This is what's wrong with The Industry™
- Thread starter Electric_City
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It'd be nice if they'd run a real bike park, and specifically on Peak 9. Its pitch is perfect, but instead I have to build the DH trails on it. They're fun though. Right down through the trees between runs.
1. Brakes are set up backward.
2. With the headset in the slack position the fork should be slid down in its crowns, not up, to maintain height.
3. It's a few generations before the Gambler became a bike I wanted. Now I think it's clearly the best thing going unless you like a rearward axle path.
We are old and we remember people that made stuff that broke and Scott made quite a lot of stuff that did back in the day. I only raced for a couple of years but I thought it was funny that 50-60kg dudes were cracking Gamblers in 09-10 in pretty quick time. A buddy that owned a shop dropped Scott mostly because of warranty claims, again, that was a good few years ago.
Pretty sure I have already mentioned it but a mate tried to get a shock bolt which was circled on an exploded diagram and Scott couldn't work out what it was, had the year, model, everything. He bought a new bike and gave the Scott to a guy that was going to turn it in to some sort of bike trailer.
From my Ransom experience:
- internal rear brake routing
- I managed to fubar a linkage bolt (mostly my fault)
- not sure what to think about the proprietary chain guide...
Otherwise the Gambler looks pretty neat and would be high on my list if I was looking for a downhill bike.
I also read from Patrice Afflatet that some team members have been on the same bike for 2 seasons, the bike has just been repainted. The bike seems solid!
Gambler so far is mostly immune to the crazy pills that the rest of the designers are taking, but the integrated bar/stem is a warning sign.
It's not that it's a torx or allen, it's the size of the interface relative to the bolt. The friction created by that giant bolt and interface needs a much bigger allen or torx IME to ensure you can easily remove it and get to the bearings, what happens is with so much friction, putting it both on and off, you tend to strip the interface rather quickly. Especially with any threadlocker...even when you heat it up. The interface gets all distorted at first and then eventually just gives up. It really needs to be like 10 or 12mm allen or T50 or something. These aren't something I want on my multitool, I want them the proper size for servicing the bike and bearings. Like I said, it's a criticism of many bikes, not just this one, but the tiny interface with giant bolt thing doesn't work well IME, it's more like "we don't plan for the customer to service this"...
Trunnion, just more compatibility issues.
Also, when you strip a bolt with a regular shock odds are you'll end up replacing just the bolt, maybe the bushings. With trunnion you will have to replace the entire shock. And it transfers more lateral loads to the shock, which ultimately shortens the life of the seals and could even break the shaft.
"go find what those old RM bastards think of the Gambler, and we'll do exactly the opposite they say"
Are any DH bikes really selling?
well for starters @buckoW is only technically riding the rear triangle of a gambler....
1. Only a maniac (or former colonist) would use their right hand for front braking.
2. I must have missed what you were referencing so I had to search for anything unusual. That fork seems set up pretty low for a frame that's in the slack headset position, though low was trendy back then.
Shimano files patent for app that can tell you when bike tyres and disc pads need replacing
Will we soon be using an app to tell us when to fit new components?
True. Plenty of pitch on Peak 8 if you do the trees as well. As you probably know, it's the go to for front side powder without waiting for avalanche blasting. But trees... which makes it a good filter factor.
If it's one beef I do have with VR it's summer operations. And it's pretty obvious their priority is not MTB/DH.
Sweet ropes course and rock climbing feature! Where's the dedicated DH trail? Guess which one they accomplished? There's just not enough money in MTB apparently.
Well "brand" is kind of like "stereotype", right? So if your stereotype is weird due to unique and non-typical things. Then there you go.
I love Scott. Don't get me wrong. I think I should open a Scott dealer up here where I live Skiing stuff included. Could actually maybe even be profitable
If you're looking for feedback. As an old school dood, I don't appreciate the "propriatary" things. I'm talking fixed stem/bars with their own specific spacers. Torx bolts aren't a big deal, but still. Why can't things be more universal?
I do love the looks of the new bikes with everything hidden. But I'm also like....oh man if I need to actually work on this bike I need to factor in 2 more beers just to get the thing I need to work on.
Notice how I measure things in beers? Maybe that's my problem!
