GCinDC's Giant DH Comp

[crusoe]

I'm using a 38t front ring. I just ordered a 42t. I haven't been able to find any videos or detailed docs on how to actually separate the freewheel sprockets from each other. Once I figure out how I'm going to throw a video up on youtube!

Found it as soon as I knew doctorbass did a write up! Thanks for the tip on that
http://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=27108&hilit=freewheel

[Sacman]

Justin sells 6-speed and 5-speed 14t-28t freewheels on his Grin Cyclery online store for only $17 USD
http://www.ebikes.ca/store/store_motors.php
scroll half-way down the page to find them.

[crusoe]

Nice! I always forget to check them. I think I'm going to go even smaller than 5 spd to get this chain issue solved. I was thinking http://www.amazon.com/Sprocket-Wheel-Freewheel-Scooter-Bicycle/dp/B0053WWHK6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1336104068&sr=8-1

Would that fit on the HS?

[Sacman]

Nice! I always forget to check them. I think I'm going to go even smaller than 5 spd to get this chain issue solved. I was thinking http://www.amazon.com/Sprocket-Wheel-Freewheel-Scooter-Bicycle/dp/B0053WWHK6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1336104068&sr=8-1

Would that fit on the HS?

Nice find on that 3-speed freewheel as well. But looking closely at the pics ... the thick threaded section (behind the round white plastic guard) seems to make the overall stack height equivalent to a 5-speed freewheel. Which means the 3 sprockets are in the same position (and are the same distance away from the hubmotor) as the smallest 3 sprockets of the 5-speed freewheel.

[crusoe]

Hmm, ya, I see what you're saying. These are the dimensions of the 3speed:

Product Features
Screw Inner Diameter : 34mm; Other Inner Diameter: 23mm
Outside Diameter: 83mm x 58mm; Pitch (tooth to tooth): 9mm
Tooth Width: 3mm;
Overall Depth: 20mm
Tooth Quantity: 20, 17, 14

Does anyone know the dimensions of the 5speed so we can find out for certain if they are the same size?

Found the dimensions of a "regular" 5 speed, on here http://sheldonbrown.com/cribsheet-spacing.html Scroll down to the heading Cassette /Freewheel Spacing

It says the 5 speeds are 23.3mm. So if that applies to ebikes.ca 5 speed also, then I'll gain at least 3mm going with the 3 speed

[GCinDC]

REAR BRAKE

What happened in the first scene ? The hard braking blew a leak in your hydro hose ?

yes, because i had negligently allowed the braid to get cut by rotor, since the hose was so taut... and i was going to replace the hose anyway.

problem is that hose cannot be replaced by any old hose. it must have prebuilt banjo ends. this i discovered after several trips to bike shops and lots of online research... not to mention $30 for new hose, $20 for hydro mineral oil, $20 for pads... the hose i'll try to get a refund for. but to think i could get the magura mt2 prebuilt for all this...
fwiw, back when the halls were failing and i'd just rebuilt the motor, there was a terrible grinding every wheel rotation. i thought it was something inside and just had to get home but it was a sidecover screw carving a groove in the calipers:

How would you say the new headlight compares to the P7 ?

i'll take a comparison photo soon.

MARZOCCHI 888 RC2X REBUILD
i coulda sent it in for $135+ shipping but instead bought the oil $20 and seals $10 and probably wasted 4 hours managing only to change the oil.. i discovered the o rings were faulty, a lot of oil was on the wrong side of one. i didn't have replacements and i'd had so many other problems that by the time i got to that point, i bailed on the seals.

i did some timelapses mostly of me researching the problem parts, some red nut that wouldn't come off, and starting with the wrong leg.

i did a lot of calculations to convert 220 CC into cups, tablespoons, teaspoons, since i didn't have the proper measuring beaker, so i noticed one side was off when the forks were back together. ah me. they feel good, much bouncier, but i think one good hit will send a gush of oil past the faulty o rings. and later they'll go to the shop. my biggest fear was that the internal screws would be set to certain positions that i'd never get again, and that fear seems largely justified now. but at least they're together and so far operational..

