Ask the experts

[toast2266]

Grip 2 is a significant improvement over grip.

[joetron]

Isn't a RUNT just an air spring upgrade and not have anything to do with the damper?

Lower leg service kit is ordered.

Funny, cause this bike was owned by a mechanic....I guess he neglected his own bike because he was wrenching on everyone else's all the time.

Correct on the Runt, but the beauty of it is that it mitigates damping fuckery, especially if you send your fork to DSD and they tune it during install. Shimmed for heavy HSR, then tune ride feel with LSR/knob. HSC is opened up and LSC is minor.
Most mtb suspension is over damped because motos are so kewl and those guys know everything about damping; especially when your rig weighs a few hundred pounds and has a motor. But bikes are a bit different.
The Runt solves the midstroke support dilemma with the air spring. Still supple on small stuff, but feels bottomless on big high speed hits without pushing deep into travel.
With shipping and whatnot this is probably not the solution to your immediate situation for maximum Ashland performance, but something to consider over the winter - or drop by Durango on your travels and make an appt for them to drop it in and tune.


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[whyturn]

Adding air will increase your spring rate.
You want to do that until your supportiveness and sag height feel about right.
After you’ve done this, volume spacers increase spring ramp up at end of stroke - adding bottom out resistance. I know what the Gemini shock does, I just don’t know if it supports volume spacers because of the dual chamber design. Just add air and see if that does the trick - if it’s too stiff or supportive after adding air, or it feels good but you still have bottom out problems in heavy tech zones, then call Fox and ask if the shock supports volume spacers or not. Easy to install yourself watching videos, or a shop can do it in 30 mins.

Front shock was close just needed 15 lbs. rear was way light. So I set it for recommendations based on fox site. Set sag and had to add 10 lbs above to get it right. Did some test runs off curbs and it’s way different. Seems good now. Thanks for info

Don’t need spacers from what I can tell. But look forward to getting back on local trails


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[Dshack89]

I'm pretty fed up with my Magura MT Trail brakes and could use some help figuring out where to go from here. I've probably bleed them over 20 times this summer and they just end up feeling mushy again on the next ride (e.g., on a 9 mile ride tonight after a fresh bleed, I had to adjust the lever all the way out so I could avoid pulling the lever to the bar).

I've bled tons of brakes before and dont think it is an issue with my bleed technique. I've tried a bunch of tricks on these Magura with no luck. It seems like somehow air is entering the system after the bleed. I'm worried it is a seal or something that isnt easily serviceable.

It seems like grabbing some XT levers and shimano olives and converting to Shigura might be the best approach.

Thoughts? Any other ideas?

Thanks!!

[Whiteroom_Guardian]

Man - that was fun to watch.

And now I'd kinda like to ride that track.

How the fuck does anyone have a derailleur after that section starting at 1:30?!

[Andeh]

I'm pretty fed up with my Magura MT Trail brakes and could use some help figuring out where to go from here. I've probably bleed them over 20 times this summer and they just end up feeling mushy again on the next ride (e.g., on a 9 mile ride tonight after a fresh bleed, I had to adjust the lever all the way out so I could avoid pulling the lever to the bar).

I've bled tons of brakes before and dont think it is an issue with my bleed technique. I've tried a bunch of tricks on these Magura with no luck. It seems like somehow air is entering the system after the bleed. I'm worried it is a seal or something that isnt easily serviceable.

It seems like grabbing some XT levers and shimano olives and converting to Shigura might be the best approach.

Thoughts? Any other ideas?

Thanks!!

My guess is that you're over-pulling on the MC syringe during your bleeds, and sucking air in around the tip of it since it's just frictioned into the threads of the bleed port. There's a bit of an art to it... you pull enough to create a bit of a vacuum, but not enough to break the seal. Then you do the usual hose tapping. However, as you said, you probably have air in your system now, so might need a full bleed. Do yourself a favor and get a larger syringe for at the caliper, and carefully follow the procedure for pushing on the caliper end when it's lower than the MC, and pushing on the MC end when it's highest. It really helps if your brakes aren't internally routed and you can straighten out the hose as much as possible. There's a bit of a learning curve to figuring out the quirks with their system, but once you get it, they'll run 1,000s of miles without needing bleeds.

