MTB discussion
- Thread starter Tourershine
- Start date
Not an MTB, but probably a few of you will have owned a Raleigh Chopper?
This is our old cycle club Chairman, who lives his entire life in 70's retro, putting some rubber down on Ventoux a few years back, complete with cut off jeans and gola trainers
This is our old cycle club Chairman, who lives his entire life in 70's retro, putting some rubber down on Ventoux a few years back, complete with cut off jeans and gola trainers
All my Cub Scout friends had Choppers, so so desirable, but they were £30 and unaffordable to my family....up side was I got a £10 banger to drive on our fields. 50p a week pocket money bought a gallon back then. Devastated when fuel went up and couldn’t afford to run it!!!!
So i have a couple question for you MTBers as im a bit of a novice having only started ridding properly recently (last month to be precise)
I have a bike with avid juicy 5 disk brakes on it thats been stood up a while and the rear brake stuck on (if you push the bike the rear wheel drags and doesnt spin) now i thought the caliper had seized but on looking closer they hadnt so i gave the brake lever a few hard squeezes and it seems to have released and the wheel now spins ok and stops you ok when moving, is this a common thing following periods of inactivity ?
Should i do anything about it or just ride it and hope for the best ? Service kits are available for the lever or i could just replace it with a second hand one but dont want to make work for myself
The second question is regards a rear shock, i have a specialised own brand rear shock on a DH bike that does NOT have lockout
It has a compression lever (same style as Fox Float propedal level) that has four positions and seems to function ok and also has a red rebound adjuster dial behind it (again very similar to a Fox Float shock style) that has about 8-9 clicks on it, now if i dial the rebound too far in (last 2 settings) the shock will compress and stay compressed (fully bottomed out) until i dial the lever back out then the shock will immediately extend ?
Is this right or is it knackered ?
I have rang my LBS (specialised specialist) and they said outright over the phone its knackered and will need to be replaced but bring it in and we will have a look to confirm, i also rang a local MTB suspension service/setup shop who also said bring it in to have a look but its fine just dont dial it in too the last settings ?
Anyone heard of this before ?
Not sure if its relevant but it has long travel front forks that have a travel reducer on them when engaged it will limit the shock to bottom 2/3 of travel (100mm ish) then when you twist the dial back out the front extends back to full length (160mm ish travel)
I did wonder if the shock staying squat was a form of lockout but think using it like this will likely destroy the shock ?
Sorry for all the question marks i just dont know much about this sort of stuff
I have a bike with avid juicy 5 disk brakes on it thats been stood up a while and the rear brake stuck on (if you push the bike the rear wheel drags and doesnt spin) now i thought the caliper had seized but on looking closer they hadnt so i gave the brake lever a few hard squeezes and it seems to have released and the wheel now spins ok and stops you ok when moving, is this a common thing following periods of inactivity ?
Should i do anything about it or just ride it and hope for the best ? Service kits are available for the lever or i could just replace it with a second hand one but dont want to make work for myself
The second question is regards a rear shock, i have a specialised own brand rear shock on a DH bike that does NOT have lockout
It has a compression lever (same style as Fox Float propedal level) that has four positions and seems to function ok and also has a red rebound adjuster dial behind it (again very similar to a Fox Float shock style) that has about 8-9 clicks on it, now if i dial the rebound too far in (last 2 settings) the shock will compress and stay compressed (fully bottomed out) until i dial the lever back out then the shock will immediately extend ?
Is this right or is it knackered ?
I have rang my LBS (specialised specialist) and they said outright over the phone its knackered and will need to be replaced but bring it in and we will have a look to confirm, i also rang a local MTB suspension service/setup shop who also said bring it in to have a look but its fine just dont dial it in too the last settings ?
Anyone heard of this before ?
Not sure if its relevant but it has long travel front forks that have a travel reducer on them when engaged it will limit the shock to bottom 2/3 of travel (100mm ish) then when you twist the dial back out the front extends back to full length (160mm ish travel)
I did wonder if the shock staying squat was a form of lockout but think using it like this will likely destroy the shock ?
Sorry for all the question marks i just dont know much about this sort of stuff
It only stuck the once and seems fine now but i am yet to ride it in anger, do you think it will need doing before i ride it or shall i just leave it and see how it goes ?
I know avid/juicy 5 dont have the best reputation (especially the squeal) I dont want to get to the middle of a trail and only have one wheel turning !
I know avid/juicy 5 dont have the best reputation (especially the squeal) I dont want to get to the middle of a trail and only have one wheel turning !
Sounds to me as though the piston had just seized. The fact it’s released and is now biting correctly suggests to me that it has freed itself off.
Rear shock definately sounds knackered.
Grabbed a fist full of my rear brake on the way home from work tonight and.......nothing! Scary moment. Jumped off took a look and the entire friction surface had ripped off one pad, and was sticking out the top of the caliper. Bike shop visit tomorrow me thinks.
Specialized had a BRAIN function on some Fox based shocks. It locked the shock out, but if you hit a bump it would knock off the lockout and go back to suspension mode. It's not one of these bay any chance?
