Shoe Sale, Great Prices

 AF had a need for a kid so I got out a lineup - he took a bunch!

Giving stuff away might be the way to lighten the load.

The remainder are the worst, AF is no fool :)

Bike Geometry Comparison

 Darth Santa is no joke - its big but thankfully does pedal uphill better than Santa Creme. Mission Accomplished.

But why? And is it really bigger?

The Link:

https://geometrygeeks.bike/compare/santa-cruz-hightower-29er-low-2016-xl,yeti-sb115-2021-xl,santa-cruz-hightower-v3-lo-2022-2023-xl,intense-951-xc-2021-x-large/

At least an inch longer, V3 info a little sparse.

Busy Weekend in the Shop - Hub Holds, Goodbye Santa Creme, Hello Darth Santa? Santa Grey?, Yet Another Drivetrain and Tandem Stem Swap

 Lots of bike fleet maintenance going on

• Peak Bike - 40+ miles of dirt and road on the hacked hub - hacked = a forum entry suggested cutting the plastic teeth in the hub and then using Phil's Grease liberally. Just an edge of creak up the steepest hills. and the hub buzz fades in and out, just as the hacker described. The good news is I had the confidence to move onto the Santa Creme swap. Also, we have parts to make moves with:
• new XT Hub Arrived - rebuild or return maybe? or hold?
• new SLX Hub Arrived - swap out the axle and hub?
• Santa Creme to Darth Santa - with Peak healthy enough as a backup, it was time to make moves on the Santa Swap. 
• The DOT SRAM parts continued to trouble me, so I decided to give them a try and move forward. 
• The parts are newer than the ones I would move over - lots of  Code RS brakes vs XT has all sorts of forum entries, so they may be equivalent enough. 
• The irony I find is moving the XT derailleur and shifter to an otherwise all SRAM setup - and I actually LIKE the NX 12sp shifter/derailleur on Peak and the Intense.
• Are these titanium mounting bolts in oil-slick? They go perfectly with the oil-slick on my Spank stem. The frame is also completely wrapped, this seller had style.
• 
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• The left-over handlebar bell fit nicely as the brake and dropper mounts share a single mount - pretty clean.
• Intense still for Sale BTW
• And a 2018 XL Santa Cruz frame
• lets order up a bearing kit for this btw
• The name is up for grabs - Darth Santa seems too obvious but might be perfect. Santa Grey or Santa Gray a bit tame but I like the flow.
• And a sticker, gotta find a TStiers sticker.
• Fm166 Drivetrain for M. A text chain late last night indicated M broke his chain riding back to the dorm and that it was somehow stuck in the rear derailleur - could I pick it up and fix it? So yes, of course, I love he is riding and felt bad about not just assuming we would need new parts after the chain had broken first time. 
• I ordered new parts on Amazon, went to do a road tide, then went to SB to pick up a long cable and housing for Darth Santa  
• WHILE at Sportsbasement, I asked if they had 10 speed chains - yes, 27$! I had ordered same chain for $35! And Quick Link? $4.50 SRAM vs a 8.99 KMC on Amazon. Cassette? Only a 11-28 or 11-46 so I skipped this. Made my purchases and immediately cancelled my Amazon order for the chain parts.
• I picked up M and the bike, and together we made repairs. The rack is a hack on that thing, making it tough to remove wheels and get the anti-theft skewer re-installed. I took the new cassette off Old Blue and put it on the FM166, first new parts on the rig besides seat collar.
• We did some careful tuning and test rides. I assume he made it home/dorm safe.
• Tandem Stem - sore hands and bottom last ride, B wanted to ride again today. Arg. So I took out the measuring tape and it turns out the cockpit is actually LONGER than my current MTBs. So after today's ride I moved the like 150mm to a 100mm Race Face I had around. Quick test ride indicates this is the right direction. I measured the height from the ground too and its a bit taller, but the higher BB again makes this fine.

Chasing Creaks in the Yeti SB115 Leads to An Obvious Conclusion - Shimano 12sp Hubs

All Mendicino weekend the growing creek ached on my mind, and troubled my soul.

