[demo 9]

Here goes, so I get a DH 9 (helicoiled derailer hanger-but its straight and its helicoiled good) It wont shift for ****, so I bring it to my mechanic-he cant get this thing to work (saint shifter and XT derailur) I figure maybe he just cant figure it out so i go to another shop with a great mechanic (probably the best in the area)No dice, Its all over the place. I cannot run a saint derailur because it will hit the frame (we tried)

It ghosts (down only) from 1st
It hits 9th 1/3 times
5/6th always have issues

I am wondering if the bike is so old, its not 9 speed compatable, any other DH-9 owners expierience this.

a quote from the 2nd mechanic "i dont think this bike is designed to have gears "

 

[joelsman]

I assume yeti dh9, the problem with those frames was the hanger hangs the der really low and away from the cassette causing the poor shifting. What I did was back the B tension off a lot so that the upper pulley gets closer to the cassette. I used x9 stuff. worked alright.

 

[joelsman]

notice the angle of the rear der, this was mine 04-05

http://www.pinkbike.com/photo/691605/

 

[nelsonjm]

What are the actuation ratios for the shifter and dérailleur? If they are different. that could be your issue.

edit: woao, seeing that frame makes it look wierd.

 

[demo 9]

notice the angle of the rear der, this was mine 04-05

http://www.pinkbike.com/photo/691605/

That is what i was guessing, my problem ( i think) is that i cannot find a way to get it closer enough, i took a saint and got it close enough to shift, but it hit the frame, does anybody make massive cassettes, like 36-20? Id like to use shimano, but if i have to ill jump ship to something that can i can guarentee will hit the gears

 

[joelsman]

get a 12-34 shimano cassette and then a big ring(40+) so you are never down far into the cassette.

 

[demo 9]

get a 12-34 shimano cassette and then a big ring(40+) so you are never down far into the cassette.

That has been the plan, but its to all over the place as it is, id just lock out 8-9th but everything is randomly all over

 

[DirtyMike]

Gonna ask a silly question here....... You are using a shimano chain correct??? I have had more than a few issues with that setup doing exactly as you describe when using saint derailleur and a Sram chain

 

[demo 9]

Gonna ask a silly question here....... You are using a shimano chain correct??? I have had more than a few issues with that setup doing exactly as you describe when using saint derailleur and a Sram chain

I dont know off the top of my head, but here is what id like to do. I DO NOT mind spending the money to fix this the right way( i truely think this frame has a TON of hidden potential) I dont want to guess and check, i am using a NEW saint shifter (gold style) with a XT derailur since a saint wont work. idk the cassette but its tiny, REALLY tiny(assuming it would help it shift instead of clicking/hopping) The chain might be a SRAM since its got a gold master link, fresh cables/housing

The 2nd mechanic is a real smart guy, and would be the first to recognize this as a problem, on another note, u have to tension the wheel urself, so can the cassette be too left/right for it, i always though tension factored where it shifted on the cassette, can i "move" the cassette right/left (assuming i might have the wheel in "wrong"?

 

[aznpg]

shimano makes a 29er specific cassette that goes 12-36. i have it on my 26 just to make the climbs alittle bit easier

 

[MrPlow]

Sounds silly but you will probably have more success with a sram setup. Just the way they work. I had a DH9 with a short cage (very short cage) X0 rear mech on it, running a 12/21. Was great.

 

[stoney]

The leverage ratio and extra cable pull on shimano never worked correctly on the DH-9. You need to run SRAM with a little cable as possible. In 6 years over 8 DH-9's (team bikes) I was never able to get perfect shifting. I always ended up with two clicks up, one click down for a single up shift. Getting it to shift down correctly is the easy parts.

 

[demo 9]

How could something so ****ty be produced, Yeti isnt a half bad company, how could they realize this could never work? What did they come stock with?

X something derailur on a saint shifter?

 

[Dogboy]

X something derailur on a saint shifter?

You will need a SRAM shifter.

 

[yuroshek]

just throwing this out there.... what if you only ran 5 gears would that work? space it out from the hub so you have the last 5 and try and fine tune them in with an x9.

 

[stoney]

How could something so ****ty be produced, Yeti isnt a half bad company, how could they realize this could never work? What did they come stock with?

X something derailur on a saint shifter?

Remember, this bike was first produced as the DH-4 in the mid-90's and steadily was upped in travel until the DH-9 was created. At the time, the suspension activeness and pedaling proficiency grossly offset the poor shifting. It's only in the last five years since DW really got involved with frame design, did DH become a priority for many companies. Because you are so young, and have only really have current generation bikes, you never had to deal with the years of mis-fitting, poorly shifting, poor pedaling, 45lb+ DH bikes.

You will need to run full SRAM shifting, and even then it's not that good. It is better with 8-speed, as the spacing is wider and the throws are longer.