[Dantheman]

The Runt solves the midstroke support dilemma with the air spring. Still supple on small stuff, but feels bottomless on big high speed hits without pushing deep into travel.

So, RUNT is basically aftermarket IRT for non-Manitou forks? That's pretty sweet, because IRT is awesome, but kind of an odd suggestion for a guy with a coil fork?

Thoughts? Any other ideas?

Thanks!!

Hayes Dominion A4 [/brokenrecord]

[406]

Will I notice an improvement going from rim internal width 25mm to 29mm? Trying to improve the ride quality on my non-boost 29" hardtail. Run maxxis ardent 2.4" on old (~2014) stans flow rims. Was looking at the newer stans flow rims.

Love the 35mm rims on my ripmo, but figured I can't get very wide on nonboost and also don't want to spend a lot of money on an old bike.

[simple]

That is like asking if going from 26 inch to 27.5 made a difference. Or going from 67 to 66 HTA. To the number nerds... definitely! To a regular rider likely not a noticeable difference. Pros outweigh the cons so a good upgrade.

[bagtagley]

I think you'd notice a bigger difference switching to a more aggressive tire.

[teledad]

A friend just replaced the axle on a Stan's NEO hub too, that had cracked in half. He located a steel one rather than the stock aluminum one, said it didn't weigh much more.

Did this too, replaced the broken stock axle with a steel one from ebay. So far so good.

[skaredshtles]

I think you'd notice a bigger difference switching to a more aggressive tire.

This.

I was going to say going to a non-shitty tire, but I like your wording better.

[Andeh]

Talk to me about hubs, especially Industry 9 Hydras. I've had DT Swiss on every good set of wheels I've owned (and hated any cheap hub I've owned like Stan's, Novatech, and E13). I've got a perfectly good set of WAO Agents on DT350s, but am going to try a mullet setup at some point this fall with a loaner wheel. If I like it, I'll want a good 27.5 rear wheel. I know the smarter, cheaper option would be to just buy a 27.5 Union rim and lace it to my 350, but... shiny new things.

Anyways, I'm curious to try something different. Like I said, zero complaints about DT 350s / 240s. I run the 54T ratchet, and I'm mostly just using the engagement when I stomp on the pedals. A bit more engagement would be interesting but not actually make me better. But I'm kind of lusting over the silver color option, and I like that they're made in US. I like that you can tinker with noise by changing oil type. I've also considered Onyx also but am worried that silent hubs will just make me notice all my other creaks and rattles even more. And I've seen a lot of results of them slipping. Any issues with reliability of Hydras? Every now and then I hear from someone with a very strong negative opinion of Torches.

[toast2266]

Talk to me about hubs, especially Industry 9 Hydras. I've had DT Swiss on every good set of wheels I've owned (and hated any cheap hub I've owned like Stan's, Novatech, and E13). I've got a perfectly good set of WAO Agents on DT350s, but am going to try a mullet setup at some point this fall with a loaner wheel. If I like it, I'll want a good 27.5 rear wheel. I know the smarter, cheaper option would be to just buy a 27.5 Union rim and lace it to my 350, but... shiny new things.

Anyways, I'm curious to try something different. Like I said, zero complaints about DT 350s / 240s. I run the 54T ratchet, and I'm mostly just using the engagement when I stomp on the pedals. A bit more engagement would be interesting but not actually make me better. But I'm kind of lusting over the silver color option, and I like that they're made in US. I like that you can tinker with noise by changing oil type. I've also considered Onyx also but am worried that silent hubs will just make me notice all my other creaks and rattles even more. And I've seen a lot of results of them slipping. Any issues with reliability of Hydras? Every now and then I hear from someone with a very strong negative opinion of Torches.

