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I hope so. Bit of careful selling should reduce the risk substantially. I may end up keeping the cranks for the minute, at least till the BB needs replacing. Although I have a press with a 30/42 drift already and removal of the existing could be done with without new tools I wonder if I'd end up spending more on the removal tool/new BB than the difference between selling the gx cranks new Vs used.
A lighter bike will accelerate quicker.
Except you're really not actually accelerating that much in the vast majority of cases.
I also just pulled the trigger on the XR 7.9. My current riding is 35+ mile loops around Surrey with a mix of bridlepaths, gravel, woodlands, and blue trails. This bike will be lighter, have squish and more confidence-inspiring geometry than my hardtail which is currently leaving me feeling knackered after longer rides. If I really don't get on with the frame or rear suss in general, the parts could eventually be used to build up a Chisel frame.
Mines arrived 😁. In the stand right now but first impressions are good. Looks really tidy and in really liking the flip paint. 11.9KG out of the box for an XL (no pedals).
Great, mine arrived today too and agree the paint scheme looks lovely in the flesh. Paul's Cycles included an easter egg which was a nice touch, and spec was slightly better than listed with a Progress carbon handlebar and SRAM Level TL brakes. I've assembled it but not had a chance to ride yet.
I was really impressed by Paul's cycles. Well set up bike out the box, grease where youd want it. Nicely packed and 2 day delivery. They answred any queries via email within the hour and were friendly and professional.
I only wish they had a wider range of P&A so i could spend more with them.
I have a couple of tweaks to do to my 7.9 before its ready for the weekend
If only id held out a bit longer, i missed out on the egg.
Mine had those differences as well but no egg 😜. The inner tubes weigh 450g so get those out pronto. Wheels and tyres are more than the ones I have, should be looking around 11.5kg with pedals and dropper I think.
That's an impressive weight Nixie, I think you got a great bike there. I'm very tempted to get an XL too. Anyone know if I can strip out all the lock out cabling ? the front end of these Lapierer look very messy. I would change the lock out to a manual dial on the front and rear fork ? assume you can swap out the top cap on the forks ? The review for the XRM 6.9 put it around 13.2kgs, which I thought was too heavy, but yours is much more in the right ball park. Is the XR 7.9 more of a metallic purple? It look like one of those stock photos where the bike turns up and you say "that's not really how it look on the website", but I can imagine it looking much better.
The 7.9 is a metallic purple flip paint with a bronze/gold flip. its nice. not as nice as a blue/purple flip, but that's just my preference.
In terms of what you can do with the lockouts. the SC forks have a different topcap assembly for the remote and the manual versions. So not as simple as new levers and maybe a fettle inside.
it's 820-05-522 for the non remote version. https://www.silverfish-uk.com/products/82005522kit_fox-fork-32-sc-grip-topcap-assembly-2019
for the shock, it may be a little more difficult. you can get replacement eyelet assemblies for remote and manual, but they are around £125. and you cna get remote conversions asemblies for around £70, but not manual asemblies. It'd need a trip to a service centre as you'd also need to do a full strip and nitrogen charge, so factor in a service cost too.
Oh and consider yourself lucky, the XRM has a dropper lever below the bar and the somewhat huge rockshox remote above the bar and looks horrendous.
For this one though, If I could be bothered, I'd probably run the rear remote into the frame on the left hand side from the right, and run the gear and brake in the right hand side to lose the crossing over. if your really swish you could always get a hollow ahed cap and route the remote through the steerer.
The cabling didn't look as messy in person, I think the stupid ugly Level master cylinder design looks worse than the cabling. The shock and brake exit the frame via two holes right next to each other so you could easily add spiral wrap or similar to hold them together (with the fork cable also in that till it needs to split). The fox remote is nice and small, both shock remote and gear shifter are mounted to the brakes*. I'm hopeful my dropper remote and the shock remote will play nicely together.
* when selling the shifter does the mount belong to the brakes or shifter ?!?!?!?
The colour is hard to photograph, best I can do with todays crap lighting. I imagine it will pop in bright sunlight.
That's actually a pretty good representation of how it is. it's more purple in sunlight, from what I can remember, it's been a little while since the sun shone.
