Mountain Bike - Hard tail

There is a chain wear tool that drops down in between the rollers and it shows incrementally in percentages (30%-replace if I recall). I have never broken a chain (on a bike or moto) and I like having a smooth shifting drivetrain. If you let a chain wear out then the cassette and chainrings wear too and when you toss a new chain into the mix it wears prematurely and you never get that sweet "like new" shifting.

To answer your original question..I don't keep track of miles..just hours and every 60 days works for me. I do Stans and a chain. Cleaning a chain takes all the grinding paste out if it..it absolutely extends chain life. I don't think stretch is a dynamic thing in most cases unless it rough shifts under load which bends links, I think wear from debris is what most folks call stretch.

I do clean my chains about every five rides, but lube and wipe them every ride using Squirt.

 

I'll be doing some riding near San Diego in a few weeks, Laguna Mountain area. Anyone ever rode out there?

 

Those chain wear tools are a bit inaccurate, they measure play in the rollers which is not always a function of wear and tear and varies even on brand new chains e.g. shimano vs. sram vs. campag. If you go by the gauge you could be changing out earlier than needed which is fine if you are a shop as the measurement is fast and the change out = income. If you measure with verniers or a steel rule you'll be fine. Measure 12 links c-c, once over 12.125 it's toast.
More explanation here: http://pardo.net/bike/pic/fail-004/000.html

I know of people with 1x11 that have 3 chains and rotate after each ride, that's crazy sh1t but the results are impressive.

 

Need a 520 conversion kit.

 

Noble Canyon is the enduro type riding area. It's fairly chunky and technical.

 

And with the highend 11 speed cassettes costing more than my first car I can see why.

 

thanks guys!

so, from the linked bit (which was an intersting read), it looks like the rule of thumb is 1% elongation. i use a vernier caliper and measure 20 links / 10". 1% (0.1") is easy to resolve. in fact, it is easy to resolve half that. and, from my best effort, i cant see ANY wear. ....which i take as good! for now, i'll attribute it to my obsessive over-cleaning after each ride.

fwiw: i picked up a fizer (or whatever the brand is) chain cleaner rig. bought a 1g bottle of degreaser from wally world and dilute it like 20:1. it will last me 10 yrs and cost $5. nice. i run the chain through that rig 10x; then change the cleaning fluid. repeat thrice. then do the same w/ just water to rinse. blow dry w/ compressed air. takes 5min and seems to work fab.

tks again!

vince

 

this dude has a pretty neat site. calls out some trails in that area:
http://www.mountainbikebill.com/SoCalTrailHeadMap.htm
http://www.mountainbikebill.com/LagunaRecArea.htm
http://www.mountainbikebill.com/NobleCanyon.htm

i dont get down that way since there's lots of stuff inbetwixt. my only advice is to make sure you check the weather. could get pretty hot that far inland....

have fun.

vince

 

Awesome, thanks. I think we're taking two cars and doing the Noble Canyon trail, among others maybe. Either way, I'm looking forward to it.

 

figure this is worth a shot. I have a buddy looking for a niner carbon fork, so if any of you guys have one, let me know

 

Tapered or straight steerer? They pop up on my local mtb forum weekly it feels like.

 

I have an intense carbon fork I'd be willing to part with.

 

just texted him, he said its tapered. also he has a budget of $250

 

Just had a performance bike ad come in on the email. Looks like they got the KTMs in their lineup.

 

Just picked this up yesterday $225 including a Blackburn airpump
2009 Gary Fisher Rig 29er hardtail, single speed with Carbon riser bar.

Can't wait to cruise the neighborhood

 

Pretty smoking deal! My SS has been the most fun thing to happen in my mtb'ing. Get it on some hills and mash it!

 

That is a great bike at a smoking hot deal!! My co-worker has almost the same bike except white. We call it the office ho, since it's his "B" bike. He let me borrow it when my FS bike was having warranty issues. I was sold of hardtails after that. I ended up building a Niner Air 9 RDO.

So last weekend I did the Hammerhead race in Ocala. There I was thinking I was cool since I was doing 50 miles on a HT. Then I was riding with an older guy (50ish) who was on a single speed rigid and doing the 100 mile race...DAMN

 

What a great deal! My main steed is a geared Rig.

 

Holy cow that's a steal, with a Fox no less. Looks really clean too and love that rootbeer color. Great pickup!

 

Its not a HT but I finally got my '97 Klein Mantra running again.Time to get my spin on and probably a collarbone injury.