I've always had good luck with I9 freehubs. I think DT's bearings are better than I9's though - pretty much every set of I9's I've had ends up with rough feeling bearings after a year or two. But overall I think they're a decent hub.

I'm still of the opinion that high engagement hubs make your suspension feel worse. But that's a separate discussion.

[Whiteroom_Guardian]

Doing a quick lower leg service on the 36. Using an old rock shox seal pusher tool. How deep is too deep for the wiper seal?

First pic nice and flush, second pic seal is below top of metal like 1-2mm. Foam rings fit nice on both sides.





Also, WTF is this blue donut thing loose in the lower damper side?

[HAB]

They're supposed to be flush, but the one you put in a bit deep will probably be okay. Getting the stanchion in past the foam ring might be a little annoying since the seal is squishing it out. If you fuck it up you can kind of extrude the foam ring through the bushing and make a mess.


The blue thing is a bottom out bumper.

[Whiteroom_Guardian]

Ok, they go in nice even with the one a little deeper, so I'm not gonna fuck with it.

Bottom out bumper is just loose in there?

[HAB]

Yep, it just sits in there. Once you put the shaft through it it can't really go anywhere, and the bath oil probably helps stick it a little.

[Andeh]

I've always had good luck with I9 freehubs. I think DT's bearings are better than I9's though - pretty much every set of I9's I've had ends up with rough feeling bearings after a year or two. But overall I think they're a decent hub.

I'm still of the opinion that high engagement hubs make your suspension feel worse. But that's a separate discussion.

Thanks. Good to know about the bearings, my DTs have always felt super smooth, even though I'm great at killing pivot and headset bearings. I'm thinking about the engagement affect on suspension too.

[Andeh]

Ok, they go in nice even with the one a little deeper, so I'm not gonna fuck with it.

Bottom out bumper is just loose in there?

The 36 that I got on my Sentinel (which was a used factory demo) had the bottom out bumpers literally lodged in the end of the stanchions. I reseated them down in the bottom of the lowers with a thin wood dowel (so as to not scratch the sides). Once I got them flat on the bottom, they've stayed put ever since.

[HAB]

I've got a pair of Hydras on my hardtail, and while they're holding up well, I'm with toast that shooting for a billion POE is very much a case of diminishing returns in terms of pedaling performance, and doesn't do your suspension any favors (on a bike where that's relevant).

[Whiteroom_Guardian]

Fork was killer on my evening ride after some service love.

Got me some new (used) Enves with Hydras coming in the mail next week. We will see. Gotta be better than my current wheels with like 3 points of engagement.

[rideit]

FANCY

[jm2e]

The biggest difference between DT and i9 is the noise.
In a trying stand, the DT bearings definitely spin better, but I’m no roadie so I don’t think I feel a difference riding.
I agree that the deals on the DT bearings are impressive. When you get them serviced, pay the extra $8 to make sure they don’t put Enduro bearings in there.


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[Roxtar]

Correct on the Runt, but the beauty of it is that it mitigates damping fuckery, especially if you send your fork to DSD and they tune it during install. Shimmed for heavy HSR, then tune ride feel with LSR/knob. HSC is opened up and LSC is minor.
Most mtb suspension is over damped because motos are so kewl and those guys know everything about damping; especially when your rig weighs a few hundred pounds and has a motor. But bikes are a bit different.
The Runt solves the midstroke support dilemma with the air spring. Still supple on small stuff, but feels bottomless on big high speed hits without pushing deep into travel.
With shipping and whatnot this is probably not the solution to your immediate situation for maximum Ashland performance, but something to consider over the winter - or drop by Durango on your travels and make an appt for them to drop it in and tune.


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Isn't the runt air spring only?
Also, the acs3 comes with a runt-ish pneumatic bottom out device .