I was impressed with how compact the fox remote is, having played about with rockshox trigger remote I feared it woud be as unecesssarily humongous.
I ended up getting a Hope stainless PF41/30mm BB from CRC in the sale, removing the DUB BB was a bit of a chore. a heavy hammer and a headset cup remover.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/364709798503 something like that.
you have to hit it very hard and it knackers the old BB. it's horrible hitting something in a carbon frame. but there's a reassuring amount of material holding the cups in.
I would be tempted to just remove the cables and lockout from the bars. I assume if you loosen the grub screw and release the cable the front and rear shock are set to open by default ? TBH I never really use lock out anyway.
yeah they're push to lock, so sprung normally open.
"lovewookie" any ideas in the front fork topcap for the SID ? If I do buy one it would be the XRM 6.9
Its a damper change I think for SIDS, or get top cap and somehow remove a spring in the damper cart.
yeah, the charger remote damper has a different head to the manual one. it has a hex bolt had rather than the threaded stub that the lockout knobs fits onto on the manual version.
I've not played about with them enough to know if it's something you can retrofit to a remote charger damper, but I suspect not.
the sidluxe shock however, if you can find parts https://www.tnc-hamburg.com/TNC-Shop/Daempfer-Federbeine/RockShox-Daempfer/Rock-Shox-SID-Daempfer/SID-Daempfer-Ersatzteile/RockShox-SIDLuxe-Daempfer-3Position-A2-Ersatzteil-Umbaukit-auf-Hebelbedienung--60815.html
looks like the lockoutshaft is replaceable.
I don't know if it's the same on SIDLuxe, but the RS monarch shocks you didn't need to pressurise with nitrogen (but was recommended ideally), you can just use a shock pump to pressurise the damper making home servicing a little more feasible. hough you will need the screw in adapter for it, which is the same thing that used to be used for late 90's RS air forks IIRC.
@lovewookie (or anyone else) did you get a chance to ride it in the nice weather today? I still haven't had a chance to set it up tubeless, add some mudguards etc. The remote lockout on the rear shock is not really working, possibly the cable just needs tightening - how much should the blue lockout wheel rotate when fully engaged? Mine is only going about 30 degrees.
I've not worked out of it's a 2 or 3 position remote yet. Race tomorrow then next week start swapping bits onto the XR.
Had the crank out today for a ring change, damn dub is hard to get moving. Also looked inside the seat tube and you'll be pleased to hear that the dropper routing is in a little pipe (so should not require the BB to be removed). Felt like the same for the rear brake when I removed that.
you’ll be pleased to hear that the dropper routing is in a little pipe
That is good news.
Its a 3 poistion remote on the fox shocks.
Mines gettingban outing today. 15deg and sunshine 🙂
Be interested to hear how it rides.
Very nice couple of hours out on the 7.9 yesterday.
It's a pretty decent allround xc bike. climbs well, relatively active, but not noticably bobby, light, climbing traction seems to be good too.
Confident descender too. yesterdays ride included a long fast rocky descent and it handled it really well. I think I need to spend a little more time setting up the forks, as i found them a little unbalanced to the rear, but I'll fettle a bit more..
the low front end isn't actually that low once you get on it. There's plenty of scope for adjustment too. I think mine is slightly too high as I started to get a bit of neck pain after about an hour 20. This is not unque to this bike, I started to get it a couple of years ago with some bikes and have been pretty sensitive to bar/saddle height since.
Low BB had me strike pedals a couple of times running 175 cranks. may have been my poor technique, or being used to 15 year old bike geometry.
all in, it's a bike that kinda just gets on with being a bike. I'm pretty happy with it. (for now ;-))
Sounds positive 👍.
I think I've weighed every part now. Will post the break down at some point.
I think I’ve weighed every part now. Will post the break down at some point.
I am that sad that I'm looking forward to this. still stuck in a 90's weightweenie world..
I'm going to pretend I only did it as the scales were to hand but I'd be lying :D.
