Great learning experiences from MTB

Wheels of Happiness

Rizal Philippines

6.04.2021

There were a lot of things I learned from my incursion into MTB world

1.  While others are debating about use of rim brakes vs disc brakes I was busy understanding this:

     1.  Hydraulic brakes vs cable brakes,   For hydraulic brakes, use of mineral oil vs. DOT 5 (for                       SRAM avid models

     2.   Bleeding hydraulic brakes   (bottom bleeding, the hacks for bleeding   Substitute - syringes

     3.  Centering brakes  (in three directions)

     4.   Conversion from 160 to 180 mm;  the adapter kits 

     5.   4 piston vs 2 piston

           Which is better the 4 piston or bigger disc (180 mm nd 203 mm)

     6.   The icetech technology by Shimano; floating disc by Sagmit or 3 Pro

     7.   The one by two by and three by conversion.   Why two by is better

           How can you have two by without buying Deckas.?   All you need are 4 spacers

     8.   The disassembly of the free hub body to access the pawls

     9.  I missed this -  tightening the hub  with lock ring vs the cone.   (That is why I had difficulty 

          with xt hub of an MTB

    10.  Hacks for missing umbrella bolts of hydraulic brakes

    11.  Disassembly of  front hydraulic shocks.    The tools you need and the cleaning needed.  How

           can you prevent expensive repairs.    Why rubber hoses that can be cut can be used as rubber

           seals of the piston assembly.  (It is difficult to buy these small rings/kits)

2.  Canvassing or reading the  e commerce ads:

    1.   Access and/or buy from reliable platform.   Lazada is better;

    2.   Buy from Philippines store and avoid foreign stores.   Do not buy from sites without reviews

          comments, or none sold

   3     Do not access the viber number of the seller.  The e commerce platform will not return your

          payment if the transaction goes awry

   4.    VERIFY READ VERY WELL WHAT YOU ARE BUYING.  THERE ARE MANY MISLEADING ADS.  Sometime they are selling a bolt or a nut or sticker.  But the picture

advertises the whole bike or equipment

   5.  The prices are misleading.  Sometimes they post the price for the left part or right part but not

         the entire set you intend to buy.   You have to press the family color to know the exact price  

   6.  You have to canvass very well;  sometimes stores that are near one another can have massive

         price differences.

   7.  Do you really need the upgrades being pitched.  Sometimes you dont.  But their pitches are so

       good and being bombarded constantly that is why you succumb.  

3.  Know excactly the adventure that you want?   Road ride, trail ride or bikepacking

     Trail ride can be very dangerous and is not for every one.   Practice have conficence before going

     on trail ride

4.  Use your gears to the max when climbing.  That is why MTBS are preferred over RB because of wide range of gears at your disposal.   

5.  The one by or two by does not make your bike go faster.  You will have additional expenses but

      you get slower for dumping the high chain ring.    or the low low granny gear if you go purely

      one by.  You do not save a lot of weight by removing the derrailleur or the changer.   The cogs 

      which are larger have added weight.   

Tips for MTB bikers

    

Bearing stories - buying bearing cartridges too early

Wheels of Happiness

Rizal Philippines

4.22.2021

Regreasing the sealed bearing cartridge of a headset.

About 3 months ago, the wheelset of my carbon fiber P bike developed a humming grating sound at the rear wheel.  I brought this to the mechanic and he ruled a bearing "palitin"  case.  All that remained was to determine the bearing number.

Unfortunately too the carbon part of the wheel also had deep gouge marks due too hard carbon brake pads.  The controversial repair (which cost a lot of PHP) was finished and the next thing to be accomplished is the defective hub with sounds.

Last Saturday, I brought the bike to the LBS to determine the  correct bearing number.   The numbers are hard to read but I guessed it to be 6802 (as the hubset is Novatec) and is the most common bearing for hubs.  It is 6802!

And so I went to the bearing center in the next town.  (The travel took nearly 2 hours - a distance of only 20 km because of the horrendous traffic due to diversion.

The bearing cost me P200.00 (up from P130.00 a year ago)   The problem is that there was only 1 piece remaining and there was no sure restock timeline.

I searched at an e commerce store, and found the 6802 to be only P160.00 for a set of 10.  I had these ordered Tuesday.   

6802 bearings

However I watched a video on how sealed bearing could be regreased.   You simply pry off the steel rubber cover of the bearing (either black, red, or blue)   You use a pointed cutter to pry off the seal (hence the sealed bearing)

This post experimented with the MTB and was able to do this successfully on front and rear wheels.  For the MTB the drive side bearings were toast and looked rusted.   So it was kind of challenge to remove the dirty grease inside the cartridge.  I had to spray WD 40 and soak the bearings and turn the wheel on the side to remove the rusty solution.   Then, instead of grease I placed light oil and replaced the seals.   (The bearing number is 6001

Then I tried this on the carbon wheel.  (where the 6802 were)    There were 4 bearings that needed attention.   2 on the drive side (the axle) and 2 in the hub set.    The drive side bearings were problematic - one on the axle and two on the hub.    The drive bearing was rusted, the  hub bearings were dry.   They may be causing the humming grating sound.  And so I placed again light oil and grease.  It was also the chance to clean the pawls and their springs and again placed light oil (instead of grease) so that it wont get stuck. 

Now I dont think I need the bearings anymore.  Wastage of about P400.00

Knowing something new could be costly

The take away from this article is:

1,  You must service your sealed bearing periodically.  A sealed bearing is not something that runs perpetually.  It needs to be lubricated.

2.  It can be done even while still on the wheel by peeling of the metallic plastic or rubber seal.

     Once the bearing in cages can be seen, you can clean the bearing and lubricate this.  Demo shows

     that light lubed bearings are faster and efficient.  All you need is a pointed tip of a cutter.

So next question, what do I do with th 6802 bearing I ordered.  

Be careful wnen ordering when enticed to buy at an E commerce platform

Wheels of Happiness

Rizal Philippines

4.11.2021

This morning I was attracted by a post at the platform that says a Magnesium Legged Manitou air shock cost P2,000.  It was too good to be true  (It was)

However when I clicked the ordering boxes, the P2,000 is only the control unit.  The whole merchandise which included the P2,000 was roughly P20,000. 

Then there was this second hand part for xt hub for only P446.00.  However, it turned out that was only for a spoke.  The rest of the hub was priced at nearly P5,000.00

A 4 piston brakeset was listed at P5,000+ plus.  However that was for the 4++ seres,  For the 5+++ series, it is priced upon clicking nearly P10,000.  

Is there no law governing truth in advertising pricing at the Mainland... Are they not subject to conform to the Price Tag law

There are so many posts like that so I may get tired looking browsing at the platform.   Are our yellow brethren that wily and smart?