Project budget blower

JMcP92

Rambo_123 wrote:

How's The white grips? do they need cleaning after every ride? i'm thinking of getting some to go with my colour scheme but i don't want to end up with brown grips!

I can't comment too much as it's yet to see the dirty stuff, worst of it was actually assembling them in the shop. Got all dirty on the surface of the work benches, but just sprayed some brake cleaner on them and wiped it right off. Dunno if that'll work long term, but so far so good

Rambo_123

Ahh, okay! well let me know how they hold up when you finally get a chance to get out on the trails.

chez_m356

Rambo_123 wrote:

Ahh, okay! well let me know how they hold up when you finally get a chance to get out on the trails.

both my bikes originally came with white grips, they get grubby very quickly, they can be cleaned, but is a pain and never seem quite perfect, much easier to stick with black

to the op

JMcP92 wrote:

that looks fantastic

JMcP92

It seems I've had a problem today, took out the bike for a cycle, only the 4th time it's been out and yet, fairly major issue.

I put some power down on the left crank arm and it sheered right off. I then walked the bike about half an hour to the bike shop to check it over. As suspected, it's sheered on the thread, it could be re-assembled, and it would hold, but only for a time before it happened again.

I've contacted CRC about this, and despite telling them it was professionally installed, safety checked and test riden they are insisting it is an installation problem, which I greatly disagree with and want a replacement part.
They wish me to send it back to, so they can send it to FSA, so they can decide what's wrong and eventually get somewhere. Unfortunately, I don't have such time. I'm supposed to be going away with this bike on Wednesday, but currently it's not really a bike, no cranks, no go.

So, anyone had dealings with this before? I've told them I'm going away but they have been entirely unhelpful and now appear to have stopped responding to my e-mails.

I gather these things happen, but I get the impression no matter what anyone says, if I send it back it'll be decided it was an installation issue no matter what the cause, but it seems incredibly unlikely that installation would make the crank sheer off, just... unlikely.

Anyone had dealings with CRC Warranty team before? Nae happy

DanDax1990

JMcP92 wrote:

Rambo_123 wrote:

How's The white grips? do they need cleaning after every ride? i'm thinking of getting some to go with my colour scheme but i don't want to end up with brown grips!

I can't comment too much as it's yet to see the dirty stuff, worst of it was actually assembling them in the shop. Got all dirty on the surface of the work benches, but just sprayed some brake cleaner on them and wiped it right off. Dunno if that'll work long term, but so far so good

Bit of WD40 or alike should clean them up good and once wiped off with a dry rag will be fine.

Also shouldn't get much dirt on them if you wear gloves.

lawman

JMcP92 wrote:

It seems I've had a problem today, took out the bike for a cycle, only the 4th time it's been out and yet, fairly major issue.

I put some power down on the left crank arm and it sheered right off. I then walked the bike about half an hour to the bike shop to check it over. As suspected, it's sheered on the thread, it could be re-assembled, and it would hold, but only for a time before it happened again.

I've contacted CRC about this, and despite telling them it was professionally installed, safety checked and test riden they are insisting it is an installation problem, which I greatly disagree with and want a replacement part.
They wish me to send it back to, so they can send it to FSA, so they can decide what's wrong and eventually get somewhere. Unfortunately, I don't have such time. I'm supposed to be going away with this bike on Wednesday, but currently it's not really a bike, no cranks, no go.

So, anyone had dealings with this before? I've told them I'm going away but they have been entirely unhelpful and now appear to have stopped responding to my e-mails.

I gather these things happen, but I get the impression no matter what anyone says, if I send it back it'll be decided it was an installation issue no matter what the cause, but it seems incredibly unlikely that installation would make the crank sheer off, just... unlikely.

Anyone had dealings with CRC Warranty team before? Nae happy

Some pics would be useful, not sure what you mean when you say "shear off".

JMcP92

I've got a pic, but it's on my phone, which is playing up at the moment (getting a bit old and useless -_- )

Essentially what I mean is the first few threads on the crank and stripped. When you sheer off something, it's much like just pulling it straight out against the thread, destroys the threads and a major pain -_-

Anyway, contacted CRC, didn't get far, called them. Told me it normally takes 2-3 weeks to get it all warranty checked but FSA etc. but I don't really have the time and cannot be arsed pissing around. They offered me little to no compromise and were completely unhelpful. Not happy with them, will think twice before buying from them from now on if this is how their custom care is when something goes wrong.

On a note of fixing it, as they won't do anything about it in any reasonable time, I'm just gonna do it myself. It's just the top section that is sheered, so I'm gonna re-thread the top myself and just put it back together, it'll work fine, but I'd prefer if they'd been more helpful

lawman

JMcP92 wrote:

I've got a pic, but it's on my phone, which is playing up at the moment (getting a bit old and useless -_- )

Essentially what I mean is the first few threads on the crank and stripped. When you sheer off something, it's much like just pulling it straight out against the thread, destroys the threads and a major pain -_-

Anyway, contacted CRC, didn't get far, called them. Told me it normally takes 2-3 weeks to get it all warranty checked but FSA etc. but I don't really have the time and cannot be arsed pissing around. They offered me little to no compromise and were completely unhelpful. Not happy with them, will think twice before buying from them from now on if this is how their custom care is when something goes wrong.