- Sram level TL front 253g
- Sram level TL rear 276g
- 180mm centreline rotor 145g
- 160mm centreline rotor 113g
- Eagle X01 12s rear derailleur 287g
- GX eagle boost dub cranks with 34 ring 638g
- GX eagle shifter 130g
- SRAM XG1275 cassette 461g
- Maxxis Rekon Race EXO TR 29x2.35 852g, 876g
- DT Swiss X1900 Spline - 29''*25c boost 6 bolts F 890g R 1007g
- Tubes! 435g
- fizi:k taiga 273g
- Seatpost 293g
- Grips 114g
- Fox 32 SC Perf-Series Float 3 Pos /remote boost, 100mm travel (29''), 44mm rake 1530g (inc 175mm steerer, star nut, crown race, remote cable)
- Bars 147g
- 70mm stem 103g
- Spacers 16g
- TopCap 14g
- Frame with headset, shock, axle, bb, seat binder some cable outer 2800g
- Rotor bolts x12 25g
- Chain 255g
That lot comes to 11.65kg so slightly out from all up weight of 11.6kg. I did not disconnect the shock remotes though which made weighing the forks interesting and the frame was difficult to balance.
Tubes! 435g
How much does tubeless sealant weigh?
My commuter has tubeless wheels and tyres but came with tubes. I've not got round to changing them. Two punctures in 9 months, both of which would have sealed tubeless has me wondering again.
100g a wheel maybe. Depends how much you put in.
Edit "all up weight of 11.6kg" should be 11.9kg.
I also just pulled the trigger on the XR 7.9
I'm not sure if I'm glad or not that they're out of stock of large! Part of me is beginning to fall out of love with gravel bikes and fancies going 95% as quick but without getting beaten up.
How much does tubeless sealant weigh?
100-150g depends how lucky you're feeling TBH. You can run them without (or with very little, <50g if they're slightly porous) sealant and they'll still be as or more puncture resistant than a normal tyre and tube.
those tubes, that was the first thing I noticed, good god they feel heavy in hand.
that's a great list. I can see where I can shed a bit of weight if I feel inclined. obviously it makes all the difference despite being the wrong side of 90kg's 🙂
We bought one (the XR7.9 Race) for our eldest for his 12th birthday, fair to say he loves it. He's on a small, his came with FSA SL-K carbon bars and the same Level TL brakes as the others, I swapped the chainring from the 34t supplied to a 32t I had in the spares box, he'll probably get a set of ESi grips on it eventually and fit his dropper also at some point.
We were going to swap the stock wheels to his Silt XC alloys, but he likes the look of the DT ones so they got set up tubeless with the supplied Maxxis Rekon Race's. He hasn't been off it since he got it and as you can see, he's not shy of a bit of mud 😀
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Nice, he looks really happy with it!
I've half looked at the size chart for our eldest but she is still sub 150cm.
Im 6'2 on the XL
185cm, just under 6'2".
Interesting, I'd have put him taller than that from the pic. Maybe time for a height check.
His proportions are similar to mine, quite long legs for his height so the saddle height looks high for his actual height.
Finally had some time to start setting up the bike. Not a whole lot of clearance between the fork crown and 2.35" tyre at the front, when I tried out the Proguard that has been good on another bike, there's not enough clearance. What front mudguards are people using? @steve_b77 looks like your son is not running mudguards 😀 @lovewookie you seem to have one? Crud XL looks like it would work as it mounts around the crown rather than under it
I'm planning to run a mucky nutz face fender. Want something to protect the seals and take care of at least some of the spray. Shame there is no bolt on solution as the required holes seem to be there. Presumably the lack of clearance (width) is one way the fork weight is reduced. They look skinner than an old non boost forks 😁.
I've got a lifeline plastic bendy generic zip tie to your fork one. there's not as much clearance as there is on a RS fork, but there's enough for my 2.35 nobby nic.
The rear of the bike has a nice mud shelf at the BB too 😉
Crud guard on the back so far. not sure I want to fit my mudhugger to it, and I dont think the win wing will be in the right place if I fit that.
need a wider win wing for dropped stays, they're great for dealing with the majority of mud.
