rwalters profile

Man, I did a ride on Friday in which I forced myself to pay close attention to what the back end was doing. If the X2 is a bad shock, then the Enduro is even more impressive than I thought. The shock feels pretty amazing to me. As lame as it sounds, I think a huge improvement for 2021 is the bottom-out bumper (as far as I know, it's new for 2021). It's designed to provide a very controlled, progressive end of stroke, along with the bottom-out cup that captures it. It's so effective, I think you really have to think of it as part of the spring now. It seems to accomplish what some other suspension does with hydraulic bottom out circuits - in a much simpler package. I love how this shock and frame play together. I find that I adjust the HSR a click or two depending on ambient temperature.

My settings for reference (170mm travel bike, 205x60 trunnion - base FOX tune is "light" compression and "medium" rebound).

250psi, 2 tokens (max)

HSC - 6 out from closed

LSC - 11 out

HSR - 5 out

LSR - 8 out

(I guess my settings weren't quite "wide open", but they are pretty light I think).

Gonna chime in here with my experience.

I'm definitely in the "run lighter casing tires with inserts" camp. Before I started using inserts, I was pretty much relegated to DH casing tires - for the sidewall strength, and for the snakebite resistance against rim strikes. With inserts I can get away with EXO sidewalls, and my rims don't see rock strikes anymore. I personally wouldn't go with an insert that didn't provide good sidewall support, meaning I don't think the Rimpact would work for me.

For the record, I'm currently running Tannus Tubeless Armour inserts with EXO+ casings (Assegai MaxxGrip-21psi up front, DHR2 MaxxTerra-22psi in back). This setup is as close to perfect as I've found to my riding style. The EXO+ and Tannus inserts probably weigh the same as DH casings alone.

My take on inserts is they are one of those things you didn't realize you needed until you've tried the right ones. I can't imagine riding without them now.

Absolutely agreed. If the industry got serious about enduro dual crowns, I’m sure the weight could come down to the burly single crown range. Take some of the weight out of the CSU area and put it into the extra crown and stanchions.

Pretty cool the lengths he went to in trying to maintain a fair, impartial test.

Although it did feel like a Manitou advert in some spots, haha!

While mid-stroke support is definitely not the greatest on the Boxxer, I found that running a fair amount of LSC along with "many" tokens got me pretty close to where I wanted the fork.

If I was still running it, I might have been inclined to check out one of the aftermarket ramp-up cartridges like the ones from MRP or AWK

Yeah, the bump stops are totally a non-issue. Even with the fat Norco head tube area, it never stopped me from making an awkward turn. A steel frame would have even more clearance.

I suppose you may have trouble if you frequently ride extremely tight, uphill switchbacks.

On the Enduro, I've only run the 2021 X2.

Interesting thoughts on the 2021 X2 Float Andrew. I have experience on a 2018 and the 2021 version - and I did find the 2021 took a while to figure out. On my Enduro, I found the recommended baseline compression settings to be way too aggressive. Like you said, the shock kinda sucked. After much tuning, I found the shock works great with very few clicks of compression. I also found the rebound to be a bit on the strong side. Compared to recommended settings, I'm running most of the dials pretty wide open. The shock works great now, BTW.

I suspect there are several reasons to this. In enduro racing, rider fatigue is a big deal. The point can definitely be made that a stiffer dual crown is likely to contribute to fatigue over a long day of riding and racing. Although my own experience tells me that the handlebar likely has more to do with hand and arm fatigue than the number of fork crowns.

Also, factory pros are going to be less concerned about the life expectancy of their CSU's. I'm sure the data is very hard to come by, but it would be really interesting to know how many CSU's a pro enduro racer goes through in a season.

Hahaha!

Posted by: Gdreej

I wonder if there's a reasonant frequency related to bigger rotors, more material to vibrate - seriously! My Old 200/200 Codes screamed when wet, but it's also likely you're heavy on the brakes, late, as you should be - instead of brake dragger Dreej here.

Ha, I've actually found that the best way to quiet them down is to very slightly drag them - even when you don't need them. You're in good company Dreej - apparently that's now Minnaar brakes as well.

I've always been a "brake as hard as you can for as short a time as possible" kinda guy - and that's probably not ideal to silence howling brakes.

Posted by: thaaad

I HATE the Sram gurgle/warble so so so much. So much that I'm thinking of selling my Code RSCs despite the brakes feeling and performing great. 

I'm tempted to try a different brand of rotor but I don't really want to drop a hundred bucks on rotors and it not make a difference.

My thoughts exactly. Experimenting gets expensive - especially if it doesn't yield results.

Posted by: craw

My 2020 Code RSCs gurgle a lot at lower speeds, which I find annoying. And the odd shriek if the rotors are still cold and wet but generally that doesn't last long once the rotors warm up. That being said I hate those noises.

