I came across this while on pinkbike. Needless to say, these frames were notorious for developing some play in the linkage. Check it.
Innovative: RM6/7 custom linkage.
- Thread starter Incubus
- Start date
Notorious for a few other things as well. I wonder if he changed the linkage geometry at all?
that scares me. 
i see RM bikes and just run away...
I've got a lot of friends who ride RM7's and Switches, and none of them have had problems. All of these guys ride their bikes HARD. The people who have problems with the RM7/6 are the ones who never tighten their pivot bolts or maintain their bikes. I currently own an 04 Slayer and it's got to be one of the most well-made/designed bikes I've ever ridden.allsk8sno said:
i dont know why but i get the image of quixjote fighting the windmills from seeing at that picture
hope the linkage doesnt rip itself apart too soon.
hope the linkage doesnt rip itself apart too soon.
That strut is the similar in style to the linkages aftermarket suspension tuners use to fasten the anti-sway bars to the strut bodies of my car. I'm no expert in the stress that they might see, but I'd guess it's quite a bit. Especially at the track. But again I am guessing.
You're right. My formula ford racecar had heims (rod ends) on all the suspension points and handled massive loads.Incubus said:
According to aircraft supply, their aircraft steel, cad-plated Heims at 3/8"-24 thread handle a max. static radial load of 3,151 lbs.
Pretty stout, I'd say.
looks flexy, i wonder if there will be one for freeriding?
/speculation
/speculation
...that's funny...Sandwich said:
not to mention those look like M10 bolts in there. Using some type of bushed bearing is probably needed if you want to actually follow the bearing load ratings, which most bike designs appear not to anyways. Sperical plain bearings have huge load capactity ratings.lux said:
can anyone tell if it changes linkage ratios or just reduces slop?
ps, did they ever sell a polished RM?
Speculation here, but that shock looks to have a pretty short travel -- still looks to be a pretty big ratio.Sandwich said:
Reckon we need to talk to whomever cobbled that up.
well at least it has water bottle mounts 
There were some polished proto-frames that made their way to the general public early in the frame's first year.Sandwich said:
Agreed. However, if there was one shock to have in a high leverage situation, that's the one.lux said:
I'm not sure what kind of riding you do in Montana but here in Whistler RM7's are notorious for breaking Swingarms. I only have one friend dumb enough to own an RM7 and he broke his swingarm here last year. Currently his bike is in the shop again (been there 3 weeks) waiting for another swingarm as he busted yet another one. He keeps his bike very well maintained.
Rocky Mountain gets no respect from me, they use pictures of Wade and Richey riding huge to sell their bikes to unknowing customers who actually think they are buying the same bike. I saw both Wade and Richey's bikes all the time here last year (Fanatyk Co. in Whistler does all the maintenance on them) and can tell you firsthand that their bikes had custom linkages and mounting plates that were over twice as large as the RM7's your friends are riding.
It's a shame they had to do all of that custom machining for nothing, you should have called up the Rocky Mountain engineers and told them that Wade and Richey's mechanics were just too incompetent to keep the bolts tight.
Wait a minute....do you work in their warranty department? I can see it now, "Sorry, no way we are going to warranty that swingarm, it was designed perfectly, you obviously didn't keep your bolts tight enough".
Rocky Mountain gets no respect from me, they use pictures of Wade and Richey riding huge to sell their bikes to unknowing customers who actually think they are buying the same bike. I saw both Wade and Richey's bikes all the time here last year (Fanatyk Co. in Whistler does all the maintenance on them) and can tell you firsthand that their bikes had custom linkages and mounting plates that were over twice as large as the RM7's your friends are riding.
It's a shame they had to do all of that custom machining for nothing, you should have called up the Rocky Mountain engineers and told them that Wade and Richey's mechanics were just too incompetent to keep the bolts tight.
Wait a minute....do you work in their warranty department? I can see it now, "Sorry, no way we are going to warranty that swingarm, it was designed perfectly, you obviously didn't keep your bolts tight enough".
kail said:
Heh, funnily enough, one of my friends owns an ex-Wade signature RM7, and even though you say it's beefed up, he still managed to break the swingarm :mumble:crashing_sux said:
That said, it was a 2nd hand bike, and one that we'd assume went through a fair bit of abuse, so I guess it was expected, as bikes only have a finite lifespan...
Was that one of Wades RM7's (that he actually rode) or the Wade Simmons Signature model RM7. The Wade Simmons Signature RM7 didn't use the same Frame/Swingarm/Linkage that Wade actually rode. How's that for underhanded, sneaky, misleading B.S.?
Still, you have to give Rocky Mountain credit, while they didn't bother to fix the problems with the bike before they threw Wade's name on it at least they added that green flame paint job.
Still, you have to give Rocky Mountain credit, while they didn't bother to fix the problems with the bike before they threw Wade's name on it at least they added that green flame paint job.
One of his bikes, left here after a Red Bull Ride, as far as I know...
You're right though, very sneaky... they're selling image, not bikes.
You're right though, very sneaky... they're selling image, not bikes.
Incubus said:
lux said:
Take a couple minutes and calculate the forces in a typical motolink type suspension. This design in particular is pretty highly loaded. Assuming a safety factor of any kind, the rating on these ball joints will have to be in the range of ~#5000. Thats a LOT of force. You arent kiddin Zedro when you say that most bike designs dont follow recommended load ratings.Zedro said:
For automotive use as a control arm pivot, on road cars, the forces are not really too high in the bearings assuming that the designer doesn't do something stupid. Most control arm pivots are spaced wide enough to be able to use pretty small rod ends actually. Ive used certain 5/16 rod ends very successfully as control arm pivots in custom racecar chassis. That same hi-yeild 5/16 rod end would not survive in the Empire prototype's reverse motolink design back in the day. Maybe it could work in a Honda style link. They are stressed a little less.
dw
I would if I knew how, but really isn't that what you're here for?dw said:
