What have you done to your ride lately?

[balakay]

Haha, sounds good. I’m a little sketched out about it after reading through the thread on TW. Still gonna do it anyway though, cause I feel like I have to

Pulling the VB isnt hard. I was mostly worried a out pieces falling out when I was pulling it. But only two springs and the relief valve fell out and the instructions address them and where they go when putting it back together. If you have the "Type 3" VB, I have pictures marking where the bolts go.

 

[MatthewMay1]

Pulling the VB isnt hard. I was mostly worried a out pieces falling out when I was pulling it. But only two springs and the relief valve fell out and the instructions address them and where they go when putting it back together. If you have the "Type 3" VB, I have pictures marking where the bolts go.

I’m not sure what type I have. I haven’t pulled it to look at it yet. How much ATF do you lose by doing this? I found 3qt in my garage

 

[balakay]

I’m not sure what type I have. I haven’t pulled it to look at it yet. How much ATF do you lose by doing this? I found 3qt in my garage

No clue how much I lost. I've read 3-4qt from the initial drain on the pan. Probably lost a other qt in residual draining from the trans. I think I bought 6 qts when I bought it from Summit. Just to be safe.

 

[MatthewMay1]

No clue how much I lost. I've read 3-4qt from the initial drain on the pan. Probably lost a other qt in residual draining from the trans. I think I bought 6 qts when I bought it from Summit. Just to be safe.

Okay sounds good. I didn’t know what to expect

 

[balakay]

Got as far as I could without having the gaskets in hand. Drilled out the 3 holes, removed the unnecessary check balls, cleaned up the separator plate, removed and/or replaced all necessary springs and valves. And installed the additional check ball to make manual low gear stay in 1st gear instead of shifting between 1st and 2nd. I went with the truck shifts rather than the race shifts. Not looking for "knock your teeth out" shifting. It was rather easy all said and done. Made it hard on myself by doing it where I did. Somewhere with a clean work table and plenty of room would have made it much easier. Got everything ready to go back together as soon as the gaskets show up. In the mean time, I'm going to try and get the B&M cooler installed and the lines rerouted. Considering adding an in-line filter as well. Posting these pictures here just in case something happens and they disappear from my phone before I get everything out back together.

 

[MatthewMay1]

From what I’ve read, most people recommend the Truck kit and not the Race kit. It seems that the Truck kit firms it up enough. I will say that I’ve always loved the silky smooth shifts I get out of my transmission, but I need to protect it from slipping under boost.

 

[tx_shooter]

From what I’ve read, most people recommend the Truck kit and not the Race kit. It seems that the Truck kit firms it up enough. I will say that I’ve always loved the silky smooth shifts I get out of my transmission, but I need to protect it from slipping under boost.

They are the same kit; only difference is which drill bits and replacement springs you use.

 

[Oswego]

20 year old rebuild of my 2000 GF Mt bike. Cleaned all the bearings and repacked except for the rear hub....had to use heat, gravity, and tri-lube to pull as much crud out from that as possible. All screws pulled, stripped of rust, then repainted. All rusty cables stripped, painted, then lubed. I was amazed at how much dirt got into my tires through the rimz. Had to pull off the bead tape and repack it after a good cleaning of the wheel and tape. Inspected all the tires after removal and a good wash. Found one small thorn in my front tire and patched the tube where that was. OE tubes were "light" so replaced them with HD.

#1 tool I never thought I'd use on a bike. Used it to lube up my cables after paint.

20 years later......

Put some 10yo Panasonic tubes in my 20 yo tires.... time will tell if they last. Using the old tubes as spares after I checked them for leaks/patched one.

Pic taken after first wash.... stripped it down after this pic

might strip down the wheels to raw aluminum then clear coat them, but doubtful on that one - I have no clear coat in stock and don't care all that much about the corrosion. If I had cared I would of done that prior to putting the tubes/tires back on. If I'm stuck home much longer might as well order some cans and do it

 

[AlienXtx]

You got a riding mask?

 

[Oswego]

 

[Oswego]

Got it all shined up and back together. Lubed up the chain and gears before I took a test drive and found a small issue

mid set of crank gears is completely fubar. When I parked it I just thought I needed to adjust them a little because shifting was off. Boy was I wrong. Only thing I can think of was a quick uphill and I downshifted way too late

I'm also blaming piss poor manufacturing. No way would this happen to 5 separate teeth w/o other issues (could only picture 4). Ive screwed up a tooth or two max in crazy situations and they were minor. Never ripped 5 teeth nor have I ever seen it before.

 

[Silverback]

Yeah I used to ride a LOT... like everyday for 2+ hours and never seen a chainring do that. My Santa Cruz still hangs in the garage. I'm kinda scared to ride it, its got a carbon fiber seatpost and a seat I affectionately named "Prison Rape" (You get used to it and it only weighs like 180 grams) and the carbon post is probably not rated to hold my fat ass. Last thing I want is it to break and I have a sharp carbon shaft stabbing me in the femoral artery or up the poop shoot. I need to just pull the trigger and buy a nice aluminum post and a larger seat for it. This is my chainring after 15 years.. granted only about 6 years of really hard riding. Needs to be cleaned up apparently.

Good ol' Prison Rape

 

[balakay]

My VB gaskets were supposed to be delivered today by 8pm. They left LA distribution center at 1:30 today. Needless t ok say, they didn't make it. Hopefully they'll be here by Thursday.

