GCinDC's Giant DH Comp

can you guys not see my images? the google+ photo urls are different now, and i'm afraid they don't work for the public anymore. :|

anyway, i got the left (as you face the fork) leg w/ damping back together. there was no way to bleed it, so we'll see.

so i took apart the right leg.


the top cap has no adjuster on it. i finally figured out that i could clamp the rod and unscrew the top cap to remove the springs which were super nasty w/ old grease. not a drop of oil in this leg. no shrader valve anywhere either.


i loosened the bottom cap then pulled the lower leg out of the uppers.

there was no adjuster on the lower cap. totally solid. i wondered if a valve had once been there and been broken off, but no air hole to the cartridge.

no oil in the cartridge. not a drop. just a long plunger/stopper on the bottom rod. and a small spring on the rod from the top where it screws into the lower leg.


i've been researching the hell out of this but can't find anything else similar.

i'm wondering if i put oil in or not. seems like with any compression, the oil would just get squeezed past the stopper, and then linger in the bottom part of the cartridge. maybe it's just filled with air?

i'm thinking i'll just grease up the springs and put it back together without oil and see how it feels...

i've called hayes/manitou but no call back.

Your pictures do not show.

Tom

test: can you see this image?

Yes, that one can be seen.

ok, can you see the images in the post at top? i have to go through an extra step of sharing these apparently, before they can be seen (by the public). a bit tedious.

anyway, i put the right leg back together and the travel feels pretty smooth, basically just springs, but with some air compression - probably not much since the o-ring on the rod didn't seem snug inside the lower.

anyway, when i compress the forks, the damping side sounds all squirty, so i'll probably have to yank it apart and find some way to bleed it...

I can see all the pictures now...

Good job on the shot in the dark fix it style.

I applaud your style.

Tom

i've decided there must be some kind of bleed valve under the dial:


i've already removed the 3mm hex screw and pulled as hard as i can - even put the dial in a vice and pulled on the cartridge - but couldn't get it to come off more than 2mm.

so maybe i'll try to remove other parts of it, to see if something else is holding it in place.

at this point, it's a matter or pride. lol.

and it seems only logical there's a bleed valve in there. you see the shiny cylinder with the slot? that's the hole through which the oil must flow when bleeding, since turning the dial opens a valve beneath it.

i did get a reply from hayes, but w/ the 03 manual, and they've yet to reply to my response w/ pics.

nope, no bleed valve under the knob/dial thingy - had to disassemble it almost completely, but didn't break it!


so i put that back together and screwed it back into bottom of leg.

the only way to fill with oil and bleed is via the top cap of the lower leg:


and there's a tiny slot in the side of the top cap through which oil can spew as the cap is threaded back on - kinda hard to see the slot w/o zooming in, but it's there:


mmm, spew.

in other news, i got a reply from tech support:

Unfortunately we do not have the information you need to properly service this fork. As I said before this product was developed and distributed before we acquired the company. We do not have a service manual or any other information for this product. Your just going to have to use your best judgement when re assembling the fork. I wish I could provide more information for you but we simply do not have it available. If you are interested we do have an upgrade program. You can trade this fork in and receive a current model Dorado for 30-50% off MSRP. This can be facilitated through your local bike shop. Let me know if you have any further question.

Click to expand...

mmm, trade-in upgrade for 50% off. tasty thought!

still probably way over my budget, but hey, it's fun to think about...

finally made some progress cleaning up the garage. here was a photo in the midst of an earlier cleanup operation where i managed to box up ebike parts but didn't get much further:


over xmas break, i built a bike rack and shelf with charging stations:


rather than leaning the bike up against the bench or a pile of shit, we can park the bikes in designated spaces on the rack.

i've got a timer on the outlet set to turn on at 5AM, and on it is the eaton power supply/coil and a battery warmer which you see strapped over the battery, secured by a bungee cord.

at work, i remove the battery (disconnecting leads and BMS) and bulk charge it for 30 minutes.

Looks good Gregg.

How's your solar power doing in the winter?

meh... was surprised that May was my biggest month. lotta rain/clouds in the summer i guess..


how's yours?

Your system is at least twice as big as mine. Before I bought the Volt my production easily covered my usage. In fact in a year I saved 1000 kWh. You have to factor in that where I live we don't need AC and rarely run the gas heater. My average daily usage was about 13 kWh and production was around 18 kwh. We use about 6 kWh to go around 25 miles a day in the Volt, so I think I will just about break even. I might add one more panel in the future (for a total of 14).

BTW... putting in the solar and buying the Volt are among the very best investments I have ever made. After rebates and whatnot, the solar cost $5k and the Volt $23k out the door.

Rather than build a 26" motor/wheel for my old studded tire, I'm thinking about getting a spare Mc tire to put studs in. Recs on studs to use?

