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Re: "XT" tantan FM08 29er build Despite my thumb still being a bit tender, the ride today went extremely well. pretty much the same track as last time: a loop with a mix of XC-ish twisty singletrack, combined with lots of rocks, a bit of techy climbing, lot of square-edged rock step-ups, a little techy downhill, some flowy downhill, but only a couple jumps, no big drops. today was the coolest day in a while, and there was light rain when we arrived at the trail head. this was actually perfect conditions, as it has been super dry and hot lately (dunno if you have heard about the weather and bushfires we have had in oz lately) so this actually improved the trail immensely, turning it all into hero dirt. not enough rain to create any mud or puddles whatsoever, but there were a few moist rocks and roots to be wary of. i checked the pressures at the start of the ride. 23 psi in the rear (tubeless) tyre, 22psi in the front (tubed) tyre. just under 75psi (probably 73) in the fork, 130psi in the rear shock. that 130 is a fair bit lower than what i had last time, but i thought i'd just leave it there, as i have been having problems using all the travel in past rides. after taking 2 weeks off the bike over Xmas, and all the festive season drinking/eating, i reckon i am about 2kg heavier than i was a few months ago. i went back to work on monday, so have put a few hours on the commuter bike this week, and the fitness is already coming back, so pedaling was no problem. despite there being no big drops, i was pretty much using all the travel, bar the shock's internal bottom out bumper - i stopped a few times to check the o-ring (and reset it) and it was at 50-50.5mm (of 53.5) each time. so the 130psi in the rear shock was too low. post ride, i have increased the rear shock to 140psi. i am guessing the square edged rocks on the techy climbs were using the travel. i did not feel any harshness or bottoming. i think i have found the final setup for the fork - at just under 75psi it was using 132-133mm travel (of 140mm). post ride, i put a few psi into the fork to bring it to 75, to give a little more buffer against bottoming, for when i start hitting some bigger hits. i think i will leave it there for a while, unless i get some frequent bottoming (in which case i would consider putting a volume-reducing token back in). overall, the bike rode absolutely awesomely. with that bit of grease in the rear shock mount, the bike is now blissfully silent. the suspension (front and rear) disappeared beneath me, totally unnoticeable (the way it should be), and ironed out the bumps extremely well, both up, down, everywhere. with the bike now at its slackest yet (probably 66.5 degree HA), it still went around the tighter XC-ish corners unbelievably well, had no downsides on the climbs, and only upsides on the faster/downhill stuff. i simply couldn't fault it, nor could i imagine how it could be much better. i think i will do a tiny bit more tinkering though: - as mentioned before, drop the bars a few mm, via a lower stack height top headset - might add another spacer in the rear shock - take out another 1.25mm of shock stroke & length, which would translate to 3mm less travel at the rear wheel (to about 138mm), and about a 2mm lower BB (to about 337mm). with the way i had the shock today, with the too-low pressure, it must've been running excessive sag - yet i still very rarely hit pedals (and only minor scrapes when i did), even on a techy trail often navigating over and around rocks, and doing some sloppy pedal timing too. as the steering is still not too slack, i think there is still scope to lower and slacken it a bit further, so i will try the experiment of putting in that extra 1.25mm spacer. - maybe tilt the saddle nose down a tiny bit - front tyre still yet to go tubeless the only remaining gripe i have with this bike relates to my injured thumb: the shift effort is a bit high - not sure where the friction is, but even with an xtr shifter, i did get a sore thumb from pushing on that shift lever. January 10, 2020, 10:01:40 PM	1

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Re: "XT" tantan FM08 29er build Despite my thumb still being a bit tender, the ride today went extremely well. pretty much the same track as last time: a loop with a mix of XC-ish twisty singletrack, combined with lots of rocks, a bit of techy climbing, lot of square-edged rock step-ups, a little techy downhill, some flowy downhill, but only a couple jumps, no big drops.

today was the coolest day in a while, and there was light rain when we arrived at the trail head. this was actually perfect conditions, as it has been super dry and hot lately (dunno if you have heard about the weather and bushfires we have had in oz lately) so this actually improved the trail immensely, turning it all into hero dirt. not enough rain to create any mud or puddles whatsoever, but there were a few moist rocks and roots to be wary of.

i checked the pressures at the start of the ride. 23 psi in the rear (tubeless) tyre, 22psi in the front (tubed) tyre. just under 75psi (probably 73) in the fork, 130psi in the rear shock. that 130 is a fair bit lower than what i had last time, but i thought i'd just leave it there, as i have been having problems using all the travel in past rides. after taking 2 weeks off the bike over Xmas, and all the festive season drinking/eating, i reckon i am about 2kg heavier than i was a few months ago. i went back to work on monday, so have put a few hours on the commuter bike this week, and the fitness is already coming back, so pedaling was no problem.

despite there being no big drops, i was pretty much using all the travel, bar the shock's internal bottom out bumper - i stopped a few times to check the o-ring (and reset it) and it was at 50-50.5mm (of 53.5) each time. so the 130psi in the rear shock was too low. post ride, i have increased the rear shock to 140psi. i am guessing the square edged rocks on the techy climbs were using the travel. i did not feel any harshness or bottoming.

i think i have found the final setup for the fork - at just under 75psi it was using 132-133mm travel (of 140mm). post ride, i put a few psi into the fork to bring it to 75, to give a little more buffer against bottoming, for when i start hitting some bigger hits. i think i will leave it there for a while, unless i get some frequent bottoming (in which case i would consider putting a volume-reducing token back in).

overall, the bike rode absolutely awesomely. with that bit of grease in the rear shock mount, the bike is now blissfully silent. the suspension (front and rear) disappeared beneath me, totally unnoticeable (the way it should be), and ironed out the bumps extremely well, both up, down, everywhere. with the bike now at its slackest yet (probably 66.5 degree HA), it still went around the tighter XC-ish corners unbelievably well, had no downsides on the climbs, and only upsides on the faster/downhill stuff. i simply couldn't fault it, nor could i imagine how it could be much better. i think i will do a tiny bit more tinkering though:
- as mentioned before, drop the bars a few mm, via a lower stack height top headset
- might add another spacer in the rear shock - take out another 1.25mm of shock stroke & length, which would translate to 3mm less travel at the rear wheel (to about 138mm), and about a 2mm lower BB (to about 337mm). with the way i had the shock today, with the too-low pressure, it must've been running excessive sag - yet i still very rarely hit pedals (and only minor scrapes when i did), even on a techy trail often navigating over and around rocks, and doing some sloppy pedal timing too. as the steering is still not too slack, i think there is still scope to lower and slacken it a bit further, so i will try the experiment of putting in that extra 1.25mm spacer.
- maybe tilt the saddle nose down a tiny bit
- front tyre still yet to go tubeless

the only remaining gripe i have with this bike relates to my injured thumb: the shift effort is a bit high - not sure where the friction is, but even with an xtr shifter, i did get a sore thumb from pushing on that shift lever.

January 10, 2020, 10:01:40 PM

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