Butterbean

Clamp the top tube with your knees, it'll stop...

Yeah, I can't remember who said it, but there's the hold line that if earning was equivalent to hard work, African Women would be the wealthiest people in the world.

They're not shite tho. They're Chosen hubs, and exactly the same spec as Stans 3.30 hubs, as far as I know... So while they may not be proven with the Lyne branding on them, they're proven a long time ago throughout. Sure, still not Hope, but not exactly "Chinese crap"

Nah it's definitely supposed to be a ball bearing lower, rather than sealed bearing. The retainer is that classic ball bearing style rather than the sandwich crimped type on a sealed bearing. I reckon the wanted to re use the race off the stock fork. It was a loose fit, so they chucked a sealed bearing crown race to give an interference fit... It's definitely fucky

It's a 2019 but fork was upgraded off the floor.... So I dunno..

Thanks Droo, It's for a silverback, replaced the giant long ago...bike came with this arrangement. Just going to replace the headset with sealed bearings top and bottom.

Okay so I can't find any examples where a crown race, plus a lower bearing race is used on modern enough headsets. However, the ball bearing race fit is loose. Unless the arrangement of two races is correct, it appears this was a bit of a bodge to account for a loose crown race (some research appears to show this being not too uncommon, especially when moving a race between forks, which was the case here). I am hoping these are available or knocking about a bike shop, but not sure. Don't really want to replace the headset right now, the Mrs isn't going to look too kindly upon more bike spend atm...

Okay, so bear in mind this is a used bike, so it's caused some uncertainty when I've struggled. You'll see in the pics, the fork crown, a normal rockshox Reba tapered steerer. You'll notice, what in my option, looks like a sealed bearing crown race. Then, what looks like a ball bearing crown race. Now, the bike came with the "sealed" bearing race on the fork. Then the ball bearing race on top, with some seals. One of the seals has been crushed out of shape. Then normal ball bearings in a retainer. Then headset cups, and the upper is a sealed unit if I'm not mistaken. Now, the fork was a shop upgrade when the bike was bought new as far as I'm aware, however I've struggled with a clink noise from the bike when wheeling it on its rear wheel... I assumed it was janky brake caliper on the front, but the sound really sounds like it comes from the fork. My suspicion is, there is one too many races, but this is the first ball bearing headset I've worked on, so don't just wanna go deleting one and breaking things. The "ball" race does measure 39.8 from what I can tell, so it does look like a crown race, but I'd love some educated confirmations before I seat this and hopefully solve my issues... Thanks!

I still think the specials at, I think cycle lab for the upgrade kit, is still worth it to get closer ratios and a 50t... It's not bad enough that you should totally avoid, it's just not Sram GX...

So, if money is tight, and you really wanna upgrade, it'll do fine. The shifter is nice, cause it's a two way downshift trigger, and the sort of semi clutch it has works fine. Shifting isn't totally crisp but it shifts fine. Only issue is an inherent design flaw in the cage body, limiting the lower derailer movement on the smallest cog. So, on the bike stand it struggles to downshift to the 11t, but out on the road it gets there first time, maybe 4/5 times. Again, for a budget setup, it works great. It's got its little niggles that, when you're more flush, you might be able to upgrade, but at least you'll have the cassette and chain so can do shifter and derailer a bit later...

*GENERALLY - There's the old saying that for bikes and parts, when it comes to light, strong, and cheap... You pick two... While I think generally pricing has just gone absolutely apeshit and I can't justify a lot of my spend anymore, you're even really paying more for less weight, longer lasting parts (not always), and reliably high performance. If you take Shimano for instance... XT in almost all ranges is said to be best balance between reliability, weight, and cost. You can spend more, and go lighter, but there's only so much reliability you can build into a featherweight part. Yes, lower down will ride just great, up to a point, but XT will be reliable, shift well, brake well, and never give up... I do think you hit a ceiling tho, for mere mortals, where more money spent doesn't add much more than the satisfaction of having top end stuff... In the dual sus MTB market, that ceiling seems to be around 45-60k. The gap between a 25k and 45k mtb is pretty massive. The gap between 60k and 100k isn't as massive... That ceiling is rising every year, blamed on a whole host of things. But at the end of the day, the market has proven to be happy to pay more for bike tyres than can tyres. We've believed it's more expensive to design a bicycle than a motorbike, and that somehow the liability is better... But that's our fault and you can't blame shareholders for wanting a return we're so willing to give... Look at how many 2019 tarmac appeared on the classifieds when the 2020 dropped. Okes out there are happy to drop mega bucks to have the latest and greatest... But never forget that the pros will still beat you up and down on a makro bike... You still have to pedal the bike.

