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Messages - Flying Trunk Monkey

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1
Component Deals & Selection / Re: Ali express disc brake pads, recommendations
« on: December 11, 2023, 07:10:54 PM »
Questions for those that have replied here...

I've had such good luck with Shimano sintered pads that it's practically all I consider. They last so long that I don't have much issue with paying the low end of the price range that they typically sell for.

That said, I like a good deal as much as the next guy and I'm wondering how much life you're getting out of the various AliX pads.

I know some folks tolerate very cheap pads because they look at them as a disposable item. But... they end up changing them on such a regular basis I wonder how much they're actually saving. I've heard of guys finishing gravel races in crappy conditions with little or no brakes left. I've never been able to determine what kind of pads they were using but I can't imagine seeing a front and rear set of sintered pads go from working to zero in a 200 or less miles.

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Component Deals & Selection / Re: Interesting Aliexpress finds! - good deals, interesting stuff, new products etc!
« on: November 04, 2023, 11:49:30 PM »
Quote from: mirphak on November 04, 2023, 02:46:33 PM
10-51 casettes (12s AND 11s now too) with shimano spacing but for XD hubs (win-win)

https://es.aliexpress.com/item/1005006049870867.html

Do you prefer XD over microspline? Don't Sram and Shimano's MTB cassettes share the same spacing in 11 and 12 speed?

3
Component Deals & Selection / Re: Sales coming up, how do I find a GRX 2x11 Shimano GRX RX810 Lever and brake set?
« on: October 30, 2023, 09:32:06 PM »
Well, I found him on FB and sent him a message. Said I knew him from eBay but heard from others knew he worked though other channels as well. Said we could both save some money if we didn't rely on eBay and asked for a shipped price on the shifters and brakes. He responded with $400. Depending on the auction, eBay price is right at $300 after shipping/sales tax. I guess I'll keep working that angle.

I'm in the US so Star Bike and R2 aren't an option. I've done a lot of business w/ R2 in the past and even made money reselling DT Swiss fat hub sets stateside. In the meantime R2 has quit shipping DT Swiss to the US, which sucks because I need a few things from Dt Swiss still. Neither Star or R2 will ship Shimano.

I've explored getting things shipped to Canada and then reshipped to the US from a third party but I couldn't find anything remotely objective to determine what it would cost so I have no idea if it would be worth it. If anyone has any thoughts on that I'd appreciate it. ...might have to make another post.

Aaron

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Component Deals & Selection / Re: Sales coming up, how do I find a GRX 2x11 Shimano GRX RX810 Lever and brake set?
« on: October 29, 2023, 08:29:55 PM »
Quote from: jonathanf2 on October 29, 2023, 08:09:59 PM
There's a seller on US Ebay who's selling Ultegra/GRX shifters brand new below cost. I'd just go the Ebay route. Cheaper than buying retail.

Is it this guy ...superdavescellar?
https://www.ebay.com/itm/204513450005

He seems to have a lot of stuff. I can't win one of his auctions though either.

5
Component Deals & Selection / Sales coming up, how do I find a Shimano GRX RX810 Lever and brake set?
« on: October 29, 2023, 06:31:53 PM »
Hey all,
I've bought plenty off of AliX but usually don't spend enough at one time to warrant waiting for a good price on a particular item. Money is tight currenty but I'd really like to pick up a set of GRX 810 shifters and levers? Going rate on eBay is about $275-300 on the lower end after tax/shipping. I've lost 2-3 auctions now bidding in that range.

Can anyone give me some tips on how to best keep an eye out for a good price during the upcoming sales?

I'm not sure if it's going to happen though as the current AilX prices seem to be about $100 higher than eBay.

6
Component Deals & Selection / Re: DT 240EXP hub clones Goldix, Venfort
« on: October 21, 2023, 06:05:10 PM »
I'd like to hear those compared to my Industry 9 Hydra. I need to get some grease for it as well.

7
Component Deals & Selection / Re: Bike Touring: Broken Carbon Tent Poles
« on: July 11, 2023, 04:06:16 PM »
Quote from: Wet Noodle on July 11, 2023, 02:47:29 PM
That is very good advice. Bike kit / packing, accommodation, sleeping ...

I did an overnight lap around the White Rim Trail in Moab last year. Rolled in with a little over 2 gallons of water. Two weeks prior I did an 20 mile out and back overnighter with probably 2.5 gallons of water and half a gallon of beer. A couple of water bottles would've been more than plenty as there was a convenience store 2 miles from the campsite but I wanted to test every conceivable water carrying option I had. Everything worked great and it gave me the confidence to go to Utah for a trip with zero accessible water.

