. Going to try a new 34T normal chain ring I have to see if that fixes it. SRAM GX 1x12 drivetrain, DUB BB/Crankset


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[grskier]

Muggy, is it a FS or a hardtail? only other variable that you don't have listed is a bearing or something around the pivot creaking with the pedal bob...

Is the creak in the same place in your cadence?

[grinch]

I like 32-35mm stems. Kind of settled on 35. Theyre quicker in lane changes or from tight turn to tight turn. I find they control slack head angles climbing through steep switchbacks. Because they put the bar closer to the steerer its easier to control the slack front end when the wheel wants to flop over. Control is instant. Its a personal thing. If you look at the WC level lengths will vary from 32-60. Minnaar is tall and has a 60. Most are in the 40-45 range. Barel likes them short

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[Andeh]

Has anybody had experience with oval chain rings? My ripmo came with a 28T on it. I’ve been going nuts trying to figure out what’s causing this sort of thwudding/crunching/creak type feeling on the bike. It only occurs when I’m pedaling hard (i.e. uphill not down). It kind feels like maybe the chain is coming off the chain ring hard. You can hear it too

The cassette and derailleur are almost new and look pristine. Chain is not old either. Pedals and drivetrain move extremely freely when the bike is on the stand, and you can’t hear or feel it when the bike isn’t under load.

My only other though is possibly the BB, but there’s no actual creak sound and bearings are good. No play.

So that leads me to think somehow the oval chainring is to blame or if this is normal. The bike still pedals fine and I haven’t had any problems, just an annoying feeling and sound. Seems like it does it in all gears. Going to try a new 34T normal chain ring I have to see if that fixes it. SRAM GX 1x12 drivetrain, DUB BB/Crankset


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I messed around with ovals a bit, both Absolute Black and Wolf Tooth, and went back to rounds. They're noisy (I think it's actually the derailleur moving), and the bottom of the stroke felt really weird to me as a flat pedal rider.

Try lubing the pivots on your derailleur?

[Roxtar]

Has anybody had experience with oval chain rings? My ripmo came with a 28T on it. I’ve been going nuts trying to figure out what’s causing this sort of thwudding/crunching/creak type feeling on the bike. It only occurs when I’m pedaling hard (i.e. uphill not down). It kind feels like maybe the chain is coming off the chain ring hard. You can hear it too

The cassette and derailleur are almost new and look pristine. Chain is not old either. Pedals and drivetrain move extremely freely when the bike is on the stand, and you can’t hear or feel it when the bike isn’t under load.

My only other though is possibly the BB, but there’s no actual creak sound and bearings are good. No play.

So that leads me to think somehow the oval chainring is to blame or if this is normal. The bike still pedals fine and I haven’t had any problems, just an annoying feeling and sound. Seems like it does it in all gears. Going to try a new 34T normal chain ring I have to see if that fixes it. SRAM GX 1x12 drivetrain, DUB BB/Crankset


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I had an oval on my Nomad. No issues at all. Best thing I can say is I never noticed any difference.

[bagtagley]

Luckily it is my hardtail so doesn’t get as much use as my FS and it’s the rear, so maybe just less speed scrubbing? Nothing but throwing dirt on berms??? Haha



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The rebuild kit isn't terribly expensive, and from what I've read, fixes the issue.

I almost ordered a couple rebuild kits, but got some new brakes instead.

[Boissal]

I had an oval on my Nomad. No issues at all. Best thing I can say is I never noticed any difference.

I've been running ovals for a while, never had an issues with creaking. The difference is not obvious while pedaling but overall my knees are significantly less pissed.

[XXX-er]

Lots of climbing here so I dropped 2 teeth and went absolute black at the same time on my yeti,

the gearing is lower of course but i can't say I noticed much of a difference in pedaling feel

not like back in the day when I tried a bike with bio-pace which defintley felt different

I put the Absolute black chain ring on the Race face Affect cranks, removed a couple of links and no problems or noise

[Muggydude]

The bike only has 75ish miles on it, so I wouldn’t think it’s that. I actually replaced the derailleur with one from another build so it’s not that. It’s a FS. It’s definitely something in the drivetrain j think though, it’s always at the same place in the pedal stroke (power going down)


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[Kopi_Red]

Has anybody had experience with oval chain rings? My ripmo came with a 28T on it. I’ve been going nuts trying to figure out what’s causing this sort of thwudding/crunching/creak type feeling on the bike. It only occurs when I’m pedaling hard (i.e. uphill not down). It kind feels like maybe the chain is coming off the chain ring hard. You can hear it too

The cassette and derailleur are almost new and look pristine. Chain is not old either. Pedals and drivetrain move extremely freely when the bike is on the stand, and you can’t hear or feel it when the bike isn’t under load.

