Ultra Lord
Hurts. Requires Money. And is nerdy.
Takes a special kind of madman to shuttle maydena on a XC bike. That’s hilarious and I love it.
Midlife cricycle project bike! Sub 10kg with pedals and a dropper? *Bike built post #61*
- Thread starter k3n!f
- Start date
Cardy George
Piercing rural members since 1981
I would have, but they were shut when I was there
Ultra Lord
Hurts. Requires Money. And is nerdy.
Sadists the pair of you!
k3n!f
leaking out the other end
Looks... EpicI like the angles, I reckon it would be a fun bike!
How are you finding the Pirelli's?
Rear tyre with 4700km
I have really liked them. The roll fast, have great cornering grip and have lasted really well. They get a gold star for managing 4700km as a rear tyre without a puncture, and that is the LiteSkin version. I have no idea what Pirelli do differently with their compound, but I used to get 1000km from Schwalbe and maybe 2000km from Maxxis.
I've just changed them over and they lose their gold star for being almost impossible to get on my carbon rims. They do bead up easily with a floor pump once they are on, but the experience left me emotionally damaged.
Ultra Lord
Hurts. Requires Money. And is nerdy.
Imagine paying for a slick tyre when you can just run that thing into the ground.
Cardy George
Piercing rural members since 1981
You say that like he's the only one who's done it
I'm getting exactly the same user experience out of my Pirellis
k3n!f
leaking out the other end
Alright time for a quick review.
There isn't a lot to say about this bike, because it is just good at everything. It climbs faster than my last bike because the suspension is more efficient (about 4 minutes quicker on a 60 minute climb) and it descends faster than my last bike, especially on the steep stuff thanks to the slack head angle for a XC bike.
I think the Yeti SB suspension is nicer on the bumpy stuff, so if I was heading out for an all day ride with no time pressure, the Yeti is a delight to ride. The Yeti would also be my choice on a really technical climb as the traction the SB suspension generates is phenomenal. However, the cost is that it is less efficient, so the Epic EVO is easier/faster to ride.
The Epic EVO suspension is much simpler which I like. As much as I love my Yeti's, they are using an unnecessarily complicated suspension design. My inner engineer enjoys the reductionist design of the Epic EVO, it feels like the bike has been reduced to its simplest form.
Overall, this is a fabulous bike that I really enjoy riding, 9.5/10. It's just a shame it is a Specialized....
Issues since the build:
- Two broken front spokes under really heavy braking on firetrails, I've never broken front spokes before so I have no idea why this has happened.
- The dropper post seized after a wet winter, I bought the Transfer SL as I thought a dropper with a simple spring would be unbreakable, but it had to be sent away as it is not user serviceable without special tools....
- The front brake is leaking a bit of fluid at the lever. I presume this is user error as it was my first go setting up brakes from scratch. So far it hasn't effected performance but I'm losing oil from the system.
- The vinyl decals eventually started peeling so I'm back in stealth mode.
- My previous issues with the Shimano pedals were fixed with some new shoes.
Here is a photo in its current form. Including the fork adapter for a child seat for fully sick skidz with the little one.
So I guess it's time to open this box.
There isn't a lot to say about this bike, because it is just good at everything. It climbs faster than my last bike because the suspension is more efficient (about 4 minutes quicker on a 60 minute climb) and it descends faster than my last bike, especially on the steep stuff thanks to the slack head angle for a XC bike.
I think the Yeti SB suspension is nicer on the bumpy stuff, so if I was heading out for an all day ride with no time pressure, the Yeti is a delight to ride. The Yeti would also be my choice on a really technical climb as the traction the SB suspension generates is phenomenal. However, the cost is that it is less efficient, so the Epic EVO is easier/faster to ride.
The Epic EVO suspension is much simpler which I like. As much as I love my Yeti's, they are using an unnecessarily complicated suspension design. My inner engineer enjoys the reductionist design of the Epic EVO, it feels like the bike has been reduced to its simplest form.
Overall, this is a fabulous bike that I really enjoy riding, 9.5/10. It's just a shame it is a Specialized....
Issues since the build:
- Two broken front spokes under really heavy braking on firetrails, I've never broken front spokes before so I have no idea why this has happened.
- The dropper post seized after a wet winter, I bought the Transfer SL as I thought a dropper with a simple spring would be unbreakable, but it had to be sent away as it is not user serviceable without special tools....
- The front brake is leaking a bit of fluid at the lever. I presume this is user error as it was my first go setting up brakes from scratch. So far it hasn't effected performance but I'm losing oil from the system.
- The vinyl decals eventually started peeling so I'm back in stealth mode.
- My previous issues with the Shimano pedals were fixed with some new shoes.
Here is a photo in its current form. Including the fork adapter for a child seat for fully sick skidz with the little one.
So I guess it's time to open this box.
Cardy George
Piercing rural members since 1981
Labcanary
One potato, two potato, click
This might not be you.
In my (limited) experience with these levers, the diaphragm is fragile and can rupture easily, causing leaking at the lever. It might just be a pin hole causing a slight leak. Unfortunately the diaphragm can't be accessed easily in those levers as the cap is held in by a teeny tiny roll pin. The m9100 lever uses a grub screw.