I like the look of the XRM 6.9.... but I can't get past that front end mess with the handlebar lockout. Is it as bad as it looks from the website pics? Looks like a really over complicated front end with the lockout and dropper lever.
I was going to post a pic of the finished cabling on mine, except it's not finished. Found the rear Magura caliper does not fit in the frame! Worse still discovered that after cutting and threading the hose 😭.
Anyone know what the max rotor size is for this frame? May have to resort to a 180mm.
I wouldn't mind betting its 160mm as the XRM is specc'd with the same size rotors as the XR irrespective of frame size.
Yeah wouldn't surprise me either.
Finally had a chance to go for a big ride with the XR 7.9 today. Impressions very positive coming from my old-school hardtail. The place I noticed the most benefit was on technical climbing, the bike was a beast at that. The geometry feels comfortable for me and I only needed a few tweaks to dial it in perfectly.
@lovewookie You were definitely right about the mud shelf, I had to clear this out multiple times during the ride, seems like it's a normal feature of this type of design though?
Weight weenies will be horrified but I've already added 1kg to the bike:
- Forekaster front tire to get us through hopefully this final month of horrible mud
- Big coverage mudguards. Crud XL fits on the front but it sticks out at an angle for some reason, trying not to be OCD about it
- Brand-X Ascend dropper, 150mm just a smidge too high so I went for 125mm (to fit tomorrow)
- Alloy 760mm handlebar. I thought about it and just don't feel super comfortable riding a lightweight carbon handlebar from a brand that's not talked about in this forum. It's most likely fine, but I figure I'll ride more confidently with an alloy handlebar from a trusted brand.
You were definitely right about the mud shelf, I had to clear this out multiple times during the ride, seems like it’s a normal feature of this type of design though?
yeah, anything with a brace there will collect mud.
just don’t feel super comfortable riding a lightweight carbon handlebar from a brand that’s not talked about in this forum.
Mine came with a FSA SL-K, which is a bit of a weighty beast for a carbon bar. specs wise FSA say it's 215g, vs 145g for the progress carbon bar it's supposed to come with.
they are sold on tradeinn, but that doens't mean much as they sell odd brand tyres too....
Mine came with a FSA SL-K, which is a bit of a weighty beast for a carbon bar. specs wise FSA say it’s 215g, vs 145g for the progress carbon bar it’s supposed to come with.
I got the Progress bar from the official spec, FSA seems to be a more recognised brand
Is anyone with an XR in the XL (or L?) size able to comment on sizing? Does it feel like a long bike?
I’m right on the border between L and XL at 184cm, but with a longer torso and arms than average (ape gene!) Currently on a long Large Giant from 2012, so not much in modern geometry to compare with…but XL on road and cross bikes.
Obviously only XL is available, so it’s a go/no-go decision and none in stock anywhere convenient to try out
I'm 185cm but (I think) balanced proportions. I have to caveat that I've not yet ridden the XL but have sat on in a fair few times. I was slightly worried about the length prior to sitting but it does not feel as long as I expected (for comparison my trail bike is an aether 9 in L which has a longer reach, shorter stem and wider bars). I've got a 180mm one up dropper fitted which I think should be ok at it's max length (think because not 100% decided on which cranks I'll run yet).
Where are you in the country @import?
I'm 6'2, short legs long torso and tend to go for long bikes.
I have a XL, doesn't feel overly long, but it's not cramped either. the 70mm stem it came with seems to be decent size for me, which is nice.
By comparison, I had a Carbonda/vitus FS in large, as the seat tube on the XL is daft, like 540mm. reach on that Large however was 500mm, seat tube was 480mm, but it felt really short and awkward, and a bit weird. But I guess a lot of my riding is done sat down, so a long, slack bike with a steep seat tube didn't really work for me.
problem I have with XL bikes is that a lot of them are 21" which is a bit long for my legs, but have a good reach. The XL is possibly slightly tall seat tube at 20"+ a bit., but the standover is massive so the only compromise for me is that if I run a dropper, it'll be restricted to a shorter drop. However, I don't really like droppers, not long ones anyway, so it suits the purpose of a XC bike.