8
Component Deals & Selection / Re: Bike Touring: Broken Carbon Tent Poles
« on: July 10, 2023, 03:32:54 PM »
I've researched replacing the alloy poles on my Nemo Hornet Elite tent. After learning about issues with carbon poles I decided the minimal weight savings wasn't worth it. Cost wasn't really a factor in the decision. If you want a good source for quality options to DIY a lot of your own gear Quest Outfitters has a good selection and a well laid out website.

I've done a lot of bikepacking as well. Did the entire Divide route in 2017. I didn't have my current tent then but it would've been nice. The Nemo tent was definitely pricey even on eBay but even several years later I'm not sure I'd trust anything off of AliX. A quick look at the tent you bought shows a weight of about 3 pounds. The 2P Nemo weighs about half that and likely packs down considerably smaller too.

It's stories like these that reinforce my preference to do a couple of shorter overnighters before committing to a longer ride with new gear. BA makes good gear as well, hopefully you got one that you really like.

9
Maintenance, Mechanics, & Tools / Re: Ideal way to replace cables/hoses on full ICR frame?
« on: May 15, 2023, 03:33:58 PM »
Quote from: coffeebreak on April 13, 2023, 11:47:21 AM
Its Basswood by the-house, so yes same Flybike 696 mold which they paint in metallic forest green. To run full outer from shifter to mech, I will have to remove the cable stopper because it is not designed to accept full outer and then it will be ugly plus impractical. Does your cable stop/guide allow passing cable outer? Since cable outer on mine cannot go in the frame I have to do segmented. One outer housing segment from shifter to frame and one more from rear triangle to derailleur.
On my Fuji, I have the same setup but the sleeve is only used under the BB area (say about 8-10 inches).. inside the trapdoor, otherwise the cable runs free without any sleeve in the frame

Hi, I was getting ready to post the same question for my Basswood. I'm glad I searched first.

If one wanted to run full length outer housing then I think there is enough material in the cable stop/guide to drill it out . The center hole for the brake cable/hose is obviously large enough to pass an outer housing through. Since I just learned that both are an option I haven't decided what I'd prefer.

My main concern was if segmented is an option. Segmented requires a straight shot (or a guide as in the case of the BB) and I couldn't quite tell the internal routing points allowed for that or not.

10
Component Deals & Selection / Any cheap helicopter tape / surface guard tape options?
« on: May 12, 2023, 04:39:05 PM »
I'm still building my Framed CFR696 bike up. While bikepacking I ride in a lot of different conditions, some are pretty messy. Also, bikepacking bags can cause wear on a frames finish in pretty short order (dirt/grit/mud gets between the bags and frame and acts as an abrasive with the vibrations). On my last frame I bought a 3"x 30' roll of 14 mil tape from Amazon. That $64 roll is is not $73. Seems like there has to be some cheaper options.

Also, does anyone have any experience with the 8 mil thickness of helicopter tape? The 14 mil has held up very well but it was difficult to install in highly contoured areas like the bottom of fork arches and inside the chainstay arch. I'm thinking the 8 mil might be easier to work with. Granted, I've since learned to use soapy water and a squeegee and heat to apply it so I might get better results if I were to use the 14 mil again.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004FKPAKG/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

11
Component Deals & Selection / Re: Interesting Aliexpress finds! - good deals, interesting stuff, new products etc!
« on: April 20, 2023, 05:00:04 PM »
Gaaaaaah!!!
I ordered the axles mentioned below and they arrived today. The front axle on the Basswood is 15mm, not 12mm. Looks like the rest of the info for the front is good and the rear axle fits fine.

I'm guessing at least a couple of people might've followed the same route I did and are still waiting of their axles to arrive. Not a huge deal but with the standard delays from AliX it's a minor setback. I'm still waiting for a couple of other parts to arrive that were ordered later so my personal setback won't be entirely for a front axle.


Quote from: kbernstein on April 05, 2023, 10:43:52 AM
Lucky for you I asked an unrelated question that got lost in translation so they sent me the axle dimensions instead... Which I didn't need but I guess it's an up to date spec lol.
https://i.imgur.com/lPfAjaD.png
https://i.imgur.com/8oiyFhJ.png

I think those are Carbonda's own that they updated because they did not use to specify a torque spec.

If you already have a frame and want a third party here you go:
https://aliexpress.com/item/4000493053597.html
The sizes are 12*171*m12 and 12*121*m12

I bought another version with handles and it's not worth it to me. I put my axles with handles for sale and will be upgrading to those when they sell.

12
Component Deals & Selection / Re: For those of you looking at cable disc brakes...
« on: April 13, 2023, 10:19:32 PM »
Quote from: s3si1u on April 12, 2023, 01:29:02 PM
Hello again :)

Small update regarding these calipers.
It took me a while to get around to using them. Build issues, then the weather got nasty, then I sold the bike, then I put them on a new bike, etc...
I got a few miles in on them when I installed them on my old Poseidon X. I installed them with floppy housing and old Deckas rotors and they worked well, braking power wasn't amazing but it was definitely enough for my kind of riding and better than the stock Poseidon calipers or the Juin Techs I had on my road bike. I'm confident braking power would have significantly improved with time, I barely broke them in before tearing the bike down and selling it to my cousin. He fell in love with the X after his first gravel ride, so we put a GRX groupset on it and it's now his (and I made a new riding buddy  ;D ;D).