So yeah, new brake day!
k3n!f
leaking out the other end
Interesting. Where exactly is this diaphragm located? They seem to be leaking from the junction between the lever and the brake hose which is why I assumed it was my mekanik skills that had let the side down. The photo above is after a day riding at Maydena, maybe getting the system hot is resulting in extra fluid expansion? The levers feel normal, but it must be a reasonable amount of fluid.
Labcanary
One potato, two potato, click
Hmmm, the diaphragm is behind this black thingy:
This is an extreme case of the leaks and it was pissing out of the black cap after a short, flat ride. Lever went to the bar and did diddly-squat.
I had another lever where the leak was very minor but affected the lever feel (spongy), and it just kind of oozed out and pooled around the lever pivot.
k3n!f
leaking out the other end
Interesting. I'm leaking out the other end, so it sounds different.
Still, new brake day sounds legit!
Jpez
Down on the left!
Serious question. And a bit off topic. I have not seen a brake with more reports of broken, leaking, lever going to the bar, wandering bite point, can’t really buy spares or rebuild them from shimano etc etc. why are they considered such a good brake?
The pick a side and be a dick about it crew swear by Shimano brakes, so do Srambois but not as much (I’m talking generally on internet) yet I see a million posts and anecdotal reports of their levers just being shit.
Frenchy ended up buying TS brakes because he went through about eleventy billion levers. Moorebags went through a stage of looking for endless shimano levers because of failures. I meet him for a ride and one of his bikes the lever goes to the bar and has zero power presumably from hanging on the rack. Eventually came good but took a while and almost an emergency bleed.
So what’s go?
The pick a side and be a dick about it crew swear by Shimano brakes, so do Srambois but not as much (I’m talking generally on internet) yet I see a million posts and anecdotal reports of their levers just being shit.
Frenchy ended up buying TS brakes because he went through about eleventy billion levers. Moorebags went through a stage of looking for endless shimano levers because of failures. I meet him for a ride and one of his bikes the lever goes to the bar and has zero power presumably from hanging on the rack. Eventually came good but took a while and almost an emergency bleed.
So what’s go?
Labcanary
One potato, two potato, click
I can only speak for myself here.
I like the ergonomics of Shimano levers. I didn't like mag mt5 levers but mt7 hc are great (for me). Too bad they are fucking expensive to replace!
SLX are my fav Shimano lever as they are serviceable, though the parts are hard to get. Shimano don't want end users to service their brakes, they want them to buy whole units.
XTR m9000 levers are extremely lightweight, so I guess it appeals to gram counters. I prefer a lever that doesn't feel like it can flex laterally in my teenie girl hands. I've still got a set of XTRs on my "adventure" (alt-gravel?) bike, but when they fail it'll be SLX that replaces them.
TL;DR
Shimano: ergonomic, ubiquitous, affordable (comparatively), mineral oil
Magura: reliable, ergenomic (but expensive), mineral oil
And I just don't want to be dealing with dot5 fluid. That's my hangup.
People will have their own reasons for XYZ, these ^^ are mine.
Jpez
Down on the left!
I had some XT’s a few years ago. I also liked the lever shape.
And I’m living proof that spraying dot fluid all over your bare chest and lower face is completely harmless. I may now resemble the toxic avenger but as I said completely harmless. YMMV
Cardy George
Piercing rural members since 1981
Dollars.
I've long wanted to do Shigura but can't justify that many peso replacing something that's still working.
I have the most trouble when the bike has been upside down, not so much when it's hanging from the rack. When I go away for work I've taken to sitting it the right way up on the back seat. Gotta love rental cars and canvas seat covers. I put partly used pads in both ends and this trip both levers are a bit spongy after it's been upside down. But it's piss easy to screw the cup in and top up, I've seen many reports about others being a pain in the arse to get right.
For some reason, I don't break shit anywhere near as much as others do. And I don't baby my bikes, but clearly I ride a bit conservative, probably a legacy of having to save to buy nice things and then having to make them last.
And I like the instant bite Shimano gives. I've "test" ridden a few SRAM equipped bikes and lever feel does not agree with me.
Oh, and finally @moorey needs to top up his brake fluid.
Jpez
Down on the left!
Totally get the feel thing. I’ve ridden both and I like the feel of Sram a bit better. I like brakes like Magura and TRP that are somewhere in the middle and combine the best of both worlds.
But for me with sram as long as you bleed them well and more than once a year you more or less just ignore them.
Shimano I don’t care how easy it is to screw the cup in and top up I just don’t wanna do it. I want to get my bike out of the car and go ride.
Jabubu
let you google that for me
Have you considered Formula brakes? Extremely serviceable, strong braking, and they use mineral oil.
nsmb.com
NSMB.com - Formula Cura Brakes | Two-Piece Lever Blade Upgrade
Pick them up on their own or have the new two-piece CNC-machined lever blades installed on a new set of Formula Cura 4 brakes
nsmb.com
Jpez
Down on the left!
Are you asking me?Have you considered Formula brakes? Extremely serviceable, strong braking, and they use mineral oil.
NSMB.com - Formula Cura Brakes | Two-Piece Lever Blade Upgrade
Pick them up on their own or have the new two-piece CNC-machined lever blades installed on a new set of Formula Cura 4 brakes