@lovewookie you could have been describing my proportions too. I've fitted a 125mm dropper and that's about right. Makes me happier I didn't go for that Vitus Rapide FS, did you sell yours because you didn't get on with the fit?
@import I'm just a few cm taller than you and the bike fit is great, doesn't feel like I'm at the bottom end of a range and doesn't feel super long. But bear in mind I'm coming from road biking so the lower front end XC geometry suits me and I don't have much experience with comparable FS bikes.
. Makes me happier I didn’t go for that Vitus Rapide FS, did you sell yours because you didn’t get on with the fit?
yeah, I think I may have been better on the XL, but I'd have only had about 220mm post showing as my legs are quite short. hindsight it would have probably been ok, as standover was massive. it's a proper dilemma being inbetween sizes.
I struggled a bit with the slack head angle, to get to feel comfy I needd a 70mm stem, but anything over 60mm and it felt floppy. The 76deg seat angle was a bit odd at first, I could push the saddle back on the rails to get comfy but it compromised the alreay active suspension too much with my weight far back. again, a XL, at 20mm longer may have solved that and enabled me to ride more neutral over the BB and cope with a 60mm stem or less
I also didn't like where the saddle was when riding undulating stuff. I don't use droppers, but the long bikes really need them to be able to maximise being able to move about the bike. It was just in the way, and that just annoyed me more.
The XR7.9 doesn't seem to suffer from any of that. I can move about the bike well enough, the head angle is slacker than I'm used to, but feels stable rather than flopping about and it's got enough progression in the rear suspension to get on with letting me pedal.
The closest feeling bike I've had to it is my very old canondale scalpel, the one with the shock behind the seat tube. I'd managed to pick up an XL of those so it was long, but had a dropped top tube so decent standover and suspension that did the job to remove rattle and minor hits. it was perfect for 90% of what I rode and the other 10% I could mince my way down anyway. The 7.9 is like that, but more squish.
Pretty much ready for the first ride tonight now. Saddle height set with the 180mm dropper and still have some post insertion to play with if it ends up being a little high. Can't wait!
First up built and ready to ride weight was 12.1Kg inc pedals. That is with some obvious fat to be trimmed out of the cranks, pedals and dropper before the big one of the wheels. Happy with that as I'm now on a lighter bike thatn the start of the thread but have gained rear suspension :D.
As for the actual ride size wise it felt good, I didn't have to adjust the post (other than when it slipped down, need some carbon paste) and the length was good. I was noticeably in a lower racey position compared to either of my other bikes and felt mostly comfortable in that position. It is going to take a bit of getting used and I definitely need to adjust the saddle as it felt like I was being pushed onto my hands too much at times. Moving the bike felt nice and sprightly. Climbing over roots or going along a rooty section felt good with less slipping than the hardtail. Going down I was more cautious on, its been a while since I've been on anything with a stem this long so need to build some confidence there. The local wood's trails are similar in nature to XC tracks and I didn't notice anything that concerned me. The rear suspension just quietly gets on with its job though the rebound needs a bit of adjusting as I think it's a bit fast currently. All in I'm happy with the change, now just need to get some saddle time on it before the next race to build confidence.
it felt like I was being pushed onto my hands too much at times
This is the next step in getting good at racing - build up your core strength to maintain that lower position!
Don't be afraid of running a shorter stem by the way - I run a 60mm on my race bike nowadays.
Oh, and, if you're not getting the results you're after on a 12.1kg bike with racey geometry, upgrading the wheels and cranks won't make a difference. Nice kit is nice to have, but the bike won't be holding you back now.
Yeah that is in the plan with my PT as it is definitely a weak spot currently. I got a fair bit of lower back aching during the first race.
I think there is a 60mm and a 50mm in the spares box to play with.
Spec diagram from Lapierre support for future reference
Nice one! Do you have that as a pdf or just image?
Second proper ride today. Winchester to the sustainability centre via the SDW. Ride was great, bike was great and I set PRs on 3/4 of the segments. Now having thoughts that the hardtail can go as not sure when I'd ride it!
Only negative currently is what I think is BB creak (only manifests under heavy pedal load, not under deliberate suspension compression and can cause it by pedaling hard either side).
