bike industry vent

today yet another deraileur cable snapped off my bike, and as usual today was also its first ride. this got me thinking why aren't these cables thicker, since they seem to snap a lot, and as usual i ended up frustrated with the bike industry. why does my new bighit expert come with xc inner tubes and such weak rims that are already full of dents and flatspots? why did my friends brand new 2004 norco team shore snap cleanly through its seatstay just riding an easy trail at whistler? why does everyone laugh when i call marzocchi dirtjumpers "widowmakers"? why am i no longer surprised to see an RM series bike with a mangled rear end? the best rider i know has seriously messed up his thumb when his steer tube snapped. he cleans all of gmg and airsupply on his hardtail, and one day on a roll down the bike disapears from under him. my friends and I aren't hacks, we're experienced riders, and were not pro's throwing crazy lines. we're just doing what we believe our bikes are designed for, paying a ton for them, and wondering why the bike industry seems unable to produce products that live up to their hype. thank you for listening to my extremely bitter/negative post, i just think if we're going to spend a fortune on machines we trust with our lives, then we deserve better than the options currently available to us.

i hope someone in a position of power sees this.

please discuss.

Well… I'm really sorry to hear about your friend's steerer tube incident…. :hurt:

As far as cables go… just like anything there's a motto "You get what you pay for". I had a Bighit that ate through cables like I eat beef-jerky. For the longest time I couldn't figure out why, but it wound up being that the "standard" 1.1mm "generic" cables just didn't like the cable-routing of the BigHit. I finally ponied up and bought one of those Avid cables, and didn't look back. It was a 1.2mm cable, so slightly thicker, and a lil more pricey.

Obviosuly nothing is perfect.

For your cable, you might be tensioning the hell out of it when you really don't need to. Put it in 2 - 9, or what ever your lowest gear is, shift all the way down on the shifter and install a new cable. Make sure your housing is clear of ANY burrs, nubbins, or rough edges where those end-caps cover up and make it hard to spot. That'll fray the cable, and make your band new cable into a worthless POS.

Anyway, just use a pair of pliers and pull it SNUG, then tighten the Allen bolt. Should be about right, or darn close. Do small adjustments from there.

Anyway, I hope that helps on your cable issue…

-Matt

Saw it, read it…and heard you loud and clear!

Originally posted by terrorfirma
Saw it, read it…and heard you loud and clear!

maybe they should try a banshee next time;)

But on a more serious note. Almost nothing on a bike , no matter how much you spend on it will last that long. Bikes take a friggin' beating. Also if you try a "brake noodle" just before your deralier it will help stop the cable breaking problems. I was going thru a cable a ride up in Whistler untill I tried this method. realy helps

Fr33k… ;)

buy a road bike and shave your legs.

other than new drivetrains you wont be breaking much:)

thanks for the advice, what's a brake noodle?

i've been watching road fools and thinking about what could be done to make mtb's more stable like bmx's. i don't think the solution to an mtb's many problems require any amazing new technology. a strategically placed extra pound of aluminum would be weight well spent. i know chromo wheels would be too heavy but why not just the spokes? same thing with rear deraileurs, and thinking of my buddy, steer tubes and stanchions. i've heard chromo can't be welded to aluminum, but lets say you put a chromo tube inside the headtube, would this stop them from flairing? im no engineer, maybe these are stupid ideas, feel free to add your own.

madmotherhucker,
Most of what you're suggesting already exists. IMO bikes are, overall, pretty good these days although some weak links still exist, namely drivetrains.
On another note are you living on campus at UBC? I'll be moving out there an a couple days, we should go for a ride.

Originally posted by madmotherhucker
**thanks for the advice, what's a brake noodle?

i've been watching road fools and thinking about what could be done to make mtb's more stable like bmx's. i don't think the solution to an mtb's many problems require any amazing new technology. a strategically placed extra pound of aluminum would be weight well spent. i know chromo wheels would be too heavy but why not just the spokes? same thing with rear deraileurs, and thinking of my buddy, steer tubes and stanchions. i've heard chromo can't be welded to aluminum, but lets say you put a chromo tube inside the headtube, would this stop them from flairing? im no engineer, maybe these are stupid ideas, feel free to add your own. **

the majority of people dont have problems with what youre saying. Theres a difference between being a rider that can ride anything by pointing and shooting, and a rider that can control his bike. Im not saying that youre a hack, but you should probably zoom out a bit and look at the big picture. Bikes dont snap riding "easy trails" or riding off the curb. chances are he came off a drop really hackish and it cracked the stay, and it just so happened to snap on another trail.

Somethings gotta give at some point. I cracked my big hit, chainstay and later head tube, was I pissed? no, Im just glad I got a crash replacement. this is dh not xc, shit breaks. if you have a tough time dealing with broken stuff then maybe this sport isn't for you. you get what you pay for.

I can understand that some things go with the 'you get what you pay for,' but what about the DJ series? The DJ1 is a pretty expensive fork. I understand that there are amazing stresses put upon the fork if you case/overshoot a dj, but perhaps the stress could be transferred to the lower legs of the fork rather than the steerer tube or the stanchions, creating a jaggedy edge. Most other forks that are used for DJ'ing (i.e. Shermans) have merely cracked at the legs, and the steerers remain intact. Thats a better alternative to having the bike fall out from under you. I have a DJ2, but I don't dirtjump, and I'm always concious about new noises/feelings in the fork, because I've seen what can happen.

for those of you wondering if we're hacks, my buddy with the team shore is an mtb instructor, i'm also a bmxer, and the guy with the broken fork is better than both of us on his hardtail. our rides begin by meeting at airsupply and sessioning that before moving along to the trails. of course i don't want to brag, i'm just trying to give you an idea of our riding level.

sounds to me like you're the x % of guys out there on the fringe who are really tough on gear . in other words , you are the guys the bike industry makes money off of .
take a look at what you are doing on ( to ) your bikes and reasonably assess whether it is you , or the bike that is failing .
as for the cable thing , i don't know what the problem is ; i shift as much or more than the next guy ( ride uphill and down ) and i have yet to break a cable in over 20 years of riding off road . . . . . . go figure !
as for the bike industry , i don't think any of the main players out there are trying to " cheap out " on construction to save money , and hence , make more . there is a balance between weight and durability . it is difficult to find , and there will always be fellas , like yourselves , who are at the destructive end of the spectrum . what you are experiencing is the reason guys like ian at chromag exist : small builders who develop new ideas , " a better way " if you will , that result in innovations that change the way bikes are built , for guys like you . . . . . .

i never ever snapped a cable???