I had an Fox RP with the pro-pedal. Pro pedal didn't lock out at all, was supposed to just eliminate the bob from pedalling. Does the pro pedal lever make any noticeable difference to the damping?
The dual travel thing on the forks isn't unusual, I have RS Pikes that can run 140 & 160 - so you can flick to the longer travel in for downhill and click back for flat / uphill.
I had an Fox RP with the pro-pedal. Pro pedal didn't lock out at all, was supposed to just eliminate the bob from pedalling. Does the pro pedal lever make any noticeable difference to the damping?
The dual travel thing on the forks isn't unusual, I have RS Pikes that can run 140 & 160 - so you can flick to the longer travel in for downhill and click back for flat / uphill.
I have a fox rp on my other bike thats why i was drawing the comparison but this one came from a brief period (2007-2009) when specialised produced their own shocks and forks which is why i am struggling to find much info on it
The compression lever works and gets stiffer as you twist as does the rebound action which gets slower as you dial it in, it just locks the shock down if you dial it too far ?
The compression lever works and gets stiffer as you twist as does the rebound action which gets slower as you dial it in, it just locks the shock down if you dial it too far ?
Yep! I have a Turbo Levo, such a laugh for play days. The 650B+ tyres are so good, lots of grip especially at low pressure when run tubeless.
My Codeine 29er is probably my all time favourite bikes, such a capable bike.
Then for days in the "Pain Cave" I have a Pinarello Di2, electric gears are the future!!!
First question, had you washed the bike prior to not using it for a while? As moisture could have seized the piston temporarily?
Second question, how old is the rear shock or/and when was the last time it was serviced?
Usually shocks/forks should be serviced every 12 months, so maybe a seal has failed internally?
I would suggest contacting either TF Tuned or Mojo to get it serviced.
@Pauly , I take the bike is an enduro sl ? I bought the same bike back in 2007 . Its a great bike if a little quirky . I had numerous problems with front and back shocks which were very common, luckily covered under warranty . I guess that's why they ditched there own shocks a few years later .
The rebound on these was always slow so set it to fully open (fast) if not just one click from open. Avid brakes of that era don't like being upside down so they may just sort themselves out but may need a bleed.
The travel reducer on the fork is there to steepen the head angle when climbing , it won't damage the fork if you run them in that position but you wouldn't want it in that position when going dh as it would pitch your weight over the front. Regards the air pressure in the suspension , you want the sag on them when your sat on it stationery to be 30% .
The rebound on these was always slow so set it to fully open (fast) if not just one click from open. Avid brakes of that era don't like being upside down so they may just sort themselves out but may need a bleed.
The travel reducer on the fork is there to steepen the head angle when climbing , it won't damage the fork if you run them in that position but you wouldn't want it in that position when going dh as it would pitch your weight over the front. Regards the air pressure in the suspension , you want the sag on them when your sat on it stationery to be 30% .
@Pauly Yeah, Avis brakes to have a bit of a dodgy reputation. If you don’t know how long since they were serviced, give them a bleed, or get a dealer to do it and check the seals at the same time. I occasionally get a stuck piston which can be sorted with some silicon spray like Fork Juice, pushing the pistons in and out a few times. This relubricates the seals.
If you set the rebound on the shock too slow, it is effectively packing down, but being old it is just worse than normal. Run it at max 50% of clicks from fully open and you should be fine. You would never want to run rebound at near max for any reason I can think of. Get an independent dealer to see if they can service the shock as it won’t really be worth buying a new one for that bike. A Specialized dealer will only be interested in selling you new bits or a new bike
Not having a lockout on a shock or fork is a good thing. If you forget to release it before heading down you can blow the seals. A climb setting which effectively winds on lots of compression damping like the Fox fork is the way to go. And just forget about the travel reduction function on the fork. Most modern forks don’t even have them. Personally I never bother using the climb switch on the forks. They. Don’t really bob unless you are doing some really serious out of the saddle mashing and are racing, plus it’s just another thing to forget when you start to head downhill.
If you don’t know which local bike shops to trust, sign up to Singletrackworld and post a request for recommendations. The local independent bike shops make their money from looking after older bikes, but like car dealers there are good ones and bad ones out there
If you set the rebound on the shock too slow, it is effectively packing down, but being old it is just worse than normal. Run it at max 50% of clicks from fully open and you should be fine. You would never want to run rebound at near max for any reason I can think of. Get an independent dealer to see if they can service the shock as it won’t really be worth buying a new one for that bike. A Specialized dealer will only be interested in selling you new bits or a new bike
Not having a lockout on a shock or fork is a good thing. If you forget to release it before heading down you can blow the seals. A climb setting which effectively winds on lots of compression damping like the Fox fork is the way to go. And just forget about the travel reduction function on the fork. Most modern forks don’t even have them. Personally I never bother using the climb switch on the forks. They. Don’t really bob unless you are doing some really serious out of the saddle mashing and are racing, plus it’s just another thing to forget when you start to head downhill.
If you don’t know which local bike shops to trust, sign up to Singletrackworld and post a request for recommendations. The local independent bike shops make their money from looking after older bikes, but like car dealers there are good ones and bad ones out there
