Ask the experts

[jono]

Before we really get into the Lefty (and obviously before we point out that it's inverted) I want to come back to this:

If the stanchion wasn't pressed into a crown.. but as it is you would have to grab the crown and bend the stanchion, or hold the stanchion and bend the crown on a 'Kashimi' coated tube that's sensitive to any small knicks in it, etc.

I was thinking this would be an issue in your garage, but not with a set of soft jaws and the set of custom tools you'd build if you were doing it for money.

Then I remembered we all have 3D printers for our soft jaws. So you just need to make up an easily adjusted but solid-ish stand/frame for your straight edges and indicators and a very solid vise. When you're not keeping your dick in there (whatever happened to that guy?) the steerer tube gets chucked up and away you go with your 3D printed soft jaws.

Dammit. I already have access to a shock dyno, too. I think I'm gonna have to log out. Lemme know how the Lefty bits turn out.

[sfotex]

I'm impressed that this discussion devolved into extolling the virtues of the lefty before at least dabbling in some inverted fork talk.

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When do we bring up linkage forks as the future?

[toast2266]

When do we bring up linkage forks as the future?

Ha!

Linkage forks have been the future for 30 years. I think they'll be the future for at least another 30.

[rideit]

As are IG drivetrains for meat-powered bikes.

[frorider]

Ok Diaz posted this: https://www.instagram.com/reel/DAjwU...RlODBiNWFlZA==

And in the post & his comments a lot more is revealed. Sounds like stanchion tube measurement and alignment is part of it. And facing the dropouts. And the shimming of hub axle ends, as I mentioned earlier, if really needed.

He also made it more clear that his concern about the ‘reaming the bushings’ fix used by many shops is it can often result in an overly large bushing to compensate for the stanchion misalignment.

[Yukonrider]

This looks to me like something that was solved in motos a long time ago with a floating axle.

Install axle, tighten one side, compress fork to "align" the legs, tighten pinch bolts on other side.

My 36 had something pretty similar. I would guess this guy is just using shims and selling it as snake oil.

[joetron]

This looks to me like something that was solved in motos a long time ago with a floating axle.

Install axle, tighten one side, compress fork to "align" the legs, tighten pinch bolts on other side.

My 36 had something pretty similar. I would guess this guy is just using shims and selling it as snake oil.

The Fox forks have floating axles.
They still bind.
I can assure you it’s not just shims. Diaz gets forks sent to him from all over the country and they don’t have the rider’s hubs with them, so he can’t just shim them. Sometimes he’ll come up and borrow wheels and hubs from my shop to try and match the brand and model that a mail-in customer has, to get better in the zone for alignment on that hub.
Can you call something snake oil if it actually works?



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[toast2266]

I'm sure some of the work he does is at the hub / fork interface, but I'm also sure there's some amount of alignment that can be done on the lowers (or possibly even the csu) themselves.

I've had a lot of forks over the years, and I've had plenty of different copies of the same model. Some are noticeably good, some are noticeably bad. Most are somewhere in the middle. But the good ones are good regardless of what hub / wheel I put in there - they're just aligned well from the factory. I don't doubt that it is possible to tweak average / bad forks to make them work as well as the good ones.

Fox's floating axle helps, and it removes one variable from the equation, but it doesn't fix all potential problems.

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[jm2e]

Fuck the floating axle. There, I said it.
As much as I love Fox, each 40 I’ve owned has play at the hub after doing the silly compress then tighten routine. Feels like there’s a 0.25-0.5mm gap and zero preload. Rides like the headset is loose or the bearings are shot.
So my solution has been a three handed routine of pulling the lowers together before tightening the pinch bolts.
Maybe making it bind? Still feels better than the rattle.
Maybe a great system for motorcycles that weigh 5x more and have way lower tolerances.


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[east or bust]

Fuck the floating axle. There, I said it.
As much as I love Fox, each 40 I’ve owned has play at the hub after doing the silly compress then tighten routine. Feels like there’s a 0.25-0.5mm gap and zero preload. Rides like the headset is loose or the bearings are shot.
So my solution has been a three handed routine of pulling the lowers together before tightening the pinch bolts.
Maybe making it bind? Still feels better than the rattle.
Maybe a great system for motorcycles that weigh 5x more and have way lower tolerances.


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Huh, so you’re saying this could be the source of a rattle on the front end of my Enduro (w/ 38) that I haven’t been able to track down for 4 seasons?


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[jono]

Fuck the floating axle. There, I said it.
As much as I love Fox, each 40 I’ve owned has play at the hub after doing the silly compress then tighten routine. Feels like there’s a 0.25-0.5mm gap and zero preload. Rides like the headset is loose or the bearings are shot.
So my solution has been a three handed routine of pulling the lowers together before tightening the pinch bolts.
Maybe making it bind? Still feels better than the rattle.
Maybe a great system for motorcycles that weigh 5x more and have way lower tolerances.

Have you tried adding a shim? Start simple and use something you have on hand? I think maybe aluminum cans have been used. In some states there are these free plastic shopping bags that might work for a really thin option, if you don't need any friction. Can't testify first hand, of course.

[Huskier]

To bring up for the millionth time: Wandering bite point on Shimano XT. Is this a rebuild or a throw in the trash issue? It's gotten pretty dramatic, just my rear.

Follow up question: I have laid hands on a single hayes dominion in their purple anodized finish. Hoping to swap out the malfunctioning XT but the levers are pretty dramatically different and I would wind up with one shorty and one not. Is there a way to swap out just the lever and if so is there a good option to slap a longer lever on the good XT body?

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[jamal]

Start with a good fluid flush and brake bleed if you haven't done that recently?

[bean]

I broke the lever on my MT800 (I think) dropper lever. The mechanism is fine. Is it possible to buy just a replacement lever?

[D(C)]

I’m looking at Fox coil shocks and trying to decide on DHX vs DHX2. I understand that the DHX2 has a wider range of external adjustments, but aside from the minor price savings, is there any reason to go with a DHX over a DHX2, assuming the DHX is set up with the proper tune for my bike?

[J. Barron DeJong]

I broke the lever on my MT800 (I think) dropper lever. The mechanism is fine. Is it possible to buy just a replacement lever?

Shimano doesn’t list a part number for it, so I think that’s a no:

[Spencer123]

What are your experiences with tubeless valves for inserts? I went to get cush core valves and they were out so got talked into the wolftooth valves. They seem to move air fine, but I can't inject sealant through them, I need to break the bead. Not a huge deal, but was wondering if that is normal not to be able to inject sealnt, or if they are subpar valves for dealing with inserts. Thanks!

[toast2266]

I’m looking at Fox coil shocks and trying to decide on DHX vs DHX2. I understand that the DHX2 has a wider range of external adjustments, but aside from the minor price savings, is there any reason to go with a DHX over a DHX2, assuming the DHX is set up with the proper tune for my bike?

My experience has been that the DHX is ultra plush and has ridiculous ground hugging abilities, but blows through it's travel and is entirely lacking support. DHX2 is much more supportive, but not nearly as traction-y.

But I think this is probably heavily dependant on the bike and tune. I've never run a dhx and dhx2 on the same bike.

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[volklpowdermaniac]

what's happening here:

i9 1:1 hub. during pedaling occasionally it feels like something grabs my tire , pedaling becomes harder, feels like i'm in mud all the sudden, then either i do a little tap of my rear tire with a front brake grab and it goes back to normal , or i pedal through it and eventually back to normal...

best summation : a periodic grabbing feeling during pedaling.

maybe just a simple rear hub service, clean , lube , some new pawls and springs?

[Roxtar]

what's happening here:

i9 1:1 hub. during pedaling occasionally it feels like something grabs my tire , pedaling becomes harder, feels like i'm in mud all the sudden, then either i do a little tap of my rear tire with a front brake grab and it goes back to normal , or i pedal through it and eventually back to normal...

best summation : a periodic grabbing feeling during pedaling.

maybe just a simple rear hub service, clean , lube , some new pawls and springs?

Sounds like more than a standard service. Something is getting out of whack.
Definitely tear down sooner rather than later.

[bamboocoreONLY]

What are your experiences with tubeless valves for inserts? I went to get cush core valves and they were out so got talked into the wolftooth valves. They seem to move air fine, but I can't inject sealant through them, I need to break the bead. Not a huge deal, but was wondering if that is normal not to be able to inject sealnt, or if they are subpar valves for dealing with inserts. Thanks!

what sealant are you trying to use? Some like the stans enduro sealant have those little crystals that don't inject into valves very well.

When I install cushcore in the shop, I just pour it in at the last second before closing the bead, as I've had way too many instances where sealant doesn't inject well and backfires all over me. Obviously that's different if you're just topping off and don't want to break the bead though.

[joetron]

what's happening here:

i9 1:1 hub. during pedaling occasionally it feels like something grabs my tire , pedaling becomes harder, feels like i'm in mud all the sudden, then either i do a little tap of my rear tire with a front brake grab and it goes back to normal , or i pedal through it and eventually back to normal...

best summation : a periodic grabbing feeling during pedaling.

maybe just a simple rear hub service, clean , lube , some new pawls and springs?

Yep. I’d start with a freehub service. There is a dust seal between the fh body and hub shell that can get a little bunged up sometimes. Have a good look at that.


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[Spencer123]

Thanks. It is just standard Stans with Vittoria airliner light inserts. Thats good to know. Yah, the top offs will be a little bit of a pain, but it sounds like you have run into this using other valves as well so doesn't sound worth the effort to swap them out and try something else since they move air just fine. At least not until the tire dies. The backfire injecting through the valve was severe.

what sealant are you trying to use? Some like the stans enduro sealant have those little crystals that don't inject into valves very well.

When I install cushcore in the shop, I just pour it in at the last second before closing the bead, as I've had way too many instances where sealant doesn't inject well and backfires all over me. Obviously that's different if you're just topping off and don't want to break the bead though.

[D(C)]

what's happening here:

i9 1:1 hub. during pedaling occasionally it feels like something grabs my tire , pedaling becomes harder, feels like i'm in mud all the sudden, then either i do a little tap of my rear tire with a front brake grab and it goes back to normal , or i pedal through it and eventually back to normal...

best summation : a periodic grabbing feeling during pedaling.

maybe just a simple rear hub service, clean , lube , some new pawls and springs?

As others have said, it's easy to pull out the freehub driver and confirm that things are in good shape. I would also check if the hub axle is cracked or bent, which can happen on those hubs. You can find an exploded diagram on the i9 website.

The hubs are pretty simple, with not too many parts. i9 also has great support, so reach out to them if you find an issue or something broken.

[jm2e]

what's happening here:

i9 1:1 hub. during pedaling occasionally it feels like something grabs my tire , pedaling becomes harder, feels like i'm in mud all the sudden, then either i do a little tap of my rear tire with a front brake grab and it goes back to normal , or i pedal through it and eventually back to normal...

best summation : a periodic grabbing feeling during pedaling.

maybe just a simple rear hub service, clean , lube , some new pawls and springs?

Could be those shitty i9 bearings.
Or maybe it’s not the wheel. Can you reproduce in a wheel stand?


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