Nice one! Do you have that as a pdf or just image?
They just sent that small image. I wonder if it's worth acquiring a set of replacement bearings in advance, or whether they're common types that could be easily sourced.
Second proper ride today. Winchester to the sustainability centre via the SDW. Ride was great, bike was great and I set PRs on 3/4 of the segments.
Cool, how's the ground conditions down there? I'm itching to do SDW again this year and just waiting until a nice weekend when it's dried out.
Now having thoughts that the hardtail can go as not sure when I’d ride it!
I'm keeping mine for winter, but I agree with you, this XR is a better ride than my hardtail in every way.
Only negative currently is what I think is BB creak (only manifests under heavy pedal load, not under deliberate suspension compression and can cause it by pedaling hard either side).
That's annoying, possibly not enough grease in the threads?
SDW that I covered was basically dry apart from the odd puddle. The Chalky climb to the sustainability centre was really slippy however that was probably due to the short shower half an hour before I got there. Hopefully a bit later in the year I'll be making an attempt at sub 12hrs from the Winchester end (starting on Southampton for bonus miles).
It's a press fit BB so suspect not threads. I've already regressed the pedal threads and it's not those. Pedals are not very old. Will pull the crank and check the ring mounting and if the spline needs greasing. I already have a hope of BB on the shelf so if those checks don't fix it I'll be knocking the current one out and fitting the hope.
I wonder if it’s worth acquiring a set of replacement bearings in advance, or whether they’re common types that could be easily sourced.
looks like common ones, though they are matrix bearing, solid lube
No 12 https://www.bike24.com/p2283455.html
No 29 https://www.bike24.com/p2283418.html
Been very tempted by one of these but just can’t shake the feeling the front’s too low for me.
Having sold my gravel bike because I couldn’t get on with a low front and drops.
with the stem at max and a low rise riser, it's not that low.
the BB is low, so relatively speaking it feels higher than you'd think.
That said, it's not high by any stretch, but there is a bit of flexibility.
and for the record, I'm not bendy, and don't get on with drops either.
does anyone use a bottle on the seat tube? The bosses are very low down, so much so that my SKS cage physically doesn't fit in, the holes on the cage are about 1cm to high, and even if it did, the bottle woud bottom out on the frame and not sit in the cage properly.
something like this:
https://www.paulscycles.co.uk/accessories/bottles-cages/cube-bottle-cage-hpp-matt-blackred__630
looks like it's got holes quite low down and may work, but anyone successfully got a cage to fit?
I've used a Lezyne Side Load bottle cage which fits in there well. Holds a 600ml GripGrab bottle securely enough, a 750ml bottle would not leave enough clearance for the compressed shock.
Great, I'll try something like that. 🙂
Really loving the XR and have been riding it loads recently. However I had my first maintenance issue already - loud clicking headset. I disassembled the headset and it was pretty filthy especially around the top bearing.
It seems obvious why it's happening too. There's several millimetres gap between the custom cover and the frame, letting the dirt in. On my other MTB there's no gap there. Fortunately the bearing is sealed so just a clean and regrease seems to have fixed the issue for now, but I can't help but feel this is a design flaw?
I can’t help but feel this is a design flaw?
that’s the kind of defect me and the manufacturing guys argue about all day. Me: “You made it wrong”
Factory: ”no, you designed it wrong”
ad nauseum. They’re almost always right - it’s easy to design something that can’t be made in volume.
id fill that with something… blu tak personally 😂
so, 6/7 months on, how are folk getting on with their XR's?
I've not done huge miles, about 550 ish in this time over 30 or so rides, but it's been an absolute gem of a bike to use. there have only been a few times where I've not felt comfortable riding stuff and TBH it probably saved me from imminent injury..but 99% of the time it's pretty perfect for what I do.
Took it out of the shed this morning though and it seems like I've play somewhere, think some of the bearings are shot, which is quite a surprise considering the mileage or lack of, and that they're supposed to be fangled SKF solid lube bearings..
I'll update once I've had chance to investigate properly after work, but wonder if others have had similar? I kinda hope it's bearings (easy to sort) and not something else :-/
bike gets fairly well looked after, hosed down not jetwashed and dried out in the kitchen overnight normally.