I would very seriously consider a new Ransom as a frame only. No twinlock, no stem, figure out a solution for cable routing (even if it involved a few new holes in the downtube). Might even be easier to sell later configured like that.
The interface to fastener diameter isn't nearly as relevant as interface to torque spec. Which in my experience for pivot bolts tends to be single digit european ugga duggas as you are preloading the bearing. So the interface may be an issue if you like to torque everything to yield, probably not an issue if simply tightened to spec.
I've had all kinds of pivot bolts unscrew themselves...the problem if the interface is bigger is ensuring people aren't over-tightening, but this opposite problem comes from the earliest days of suspension. if you put a freaking bolt on the bike, I want to be able to stick a tool in it, loosen it, and tighten it. I don't want the damn thing stripping out because it's a 5mm tool interface for a 20mm pivot bolt. That's essentially what's happening, whereas your 5mm fastener has, well, a 5mm threaded insert...the threaded interface here is many times larger with magnitudes larger surface area than the tool interface, it seems like a failure in design 101. You can't always have it be exactly the same, but it's often so grossly mis-proportioned IME that it's just ridiculous. On the Scott above, tiny little torx, but giant pivot bolt. Sure, you can grab the hell out of that torx...but it's just going to strip, both ways and at the least, the interface is going to get severely warped...because it's aluminum and the friction of the bolt is so high.
Torque in ≈ Torque out. It has pretty much nothing to do with the fastener diameter. There are exceptions if the threads corrode or get dirty, so as long as things are treated and protected properly it is a non issue.
I have gone down some deep deep rabbit holes when it comes to screw torque calculations. It is fairly complicated but as long as you don't torque the shit out of something you will not need to torque the shit out of it to get it loose. So as long as the torque specs aren't high, and it is torqued to spec, a T30 inerface will never need to have it's limits exceeded.
For a given pitch you often want to use a larger diameter thread when low clamping force is required and you don't want things to back out.
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I use a normal stem and bar on my Ransom. It can take aftermarket coil shocks and many owners have done that but I just can't give up the short travel mode for climbs. The cable routing is still normal and easy to work with. Surely the next gen won't be. Massively under rated enduro frame because everyone focuses on the shock. I see it as one of the best enduro frames with the bonus of being able to use that shock.
>They cost roughly 50% more than the equivalent specced brand of bike that won 80% of the WCs the last three years.
>That handlebar/stem combination thing looks faff
>If I'm in the market for a privateer bike thats gonna put up with bike park abuse and race seasons with minimal hassle, perhaps going for the one that's main marketing point is "goddamn it is light" isn't the selling point people think it is.
I don't think there's any issue with the things, I could just see why they're perceived as a silly choice
Even with thread lockers? I am replacing the big Al bolts on my SC with Ti ones because they already look like shit.
The torquey ups vs the untorqies-
torque decay is a known phenomenon; aka removal torque < application torque. more common with polymers.
And science invented portable induction heaters and Penetrene.
If that fails, oxy, hammer and punch.
Friction can get weird especially with polymers but you can think of a simple model of a fastener like a vertically spring loaded object moving on an inclined plane. The angle of the plane determined by the ratio of thread pitch and diameter. Steep enough of an angle and the object will slide down or the fastener will back out. Sufficient friction and a shallow angle and it will stay in place. The force pushing the object down the ramp will always be lower than pushing up. The diameter of the fastener cancels out with input torque so the linear force is pretty much proportional to torque and thread pitch.
Threadlockers are voodoo magic that I have never explored from a math perspective. I have never needed anything more than blue loctite on a bike. The stronger stuff is for threads under high cyclical loads, of which only nipples really see.
I'd be more concerned with galling and galvonic corrosion when it comes to titanium fasteners. You want full coverage with loctite or anti-seize to limit surface contact.
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My Klein Adroit was LITERALLY held together with Loc-Tite green sleeve compound. Nothing better than a crankset that I occasionally had to hit with a log to get back into alignment.
(They used the green on the bearing to frame, spindle to bearing, and 1.5 cartridge headset bearing interfaces)
I even had a big red LOC-TITE decal on one of them way back when.
(They used the green on the bearing to frame, spindle to bearing, and 1.5 cartridge headset bearing interfaces)
I even had a big red LOC-TITE decal on one of them way back when.