On a note of fixing it, as they won't do anything about it in any reasonable time, I'm just gonna do it myself. It's just the top section that is sheered, so I'm gonna re-thread the top myself and just put it back together, it'll work fine, but I'd prefer if they'd been more helpful

Well what do you expect them to do? Send out a brand new pair of cranks with no evidence? I'd say that's entirely reasonable what they're offering. For what it's worth FSA are pretty good with warranty parts, a mate snapped his K-force seatpost and they sent out a brand new one once they'd had it back and checked it over. By bodging it, which may not even work, you'll void the warranty and be left in no mans land with a buggered crankset thats worthless. I'd send it back and be happy they're doing that, sounds as if someone completely screwed up the installation. As many of us recommended Shimano do actually make better cranks as well...

njee20

What has sheared off? Surely there is no thread in the crank? Or do you mean the pedal thread?

You want them to sort it by Wednesday, that's unreasonable. Yes it's annoying, but not CRC's fault, they're doing the right things.

pastey_boy

Does sound like a pedal has been put on wrong as the only other threads on the chainset are on the spindle and the threads that hold the self extracting cap in place. Whoever put the pedals on have either mashed the threads or not put the pedal on far enough thus leading to the pedal falling off, not the crank as earlier mentioned. Crc have done nothing wrong and their response is fair. You need to take issue with the professional that installed your pedals. All is not lost as you can have the crankarm helicoiled thus saving the chainset.

JMcP92

Fixed it all up yesterday, good as new apart from a number of scrapes on the crank from throwing itself along the road, worse things have happened though, and it'll happen in time anyway. did 52 miles today, was decent weather but windy as hell, getting push around from time to time, and uphill in heavy downhill wind was not very fun, but made it in the end.

On a note of white grips. I was wearing an old set of MX gloves today just for the sake of the wind and the grips picked up quite a lot of dirt from them pretty quickly and pretty noticeable. A quick sprouse up with a wet cloth when I got home and all was well, but worth noting. They look nice, but will take some regular cleaning if you wish to keep it looking purddy

njee20

So the crank fell off? So it's the threads in the axle that got damaged?

Rambo_123

JMcP92 wrote:

,They look nice, but will take some regular cleaning if you wish to keep it looking purddy

Ah, think i'll keep with black.

JMcP92

Hey folks!

Finally got out for some riding, had some decent weather yesterday, wasn't working or anything else so I went out for a ride. Found some decent singletrack and had some good fun.



Then it got a tad muddy, so glad I had chunky tyres, I say that, though I've seen a LOT worse photos of muddy tyres on here :P



Then one of my mates come along and we did some more riding, was a good fun day. though had one issue.
My spokes on my wheel are quite loose and wheel buckled, rather annoying but not the end of the world. I trued it today and all is well, nice and tight now. I'm hoping this doesn't become a factor and it's just a one off. Good azs their prices are I have been told Superstar wheel builders may not be the best around. So now it's been all done and nice and tight I am hoping it does not happen again. If it becomes a regular problem I may hae to do something about it.

Lastly, @Rambo_123, seems white grips do get petty dirty. I didn't even get the whole bike very dirty yesterday, but I wore my motocross gloves, which had dirt on them and made them all brown:



I cleaned them today though, a bit of brake cleaner and they are as good as new. Hope you got what grips you wanted anyway

John.

Greer_

JMcP92 wrote:

Then one of my mates come along and we did some more riding, was a good fun day. though had one issue.
My spokes on my wheel are quite loose and wheel buckled, rather annoying but not the end of the world. I trued it today and all is well, nice and tight now. I'm hoping this doesn't become a factor and it's just a one off. Good azs their prices are I have been told Superstar wheel builders may not be the best around. So now it's been all done and nice and tight I am hoping it does not happen again. If it becomes a regular problem I may hae to do something about it.

Lastly, @Rambo_123, seems white grips do get petty dirty. I didn't even get the whole bike very dirty yesterday, but I wore my motocross gloves, which had dirt on them and made them all brown:

Same happened to my wheels, sent them back and haven't had a problem since (bar the bearings!) Also need a new freehub ... my fault though, not Superstars! I'm using a cheap cassette (steel carrier) which gouged the alloy freehub, so I now have ordered an XT cassette (alloy carrier) and new free hub!

The grips clean with a dab of mud-off too!

njee20

Better off filing the burrs off and carrying on, the XT cassette will still do it on the smaller sprockets.

Greer_

njee20 wrote:

Better off filing the burrs off and carrying on, the XT cassette will still do it on the smaller sprockets.

Hmm well the chain/cassette needs replaced soon anyways, but any tips for getting the cassette off then?! I can't get it to budge once I've removed the locking.

njee20

You just need to 'turn' the sprockets to get them out of the gouges, by hand - with thick gloves or a towel or sommat so you can properly get hold, or a screwdriver, or two chain whips.