 

[demo 9]

Remember, this bike was first produced as the DH-4 in the mid-90's and steadily was upped in travel until the DH-9 was created. At the time, the suspension activeness and pedaling proficiency grossly offset the poor shifting. It's only in the last five years since DW really got involved with frame design, did DH become a priority for many companies. Because you are so young, and have only really have current generation bikes, you never had to deal with the years of mis-fitting, poorly shifting, poor pedaling, 45lb+ DH bikes.

You will need to run full SRAM shifting, and even then it's not that good. It is better with 8-speed, as the spacing is wider and the throws are longer.

8 Speed SRAM ftw? Does 8 speed even exist outside of walmart with all this new 10/11/12 nonsense

 

[stoney]

Only in gripshift. It's about the shifter, not the derailluer. I ran x7 shifted with x0 deraillues because of the excessive spring tension. I also used 8sp shimano triggers with xtr at max spring tension with a 'thing-a-majig' to shorten the cable loop. I changed cables and housing at least monthly, and after every muddy ride.

 

[demo 9]

Ordered a SRAM x.4 shifter (8 speed trigger 1-1)

I got a sram 11-32 8 speed cassette

8 speed chain.

Now comes the fun, i have an XT derailur on right now (its fine) I am sure its not 1-1, so id have to get a derailur that is (ok sure thats fine) All the 1-1 derailurs are 9-10 speed, surely u can run a 1-1 8 speed with a 1-1 9/10 speed?

HELP ME, im so close (hopefully)

On another note, my tire is smashing the frame in all geo settings when i bottom out, any clues?

 

[MrPlow]

you cant run the shifter with shimano. Besides I think the major shifting benifit is obtained by SRAM having no B tension spring so you can tuck the mech right up there and it doesnt jump around.

 

[DirtyMike]

Ordered a SRAM x.4 shifter (8 speed trigger 1-1)

I got a sram 11-32 8 speed cassette

8 speed chain.

Now comes the fun, i have an XT derailur on right now (its fine) I am sure its not 1-1, so id have to get a derailur that is (ok sure thats fine) All the 1-1 derailurs are 9-10 speed, surely u can run a 1-1 8 speed with a 1-1 9/10 speed?

HELP ME, im so close (hopefully)

On another note, my tire is smashing the frame in all geo settings when i bottom out, any clues?

Well the goo news is....... The derailluer just does what the shifter tells it to do.... Sooooo.... you can run the nine speed derailluer, But as Plow said, you cant run the xt anymore

 

[DirtyMike]

Ordered a SRAM x.4 shifter (8 speed trigger 1-1)

I got a sram 11-32 8 speed cassette

8 speed chain.

Now comes the fun, i have an XT derailur on right now (its fine) I am sure its not 1-1, so id have to get a derailur that is (ok sure thats fine) All the 1-1 derailurs are 9-10 speed, surely u can run a 1-1 8 speed with a 1-1 9/10 speed?

HELP ME, im so close (hopefully)

On another note, my tire is smashing the frame in all geo settings when i bottom out, any clues?

Well the good news is....... The derailluer just does what the shifter tells it to do.... Sooooo.... you can run the nine speed derailluer, But as Plow said, you cant run the xt anymore, the xt is a 2 to 1, just grab an x7 for now, works good, decent pricing....

 

[demo 9]

Well the goo news is....... The derailluer just does what the shifter tells it to do.... Sooooo.... you can run the nine speed derailluer, But as Plow said, you cant run the xt anymore

yay mee! Short or long cage for this bike-most that i see have either long srams, or 105 shimanos. Misleading to say the least

 

[DirtyMike]

Dont know this suspension super well myself, rule of thumb is to go with short for a single ring up front. My guess is a short would be ideal, hopefully one of the guys here with the experience with this suspension can chime in< no idea on growth for this bike> But if all you can get is a long cage, itll still work just fine...

 

[demo 9]

Dont know this suspension super well myself, rule of thumb is to go with short for a single ring up front. My guess is a short would be ideal, hopefully one of the guys here with the experience with this suspension can chime in< no idea on growth for this bike> But if all you can get is a long cage, itll still work just fine...

joker knows alot about it, im sure he will chime in again, something to do with a ****ty placed hanger that is too far from the cassette

 

[stoney]

Because the hanger sits so low, you are better off with a short cage. Primary reason being you are less likely to bang it off a rock. I also found the shifting to be generally better with a short cage. Like I said yesterday, the best shifting I ever had was xt8 with a durace der, but that lasted two days until I banged the der off a rock.

Get me pictures of the frame where the tire is rubbing, as the frame shouldn't be rubbing unless your shock is not the right size.

