lkubica profile

The subject of pedal kickback is a really fascinating one, and I am waiting for someone to do some scientific measurements, here. I think employing suspension telemetry, some braking sensors and wheel speed/acceleration sensor one could really get to some meaningful conclusions.

This year, out of winder boredom, I bought an O-Chain. Riding z Meta 29 (single pivot with a lot of PK), I though there will be a noticeable difference. And as usual things are not simple at all. You can feel the difference, but this difference is not affecting my ride (mean speed) in any meaningful way. Maybe because I am already using a low engagement hub (DT 370). Bike is MUCH more quieter, I had to remove chain guide to install O-Chain and there is no difference in bike quietness (which is a big pro). The traction is more or less the same, and I am riding in snow, slop, mud, wet roots, wet roots under snow, every sh*t you can think of on trails which are not overly steep, but definitely rough.

This braking thing, I am not so sure about it, you see, your wheel either skids or it does not. If it does not, it means it has to spin only a little bit slower than it would without braking. Or put differently, wheel slows down gradually if you don't skid. If it skids, sure, you have PK, but this does not happen too often.

I do not get your comments about cheaper cassettes, a 11-46 XT cassette almost destroyed my DT freehub. What's the difference here, between XT or say SunRace? Small cogs are the same, this is just a piece of metal.

For me, HG is the way to go, but apparently you need to add the cost of a steel freehub to it.

I used to run Shimano freehubs for a long time, after a year with DT (+ XT 11-46 )  my freehub was so damaged that I had a problem removing the smallest cogs, they made a 1mm deep grooves and literally jammed into the freehub. Not sure why, but is is so bad that I will not run a traditional cassette on this freehub anymore ...  I am all for cheaper cassettes and thus trying to avoid 12s anyway, my only gripe is about freehub damage.

You said you would not worry about this when running  LG700, why exactly? Is has exactly the same interface for the 3 smallest cogs.

Are those small cogs just slid on a freehub body in a traditional way, or are they on a spider? My biggest gripe with traditional cassettes is that they tend to damage aluminium freehubs and would rather avoid them or just need a steel freehub for my DT hub. Pity that Shimano did not use microspline here, I am currently running a monoblock ZTTO cassette exactly for this reason (chepaper to buy a cassette than cassette + steel freehub).

Watching my teen children I can assure you, that influencers are holding strong and they definitely sell things. Young people know about products almost exclusively from social media. They do not watch tv, they do not read magazines (even online), they are conditioned to accept very dense, dynamic and interactive content. No teen ever would be patient enough to read such a long article as this one for example ...

Proprietary system is not a problem at all if it is made with serviceability in mind. It it uses standard parts like bushings, seals etc. then any proper mechanic can work on it in 100 years from now. Monotube dampers are generally simple to work on. What is more, a design which is easy to service and tune is much better in the longer run then something like Fox twin tube which requires vacuum to bleed and needs a constant service. For me a good proprietary shock I can work and tune at home (and with cheap, available parts) is a selling point. What is not clear to me is the real benefits of this design, it simply should ride better then an average bike. Buying something simply because it's different is rarely a good idea.

Cool story, but where can I find this knowledge about particular brands or particular bikes? On sites which earn money by displaying bike commercials and publish sponsored texts? From internet forums, full of bullshit? How can I be sure that paying $2k extra for let's say Santa Cruz is really worth it (can you imagine, that the worst frame I ever had in terms of alignment was a Knolly)? This are the real questions bike sites should be trying to answer, but they generally fall short ... So if you see a good build you can at least be sure that it has a good suspension with standard mounting dimensions. Man, there are so many layers of bullshit in the bike industry and bike media also. You say about ride quality, but the ride quality could be measured quite well just using some telemetry and suspension tune analysis on dyno, but which site does it? None. So when you read bike reviews the best you can get are some feelings about one particular model, but you know what, that other model with RS suspension will ride differently from the one using Fox... So I agree with your diagnosis, but I cannot see any treatment to this disease.

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11-46 or 11-50 (there are 12s versions as well). Fits HG driver, full "steel" (or chineese steel, but after a season it holds strong), weight ~300g and shifts like a 11s Shimano. The only downiside is that it does not work with KMC chains (they are tighter and tolerances on the biggest cog are a bit off).

Running it on Meta AM 29 and managed to cut a bit of the plastic lever on the first day (you need to rotate it to make sure it will not collide with frame on compression). Anyway, I am running it on RS SuperDeluxe which begs for tuning (or replacement, still undecided). Sprindex is not perfect, after few weeks of using it I can find a white powder where the spring contact with the fiberglass spacer and it requires a lot of effort to turn it. But after a year of riding it still works the same (i.e. very well).

I love the depth of your tech articles. I think that most of us really ride bikes which are heavily under-tuned. Of course there are riders who do not care much and ride brilliantly. I respect and envy them, but most of us can see a dramatic improvement in speed and comfort by just sacrificing a few weeks for tuning.

BTW, have you considered Sprindex? It's simply brilliant, you can definitely feel even 10lb difference in spring force.