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Rock Shox has excellent online manuals for all their shocks with details on rebuilding – good stuff, the stuff you wish you had read before breaking some tiny piece that you couldn’t see. Totally worth the ten minute investment.
I think we all have a tendency to stay loyal to the techniques we learned originally even when no longer applicable. I just recently stopped greasing cables in the housing, a practice I should have stopped when cable housing liners became ubiquitous back in the 90’s.
Enjoy your wheel adventures & the book!
If you were building wheels in the 70’s you had to contend with problems that don’t much exist these days. I’m old-school too so I get it.
For instance we used to grease spoke threads b/c it made for better wheels even if they loosened a bit. Spoke threading & materials are so high quality now that it’s unnecessary & hastens their demise. Same with reaming hub spoke holes – not a good idea anymore since flange tolerances are much tighter. Many can’t sustain radial lacing because the manufacturing processes have changed.
Since you’re enjoying it you may want to invest in a couple modern books to bring you up to speed on the little things that have changed. They aren’t basic by any stretch & are a pleasure to read, some amazingly advanced tips. Try The Bicycle Wheel 3rd Edition & either of the Zinn mantainance books (rd or mtb).
Less than $50 to do it right.
Ingredients of a typical SS conversion –
Cog, spacers & a tensioner – http://www.amazon.com/Single-Speed-Conv … B0014X6TM0
New chainring bolts (for only one ring) – http://www.amazon.com/Origin8-Single-Bi … d_sim_sg_8
Sometimes you get lucky with the gearing & the chain fits just right without the tensioner. SS’ing isn’t for everyone and has a lot to do with the terrain. It’s a good idea to pick a single gear & go for a ride first to see what it’s like. Simple as it sounds sometimes people discover that not having at least a few gears is more pain than it’s worth.
That was easy. +1 ^^
Even if it was yes to those questions the advantages of switching are limited – some would argue you’re better with V brakes.
The shop is mandatory man space in every home. Gotta have it.
As a wheel builder you probably know most the tricks. Tension is about the same as a road wheel but if you’re tensioning by ear the shorter spokes will sound different than the road wheels.
One trick I’ve used is putting a drop of boiled linseed oil on each nipple from the rim cavity side, it’ll harden in about a week & prevent loosening. You can still break it free when truing.
If it’s all steel, sure, fire away. I’d be careful with alloys tho because the high (relatively) heat may have some effect. That’s the only caveat I can think of.
My college roommate used to put his chain in there & it came out super clean but would never lube up right after that.
Abs bigger than pecs. Not something to be proud of.
(I’m thinking he’s got some kind of ab-shaped insert under the jersey)
Sovereign isn’t bad but it isn’t "bucket list" material IMO. The only magic is that it’s singletrack in Moab (where there’s traditionally no singletrack). But otherwise it’s nothing special. In that neighborhood the Upper Porcupine singletrack is much better.
This is on my list for sure –
"maddslacker" wroteI love XC…but this being Colorado, climbing and AM are part of the bargain on almost every trail.
+1
I’ve wrestled with the weight weenie thing for years and eventually learned that some things are worth the weight.
For instance, tires. Slicks are nice & light but obviously have drawbacks. That model applies to most moving parts on the bike IMO.
If I were building a bike today here are choices on the stuff I think matters:
Tires – WTB Mutano 2.4 (about 700g, very fat profile with good tread, rolls fast)
Stan’s notubes with yellow tape, no rimstrip
Wheels – Stan’s or American Classic 350g rims, 32 spoke, AL nipples, hubs not so important
Seatpost – any of the "dropper" posts, this adds weight but I ride noticeably faster with it(I’ve used those Ritchey WCS tires you mentioned, they’re light & fast for sure but very thin. Mine wore out quickly & had lots of flats in the second part of their life)
Some things that are nice for visual appeal or mental lite-ness –
Cranks, Cassettes with nice machining or Ti, Ti pedal axles, 2×9/10 gearing, sweet hubs
But none of the above things have any real impact on riding performance. IMO anyway.Easy places to save weight but don’t make you faster –
QR skewers, bars & stem, seat, gripsHardtail 2×9 = 19.9 lbs
2-springer = about 24.5 lbs (it’s since bulked up a bit from laying around all winter)
