You don't need to be an 'investor' to invest in Singletrack: 6 days left: 95% of target - Find out more
TL;DR Brand new Cotic SolarisMAX has a creaky drivetrain and now won't freewheel, despite a new wheel. Thoughts?
Picked up my sparkly orange SolarisMAX last Friday. It's a silver build with Shimano M7100 SLX drivetrain, Sunrace 11-50 cassette on Superstar V6 hubs.
First ride on Saturday morning and the chain dropped off on an innocuous little step. Rode the same stretch again and the chain dropped off in exactly the same place. I've never had that before with old GX Eagle drivetrain, and SLX is narrow-wide (and the clutch was on). So went to LBS and bought a chainguide. Drivetrain was a bit creaky too (more on that later.)
Went for a short ride with some mates on Sunday, and the creaky drivetrain became intolerable. Someone suggested it sounded like the chain, so I relubed the chain, but the noise continued.
On Monday I took the chain off, completely degreased it and then relubed with Squirt. A quick test ride seemed to show the creakiness had gone.
So to Wednesday. Off to FoD early. Set off around Verderers and the creaking was back with a vengenace. Really bad, but also when freewheeling there was the occasional feeling of kickback through the cranks. Spoke to the mech at Pedalabikeaway, but not much joy. Spoke to Paul at Cotic, and it was decided that I should pop to my LBS (Slam69) and see if they could diagnose the issue. Graham suggested that it was definitely a wheel or drivetrain issue.
So got back in touch with Paul, and sent a video of the creaky drivetrain to him (I'd upload video here if I could work out how to). Paul got a new wheel sent out to me, which arrived today. I swapped the cassette, disc and tyre over (literally a straight swap, no bits dropped or left over!), refitted it and torqued the Syntace axle to 14nm. And...
...Now the bike won't freewheel. Well it will, but I have to slacken the axle right off, which is not ideal. I'm pulling my hair out. No idea if the creak has gone as I can't ride it far enough to find out.
Before I set out on a six hour round trip to take the bike back to Cotic is there anything obvious I should check? Or have you had a similar issue that might shed some light on what's going?
I should add that I have checked things like saddle bolts etc. The creak comes when pedalling, either sat or stood. If I coast/descend sat down there is no noise. And the shifting seems crisp and accurate too.
I've recently had a bit of chain drop that was caused by the derailleur not tensioning fully on the smallest cog. Pulled it off and gave it a good thorough clean... But if yours is new it can't be that.
A way of checking creaking is to put a dab of water on a possible creaking point then ride. If it's not that, try the next spot... Keep going until you find it. Pedals, BB, cassette, etc, etc.
Hi
I’ve got the same build on a last of older LS cosmic black models. Had exactly the same creak it would seem (feel free to pm your email and I’ll share my video sound)
Not had any chain drop issues.
The creak got worse over approx 4 or 5 rides and I ruled out pedals (tried another pair), saddle (did when standing) etc
I took it to my LBS last Saturday (they are mates so fitted me in) and they reckoned the rear hub was dry and also added some grease to the free hub when fitting the cassette back on.
I’ve only had 2 rides since, one being my ride home from the LBS, so maybe 20-25 miles total but so far creak free.
Can’t help on the free wheel situation.
Hope you get it sorted as the bike is awesome in all other ways.
I’ve got the same build on a last of older LS cosmic black models. Had exactly the same creak it would seem (feel free to pm your email and I’ll share my video sound)
I've DMed my email through.
Neil from superstar responds on here so he may be able to speculate on why the hub is doing what it is.
Are the bearings in the rear hub and freehub seated correctly? I had some freewheel drag on an early Superstar V6 hub that I bought second hand but unused and experienced a problem where the rear wheel wouldn't freewheel.
It turned out to be a bearing or seal not quite seated right so it was binding when the axle was tightened. I bought a bearing press from bearing pro tools and ensured all the bearings were seated fully and it's been fine since.
Can you borrow a press from anyone or your LBS? Or get creative with some threaded bar, washers and sockets?
t turned out to be a bearing or seal not quite seated right so it was binding when the axle was tightened.
Similar thing happens to my Hope hubs if the seal pop out at the back of the cassette.
Not sure about SS hubs but worth a check to see if its the same thing.