I've loved the XR this summer but it's in storage over the colder months now. I've probably done roughly the same mileage on it, including a few 100 mile epics in the South-East.
That's annoying about the play, keep us updated on which bearings you find to be the culprit. I did find a thread on MTBR where quite a few people reported quick failures with those SKF matrix bearings so not sure if they live up to the marketing. https://www.mtbr.com/threads/skf-mtrx-bearings.1099122/
Thanks, that's an interesting read.
I'll be investigating later today and will report back.
Main pivot seemed to have a bit of movement, bolt was done up tight, so I stripped it all down
One thing I can say is that it's definitely not skf matrix bearings, not configured like the drawing. The main pivot bearings are in the frame, not the swingarm, with the pivot bolt having tapered ends to nip down onto the bearings.
The linkage bearings themselves are marked JNK, all VRS seals with one having slightly different colour blue to the rest, which was odd. That one was rough as hell, the rest seemed to have a little play but we're smooth.
Main pivot bearings are black seals rather than blue, no name and VRS sealed. These are smooth but have a fair amount of resistance.
The discoloration on the main pivot bolt and drive side spacer suggests to me that the bearing has been sticking.
Only thing left for me to do is reassemble the main pivot and check that the swingarm isn't worn. :-/
Mines parked up for the winter. I did the xc season and few longer rides then stole the wheels for a single speed. It'll be back out in the spring with new lighter wheels and an xtr mech I picked up. I've also got one of those any direction Wolftooth dropper remotes in the hope that will make the lockout/dropper controls less cumbersome.
On the riding front I'm still very happy with it. I've more confidence and it's feels faster.
All reassembled and torqued up and there's no play in it. However, the linkage bearings are rough and the shock link bearings are slightly wobbly so it's being retired until I can get it all working happy again. Probably with some max bearings instead.
Reviving the thread to see how your getting on with your bikes. Did you fix the bearings @lovewookie?
Mine got some preseason upgrades with 12 speed XTR/XT mix, wolftooth 360 remote and lights DT 240/XR391 wheels. Gained a little weight with the new drive chain (mainly in the cassette) and dropped a decent chunk out of the wheels. I've done a good few long rides this year along with 4 SXC rounds. Still happy and towards the end of the race season I was definitely starting to get more out of it. Have I got faster, yes R&R results tables suggests so with higher beat % and closer to fastest cat time. I'm planning to take it out this weekend for a sub 12hr SDW attempt :D.
I've gone in the other direction from racing and tried bikepacking recently:
The saddle pack is a bit stupid but with the semi-lockout has just enough clearance.
I also attempted SDW in a day on this bike a few months ago, although I bailed about 75% of the way through. Best of luck for the 12 hour attempt!
yeah, bearings sorted with a mix of max and standard enduro bearings. Still seems to be going OK, not that I've put that many miles on it since, but at least there's no play.
Mine has very few of the original components on it.
the Avid level TL brakes, headset, stem and the frame and shock I think are all that remain now. mix of sram/xtr gears, raceface turbine cranks on a hope BB, high rise carbon bars, dropper, and some hunt XC wheels.
recently swapped out the 100mm SC for a set of 34SC 120mm. The 32 step cast were just a bit twangy for my 90kg, and I wanted to see what it would do with 120mm in it.
currently on the lookout for some tyres for it to replace the nobby nic and rocket ron all year combo. Have mezcals on my hardtail and they roll well, but have no grip on anything slightly loose, rocky, rooty or damp. they work fine on hardpack, but only marginally more grip than a terreno dry. :-/ not that this should go to a what tyres....
although I bailed about 75% of the way through
That sucks, I got a similar distance on my first attempt, frustrating to get so close but not quite finish. Looks good in bike pack mode.
The 32 step cast were just a bit twangy
How are the 34s? I also notice a bit of twang in mine (@ 77Kg), a set of 34 SL or 34 SC set at 100mm does appeal but then remind myself what I use the bike for. Doesn't help I have mezzers on another bike and they are very far from twangy :D.