XC Turner Czar

born-again-biker

born-again-biker

Is looking for a 16" bar
You can have your bearing cake & eat it too!
We have purifier gearboxes & water pumps at work with open roller bearings. They are a specific part number that is supplied with no side seals.
The gearbox ones sit in, or near, the oil bath & receive aggressive splash lubrication....and the pump ones are packed liberally before overhaul/installation and can be topped-up via grease nipples and lines at remote lube points.

So...
In theory you could design mtn bike pivots with open faced roller bearings, grease ports and a small escape port at the top of the cavity/assembly.
That way you could have the supple ride & easy replace-ability of roller bearings, but you could drive the old grease, dirt and water out of the bearings with your gun every few months.
But I have no idea if there's any bikes made this way? I suspect any of the bikes with grease ports in the frame are because they have George Dubbyas.
Grease ports into sealed roller bearings makes zero sense to me....
 
slider_phil

slider_phil

Likes Bikes and Dirt
Santa Cruz and Intense do this with the lower VPP link. Grease points that push clean grease through the bearings and out the sides. I'm still lucky to get a year out of mine.

It's not the lubrication that's killing them. It's the fact that it's not the best application for them. Pumps/gearboxes etc are fine. I think maybe if they could use tapered roller bearings that could account for side loads? But then you need to press in bearings and cones and there's extra space and weight.

I honestly don't know what he answer is. Bearings have low friction but last about a year (for me) and bushings have higher friction, but in general last a lot longer.
 
slider_phil

slider_phil

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It's currently being used to decorate the TV cabinet in the shed. But yes, no plans to sell it. Probably have enough bits lying around to build it up again but nothing on the radar just yet. Drop bar rigid commuter/camping rig?
 
slider_phil

slider_phil

Likes Bikes and Dirt
Haha. Well the Solaris has had drop bars on it. Never actually rode it off the trainer like that, but it was comfy enough. Had the XT 11spd shifter running through the 105 road shifter using a Wolftooth Tanpan adapter. Also had some avid cable brakes on there working.

Ended up pulling it all off to use the bike for racing before I could use it outside. Worked a treat on the trainer though
 
slider_phil

slider_phil

Likes Bikes and Dirt
Finally got around to installing the 70mm stem I ordered when I first got the bike. I'd been using the 55mm Syntace stem that I'd had on the Solaris. I ordered it as the medium Solaris had a 10mm longer reach than the large Czar. The 55mm had felt fine but I'll give this a try and see how it feels. Looks more XC regardless





I did some across one issue, which was I'd cut the steerer on the fork to suit the really narrow Syntace stem so I had to take off the top cap seal to get a full purchase top and bottom of the stem. If I like how this feels, I'll order a slamset top cap and seal or all back up. Or, I'll find a cheap stepcast fork in the meantime and that'll fix my issue too.



Have had a fair few rides now and I'm still really impressed with how buttery the rear end feels. There's a few longer sections on my local loop that is very choppy with roots and or ruts and they are real speed killers in general. This seems to plow through with reckless abandon and in some sections I can keep pedaling without issue. In fact, along this section I managed to set a KOM that'd been standing for about 3 years now. (Plus a few more!)



My only issue with the bike has been a persistent creek in the rear end. I think I've eliminated the DW pivot creak by removing the axles, cleaning and regressing. It feels like a bb30 bottom bracket creak. Luckily I used a Wheels Manufacturing threading system so it'll be easy enough to pull out and redo. I just used grease originally so I'll do some googling and figure out if some light retaining compound is ok to use.
 
Cardy George

Cardy George

Piercing rural members since 1981
Curious to know what difference the stem makes. I haven't managed to be 100% happy with my front end so I'm starting to look at cockpit height etc
 
slider_phil

slider_phil

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hifiandmtb said:
Looks cool. Don't let @moorey know you bought a cheap eBay stem though :p
Click to expand...
Hehe, I'm a little dubious on it. eBay PLUS it's sub 100g. But there's a bunch of people on mtbr running them without issue. Looks like they are manufactured by Kalloy. The 120g bars have held up to some pretty serious abuse so far and I'm well under the recommend rider weights for both, so fingers crossed. I'll make sure the dental insurance is up to date
 
S

SummitFever

Eats Squid
I have a bunch of the Uno 7 stems in 10mm increments that I use when tuning up a cockpit. Once I arrive at a config I like I go and buy a Syntace. But to be honest the Uno 7's feel every bit as stiff as the Syntace stems and are a similar weight. They seem to be well made and a good design.
 
slider_phil

slider_phil

Likes Bikes and Dirt
That's good to hear. The Syntace I pulled off was a similar weight. If this feels right maybe I'll treat myself to a new Syntace one down the track.
 
slider_phil

slider_phil

Likes Bikes and Dirt
Did a longer ride on the local trails to get a feel for the 70mm stem. A little extra weight towards the front and the bars are now a touch higher than the extreme negative rise Syntace setup, resulting in a more relaxed feel. Will leave it as is for a bit longer but I reckon this will be the go-to setup. No discomfort in the upper back region after 2hrs but it'll be after a big climbing day that I'll notice any change there.

Over in the Bright region in a couple of weeks for the wife's Spartan race so I'll bring a bike along to get a few pedals in. Thinking of maybe bringing both the Primer and Czar and riding them back to back days, still undecided
 
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