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[Andeh]

Helicoil installed, piece of cake. Hardest part is keeping the 1/4" drill bit from advancing too fast. Thanks for the help guys.

[scrublover]

When going over my bike in advance of this coming weekend's road trip, I discovered the lower brake mount on the fork is more than halfway stripped out. For now, I've put in the longest bolt that will fit ~30mm, had a 25mm in there before, with a shitload of loctite. I'd conservatively guess there's only about 5mm of working threads. So, a couple questions:

1) Zeb 29 lowers are out of stock everywhere. Is SRAM/RS likely to have a secret stash of them that my local shop might able to access through service rather than b2b?

2) is there any way to repair this that will preserve the ability to remove the brake caliper? I.E. not fill the hole full of JB Weld

3) how crazy would I be to ride it in the current state? Part of me thinks that's fucking stupid, the other part thinks if I hadn't gone over the bike yesterday, I would have kept riding it as it was unawares.

For the record, I don't think that I did the damage, but I can't prove my theory, and bringing it up to the shop in question will result in either hurt feelings or blanket denials. I had them build up a bike with this fork, and when I got it back, I found multiple glaringly bad things wrong, including loose bolts and the front brake was mounted with with a +20mm adapter, for a 200mm rotor and a 200mm native post mount fork. The brakes were takeoff Code Rs, and I know the rear of those calipers makes it hard to screw the bolt in straight. When I later swapped the fork out, I remember noticing that it was really difficult to get the lower bolt out (must have been cross threaded).

As others have said, Helicoil it. Super easy, durable, and waaaaaaay less money than new lowers!

Did that to a Lyrik lower years ago. Rode it several more years before selling it on, and the buyer is still using it without issues.

[Roxtar]

it IS a brake part and brakes are kind of important

Meh, brakes just slow you down.

[ZomblibulaX]

So I had to put my bike inside the subie as I made a few stops in SLCizzle recently, and the excessive heat appears to have pushed mineral oil past the piston on my front brake (shimano M8000). Leaked all over the back of the vehicle. Pads are still at ~80%, lever feels solid but it needed a bleed before this happened. There doesn't appear to be any additional leakage while pulling the levers.

These things are old (2016) and have a ton of miles, is it time to retire them? Is a bleed likely to fix this issue? I know shimanos don't have the tightest seals. Any great deals on brakes out there?

[rideit]

Glad you got it figured out, and didn’t try something like this:

[rideit]

Posting here because this thread seems to get the most consistent traffic. Last year, I came up with a safety idea. It turns out that a Mylar emergency ‘blanket’ fits perfectly in the underside of tapered steer tubes. Pretty much jams in there tightly enough that it won’t come out.

I made a little round gorilla tape dust cover, buts not really necessary.

Could save a life!
(Also can be used as a reflective device for S&R visibility)

[Duffman]

Any insight into whether these NOS OEM Manitou forks are legit or not? Want to get a lightweight 26" Markhour or something similar for the groms 24" bike.

https://www.pinkbike.com/buysell/2852883/

[Thaleia]

Front wheel on my Giant Contend AR4 has some side to side play, almost 2mm's worth either way. I have somehow never had to do any type of hub maintenance - would a preload adjustment typically address this or should I do a full tear down to inspect bearings?

Hub has about 2,500 miles on it.

Given it's a lowly S-R2 I'm guessing the latter and probably replacing the bearings but have zero knowledge and am curious while I wait for the spanner to arrive.

[sfotex]

So I had to put my bike inside the subie as I made a few stops in SLCizzle recently, and the excessive heat appears to have pushed mineral oil past the piston on my front brake (shimano M8000). Leaked all over the back of the vehicle. Pads are still at ~80%, lever feels solid but it needed a bleed before this happened. There doesn't appear to be any additional leakage while pulling the levers.

These things are old (2016) and have a ton of miles, is it time to retire them? Is a bleed likely to fix this issue? I know shimanos don't have the tightest seals. Any great deals on brakes out there?

There's a bladder in the lever that can get a pinhole in it and lets the brakes sort of works. If you bleed them you will find out really quick. You can get a (overpriced) spare off Amazon for $15 if this is the case. Had a small leak appear in mine a few weeks ago.
Otherwise, if you like Shimano you can upgrade to the 4 piston SLX or XTs that are floating around for not too much.

These Codes are the best deal I've seen, I got a pair for my Revel Rail:
https://bikecloset.com/product/sram-...t-mount-black/

[singlesline]

Glad you got it figured out, and didn’t try something like this:

I mean, that's dumb AF and I would never do it...

...but the force vectors on a brake caliper mount are mostly a pushing force between the faces with a bit of shear. There's not really much pullout force acting on the threads.

So I could see that working OK in an emergency...and that's probably exactly the hole I would choose if it were a case of broken/lost bolt where you could swap bolts around until you are only missing the back bolt on the rear.

[smmokan]

FWIW, I rode with a guide in Peru over the winter who snapped the rear brake caliper right inside the back bolt so it was only holding on with the front. He rode it all day that way on some pretty gnarly trails with zero issues.

[toast2266]

FWIW, I rode with a guide in Peru over the winter who snapped the rear brake caliper right inside the back bolt so it was only holding on with the front. He rode it all day that way on some pretty gnarly trails with zero issues.

So what you're saying is that I should only run one brake mount bolt to save weight?

Sent from my SM-S901U using Tapatalk

[Tailwind]

Are counterfeit XTR pedals a thing?