Another place to look....
I've owned a LS SolarisMax for two years and recently had a creak coming from drivetrain or so I thought as it was induced from pedalling.
After stripping and cleaning crankset, pedals etc I found it was actually the rear bolt through. There is tapered section with a split and inner o-ring. There was crud in there. Once cleaned, greased, and re-assembled no more creaking.
After forwarding Paul at Cotic the video of my non-freewheeling wheel over the weekend it looks like my bike is going back. I'm not spending any more time trying to get a week old bike to work as it should. Cotic are hopefully sending me out a bike box and arranging courier collection this week.
Don't really have a lot of confidence in the Superstar V6 hubs now, but not sure what the other options are. The Hope Fortus26 wheels get middling reviews and aren't recommended for 2.6 tyres, and everything else Cotic fit is out of stock. Resigned to not riding for a while.
Imagine a sad face emoji here.
I know that not everyone is a fan of the Superstar V6 but since I made sure the bearings were seated correctly it's been absolutely fine.
Hopefully you're not without the bike for too long.
As an update:
My creak came back yesterday too.
Currently awaiting a response from Cotic.
I have just had a suggestion that maybe the freehub seal might be the wrong way around, which would cause the cassette to catch. Not sure if that would be responsible for the original noise on wheel number 1.
Looking at that second video the balance of probability is it definitely something to do with the freehub body.
Incorrectly seated bearing or coverseal, or a missing spacer most likely.
Did you get to try a different wheel? Or was that just not an option? (new 29er wheels seem to be in demand this year)
Did you get to try a different wheel? Or was that just not an option? (new 29er wheels seem to be in demand this year)
I had a new wheel from Cotic. That one won't freewheel. No spare wheels (boost compatible or not) to hand unfortunately.
How annoying for you. Sorry to hear that you’re missing out on the bike for the sake of a free hub problem.
The initial issue also seems related to the v6 hubs. I’m waiting for an update from Sam tomorrow.
It is a shame as it is such a capable bike other than this issue.
How annoying for you. Sorry to hear that you’re missing out on the bike for the sake of a free hub problem.
It's pretty frustrating. The Solaris is probably the best bike I've owned, but I've ridden it for less than 3 hours, and not really been able to enjoy any of them. I want to get on with the bike, but haven't had a chance to. And no idea how long it will be until it's rideable.
Not sure if that would be responsible for the original noise on wheel number 1.
I assume that's in your first video? The clicks/clunks aren't in sync with your pedal strokes. So to me that rules out pedals, cranks etc.
Looks like Superstar have produced some dodgy hubs.
Looks like Superstar have produced some dodgy hubs.
That is the impression I'm getting.
Appreciate you may be reluctant to, but have you tried check the freehub? May save you a long wait sending the bike back and forth. Remove cassette, freehub should just pull off. Check it's lubed and the seal isn't dragging etc as suggested above.
Neil @superstarcomponents may be able to advise.
The problem is I've had two rear wheels from Cotic and they've both been duff, but the duffness has manifest itself in different ways (wheel 1: horrible creaking sound and occasional kickback when freewheeling, wheel 2: won't freewheel at all). Because of that I don't really have confidence in the hubs (or my ability to spot exactly what's wrong!)
The bike wasn't cheap and it really should just work without me having to dismantle it...
Hello its Neil from superstar.
really hard to diagnose remotely as it could be loads of things.
first thing i would check is the plastic seal is the right way around (injection molding ejector pin marks outwards) and fully snapped in. if its been messed around with in bike build it is possible its been pulled out slightly. exactly the same as hope hubs
second thing is im of the opinion that seals should actually work and therefore have to touch the mating face. most taiwan hubs i saw has seals just for looks as there was sometimes a 1mm gap to "reduce friction". we fit them dry as grease just attacts grit and wears things out, after a ride they polish up and work perfect. some people prefer to wipe a bit of grease on them by pulling off the endcaps to make them a bit slidyier.
as for the creak it could be literally anything.
PM me if you have questions as i only look at STW once in a while as im so busy making medical parts currently.
Neil (superstarcomponents)
also check they have fitted the spacer behind the cassette if its a mtb one.
its a 12 speed freehub again same as hope does, so you can fit any shimano HG cassette