 

[demo 9]

Here is the frame rub

^ STILL HITS THE SEAT

hits on the right too, althoght the wheel needs to be slightly dished you can see the two wear lines

 

[IH8Rice]

At the time, the suspension activeness and pedaling proficiency grossly offset the poor shifting. It's only in the last five years since DW really got involved with frame design, did DH become a priority for many companies.

none of my Foes frames had issues with shifting and they were 1999 and 2000 model year bikes.

and i think giving DW that much credit in making DH a priority for companies is just a bit off based. i dont think companies said "well DW is designing DH bikes, so i think we should too"

 

[stoney]

none of my Foes frames had issues with shifting and they were 1999 and 2000 model year bikes.

and i think giving DW that much credit in making DH a priority for companies is just a bit off based. i dont think companies said "well DW is designing DH bikes, so i think we should too"

I was giving the kid a timeline. While your foes didn't have shifting issues, it did have pedaling issues. I Know you are foe fan boy, as I was yeti fan boy, but truth be told, there were very few bikes that had great suspension with good pedaling and braking, and no other issues.

Intense were rarely straigt, and high leverage.
Foes didn't pedal all that well.
Yet shifted like crap.
Santa Cruz had the straight8...

They all had problems, you just had to weight how important the other features were.

Demo, let me look at the pictures when I get home, as I just landed and am on my phone. My first thoughts are to check your i2i vs spec, and then make sure you don't have any schwinn swingarm parts. Is it a mono or tube, what year is the frame? It might have been specd with the manitou and it's to short
Ellsworth always broke, and had crap geometry.

 

[zdubyadubya]

They all had problems...

Karpiel?

 

[joelsman]

my tires rubbed there slightly also, though I had my frame in the steep position since my fork was longer. I ran 2.7 maxxis mobsters on that bike. at least at first.

the shock was 8.75x 2.75 i believe.

 

[stoney]

Karpiel?

I told Brian that I wouldn't say bad things anymore, because the new iteration that he runs is a different company. But heat treating? Really, how does ne forget to heat treat a frame, or 20?

 

[stoney]

my tires rubbed there slightly also, though I had my frame in the steep position since my fork was longer. I ran 2.7 maxxis mobsters on that bike. at least at first.

the shock was 8.75x 2.75 i believe.

yeah, ran it slack with an old dorado set as steep as I could get it. Mostly with 2.35 and 2.5 maxxs high rollers and towards the end on minin dhf.

That rub point is fine, as it's so thick. I'm more confused as to how the seat is running with post up. Are you running a straight post (non-layback)? Slid forward on the rails if necessary? What fork are you running? I have a feeling that you fork is too tall, causing the bike to be too slack, leading to you over correcting and adjusting the suspension full steep. Still not sure why you are rubbing though... Then again my entire team except one were on dorado's. We only had problems with geo on the xs running a boxxer.

 

[MrPlow]

Mine buzzed in there too. Don't worry about it.

 

[demo 9]

I have it in the low position, but for me it rubbed in every position (no spring, bottomed out the shock, no matter where it is, it hits. I have no seatpost because it had to be way too tall and i couldnt put my feet down, and it kept smacking me in the ass, so im running a seat on the top tube, which gets hit-STILL!?!?!?!

I run a 2.5 maxxis, and it hits hardcore.

As for the seat, its a straight thompson elite with a wtb seat all the way forwards, it just kept hitting so i ditched it all together(and im fine with that) I just have to figure a way to get it to stop taking the frame apart, it bottoms quite often and for a good duration when i hit the faces of jumps

 

[Brian HCM#1]

yeah, ran it slack with an old dorado set as steep as I could get it. Mostly with 2.35 and 2.5 maxxs high rollers and towards the end on minin dhf.

That rub point is fine, as it's so thick. I'm more confused as to how the seat is running with post up. Are you running a straight post (non-layback)? Slid forward on the rails if necessary? What fork are you running? I have a feeling that you fork is too tall, causing the bike to be too slack, leading to you over correcting and adjusting the suspension full steep. Still not sure why you are rubbing though... Then again my entire team except one were on dorado's. We only had problems with geo on the xs running a boxxer.

Now now, be nice here.

 

[MrPlow]

You need to get yourself a heavier spring ASAP then before you crack something!
I can tell you one thing for sure you WILL crack around that top pivot on your seatpost if you continue bottoming it. DH9's hate that.

EDIT: another idea might be to chuck some more bottom out bumpers on th e shock. Might be a nice way to get some progression on an otherwise fairly linear suspension setup. I found it hard to get a nice supple ride (like my Sunday was) without blowing through the travel.

 

[demo 9]

You need to get yourself a heavier spring ASAP then before you crack something!
I can tell you one thing for sure you WILL crack around that top pivot on your seatpost if you continue bottoming it. DH9's hate that.

EDIT: another idea might be to chuck some more bottom out bumpers on th e shock. Might be a nice way to get some progression on an otherwise fairly linear suspension setup. I found it hard to get a nice supple ride (like my Sunday was) without blowing through the travel.

just so happens i have a specialized demo 8 shock limiter spacer! booyah i saved that

 

[dump]

Post a full side shot of the bike... it would help us get see everything that's going on.

 

[demo 9]

Fork is now dropped an inch (sliding stanctions) and just today i put a rear minion(dhr) on to replace the flat dhf