I assumed it was bottom bracket, so finally we got the replacement and after a violent evening of rubber mallets and not quite the proper tools for removal, I got the old SRAM DUB BB out, and new one in.

The bearings in the removed unit were rough, but not actually loose or damaged. Maybe try, but not enough for the creaks I was hearing.

I test rode anyway on the commute to work - besides getting sweaty, I remained creaky.

Its not the BB, or chainring...

I jumped on forums and found I was not alone - everything from seatposts to manufacturing flaws were blamed. I went to Yeti's support site, they sent me to the local dealer who I emailed. I poked my Yeti guru in a work meeting, who navigated the option of parts and presses I might need to deploy. The complex looking links scared me, but I would dig in over the long weekend...

I found I could reproduce the creak statically at 9 and 3 oclock under load, the internet full of testing suggestions applying load and stretching positions for the Yetis. Chain and cassette being brand new, I suspected chainring! I could swap the exact newer unit from the Intense 951 (still for sale) and so I immediately did so when I rode home. Still creeking after the swap, so I swapped back.

On the theme of swapping parts, I FINALLY decided to swap the 12speed wheel from the Intense, AND then...silence.

It was the wheel hub - Shimano 12sp wheel no less, duh! But this was my SLX champion, a replacement for known XT 12sp issues. 

Then I recalled the mysterious looseness of the new cassette install, I even took a video of it for Todd's Bike Shop that I need to edit. I might not now, but none the less, lets take a look at the hub after referring to some oldish Youtube videos on the topic.

Off came the newish rotor and newish cassette and then the dustcap, which was way too sticky and did not simply "pop" off as in the nice clean video examples.

See the tiny bearings raining down and out of the freehub? That is not good.

Tiny bearings sprayed out onto the floor. Some chunks too but mostly these tiny round bearings that apparently hold the free-hub together! I was shocked, I expected proper sealed bearings. Lots of rust and dirt, too much washing?

The axle and freehub removed together - they seem to be fused now, usually the freehub should pop right off but not here!

Rather then easily popping off, the freehub was very stuck to the axle. I went well beyond the instructional videos online to rubber mallet and tapping out the entire axle. More shock for me, I see round old school ball bearings hanging out in the SLX hub, cone bearings hiding in there.

This is how Shimano sells a hub for $75 - good old cone bearings inside.


So then I wondered what was inside the XT 12speed hub in my parts bin - note I rejected this good looking hub previously FOR A REASON (ie CREAKING) so I decided to explore and see if the XT guts were compatible with the SLX.

Using my new axle disassembly knowledge I found the XT *also* went with cone bearings, and in fact the WHOLE axle and freehub both fit right into the SLX hub and bearings

I slapped in plenty of grease on those exposed cone bearings - these main bearings seemed okay, maybe a little rough but I used the XT's cones vs moving the SLX (probably a bad idea).

 Love Phil's Grease

I put the wheel together, freehub  operating and axle spining smooth, I went for a test ride in the dark  and... a new creak, or actually an old creak of the XT freehub that promoted it to my parts box in the first place!!!

Shimano 12sp got me again. OR did it? 1077 miles on the SLX hub while on the Yeti, BUT this wheel was also on the Intense for nearly 700 and maybe another 1000 or more on the Santa Cruz. Before this, it MAY have been an XT or I already had decided to build this wheel from the start with SLX because of poor XT performance.

For $75, maybe this hub was an actual success? Moving the wheel between bikes hid the history and long term abuse this RACE WHEEL went through.

So I decided to order an XT replacement, hoping Shimano improved the design by 2024. Worldwide Cyclery had one. Yes, I hope to re-use the spokes and simply move the rim over.

Sleeping and riding and this morning pricing a OneUp today, $219 + $50 freehub, I went to Amazon and ordered another SLX for $79 as well. Yes, I am cheap.

I also ordered Coach Dan's magic salt tablets - a Gu Product. I took 2x of these I had leftover in my bag on yesterday's ride, survived.