LACING HS3540 INTO 19" MOTORCYCLE WHEEL
wish i had better news on this operation...

i'd bought a sun lite truing stand for $60, which was great for starting the job. the legs were flexible enough that i could squeeze the large axle in.

unfortunately, i realized the wheel was so heavy and the stand so flimsy that it sagged and bent so truing was out of the question. i tried it vertical in the vice to remove the sag, but that didn't work. then i tried to mount the wheel in a donor mtb bike but the axle wouldn't seat because the rim contacted the vbrake bosses. so the only, and now logical choice was to mount the wheel in the DH comp. a timelapse:

i was alarmed to see how offset the wheel was! wasn't this the issue i was trying to avoid?? i'd aligned the spokes on both sides (instead of just the one as had previously been done):

the rim was practically touching the drive side, so i had to tighten down the disc side spokes, until there was basically no thread, and the problem is obvious:

i would dremel the ends if the wheel were near tight enough, but it's not.

so i began to think of adjusting the spokes to dish it appropriately. i did keep the older spokes, and whaddya know, they're much smaller!:

i'd ordered them 130.5 and they're 135 so i think there was a mix up. so maybe i can just use the old spokes for the disk side... i have an email in to ilia for suggestions.

[fizzit]

That's cool, does your camera have the capability to zoom in while doing time lapses or did you do it in post production? Also, where did you find seals for $10? I can't find marzocchi seals for less than $20 online

[GCinDC]

the seals were $27 shipped. i shouldn't have looked. amazon is pretty good on returns if i pay shipping so maybe that's worth it.

That's cool, does your camera have the capability to zoom in while doing time lapses or did you do it in post production?

yeah i wish. the gopro took ~9000 photos during several takes but picasa won't build timelapses of more than 4000 photos, and it crashed about 10 times. my process has been:

create timelapse movie (1 min total cooking time)
- plug in gopro SD card
- launch picasa, import all photos from card
- select all, click movie icon, select timelapse/frame rate, click create
- wait (~1 hr for 4000 photos), so when it crashes, it's a bummer
(i tried gopro cineform today for the first time, which is free, but it crashed on 1000 photos. ;-( lotta great features tho
post production (15 min cook time):
- open imovie, import timelapse movie
- select and move interesting clips to timeline
- crop/ken burns (the zooming part), edit individual clips
- one click produce/post youtube
youtube (3 min cook time):
- edit settings
- click enhance, audio & select a song that's not too obnoxious or gay (often the biggest challenge)

[full-throttle]

Looks like you've been busy Like the time lapses - they look so much better with pan and zoom

With changing the oil - sometimes its easier to go by oil level rather than oil volume. In the past Marzocchi used to give the oil level figures then changed to volume. Now they just give a number (220 for 888) go figure Luckily the function of the internals of their forks is very tolerant to the changes in oil height. So as long as the forks don't hydro lock (too much oil) or aerate (too little) it's fine.

Glad you found the video somewhat instructional Yeah, the stand is flimsy. I had to spin the HS very carefully. ChainReaction sells a stand that looks a bit sturdier http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=32193

Ideal for motorcycle wheels

[GCinDC]

Glad you found the video somewhat instructional

haha, you noticed!

what was never clear to me was if the key spoke should go on the drive side or disk side. i tried what looked like your way, then what looked like my other xlyte's way, but the MC wheel holes are very directional and it would have been silly to completely ignore that, so i ended up doing it what looked like opposite my other bikes and everything. it was a bit maddening at first, but once i got the pattern, i was set. and now that i check it out, the key trailing spoke goes to the drive side, as it apparently should..

i figured you just did it upside down cause you're in the southern hemisphere. or maybe i started w/ my wheel backwards..

anyway, i just measured between the chainstays and the motor flange and there's 16mm diff. (52mm from disk side and 36mm from drive side.) perhaps on a taller rim, the difference evens out?

i've now got to decide if i should try to relace and insert all the spokes from the drive side, so they come out the disk side... the only relevant post i can find is from 2010: viewtopic.php?f=6&t=20057#p301047

help! anyone done this? the 130mm spokes are in good shape, so i can try just relacing the wheel with those only on the disk side. would that be better?

[full-throttle]

The trailing key spoke is on drive side on mine. The only thing I do differently is head-in vs head-out.