Yeah apparently a well known issue. Send back and sram should replace.

Nah. Remove the spacers. The GRX crankset is road spec dimensions as far as I remember. So 68mm shell needs no spacers. Just double check your chainring clearance on the chainstay

I had an issue with the sunrace 11-50 12spd... The 11t doesn't seem to have great engagement with the splines of the freehub, so mine actually destroyed my freehub. Yes, torque was right as there wasn't much more issue on the other rings. It seems the 11t was juuuuuust engaging too far outboard... Not fun. I do now use a 10-50 XD compatible sunrace cassette and it's working perfectly. Strange arrangement with the adapter is uses but nothing to be disturbed by, weight is good, and it runs well... Liking it so far!

So quick note, I'm so freaking impressed with the Shred Zeppelin from Lyne. Playing with it, it does so much, inflator, valve core tool, plug tool. It also has enough space in the body to carry plugs, and I've fit two extra valve cores, and a quick link too... Really great little item!

Yeah for sure... I've been there myself after my old inflator failed... It's really no fun. I just absolutely hate the look of a pump on a bottle cage or strapped to the frame... But I'll figure it out...

So I've finally got my onboard storage sorted... First off, Silverback Stratos, but spez saddle so it's got the swat mounts on the back of it. So, spez Bandit strap on the saddle, holding tyre lever, shred Zeppelin (holding two extra valves and the snot plugs). Doubles as valve core tool, inflator, and plug injector. Spare tube, spez tube so it wraps up smaller. Wrapped into the tube is a spare hanger. Then I also went with the spez Concealed Carry tool. So that's spare link holder, chain breaker, and multi tool all stored in the steerer. I wanted to go with the one up system, but after all the additional costs with top caps, and threading tools, it just ended up being about double the price of the Spez CC tool... So all I carry in my pockets now is cellphone, car keys, and two bombs in a small sleeve made from a cut of inner tube to stop rattling. I figure, one bomb to try fix it, account for getting it wrong, and then another to actually get it right. Somehow I do think a pump would be a great add on somewhere, and maybe a bottle cage mount type one can come along at some point, but not right now...

Copper slip for pedal threads. Waterproof grease for pretty much everything else. Brake disk bolts and sometimes pivots have locktite. Grease down the Seatpost and for BB and headset. I'm far from a great mech tho.

In that range, choose the ones with the best hubs... I got some Lyne Amp wheels and am incredibly impressed with how they're holding up. And of course legendary service.

Nah, loads of people have turned TT frames into road bikes, IIRC the main issue tends to be the saddle position over the pedals. The rest is a fairly simple swap of bars and shifters, and your choice of wheels.

Assuming everything else was right to start with... That routing is not at all right and definitely the problem...

Look I'm just an armchair adviser here, but normally that means too much cable tension. Assuming your hanger is straight, and your limits have been sent correctly already, then normally too much tension on the cable will hit the upper limit before the clicks are done. Normally, you should set the tension set screw two turn out, then bolt cable on. This gives you the freedom to loosen it if you set it too tight on bolt up. Also make sure you're using the right cable routing on the derailer itself as this can also cause issues, especially on a fresh, unknown install. Check your manuals and make sure everything matches 100%.

In a packet of new cleats?

To be fair tho, used bars are so plentiful and cheap, youll probably be able to just pick some appropriate ones up for free... Check the classifieds, I'm sure you can also go wider and enjoy more stability too... A shim just sounds like an unnecessary risk, to be honest.

So, I've checked the chain, it's all good, no wear on the guage. I do cycle between a KMC and a sunrace chain, I'm fairly meticulous about cleaning and swapping chains. I've replaced the hanger tonight, but also inspected the cassette and just noticed the 11th has chewed through the almost brand new freehub, along with the other separate cogs. But the 11t is really bad... Like 2/3mm... So might be that. Will also try sort the B gap adjustment with sag accounted for... Hopefully those two sort things out.