spambait11

I actually love this saddle, and use it on an unsuspended Bike Friday. It's narrow, but doesn't pinch and is quite comfortable because it flexes a little. It felt weird at first, but after the first 10 miles, it felt great and continues to ride well! Support is good too. I don't have another because I'm waiting for the price to go back down to $32 again or lower. Made the mistake of investing in too many Brooks saddles; not that they're bad, they're just heavy (and overrated compared to the SLX, imho of course).

invisiblehand

My wife and I are fans of Terry saddles (Fly and Butterfly). If you are patient, you can find them on sale ... although never for $20.

Fear&Trembling

Not cheap, but the Specialized Toupe is light and comfortable (also comes in two sizes).

walterg77

The Downtube that you saw parked down at the student center in New Brunswick was mine! I had read this string for a bit before decided to get one. I called the shop, and was able to speak with Yan directly, which impressed me. I have been riding it for about six weeks now, and rides marvelously! My Dahon Mariner started falling apart after the first month of use, and I know I would have paid well over $600 for a comparable Swift or Dahon.

I must give a shout out to John at the Downtube shop in Bensalem, PA. He allowed me to test ride several bikes, which helped in the decision making process. I definitely recommend the trip down there, (a 30 min walk from the Cornwell Heights stop of the SEPTA from Trenton) Holler if you see me on College Avenue!

Walter

walterg77

One last thing,

From reading the posts on this thread, people complain that the DT shifters are stiff. Yan, please don't change the shifters, the stiffness keeps you from accidentally changing gears. My Dahon gave me a lot of problems because the shifter would change with just the slightest touch of the handlebar grip. I had to get used to riding with a very light grip on the handlebars. The realtively small amount of torque needed to twist the gear shifter on my DT (three, four lbs?) is not a lot, unless you are arthritic or have some physical impairment of the hand or wrist. Keep them STIFF!

Stiff shifter lover,
Walter

pm124

Thanks for the seat recs, all!

BigMacFU

Anybody else having problems with their cranks coming loose, all the time? My left crank for the past week has been coming loose every time I ride. I've tightened it myself, had the LBS tighten it, what's going on? Does it just need some lock-tite or is there another problem?

Leisesturm

I have discovered that the shifter body of the DT is quite wide and a significant portion of it remains under ones hand even when grasped with the fingertips. The shifting action feels quite stiff unless one lightens their pressure on the bar and then the effort to twist the grip drops to a fraction of the 3 - 4 lbs. estimated by the most recent poster on this topic. Try it and see if I am on the right track.

H

BigMacFU

pulled my cranks tonight and discovered the arm is worn at the taper square hole, so the wobble occurs no matter what, even as tight as possible, b/c it's not plum on the spindle ever completely, the force of pedaling loosens it and causes the wobble.

maunakea

BMFU... replace your BB, it's easy, and IIRC you are tall and could use some longer crank arms.

SesameCrunch

I have a couple of questions for the wrenches here: I am expecting my DT IX front suspension to arrive this week (I can't wait!!!). One of the mods I plan to do is the change the crank to an FSA 53/39 carbon crank I have sitting around (from another bike). I will need to get an ISIS bottom bracket for it. I do not plan to install a FD. I figure I will be in the 53 most of the time. If I know I'm doing the big hills (here in SF area), I will just manually put it on the 39. I've read that some of you have done this modification.

Three questions, just to confirm my understanding of this upgrade:

1) Is the 68x108 BB the right size for a double crank?
2) There is no chainline issue with a double crankset?
3) Is the stock chain good enough to use with a double, or should I get a new one?

Finally, another random thought while eagerly anticipating my new ride. I'm nervous about how low the long RD hangs. What if I change the cassette to a 12-25 and install a Shimano 105 short RD. I figure with the 39 chainring and 25 cog, it'll get me the same as the stock 48/32 gearing. If I'm doing serious hills, it'll either be on my mountain bike or my roadie anyway. Is this a silly idea? What do you all think?

Thanks for your help.

Alan

pm124

Here is a thread to the bottom bracket forum: https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...wntube+English. This is a fun bike to modify. Despite the fact that it has a hinge, the frame is stiff. Still, it's kind of funny modifying such a basic bike with high-end parts.

This bike folds quickly, has a stiff frame, and rides very well if you tune up the stock parts. Much better than a Dahon. But it produces a large, heavy folded package that doesn't stay together without a bungee chord. If you shave 5 pounds from the bike, it will turn from a oversized heavy box to an oversized box (kind of like trying to carry an empty refridgerator carton). One arguement for expensive mods is that you can bring the components up to spec for a $600 Dahon and produce a better riding bike that also performs well on uneven pavement.

Putting 105 level stuff on this bike is a bit over the top. Also, be careful if you actually do fold and walk around with this bike a lot. No matter how careful you are, you will bump it (or others will bump it), and scratched carbon cranks can be dangerous. That said, I feel like I'm being a spoil sport. Have fun with the mods, and keep us up to date!

I changed the tires and pedals, and am waiting to try the saddles recommended above. The best mod was rebuilding the wheels with the same hubs and rims. Having a steel ring crank seems a bit low-end, but it performs so well, I'm not in a hurry to change it. (Not sure what the cranks are costing in weight, but sure to be heavier than the TruVativ (sp) cranks on a mid-range Dahon.)

BigMacFU

pm and mauna, I want to get a spline/octalink bb because I don't want to deal with the wear of a square hole again. I can get either a bb in 113 or 118, should I err on the larger or smaller size. I can't find a reasonably priced bb in 115 that is NOT square tapered.

pm124

BigMacFu, I looked into that, too, before opting out. Depends on the cranks and where you like your chainline. I would opt for 113mm, all things being equal. The steel chainring might be further from the BB than it would with a forged crank or closer. You could probably eyeball whether the ring sits further or closer to the line if you have your cranks already.