My only other though is possibly the BB, but there’s no actual creak sound and bearings are good. No play.

So that leads me to think somehow the oval chainring is to blame or if this is normal. The bike still pedals fine and I haven’t had any problems, just an annoying feeling and sound. Seems like it does it in all gears. Going to try a new 34T normal chain ring I have to see if that fixes it. SRAM GX 1x12 drivetrain, DUB BB/Crankset


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Have you tried pedaling out of the saddle? Does it still make the noise when you're putting the power down while standing? If it doesn't then it could be the rails of your saddle creaking. If does still creak, it could be a plethora of things but I'd check to see if the cranks, pedals, derailleur, derailler hanger and cassette are torqued correctly.

[rideit]

Or simply if your chainring is installed properly.

[meepmoop24]

I like 32-35mm stems. Kind of settled on 35. Theyre quicker in lane changes or from tight turn to tight turn. I find they control slack head angles climbing through steep switchbacks. Because they put the bar closer to the steerer its easier to control the slack front end when the wheel wants to flop over. Control is instant. Its a personal thing. If you look at the WC level lengths will vary from 32-60. Minnaar is tall and has a 60. Most are in the 40-45 range. Barel likes them short

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Speaking of Barel, I found this article useful on figuring out my stem length: https://www.pinkbike.com/news/explor...em-length.html

I switched to an SQlab 30X bar which has more backsweep (12 or 16 degrees) than standard bars. I bumped my stem from 40mm to 50 mm to compensate and it feels great.

[grinch]

Speaking of Barel, I found this article useful on figuring out my stem length: https://www.pinkbike.com/news/explor...em-length.html

I switched to an SQlab 30X bar which has more backsweep (12 or 16 degrees) than standard bars. I bumped my stem from 40mm to 50 mm to compensate and it feels great.

Interesting. That makes sense. I dont have real long arms but wide shoulders so my aching wrists tell me i like a bar with not much sweep. Ive been on renthal bars for a few years and now a chromag fu40 and before that the og truvativ bar before steve smith and danny hart put some sweep on them. Maybe thats why i gel with the 32-35mm stems but i have been on a 35mm since '96 or 97. I cant remember the sweep on the protaper bars back then

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[sethschmautz]

Has anybody had experience with oval chain rings? My ripmo came with a 28T on it. I’ve been going nuts trying to figure out what’s causing this sort of thwudding/crunching/creak type feeling on the bike. It only occurs when I’m pedaling hard (i.e. uphill not down). It kind feels like maybe the chain is coming off the chain ring hard. You can hear it too

The cassette and derailleur are almost new and look pristine. Chain is not old either. Pedals and drivetrain move extremely freely when the bike is on the stand, and you can’t hear or feel it when the bike isn’t under load.

My only other though is possibly the BB, but there’s no actual creak sound and bearings are good. No play.

So that leads me to think somehow the oval chainring is to blame or if this is normal. The bike still pedals fine and I haven’t had any problems, just an annoying feeling and sound. Seems like it does it in all gears. Going to try a new 34T normal chain ring I have to see if that fixes it. SRAM GX 1x12 drivetrain, DUB BB/Crankset


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I ran an oval on a bike last year and had similar creaking. I can't say for sure that they were related but i did notice it when climbing in my granny.

I ran across a video on YouTube that suggested that oval may cause extra wear on rear derailleur clutches because unlike a circular ring, an oval causes the clutch to rotate slightly to times on each pedal stroke. Seemed plausible. Is your clutch serviceable? Does it still creak when the clutch is disengaged?

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[Muggydude]

After trying two derailleur’ so don’t think that’s the source. I honestly wouldn’t call it a creak, more like a grinding feeling almost


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[Kopi_Red]

After trying two derailleur’ so don’t think that’s the source. I honestly wouldn’t call it a creak, more like a grinding feeling almost


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I had a grinding feeling like that in my drive train a while back and it turned out to be bad axle bearings in my rear hub.

[caulfield]

The bike only has 75ish miles on it, so I wouldn’t think it’s that. I actually replaced the derailleur with one from another build so it’s not that. It’s a FS. It’s definitely something in the drivetrain j think though, it’s always at the same place in the pedal stroke (power going down)


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Wheels only have 75mi too? Have you re-checked spoke tension? Spokes rubbing on each other has sounded like a lot of different things to me.

[sethschmautz]

After trying two derailleur’ so don’t think that’s the source. I honestly wouldn’t call it a creak, more like a grinding feeling almost


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Sorry, grinding is a better word, but yeah, I had a grinding sound also. If the clutch is easy to turn on/off, it's worth a try.

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