Greer_

Right, cheers will give it a go next week, don't want to start fiddling before my race on Sunday! Will probably still replace the cassette but it would be good if I didn't need a new freehub!

JMcP92

So, yesterday had an interest jaunt after work. Everyone was going to Pitfichie after work and I decided I'd join in. Sounded fun, they all had they're full sussers but apparently it wasn't a real downhill course and an XC bike would be totally fine..... they lied.

Was good fun all the same but the bike now has a few battle scars (best to happen at some point ) and a little dubious for me. They all disappear into the distance bouncing off things and pulling wheeling over stuff while I'm slowly dropping off stuff and nursing the rear brake.
Grand total of the damage as such. A slightly buckled front brake rotor, slightly buckled rear wheel and a few scars on the frame. All completely fixable.
General note to those who had it in mind though. Unless you build a 456 as a downhiller (seen it done) then don't try, it does not go incredibly well :P

paulneenan76

How tough was the course? Was it really technical with big drops, jumps and steeps?

I rode a fair amount of the DH tracks at FoD last week without too much trouble. Havnt got the skills yet for big drops but it was all do-able and I took it easy. It may no be as plush as a big travel FS or allow for the craziness of a proper DH rig, but is much more than an XC bike.

Book yourself on a skills course and you'll soon be kicking their arses!!

Paul

JMcP92

Course was mainly rock gardens and drops, would be a lot easier if I were confident enough to just throw myself at it, unfortunately, a lot of leaning on brakes and not having enough speed so having to crawl over stuff :P Not quite ideal, but ah well.

Another issue I'm having now is I've got a lot of creaking from the bike, the frame I presume. If I put my weight forward on the fork and then sit back on the seat is just creaks away, and I'm not sure why, considering that it could be the post in the frame?

Any ideas people?

paulneenan76

Take the seatpost out and give everything a good clean. Clean and lube up your seat rails etc. Check your drop outs, caliper, hubs are tight. Check for loose spokes, rough bearings, chainring bolts. Of course, they are prone to being noisy but not when stationary. Frame strikes and stuff like that resonate a lot more than other frame types.

Mine is fine most of the time.

Paul

JMcP92

I found out what it was after a quick investigation at work. Rear caliper had slightly loosened itself as had it's mount, tightened both of them up and good and sweet again. Covered a good 60 miles on and off road today and had a good day in the sun, though my arms are paying the price for all the sun now :P



Bad light, but all the same, the colour it should be on my shoulder, and the colour it is *gulp* tomorrow will be painful I presume

JMcP92

So, an unintended upgrade today, XT shifters.

My SLX's were completely fine, never had an issue with them until today the front shifter locked up and wouldn't move, on further inspection, the shift up lever were snapped on the inside of the shifter, no idea how, not even come off the bike yet.
To be fair, we've got one exactly the same at work which is going under warranty, so mine will be the same, going riding tomorrow and I need a bike that works, so the XT's go on.

JMcP92

So, it would seem problems arose today, whoever said the Crest rims were very solid and up for anything, I disagree.

This morning before I went out I checked basic stuff all around the bike including spoke tension front and back, then went out riding for the day with a friend, basic singletrack stuff, a few small rollable drops, some descents, climbs, few rocks, but nothing to major.

A couple hours in, a hissing noise comes from behind me, think I'd blown the tyre, but no. I located the hissing and it was out of the sidewall of the rim itself, I had punctured the rim and it was dented, not good, but sealant did it's job and sealed it up.

Kept going at a rather mild pace after that, not wanting any more damage, then over a small cluster of rocks I get a total blowout from behind me. Tyre off the rim and all but that is by no means the worst of it.

The tyre is now off and I can inspect the wheel, it is massively buckled, a couple of CM's out of alignment, a large amount of the spokes have loosened themselves off, the wheel is dented round the edge in a good 7 or 8 places and generally, it's destroyed.

I'd like to clarify, all of this done on spokes checked that morning, on a totally straight wheel with no problems, a well pumped up tyre and on pretty mild singletrack. I'm inclined to bring this up with Superstar as unsatisfactory, can anybody give me some guidance? Seems to of taken very little punishment for this much damage.

Have yourself a picture:

paulneenan76

I would grt on to them ASAP, as at the very least, they'll do a rebuild for you pretty cheaply. Though they might do a warranty job.

Paul.

njee20

Either you were riding harder(/more clumsily) than you thought, or something is amiss there. I've ridden my Podium rims (think a Crest, but 20% lighter) and they've faired far better than that.

trigger118

Out of interest what tyre pressure were you running?

JMcP92

trigger118 wrote:

Out of interest what tyre pressure were you running?

Running them on 30 PSI - max pressure being 65 PSI for these so nothing too high, nor too low for running tubeless.

+I'll concede there is a chance I was riding not of fluidly as I'd like, that's no fault of the bike, it's just more capable than I :P