Found this hilarious vid while researching...
[youtube]33TFnnBnlIo[/youtube]

@dbaker, how'd you get in the am? pretty slick, no? ever get a smart phone? love to see a pic of your studded ride...

i chucked on the camo wheel with the studded tire and ran in like this. no probs!


got 150 of these grip studs arriving in the mail tomorrow to screw into the rear tire:


coulda gone bigger on them but think i'll put them in my old tire which has worn treads, and save the freshie (with grooves in the nobbies) for later:

If this is the internals you have , you have the dreaded SPV version. (stable platform valve)

http://www.bilder-hochladen.net/files/1fsw-2.jpg

This being the actual SPV valve.

These were hated , and ruined the dorado name for near 10 years.
There is a bladder inside , wich punctures on bottom-outs, or fails with age..
and if they are anything like the manitou swinger rear suspension , in must not be ridden without air pressure in the SPV system.
Why manitou ever wanted a pedaling platform on downhillers bikes beats me!

Manitou riders in 2004-2005 actually use "SPV" forks with the old TPC+ internals, one of all time greatest suspensions.
the new dorado actually uses allmost the same TPC damper allbeit with 36mm inners vs the old 32mm.

.manitu

paying the price for having laced up the mxus with old spokes/nipples and then putting it through another salt season. wheel is all wobbly and can no longer true it cause the nipples are seized.

so starting afresh with a new MXUS ($299 shipped) and a JRH 19x1.6 wheel & spoke set:


loosly laced here for a big offset because of the dh comp frame - note the spokes all coming out the disk side:


on the truing station:


JRH was out of the custom spoke sizes at the time, so i got impatient and bought the stock 128mm ones. best i could do still left about 5mm of threads exposed on every fourth spoke:


but there's 15mm of threads there so at least 10mm gripping:


so with tire:


the blue bike has been squeaking, the suspension has been horrible - way too bouncy, which is hairy on turns, and needs a break and TLC to clean up this kinda shit:



so i fitted out the white bike and have been commuting on it this week:


of course, on my ride home last night, i got the !HALLS! error... all my wiring is good, so i'm virtually certain the hall popped out of the slot, like it did on my first mxus in november, and just needs some adhesive.

no time to fix it last night, so i just switched to sensorless mode and rode it in today. can't handle more than 26A before it stutters, but anything's better than metro.

it's amazing how different the bike feels. i'd been wanting to raise the handlebars on my blue bike. i don't like the grip position. if i stand for example, my hands feel way too low. i didn't cut the bars on the white bike, so they're really wide and feel much more comfortable. so i'm good with that. the rear suspension is a bit dead, but not bouncy, so that's fine.

i found a cheap pair of 180mm travel forks - $90 + $45 shipping from taiwan, and look forward to trying these out when they arrive in a week or so:


finally, here's a vid i posted up a couple years ago, with a new soundtrack because the hendrix track - which was perfect for it - got blocked:
[youtube]LrTm4qQTH3s[/youtube]

i don't ride like this as much anymore, but fun for nostalgia...

Curious to see how you like the Zoom forks. They have been popping up on other builds. I am too chicken to be a crash dummy for them in case they are using brittle metal for the crowns. Why don't you ride like that anymore? Trouble with the wife, police, or genpop trying to clip your wings?

@150 shipped, they're practically disposable. not that i'd ever get rid of anything. hehe.

i've never owned new forks, so i'm hoping for some plushness.

brittle, huh? yikes. on ebay, i just noticed the material is listed as MAGNESIUM. i hope they're not factory rejects.

anyway, re the riding style, no it's not the PoPo, or the wifey. not sure what genpop is, lol. and the fact is that i do get aggressive and pull a hairy moves all the time, and later wish i was still running the gopro.

but i have had freaks chase me honking their horn after slipping between them and the car beside them at the light, so i'm not taking the narrow cuts as often. when it opens, i'm gone, never to be seen again. but when traffic is backed up, on a lot of roads, i just follow and wait in the lane.

i've had a long string of injuries too, and that's put a damper on the mojo. surgery on each shoulder, the sprained ankle, and i'm pretty sure i have a broken thumb right now from an accidental wheelie, in front of neighbors no less.

but also, seems like each year after age 45, my risk tolerance has dropped steeply, and i swear i envision morbid crash scenes all the time, from some unknown catastrophic failture. i never used to have that, so my confidence is down somewhat and i know i have to stay within myself. last year i was on the road bike for the first 6 months, and it was great to get in shape, and i noticed right after that i wasn't at all used to speeding on the ebike. took me a solid month to get my feel back.

who knows, some of it might be the bike too. with a new suspension, i might find my oats again.

GCinDC said:

i swear i envision morbid crash scenes all the time, from some unknown catastrophic failture

Click to expand...

