Headshot Posted June 29, 2021 Share I sometimes put my mech skills to the test on friends bikes. In the most recent, a friend bought a Silverback Stratos AL in January this year. Its a good deal in today's terms but has a few quirky features and some design flaws. The shop, a noted Bellville store recently bought out by a bigger local chain, did a devastatingly poor job of setting the bike up. This included loose grips, loose bars, dodgy cable routing and a loose stem among a few other things. The dropper post stopped working after its first service and I had to sort this for her. I found really bad cable routing - via a too small aperture in the seat tube and some very poor quality cable inner and outer supplied by Silverback. All sorted easily with a quality cable inner and outer but not something you should have to spend on a few months after purchase. ( or repair after the bike has supposedly had a shop service) While I was busy with the dropper issue, I noticed that the DUB BB with NX cranks was running very rough. Rougher than my much older Shimano BB and worse because there was actually additional drag felt at the cranks because of increased friction. I didn't have time to investigate properly and wondered if anyone has had similar issues with their Stratos bikes or DUB BB's in general? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dusty Posted June 29, 2021 Share 2 minutes ago, Headshot said: I sometimes put my mech skills to the test on friends bikes. In the most recent, a friend bought a Silverback Stratos AL in January this year. Its a good deal in today's terms but has a few quirky features and some design flaws. The shop, a noted Bellville store recently bought out by a bigger local chain, did a devastatingly poor job of setting the bike up. This included loose grips, loose bars, dodgy cable routing and a loose stem among a few other things. The dropper post stopped working after its first service and I had to sort this for her. I found really bad cable routing - via a too small aperture in the seat tube and some very poor quality cable inner and outer supplied by Silverback. All sorted easily with a quality cable inner and outer but not something you should have to spend on a few months after purchase. ( or repair after the bike has supposedly had a shop service) While I was busy with the dropper issue, I noticed that the DUB BB with NX cranks was running very rough. Rougher than my much older Shimano BB and worse because there was actually additional drag felt at the cranks because of increased friction. I didn't have time to investigate properly and wondered if anyone has had similar issues with their Stratos bikes or DUB BB's in general? I also have a Silverback bike, not the Stratos, but aslo DUB with NX crank. The BB specified for my bike is a road BB. I'm not sure if there is any difference with seals in road vs mtb but only the road one fits. First BB lasted about 5k kms. Second one not so much after quite a bit of wet riding. They ceratinly haven't lasted as well as previous BBS for me. Headshot 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Newbie321 Posted June 29, 2021 Share Silverback Sola 1 here for me, BB is almost 2 years old lots of mud riding no issues, however I had the frame warrantied because of vibrations with the rear brake, the temp frame suffered from the same problems under certain conditions and the frame they 'made' especially to replace my frame I never even saw because when they fitted everything it also vibrated under braking. Needless to say I won't be buying silverback ever again. Headshot 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madmarc Posted June 29, 2021 Share 1 hour ago, Newbie321 said: Silverback Sola 1 here for me, BB is almost 2 years old lots of mud riding no issues, however I had the frame warrantied because of vibrations with the rear brake, the temp frame suffered from the same problems under certain conditions and the frame they 'made' especially to replace my frame I never even saw because when they fitted everything it also vibrated under braking. Needless to say I won't be buying silverback ever again. Just to mention - vibration under braking is a brake / rotor issue, not a frame issue Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MTBeer Posted June 29, 2021 Share 9 minutes ago, madmarc said: Just to mention - vibration under braking is a brake / rotor issue, not a frame issue why would they replace his frame if it was a brake issue? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Headshot Posted June 29, 2021 Share Maybe I need to courier her frame to Hambini for an alignment check ???? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Newbie321 Posted June 29, 2021 Share 56 minutes ago, madmarc said: Just to mention - vibration under braking is a brake / rotor issue, not a frame issue Sure in most cases but this was proven to be the frame by a bike shop/member on this very forum and silverback themselves. I even bought a new rotor and pads out of my own pocket after the original shop I bought it from was next to useless in helping me resolve the issue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madmarc Posted June 29, 2021 Share 37 minutes ago, MTBeer said: why would they replace his frame if it was a brake issue? Unless the frame was cracked I dunno ! - Maybe they thought that because the frame is vibrating its a frame issue. Vibration or the proverbial squaak from braking emanates from the brake caliper and that's where the issue needs to be resolved. In most if not all cases, the vibration you feel is actually the wheel vibrating as a result of resonance from the brake pads on the rotor, which transfers through the axle into the frame. Changing the frame won't fix that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madmarc