 

[Oswego]

Yeah I used to ride a LOT... like everyday for 2+ hours and never seen a chainring do that. My Santa Cruz still hangs in the garage. I'm kinda scared to ride it, its got a carbon fiber seatpost and a seat I affectionately named "Prison Rape" (You get used to it and it only weighs like 180 grams) and the carbon post is probably not rated to hold my fat ass. Last thing I want is it to break and I have a sharp carbon shaft stabbing me in the femoral artery or up the poop shoot. I need to just pull the trigger and buy a nice aluminum post and a larger seat for it. This is my chainring after 15 years.. granted only about 6 years of really hard riding. Needs to be cleaned up apparently.

View attachment 22695

Good ol' Prison Rape
View attachment 22696

Any good seat is going to make you wish you hadn't dropped the soap it seems. When I was riding 10-20 miles daily it used to take me about 1-2 weeks of riding to get my ass numb enough to ride w/o pain.

My seat is OK but so old so it has no groves for butt sweat and a grove for your nutz:

Can get a new grooved WTB brand seat for less than $30

I took a good test drive last night and no clue if I'm going to swap out her crankset. They are spot welded pressed crap steel (bike was $570) brand new back in 1999/2000 so it's got some good parts but some junky parts. Gears seem to be the cheapest part outside the POS bearings they used for the pedals. Not only is the mid range blown, high range is bent out around 1/4". The only gears not messed up is low.

Looking through e-bay right now for a used one or new/old stock thats a slight upgrade and if I can't find one for cheap Ill take if off and bang the one set flat again so only mid-range is fubar. Not looking to spend more money on a bike than it's worth and right now that bikes worth $50 trade in $100 private sale in great condition per ther web. Ill never sell it so just keeping that in mind when I see $450 cranksets for sale.

Wanted to call the local store I bought it at to see if they had any cheap "service" parts in stock that I could buy but they are closed. They could be open but since they are older decided to close their doors for now. Wish they would sell parts via web or offer parts pick up and on the phone consulting, but I get it. Most people are tards and in the ritzy area these guys have their shop so I'm sure only a very small % of their customers know what a wrench is. Plus being older I'm sure their not tech savvy.




In regards to carbon fiber - I'm not a fan. Being around boats and water for pretty much my entire life, my view on fiber materials and longevity is not a good one especially if UV is involved. Kinda like a fiberglass ladder left in the sun for too long - never know when it's going to fail.

That said - aluminum also has stress issues and you only sit on the seat when taking it easy so you might be ok?

Tell you one thing - my seat post is the most damaged part besides my crankset. The amount of dings from stone's flying up and hitting it is crazy. That would make me fearful with carbon. The stone hits are so bad they chipped through the black anodized finish and that pretty hard to do.

 

[Oswego]

Just saw the details in your pic.... your gears made in Canada......mine in Taiwan...

Everyone knows Canada has better steel




Looking back the MT bike I had before this one was a GT with "triple triangle" frame geometry that was supposed to be super strong. That frames in the junk yard and got cracked on a table top jump where the landing was a little short.

Maybe my memory of taking it easy on bikes is incorrect. None of the bikes Ive ever owned made it through me w/o needing major parts replaced

 

[Silverback]

I had a SE Quadangle back when I raced bikes as a kid. I cracked the frame on it (made from Reynolds 531 aluminum). That sucked. When I rode my mtn bikes I was a very fluid rider, not that hard on things unless something went sideways... like when I went OTB and ripped my lip off and knocked out my front teeth. Ended up putting a scratch on the underside of my frame near the steertube when my forks spun around and the adjuster for the shock scratched it.

 

[Oswego]

We were always bombing around sand quarries. Huuuuuge jumps and jackass type shenanigans. Looking back those sand quarries were the shit for everything. Ski jumps, sledding jumps, bobsledding the downhill fire breaks in winter, ice skating the ponds, dirtbike/quad riding, and eventually 4x4 when we got older. You can still get back there, but the local LEO's now have quads due to all the people dying while riding over the years so you need to pick your timing and be stealthy.

most of it is mushy quicksand bogs now and the area is built up, but back in the day before all the sand was removed it was our spot. Best part three towns convene right on it so if leo's from one would show up we would exit to another town

also a old missile defense/tracking site for those that can still see some of the buildings.

 

[Silverback]

There is a place called Walnut Creek in Austin, we used to have a condo about 60 seconds from one of the trail heads in the back of the park. It was about 16-17 miles of trails... great runs. Just great to have access to something so close to the house. I'd also go to other places around Texas to ride but this was my go-to as it was so close.

 

[Oswego]

Thats pretty cool. Local gov just started to put in trails around here a few years ago and when I was riding I'd take my bike over there. Prefer wooded trails to streets any day.

I think tomorrow Ill try and take a ride around my hood before work. 5am ride should be nice.

 

[Silverback]

We (riding partner and I) had a loop we mapped out that hit about 15 miles and if we were hauling ass we could do it in about an hour to an hour and 10. Even got into the night riding... damn that is cool! Get out onto a trail you have ridden 500 times and stop.. turn off your light.. wait a few minutes and start up again.. gets you lost real fast. LOL Pretty freaky to come around a corner and your light shines on eyes that are off in the woods... most likely a deer, but yeah makes the mind do freaky things to ya.