SesameCrunch

PM: Thanks for the link. So, it says I have to get 68x115 as a replacement for the original. However, don't I have to get a longer BB for a dual chainring? Or am I mistaken about that?

As for the carbon crank, you raise a good point about it being scratched. But, it's just sitting around right now, I may as well put it to good use. And given what I've read about the DT, plus the changes I plan to make, I may well be riding it a lot. I'm primarily a roadie, so my DT won't see too many dirt trails.

The 105 derailleurs may be over the top, but it is still a ways from the DT owner that put DuraAce on her bike. Wow.

I am planning to change the saddle, pedals and tires on my bike (when it finally arrives!). I think those are easy and high impact changes to make the bike faster. Very interesting to read that you were pleased with just rebuilding the original wheels. I'll have to look carefully at mine.

Thanks!

mcgurme

Hey,
Thought I'd post a quick note for anyone else who encounters this issue with their Zoom endura 386 suspension forks on the Downtube.

After about a month of use, the front fork travel on my IXFS was pathetic. I knew this because we just bought another FS for my spouse, and that one had great travel. After searching high and low on the web, I couldn't find any details about this shock. I emailed Yan, and he said "it needs more grease". I wasn't sure what that really meant, but after a bit of trial and error, here's what I found.

To take the fork apart requires a long 5mm allen key. The dust caps are removed, and the allen key is inserted down in to loosen the bolts on each side inside the fork tubes. Once these are completely loose, the bottom half of the fork can be separated. Inside the bottom half there is just a coil spring with short elastomer bumper.

The original grease in mine was in poor shape (maybe partly due to riding in the rain and also out in Moab where there's lots of sand). So my first step was to clean off the old grease, then use a new, high quality grease, making sure there was plenty on all surfaces and also inside where the springs are. I cleaned everything up, and reassembled. The hardest part of the whole thing was getting the bolts to line up with the holes at the bottom of the shocks so that they could be tightened back down (I finally did it by inserting a small hex key through the holes in the bottom side just to make sure the hole in the elastomer was lined up - then it was all good).

Now the shocks are like new - in fact even better than the brand new FS that arrived the other day. So Yan was right - it was the grease. So if your shocks have the blues, this may be the cure. Hope it helps somebody sometime.

Morgan

maunakea

The Mauna Kea bike (DT FS frame) has an FSA crankset (branded as NB... sale price was about $80 IIRC). I think I used a 68x108 BB because I would be on the large chain ring most of the time. The FD works fine... but the FD cable path and cable stop is home brew, as you can see in the pix. I thought about going without an FD, but I would be stopping to manually shift too often. For hilly SF, I would mount an FD, YMMV.　If I were going to be on the smaller ring more, I would use a 68x113. Using the 68x108, I had to dremel the FD inner cage flange to get the 39/26 (Capreo) combination to work right.

For anyone over 180 lbs, the OE forks have too much sag... you can get them to work, but they will never have the sus action that a fork should have, and running high psi tires and at high speed, I found I needed both the MEKS fork and a TB LT to take on big tar snakes at high speed.

mcqurme, if you are in WNC, you know what I mean about big tar snakes, mosaic pavement, and frost heaves on the approach roads to the BRP.

www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=229066

SesameCrunch

That's exactly what I needed to know. I think I will do the 108 length because I will be in the large ring mostly. I will see how it goes without the FD. If it's too troublesome to shift manually, I can always install later. Thanks much.

I really like what you did with your bike, by the way. Nice wrenching!!!

maunakea

SC,　thanks for the compliment. Without an FD, your 39 to largest cog chainline should be fine.

BigMacFU

I ordered the Shimano ES71 BB with the octalink and the compatible Shimano Tiagra 52/39 crank set. I'm hoping the octalink spline is much more durable than a square taper. Got the 170 crank length which is actually 5 mm longer, but I feel will be better for me being 6'. I wouldn't have gotten any, but I commute and while my stock set has to be sent back to Downtube shop before they can ship the new part for warranty replacement I cannot lose my bike during the downtime (I refuse to ride the subway )

maunakea

BMFU. Shimano BBs are so good that you will likely never replace it so long as you keep it lubed. There's a night and day difference between splined and square, sort like dragging a sled vs. a wheeled wagon.

Vector

1. Is it possible to install a front derailer on this bike?

2. Did anybody take this bike on a flight? Did you have to pay for it?

BigMacFU

That's what I like to read Mauna! V, I think there have been folkal who've gotten it on a flight without paying extra, can't remember the thread.

pm124

Here's that thread: https://www.bikeforums.net/folding-bikes/160524-42-minutes-30-seconds-time-go-downtube.html

mcgurme

I haven't yet posted the pictures and details, but I've taken my IXFS on several trips now, in a 29" Samsonite, which is fully within airline limits last I checked. So I haven't had to pay a dime. Fitting the bike in this smaller suitcase (it is about 2" smaller than the one Rafael used) requires removing the frame hinge bolt and separating the halves, along with removing one of the bolts for the rear shock to compress the rear triangle up towards the frame. It's not too bad really - I'm down to about 25 minutes of packing and improving every time.

I'll post more details and pictures on the other thread as soon as time permits.

As for front derailur, read above - someone just did that. Plus I discovered today that if you take the chain protector off the chainring, you can actually install a second chainring on these cranks without having to buy new ones (I saw the same set of cranks for sale on Ebay with two chainrings)! I will be checking out the front derailur possibility soon.

Morgan