I've since built a new gravel bike with AXS XPLR and thought this was a perfect time to test the Klamper knockoffs for real. Rather than buying AXS shifters, I bought wireless Blips, TRP brake levers (https://trpcycling.com/product/rrl-sr/), and paired them up with these calipers. I began with compressionless housing and immediately ran into issues. The cable exit and brake mounts on this frame are built in such a way that will give mechanical brake cables some really strange bends that these calipers really don't like. Rear brake cable exit in particular creates a crazy tight bend into the caliper, making compressionless housing almost impossible too install (almost). I moved forward with floppy housing, installation was a breeze but unfortunately braking power was straight trash. I put some blame on the cheap Amazon rotors with improper bedding, so I ordered some nice TRP rotors, fancy polished slick cables and gave compressionless housing another shot.
I pre-bent the housing into just the perfect size and shape to ensure access to the caliper cable entry, but it was only possible by installing without a ferrule. After all this trial and error (and $), braking power has improved, but not so much that I'm comfortable with big descents or very technical trails. Next step is changing out the pads to the Paul recommended Kool Stop metal pads. At this point, though, I think I'm ready to call it quits and switch to something fully hydraulic, as this frame is obviously meant to have. No fault to the calipers honestly, they worked great on the old X and I have no doubt they would have gotten better. Maybe I shouldn't have sold it ;D I think I'll retire these calipers for now. Maybe sell them or pull them back out for a steel frame build in the future.
In the meantime, I'm looking for a decently priced TRP Hylex brakeset or maybe even the LTwoo hydraulic set with the shifting guts removed. What do y'all think? Tbh selling the AXS XPLR groupset isn't out of the question, maybe start from scratch with a GRX, LTwoo or SRAM 22 hydraulic groupset. We'll see, bike building is fun!  ;)

What compressionless cables did you use? I need another one to complete a build with Juin Tech calipers.

13
Component Deals & Selection / Re: Need front derailleur recommendations
« on: April 12, 2023, 02:41:12 AM »
Di2... that makes sense.

Re the GRX or R8000 RD's... I actually looked at the GRX before asking. I have a decent amount of expereince using Shimano REAR derailleurs in applications that they weren't designed for but very little doing the same w/ front D's. My concern for either has to do with the specs listed in Shimano's page.

GRX(810) / R8000
Max big: 46-48 / 46-53
Capacity: 17 /16t
Inferred min small: 29-31 / 30-37
Chainline: 47 / 43.5

My intended setup has the outer ring at about 47mm, 2x the middle of the rings is at 43mm

14
Component Deals & Selection / Need front derailleur recommendations
« on: April 11, 2023, 11:13:03 PM »
Frame is the Framed Basswood/Carbonda CFR696 which has provisions for a direct mount FD with cable routing for a downpull setup. I'd like to be able to run 2x rings in the 44 big / 28 small range. While I'm sure I could fab a workaround to use a clamp mount FD, the seatpost tube doesnt have a round profile in the this area.

Also, if anyone knows what the untapped third hole below and inline with the two tapped direct mount frames holes is for I'd like to know too.

Thanks,
Aaron

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Component Deals & Selection / Re: Interesting Aliexpress finds! - good deals, interesting stuff, new products etc!
« on: April 11, 2023, 03:39:00 PM »
Quote from: coffeebreak on April 11, 2023, 09:38:55 AM
Good to know. I also ordered cheap headset and thru axles but from ebay. Kept coming across ZTTO headset on Aliexpress but delivery times are too much so bit the bullet on this FSA one - https://www.ebay.com/itm/203095473778

I also assume BB is BSA? I read that 696 can come in pf, bsa, t47. One comment on Framed website said it's BSA. Assuming that ordered a Shimano threaded BB. But in the excitement I ordered mountain BB instead of road lol I feel it won't be a big problem. Will see.

Yes, BSA BB. I was expecting as much but wasn't sure until I received it. Fortunately, that's my preference as I wanted to get some use out of the nice White Industries VBC square taper cranks and Phil Wood BB I have.

I have the top half of an FSA takeoff headset. I got a nice Wolf Tooth premium top headset a couple of years ago for Christmas for my MTB. If I buy a nice lower bearing for my MTB I'll put the complete FSA headset on the Bassowod frame.

On another note, the frame finish is great but that Framed log is fugly. I'm working on making a set of Huffy logos to cover it. Background will be sparky gold and logo will be sparkly silver. I'd like a Huffy head badge logo to but legit ones are $20-30 on eBay so I don't know if it's worth it.

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