Posted June 29, 2021 Share 2 minutes ago, Newbie321 said: Sure in most cases but this was proven to be the frame by a bike shop/member on this very forum and silverback themselves. I even bought a new rotor and pads out of my own pocket after the original shop I bought it from was next to useless in helping me resolve the issue. that would be a first - would love to see the details of what was wrong with the frame - We never too old to learn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Newbie321 Posted June 29, 2021 Share 11 minutes ago, madmarc said: that would be a first - would love to see the details of what was wrong with the frame - We never too old to learn From what I remember it was a resonance issue, the first people who found it tested my components then put on a known good set of rotors, pads and calipers and the vibration was still there. Silverback themselves from what I was told put a weight on the chain-stay and that stopped it on the initial frame, but I think that range of frames was just shyte, because it has apparently happened before on the same model and the fact that 2 frames from my own experience had this issue and one that never made it to me. Edit: I'm still riding the temp frame they gave me because they couldn't replace the frame like for like after 'making' a new one but that also had this issue. So I just said stuff it I'll keep the frame I have rather than get the lower range branded frame which probably would have had the same issue. Edited June 29, 2021 by Newbie321 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DieselnDust Posted June 29, 2021 Share 3 hours ago, Headshot said: I sometimes put my mech skills to the test on friends bikes. In the most recent, a friend bought a Silverback Stratos AL in January this year. Its a good deal in today's terms but has a few quirky features and some design flaws. The shop, a noted Bellville store recently bought out by a bigger local chain, did a devastatingly poor job of setting the bike up. This included loose grips, loose bars, dodgy cable routing and a loose stem among a few other things. The dropper post stopped working after its first service and I had to sort this for her. I found really bad cable routing - via a too small aperture in the seat tube and some very poor quality cable inner and outer supplied by Silverback. All sorted easily with a quality cable inner and outer but not something you should have to spend on a few months after purchase. ( or repair after the bike has supposedly had a shop service) While I was busy with the dropper issue, I noticed that the DUB BB with NX cranks was running very rough. Rougher than my much older Shimano BB and worse because there was actually additional drag felt at the cranks because of increased friction. I didn't have time to investigate properly and wondered if anyone has had similar issues with their Stratos bikes or DUB BB's in general? I'm assuming its an alloy frame and therefore machined BB shell for pressfit bearings or threaded? Very likely there's bearing misalignement or the bearing seats in the frame are not machined correctly i.e. not parallel, not concentric or not on the same axis Headshot 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eldron Posted June 29, 2021 Share 3 hours ago, Headshot said: While I was busy with the dropper issue, I noticed that the DUB BB with NX cranks was running very rough. Rougher than my much older Shimano BB and worse because there was actually additional drag felt at the cranks because of increased friction. I didn't have time to investigate properly and wondered if anyone has had similar issues with their Stratos bikes or DUB BB's in general? Check that the preload adjuster hasn't been over tightened! I've seen it more than a few times on factory built bikes. Headshot and DieselnDust 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Headshot Posted June 29, 2021 Share Its threaded. Eldron, I did notice some extra bits that looked like they were for some kind of wrench and wondered about that. It feels exactly like the bearings are too tight, like cup and cone that have been screwed up too tight. If I get a chance I'll check it out and adjust. Special tools needed? Ah found this... Edited June 29, 2021 by Headshot DieselnDust 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DieselnDust Posted June 29, 2021 Share just a 2mm allenkey into the little hole and then lever it lose by 30degrees and re-check. i think the DUB adjuster threads anticlockwise to make it tighter or is that the std BB30 ???? Headshot 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
droo Posted June 29, 2021 Share 5 hours ago, madmarc said: Just to mention - vibration under braking is a brake / rotor issue, not a frame issue No, this one was a frame issue. Multiple brakesets, wheels and rotors tested on the same frame and the issue persisted. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tacoma_Narrows_Bridge_(1940) as an adjacent example. OP - check the preload on the bearing, and check that the correct spacer has been fitted. There's a chart somewhere on SRAM's site. Mtree and Headshot 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hairy Posted June 29, 2021 Share 5 hours ago, DieselnDust said: I'm assuming its an alloy frame and therefore machined BB shell for pressfit bearings or threaded? Very likely there's bearing misalignement or the bearing seats in the frame are not machined correctly i.e. not parallel, not concentric or not on the same axis Sounds like something a 5 year old engineer would say ........................... if any of you do not get the reference, then you have not ever watched Hambini DieselnDust 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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