MTBRIDER1234

I am a MTB guy through and through, so not an expert on road. But I know you will need a new front derailleur, front shifter, crankset and cassette (widest range 10 speed cassette I could briefly find: https://evobikes.co.za/product/shimano-ultegra-6700-cassette/) I think your rear derailleur and shifter should work with the new wider range cassette, but if not, you can most likely make it work by using one of these :https://www.rapide.co.za/product/rapide-derailleur-hanger-extender/ Hope that helps somewhat!

Sorry guys, but to everyone who says that you can't clamp an E bike by the seatpost, how do you think they secure the frame while assembling it at the shop? Also you do realise that bike shops have to clamp it to work on the bike...

Out of interest was it at a bikeshop or the rider doing home maintenance? Just as I know a few s-works riders who have questionable methods of carrying out maintenance on their bikes...

To each their own. I have worked on and seen enough bikes be worked on to know what works. On a block of wood, there is less force as the frame is being supproted and also you are able to be more precise and accurate as it is more stable.

Personally I never would and have never seen a BB be hammered out in the stand. I have always put the frame on a block of wood or similar to support it. Definitely would avoid doing that with a carbon bike, but depending on the frame deisgn, some may be fine and some will break... not a chance you want to take

I find that a fair number of bikes' toptubes do not fit well in the parktools stand and if you try to clamp them, the bike will move around and be a pain to work on. Also like giododg said, it is a huge gamble to clamp the toptube of a carbon bike, it only takes one bit of a revolution too much, when you are distracted and you will end up with a cracked frame.

Yet they will put it on the floor drive side down, change gears when not pedalling, never lube their chain, the list goes on...

Yip, the front wheel will be low. Also the force is spread through the dropper if clamped properly, so all will be fine

No, because you make sure the clamp is vertical. May be hard to grasp when I try to explain haha

Yeah but it also applies fore/aft leverage...

To each their own. I know my dropper will get more damaged by grit when riding, so I do not put a cloth in the clamp. Also a cloth sometimes limits available friction, so the bike will move around in the clamp, which is irritating to work on.

Don't stress bru, I mean if you have a really skinny dropper than maybe; but I have clamped HEAVY (32 kilo) E bikes by their dropper and all has been good. Also make sure your clamp is positioned in a way so that your bike is balanced, I have seen too many bikes fall over when the clamp is at an angle haha

^this The cost of maintaining an E bike used only once or twice a week is extremely expensive. I can't imagine how much it would cost if you were riding your E bike 44 km's a day, 5 days a week (plus weekend riding). That would very quickly add up to the point where a motorcycle would pay off itself - but you can get a nice motorbike for the price of a nice E bike...

I have seen it be done and done it for a while. No scratches or damage to any of the droppers. Ever. I guess to each their own but droppers are more likely to get scratched from dirt ingress while riding than being clamped in a clean rubber stand, I guess wrap the dropper in a cloth if you want, but I don't think it is needed.

In simple terms, that means that for every 1mm you increase the shock stroke, you wil gain 3mm more rear travel.

I was saying if he wants to increase travel, he must increase stroke... As there is no way to easily change your leverage ratio (at least to my knowledge)

Pretty sure leverage ratio is shock travel divided by stroke length

You would need to let all the air out of the shock and fully compress the rear suspension to see how much clearance you have between tire and seattube and potentially linkage and frame. Even if you can overstroke it by a few mm, the manufacturer gave it a specific amount of travel for a reason. If you need more travel, then you should consider a more aggressive longer travel bike, as squeezing more travel out of a frame has its disadvantages for sure.

Also I have narrowed it down to 2 forks: the lyrik ultimate and the 36 grip2 Anybody have experience riding both and how do they compare to each other in suppleness, midstroke support, grip and general ride feel?

Sorry, but I have to respectfully disagree. Any good rider will notice the difference between a brake with little to no modulation and a brake with plenty of modulation. When I had my shimanos and I needed to scrub speed before a turn or a feature, I would often find myself slowing down more than intended due to the lack of modulation. Whereas with my SRAM brakes I could more accurately scrub small amounts of speed and therefore felt more confident to brake late and ride faster.

Ok thank you. I never knew that, I (wrongly) assumed the ultimate had compression damping adjustment.

Only advantage of the sid select is price. Sid ultimate is more tuneable, about 300 grams lighter and a superior fork overall. Never ridden either one but comparing my experience riding the rockshox lyrik select plus vs the ultimate, the ultimate feels much better and you can set it up really dialed. If you have the money get the ultimate, it is better in every way.

Funny you reccomend Curas, as they are exactly what I am going to put on my build. Definitely an amazing brake, I have yet to hear anything bad about them. Honestly I haven't had any problems with my XT 11 speed but prefer the feel and simplicity of eagle. It is a shame shimano have very little parts support as their products are great value. If a company doesn't honour warranties then they should have no business. Problem is that 90% of bikes are specced with Shimano when new.

It blows my mind. Parts for shimano are a sh*tshow to find here, if they are even imported (which is unlikely in itself). Shimano has to step up their parts game; and i will consider buying their products. But currently Sram drivetrains only

Yeah that was probably the problem. Otherwise they are pretty easy to bleed with minimal effort needed. Good to hear that you have learnt a useful new skill