Just noticed that you actually crossed the spokes. That's a lot of extra work that most people avoid (with a 1-cross pattern)

No problem of lacing with all the spokes on one side of the flange (head-out in your case) The less dishing the stronger the wheel

[GCinDC]

No problem of lacing with all the spokes on one side of the flange (head-out in your case)

i meant head in disk side, head out drive side. (now all the spokes alternate on each side of the flange. this has to be the strongest, but who knows.) so i mean, perhaps i should insert all the spokes from the drive side, thereby offsetting the wheel by 7mm (width of spoke/flange at head). i should be able to still cross them, no?

perhaps i should start hitting up the motorcycle forums... they must use different sized spokes per side on some wheels...

[full-throttle]

Ah, I get it now.. BenMoore has done it and it seem to work fine, but the guy who likes to think is the best wheel builder in Melbourne criticized it. Then again he build Kepler's wheel with a 3-cross pattern

I still find it hard to believe that DH-comps have some kind of a offset in their swing arms. That would mean no aftermarket wheels would fit..

[doc007]

REAR BRAKE

What happened in the first scene ? The hard braking blew a leak in your hydro hose ?

yes, because i had negligently allowed the braid to get cut by rotor, since the hose was so taut... and i was going to replace the hose anyway.

problem is that hose cannot be replaced by any old hose. it must have prebuilt banjo ends. this i discovered after several trips to bike shops and lots of online research... not to mention $30 for new hose, $20 for hydro mineral oil, $20 for pads... the hose i'll try to get a refund for. but to think i could get the magura mt2 prebuilt for all this...

Hey Greg,
I'm wondering if you can do a ghetto fix for this steel braided hose. I'm not 100% positive of the construction of the hose but knowing this may be helpful if you decide to try to do a repair. Is the steel braided cable housing a plastic tube? or is the steel cable all throughout?

If its encasing a plastic tube you might be able to chop out the bad section and cut back the steel portion exposing some of the plastic tubing. Then find a hose coupler (not sure if this exists) or some tubing that will slide over the exposed plastic tube. Then get some epoxy or maybe some of that 3M Dp420 stuff and seal up that whole section.

I wonder if that would do the job? Also, I wonder if these guys: http://customtubesandhoses.com/ would be able to give you a better idea on how to repair it. They may even have couplers.

Also, are your pads contaminated or just worn out? If they are contaminated oil you might be able to salvage them by soaking them in some rubbing alcohol and cleaning the rotor with alcohol. If that doesnt work you can try boiling the pads as a last resort before investing in new pads. Then giving them a rinse in rubbing alcohol to help evaporate the water.

Good luck and keep us posted!

[GCinDC]

I'm wondering if you can do a ghetto fix for this steel braided hose.

did i mention that in trying to unscrew the hose end, according to lbs who sold me new hose, i snapped one banjo end? there's no repairing that. the cable doesn't unscrew... but i figured i could get hardware to replace the banjos, just a new threaded compression fitting, haven't found that... looks like another DIY rabbit hole. and i have to trust my brakes, esp as i've come to enjoy having one in the rear, or stopping faster cause of it.

i also got new rotors for the front and back as well as new pads. i replaced the front no problem. woohoo. you may have heard it in some vids. the rotor got warped somehow. i first noticed it noisy at high speed, which i couldn't understand. but i'm guessing it's been potato chipped by heat. no obvious warp now, but you can see how out of plane it is:

[GCinDC]

rear caliper w/ attached banjo at left. lever cable at right broke off banjo end, shown pointing up here:

i'd thought the new shimano fitting (black) would slide into calipers/lever body, but you can see it obviously won't fit.

but if i could find a reducer for the black fitting (7.8mm including threads) to mate the old hollow bolt (5.9mm including threads), i would do that.

or, there must be a shimano hyro hose/fitting that would screw into the existing sized body, but how to find??

[etard]

Holy Cow Greg!!

You're running into more problems than I usually run across, frustrating it must be!

Have you considered getting one of the scooter brakes like Farfle and Thud use? Cheap smooth and STRONG! Not sure if the rotors bolt pattern is the same, but maybe farfle can make you an adapter if you go this direction. The rotors are also twice as thick, so might be able to use a two bicycle rotors instead of the thicker scooter rotor.

Like this:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Left-Brake-Mast ... 064wt_1003

Good luck bro, I feel your pain...

edit:

One other option for that banjo bolt might be to find a regular bolt that fits and then just drill it out banjo style. Unless, the bolt has some sort of compression fitting at the end, in which case I wonder if a cardboard or rubber o ring would seal the fitting. Just some thoughts... You also may try some other local LBS to see if they have the banjo part in a junk drawer somewhere.