It's actually psychic foresight. You know how in the movies people have visions of their death or someone elses but they can never seem to see the killer and the whole show is about filling in the gaps? Same deal here, only I'm going to spoil the ending for you - it's the zoom forks

Nah, I'm just being a bandwagon hater, I've never used them myself but I AM very suspicious of them and their quality. There's been reports of them breaking and when you see how the chinese cut corners with recycled cheese alloys, I dunno man... plastic rice anyone ?
No doubt brand name stuff is savagely overpriced but front end failures at speed are the worst. I'd be giving the dropouts regular inspections for cracks. Keep us posted!

GCinDC said:

i noticed right after that i wasn't at all used to speeding on the ebike. took me a solid month to get my feel back.

Click to expand...

Yep I've done the same 2 or 3 times now after long absences from riding. When you first get back on you're like "whoa this is mental, was it like this before ? Half throttle is plenty! Wow if I come off I'm going to be really in trouble" A day later, full throttle everywhere again :lol:

i can certainly recommend a new marzocci bomber to inspire some confidence...but a serious hit to the wallet none the less.

....i better check my new mxus to make sure its not partly made from sweet potato

GCinDC said:

@150 shipped, they're practically disposable. not that i'd ever get rid of anything. hehe.

i've never owned new forks, so i'm hoping for some plushness.

brittle, huh? yikes. on ebay, i just noticed the material is listed as MAGNESIUM. i hope they're not factory rejects.

anyway, re the riding style, no it's not the PoPo, or the wifey. not sure what genpop is, lol. and the fact is that i do get aggressive and pull a hairy moves all the time, and later wish i was still running the gopro.

but i have had freaks chase me honking their horn after slipping between them and the car beside them at the light, so i'm not taking the narrow cuts as often. when it opens, i'm gone, never to be seen again. but when traffic is backed up, on a lot of roads, i just follow and wait in the lane.

i've had a long string of injuries too, and that's put a damper on the mojo. surgery on each shoulder, the sprained ankle, and i'm pretty sure i have a broken thumb right now from an accidental wheelie, in front of neighbors no less.

but also, seems like each year after age 45, my risk tolerance has dropped steeply, and i swear i envision morbid crash scenes all the time, from some unknown catastrophic failture. i never used to have that, so my confidence is down somewhat and i know i have to stay within myself. last year i was on the road bike for the first 6 months, and it was great to get in shape, and i noticed right after that i wasn't at all used to speeding on the ebike. took me a solid month to get my feel back.

who knows, some of it might be the bike too. with a new suspension, i might find my oats again.

Click to expand...

Wow. I can fully relate to all of that quite a bit. The best way to re-velocetize your brain for an ebike is to ride an openclass sport bike for a bit.

Genpop = general population. I figured there was no way that all the old curmudgeons on the road would let you get away with that kind of riding. I have been honked at by old crotchety flea bags for far less... I just give them a thumbs up and keep rolling.

As for the equipment malfunction part, I can totally relate... I get those thoughts too sometimes, especially if a crash would lead to me being under an oncoming car. Many years ago my Aprilia sprung an oil leak from the oil level sight tube and it caused my to have a nasty, nasty high side. I flew like a rag doll about 30 feet through the air and was stopped by the side of a Honda Civic hatchback. Terrible way to break a knee cap - not that there is any good way! haha

thanks for the warning, hyena. much as your comment about the fork dismayed me, i know the pain is far less than a catastrophic failure at high speed...

let this be a lesson to folks who don't post on their builds. there's nothing like good solid forum feedback to set you straight!

anyway, the fork arrived and as i inspected, i noticed something seriously suspect - the weld on the headtube, or lack of a weld i should say:








i'd been about to buy a headset, but how's it supposed to fit over that lip that's only partially welded?

and i think this warning says it all: "For leisure/cross country use. Do not use for Freeride/Downhill/Dirt-Jump or any hard riding."


so i guess the ebay item title was misleading: "Downhill mountain Bicycle front fork Electric fork dnm 1/8 20MM shaft"

Can you take some close ups of the crowns? What materials do the parts seem to be made from? Are the screws that pinch on the stanchions of quality?

I guess the big question is are you going to roll with them?

ok, this helps:


i'd never seen the type on the right before, and assumed the crown race had to slide all the way down, but maybe i need another type. if i'd bought an FSA headset i had tee'd up, the crown race wouldn't be able to slide all the way down to the crown and would sit on top of that partially welded ring... and that wouldn't hold for shit. but if the weight sits on the lower ring and then distributed to the crown and stanchions instead of on that weld joint, all may be well... ish.

here a side by side with the dorado which already has the crown race installed:




the tube is 1 1/8":


and the welded ring is obviously wider..


so you tell me what headset i need..

other pics, crown feels like aluminum:

Oh man, not the zoom forks. If your family still needs you, please do not use them.
And those are not forks, they just look like forks, they will not do what suspension is supposed to do, crappy