I know the exact gurgling noises you're talking about! If I could get away with ONLY those noises, I'd be super happy!

Posted by: Brocklanders

Codes, Magura, Shimano. I have never had a squealing problem with OEM brand name pads. Bought some aftermarket cheapies and they made a hell of a noise, went directly into the garbage.

Wish I could say the same! I've had howling across the whole range of brand combinations. :(

I'm almost surprised I haven't seen more local discussion about this. Maybe I'm hopelessly incompetent when it comes to setting up my brakes, but it seems to be a very common problem on the shore - especially in the colder, wetter months. Riders I know just seem to live with it and expect it to be the norm these days. With bikes getting bigger, heavier and faster (and with bigger wheels), brakes have necessarily gotten more powerful. My new 29er needs all the braking power it can get, so I'm running Code RSC's with 220mm rotors (and yes, I do feel I need the 220mm rotors. I started on 200s, and was surprised to find that I definitely needed more power at the front. Maybe the 220 in the back is a bit overkill). My old 27.5 bike also experienced brake scream when they were cold and wet, but the new bike with bigger rotors is definitely worse. I've done every tip and trick in the book - rotors and pads cleaned with brake cleaner and/or alcohol (I can pretty much rule out any kind of contamination). I have my calipers pretty much lined up dead-centre with the rotors (this seems to be the most common suggestion online to fix howling brakes). All mounting bolts are tight, and loctited. I'm running metallic pads (I've tried both Sram pads and "off-brand" pads). Bike is a 2021 Specialized Enduro with a Zeb Ultimate. Wheels are Nobl TR37s.

I suspected that my howling brake dramas may have been related to the stiff carbon wheels I've been running - but I see buddies on aluminum rims with the exact same problems. And Shimano, Sram, it doesn't seems to matter - they all scream.

After they warm up and dry off, the howling usually goes away. But as you can imagine in the winter months, the brakes don't get a lot of opportunity to dry off.

Anyone have any tips or tricks? Would it make sense to try resin pads over the winter months? How about using 1 metallic and 1 resin pad in each caliper (I've heard of WC guys doing this - seems a bit desperate)? Does anyone have experience with another brake brand that is far better at keeping quiet compared to Sram or Shimano (while still offering the same power)? Curious to hear other riders on the shore with their experiences.

With all the dubious new standards coming out, maybe it's time the bike industry tried coming up with a more robust brake mount interface. My hunch is that while bikes have gotten stiffer, heavier, bigger, etc, and brakes have gotten more powerful - the mount is now the weak point in the system, and hasn't kept up with increasing demands.

Posted by: Pizza-Diavola

I've been on an e.13 9-46 TRS+ / 11s xtr combo for two years now, with no issues other than I just replaced the three al cogs. The x01 I had on my previous bike lasted 4+ years as my main ride. The e.13 is wearing quicker but I was able to keep it going.

Did the spider I sent you work out or did you find another solution?

Yes it did! Thanks again for sending it. I had to do a bit of custom machining on it to make it fit my bash ring, but it works well. I owe you a beer (or two or three!).

Agreed. Any metal-to-metal interface either gets grease - or loctite. I even grease threads on bolts that are not prone to coming loose.

Lots of good tips, thanks! I can't run a 28t front with my current crank/spider setup (only has 104bcd holes, which only goes down to 30t). I think my ideal solution would be the 10-46 SunRace XD - but it seems this cassette isn't available anywhere (discontinued??). If I can't find one of those, I'll wait till spring to grab the ethirteen TRS Plus 11.

Just noticing that Wolf Tooth makes a 28t stainless ring for their CAMO system. I was initially against jumping onto a proprietary system like CAMO, but if Andrew Major likes it.....

Posted by: Znarf

Hi,

I understand that you're not keen on changing to a 28t chainring. But this exact swap made me very happy on my LT heavy 29er.

I have the XX1 10-42cassette and a steel sram 28t ring and couldn't be happier. Enough range, very light weight, longest durability if you swap the chain semi-regularly and absolutely enough top-end speed for me and good range on steep climbs. (with a 11spd Shimano XT derailleur and shifter)

I also had good luck with the 11-50t shark tooth cage for 11spd Shimano derailleurs. But I don't know if it is still available. The smaller 28t ring and shorter chain, shorter derailleur cage are pretty great features though in my experience.

The E13 cassettes aren't bad, I do find that the additional range isn't needed, if you dial in exactly the right chain ring size for your fitness level and bike setup, though.

Cheers

Znarf

I have considered this route, it's not ideal for me as I'm running a 104 BCD spider which allows me to run the ring-mounted-bash guard setup that I'm quite attached to. 104BCD bottoms out at 30t unfortunately. There's also the fact that this new bike is basically designed around a 32t front ring - I suspect that going 28t might have noticeable effects on drivetrain-suspension interactions. Not a deal-breaker, just something in the back of my mind.