Recovery Wednesday

Nothing really fun today. I bled the rear brake on the Codes and then went on some repairs. Fixed and elliptical and threw a new AC cable on a Landice. Went and downed a hearty taco, a sourdough burger with swiss and mushrooms and half a plate of french fries. Got back to work to work out the minor headset kink with the EX9. It had a minor click coming from the lower cup. Seeing as I had never laid hands on a 100 headset I was a little suspicious of this little gem.

The I got to thinking. Old Mavic Crossmax ST wheels with aluminum spokes. Sure they creaked a litte, but they had a seperate creak from the headset one. I pulled the cups and cleaned them with isopropyl alchohol as well as the frame. I had already faced the head tube and was a little suspicious of the thin coating of cutting oil I hadn't cleaned up the best. But it is a press fit. And you think a little lube would do that? Neither did I.

So then I got to looking at my customers "crown jewel" which is his Push'd Fox XTT Trail Tune fork. This little beauty had me suspect when his old Cake had a cracked rear triagle and shock brace that ran between the seat tube to the down tube. My main concern was the condition of the stanchions where the bushings run over them. I mean how many cycles does it really take until these are worn enough to effect performance.

So I put on a RS Tora off of a EX5.5 and installed the Cane Creek crown race then put it on the EX9. No creak. I now started to suspect the crown/steeer assembly of the Fox. The Tora just had so much flex that I couldn't call that good. I pulled the EX8 off the floor and slapped it on the EX9. Torqued on the bar ends side to side. Nothing. The little mystery might be solved. Mind you I reinstalled the old Fox just to check it each time after installing the old for to confirm that I hadn't installed something incorrectly. Needless to say I installed and uninstalled a suspension for and changed crown races about 5-6 times in the matter of about two hours. Talk about getting proficient at something. By the time I was on the last swap it was taking not time at all to do the swap.

So the old Fox goes on one last time. Torque all bolts to spec, install the caliper. What do you know creaking/popping comes back again. The fork has just seen it's time come as has most everything from his old bike. We thought we might have been able to use it, especially since he loves the jewel, but sometimes old dogs just need laid down.

Next up Fox F32 RLC QR15. I better get on the horn to I9. And who says wait times are all bad....