[Lenk42602]

rear caliper w/ attached banjo at left. lever cable at right broke off banjo end, shown pointing up here:

i'd thought the new shimano fitting (black) would slide into calipers/lever body, but you can see it obviously won't fit.

but if i could find a reducer for the black fitting (7.8mm including threads) to mate the old hollow bolt (5.9mm including threads), i would do that.

or, there must be a shimano hyro hose/fitting that would screw into the existing sized body, but how to find??

Greg,

universal hose kit, comes with a bunch of different fittings for all manufacturer-specific fittings:
http://www.amazon.com/Brake-Disc-Hose-U ... B004NN3BSS
(i know this wil work, had to order a kit for my rear wheel)

or you can just do a buy for the fittings only:
http://compare.ebay.com/like/2907063538 ... si=y&cbt=y

Len

[GCinDC]

universal hose kit, comes with a bunch of different fittings for all manufacturer-specific fittings:
http://www.amazon.com/Brake-Disc-Hose-U ... B004NN3BSS
(i know this wil work, had to order a kit for my rear wheel)

holy confidence, batman. i love it, but how do you know? did you have shimano deore xt br m755's too?

i was up at the hardware store when you so psychicly wrote, etard. the hollow bolt is an M6 x 1.0 thread. i could totally drill a longer one out, add a pair of nuts in the middle to tighten with and mount an O ring on, but i'd need to compression fit w/ new hose somehow.


in the meantime, i'm going to hunt for more specs for the universal. how could it possibly be universal?? i'd first like to know how long it is, but if it fits m6 x 1.0, i'll buy it, even if i have to drive to ohio. lol. i need a road trip.

[GCinDC]

or you can just do a buy for the fittings only:
http://compare.ebay.com/like/2907063538 ... si=y&cbt=y

i see. looks like you slide big nut and olive over hose, then insert banjo end into inner tube and tighten to seal.

i'm liking that, but x2 + hose adds up to more perhaps...

[Lenk42602]

i have only ever ordered the Gator Brake universal kit. The kit comes with every type of adapter you might need for any type of brake (X2). and a reference chart for what maufacturers use for their fittings....

make sure you push those inserts all the way in, so they are flush with the edge of the hose. can be a bitch sometimes..

len

[GCinDC]

ordered the silver mesh deal. thanks, len!

i should really start a tech thread on 19" x 1.85 Motorcycle wheels, cause it took me forever to figure it out, but for those of you who can't wait (moonshine), allow to clear up some mystery: the 1.85 refers to the inner wheel dimension.


the outer dimension is 2.5":


so for those of you thinking you'll fit a 21" MC wheel in DH comp, you'd have to run it on the rim, cause you'd never get a tire to fit inside the frame...

[gensem]

MC rims are all measure from inside, i did my own mistake ordering a 2.15 one at first, im running my cromotor in a 1.40 in a regular frame with almost no clearance... with a 1.85 you ll easily end with a tire thats 3.5" wide.

[Duc998]

mind if I ask you where u got your 44T and chainguard mate? I'm stuggling to find one. I ordered a 46T from ChainReactionCycles but
it was a outer ring not single drive doh. Also need the chainguard to stop my work pants getting caught

Finally starting work on my dh comp and shit I have to order more things! Have to get a left hand shifter, Chain ring + guard + anything that I find in this thread

Got my 9c in ok, bit worried about the offset with 26" with 2.2 tyre. I grinded the 9c axle stopper on the disc side a bit to push the wheel more towards the disc side. That way I did'nt have to use any washes for my rear brake mount and hopefully that helps with the dishing a bit as the amount of offset and the dishing required to get it to the center scares me a bit. I'm taking it to a bike shop to get it done.

[moonshine]

FINALLY!!!! SOME CLARIFICATION ON MC WHEELS!!! Thanks GC, im still gonna go with the 21" though. haha jk man. But my plan now...is to wait for JRH to get back to me. Although, what i'll end up doing most likely is keeping my 5404 laced in the stock 26"x 1.5" rim and then lacing the hubzilla into a nice 19"x1.85 excel rim. That way i can still zip around on my 5404 and patiently (forget) wait for the hubzilla to get a custom lace job. NOW IF I COULD ONLY GET KIWI'S DROPOUTS TO ARRIVE!!!!