Sunday, September 8, 2024

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.

      • 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.

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