I bought a pair off eBay, didn’t realize they were shipping from China. They arrived and looked fine but a couple hundred miles in the axle has massive play (4-5 mm left right) and when I went to rebuild I noticed that the axel uses a 5/8 inch wrench… and I’m pretty used to Shimano uses mm. I don’t have another XTR pedal around but XT’s are a 17mm cone wrench.

[rideit]

Sadly, this is definitely a thing. Seems like it would be MASSIVELY expensive to set up a factory/assembly line for such a niche product.

https://www.mtbr.com/search/1707230/...ls&o=relevance

[toast2266]

Sadly, this is definitely a thing. Seems like it would be MASSIVELY expensive to set up a factory/assembly line for such a niche product.

I would kinda assume it's something where they're using the old tooling from real shimano pedals. Like the tooling and castings got used to make the real thing for a while and are now worn out and not to spec, so they got "discarded" into the hands of some other Chinese factory that's still using them to make shitty knock offs that more or less look the same.

Sent from my SM-S901U using Tapatalk

[jdadour]

Sadly, this is definitely a thing. Seems like it would be MASSIVELY expensive to set up a factory/assembly line for such a niche product.

https://www.mtbr.com/search/1707230/...ls&o=relevance

Thanks for mentioning this! I recently bought some PD-8100 pedals on ebay from the seller below, and notice one the pedals does not spin very well and the other spins pretty slowly. After looking at the MTBR thread, Im almost certain mine are counterfeit because they have all the same differences. I dont know if the seller maybe got screwed from their supplier and didnt know, or if its there fault.

https://www.mtbr.com/threads/fake-deore-xt.1210812/

https://www.ebay.com/itm/386098539604?var=653647971045

[Tailwind]

Well that kinda confirms things. I did check and the sizes of bolts actually do match current XTR so I like the stolen castings theory.

When I bought them I didn’t realize they were coming from China and I was suspicious when they arrived. They passed the visual test but last ride one pedal body unthreaded off the axle (got like 90% of the way off) and they seem to be a little softer. The cleats are slowly denting the pedal body.

[Huskier]

I'm slowly progressing in my build of a torque-sensing mid-drive Ebike conversion of a Salsa Journeyman from the late 20teens. My eyes for battery and range were unfortunately bigger than my front triangle accessory bosses can handle and I'm in the awkward position of having to install a third boss higher up the down tube to accommodate the battery mount. I'm looking at rivnuts, couple questions:
1) Size: 5mm/0.8. Other parameters I need to account for? Trying to get as close to stock hardware as possible
2) Material: My choices are stainless vs Zinc-plated carbon steel. I've never set Rivnuts in aluminum before, any weird metallurgical/chemical considerations I need to account for?

Sent from my Pixel 5 using Tapatalk

[Beaver]

I have a belt drive SS on an HG hub on a norco watchamacallit. I have an Alifine 8 sp with no cog/c clips.... What do I need to mount a belt cog to my Alfine?

[El Chupacabra]

I'm slowly progressing in my build of a torque-sensing mid-drive Ebike conversion of a Salsa Journeyman from the late 20teens. My eyes for battery and range were unfortunately bigger than my front triangle accessory bosses can handle and I'm in the awkward position of having to install a third boss higher up the down tube to accommodate the battery mount. I'm looking at rivnuts, couple questions:
1) Size: 5mm/0.8. Other parameters I need to account for? Trying to get as close to stock hardware as possible
2) Material: My choices are stainless vs Zinc-plated carbon steel. I've never set Rivnuts in aluminum before, any weird metallurgical/chemical considerations I need to account for?

Sent from my Pixel 5 using Tapatalk

Could you use a water bottle mount extension bracket instead? Not sure if that would be the stronger choice vs drilling and adding a riv nut though.

https://www.amazon.com/Mounting-Alum...3&gad_source=1

[Huskier]

Could you use a water bottle mount extension bracket instead? Not sure if that would be the stronger choice vs drilling and adding a riv nut though.

https://www.amazon.com/Mounting-Alum...3&gad_source=1

Did not know that existed, will give 'er a try, thanks!

Sent from my Pixel 5 using Tapatalk

[Dromond]

Are counterfeit XTR pedals a thing?

I bought a pair off eBay, didn’t realize they were shipping from China. They arrived and looked fine but a couple hundred miles in the axle has massive play (4-5 mm left right) and when I went to rebuild I noticed that the axel uses a 5/8 inch wrench… and I’m pretty used to Shimano uses mm. I don’t have another XTR pedal around but XT’s are a 17mm cone wrench.

While my experience wasn’t with pedals, I received counterfeit Shimano cleats from an Amazon seller. The packaging was very convincing but the cleats were made of painted, super soft metal that you absolutely could not safely use.

[jm2e]

What 11 speed chain should I be getting?
I feel like some of you fellas are passionate about this.
FWIW, I won't be using any Queso.

[Dee Hubbs]

What 11 speed chain should I be getting?
I feel like some of you fellas are passionate about this.
FWIW, I won't be using any Queso.

With 11s you still have the choice to run what ever brand you want.
You can’t go wrong with any of the upper level chains. For an extra $17-20 for the top of the line chain, it’s worth it. If cost is the driver find the best deal on a mid range solid pin chain.
I would not cheap out and buy a low end chain.
I think the quieter chain noise alone on the chamfered plated chains is worth the spend.

Top of the line hallow pins or plate cut outs, chamfered plates are:
KMC X11 SL or EL
DuraAce/XTR 901
SRAM Red 22 or 1170

Solid pins, still chamfered plates:
KMC x11
Ultegra/XT 701

Cheaper, heavier but better value:
Shimano 601
SRAM 1130
Don’t buy anything below this level.

[jm2e]

Brilliant. Cheers.