LHawes

Surprised me too. I never would have thought that 25 psi would be OK under any circumstances but the bike went fine and felt really comfy. I ran my older 700 x 40's @ 80 psi and the ride seemed OK (different bike Giant Cypress) but I must I emphasize I have no interest in speed, I'm in no hurry to get anywhere when I'm on my bicycle.

What pressures do you normally run?

LHawes

I was cruising the commuter forum and found this thread with a few advising to use lower pressures than the norm. I'm finding the lower pressures to be much more comfortable but had quite a resistance to try the lower psi's out. I think my next test is to see how low I can go with these big (29 x 2 Maxxis) tires.

https://www.bikeforums.net/commuting/...-choosing.html

LHawes

Down to 35 psi rear and 30 front. Like it.

A couple crappy pics of the new Red Brooks B17 and the Ergon GP3's.

coominya

That seat colour is a good match Lhawes, I'm a big fan of accessories that blend in. I was going to ask why you had the mirror on the LHS and then I remembered, you guys ride on the wrong side of the road lol.

Yes some nice mods there. I just did the first long ride on mine this morning (Sunday) and have a report to draft and add to this thread, but I'm happy to say it was so good that I literally didn't want to loop back home. It was only my gasping lungs that forced me to call it a morning. My bike is up on the work stand now, the chain derailed a few times when going up onto the large ring at slow speed, hopefully just a derailleur adjustment and not some inherent kink in the way I change gears.

coominya

I think I found the problem. Is this height for real? This is the cage at rest, I thought they were supposed to be about 2mm above the chain ring?? Could you guys check your clearances and confirm mine is way out.




The lateral alignment looks good though

LHawes

Here's a pic of mine, chain currently on large front ring and ring 2 or 3 cassette. I lost my chain off the front ring on my first ride and don't know why. I've just made really deliberate shifts after that and haven't had any problems.

Hope that helps.

cs1

What would you consider the Toughroad? Is it a rigid 29er, a hybrid or something else?

coominya

Well yours is the same... Thing is I have Never lost a chain off the ring unless my derailleur was incorrectly set.
I will have to investigate this more. I'll do a search online and if need be go to some bike shops.

LHawes

There's a stop for both directions of travel, maybe back the derailleur off until it just makes the shift, then you'd know it wasn't driving the chain past the ring.

LHawes

I'm afraid I'm a bit unqualified to answer but am curious about the definitions. Did a little search and it seems that rigid 29er's are mostly mountain bikes and hybrids bridge the gap between road and dirt.

For my purposes, depending on which definition you choose, the Tough Road is a hybrid as that's what I use it for. Not strictly road or dirt, mostly road with a little dirt thrown in.

On the other hand it is a rigid frame and does have 29 inch wheels so if someone wanted to cal it a rigid 29er they wouldn't be entirely incorrect.

cs1

That's what I was thinking.

coominya

The outer limit stop looks fine, I did a search of youtube and didn't find any height adjustments that were beyond 3mm, though I couldn't find one specific to our X7 unit. Most advocate 1~3mm between chain and derailleur. Then I found this off the official SRAM website, specific to our X7.



https://www.sram.com/sram/mountain/p...ont-derailleur

That's good enough for me. I don't know why the shops set ours as high as 6mm but I'm dropping mine down as I do all my own minor repairs and maintenance anyway.

LHawes

That's a good bit of information coo (don't know your name sorry). My bike came direct from the factory like this meaning the shop didn't set it up. I'm going to lower mine as well. Thanks very much for the research and tip.

coominya

Frank is my name. Yes odd how they are setup like this? I'll do it now and take it for a test ride and report back if there are any issues.

LHawes

Excellent Frank. The adjustment seems pretty easy, looks like the cable will need retensioning as well yeah?

Let me know what you learn and thanks in advance.

coominya

Yes,
First I put the chain on the small ring
Then backed off the tension up at the knob on the gear levers until the cable was a bit loose.
Then loosened the derailleur and lowered it until the bottom of the cage was a mil or 2 off the ring (at the closest point.)
Checked that it was still aligned straight with the outer ring and re-tightened the mounting bolt
Then I pulled the cable with pointy nosed pliers until it was near the looseness it was before I moved the derailleur and re-tightened it.
Then reset the tension with the knob up top.

If you compare this picture with the one earlier in the thread you'll notice the difference.
The second picture here is the spacing when on the smaller chain ring, which is the only place you can adjust it. Sorry for the long rant, not really the place for mechanical waffle.
Now I'll go test it but it works fine on the stand whereas the chain was derailing on the stand before.

LHawes

Thanks Frank. It seems that the Giant factory is placing the derailleur in the wrong spot according to the spec's from Sram. Stranger things have happened I'm sure but it would be nice to think that someone other than the final customer were reading the spec's.

I'll mess with mine tomorrow if you have no problems.

coominya

It's not jumping off now but there is something very strange about the setup of this unit. The SRAM page states the clearance is measured between the large ring and bottom of cage (like all other web pages do) but doesn't state which ring the chain should be on when measuring. But the chain must be on the small ring or the cage would never clear the big on on the way down because as the cage goes inward it also drops 4 or 5 mill. This is not the case on my Scott MB.

Anyway my chain doesn't fall off anymore and nothing rubs or rattles...

LHawes

Sounds like you got it fixed, no matter how. I've got a bike stand coming and will mess with mine when that gets here. I still wonder why the factory would choose to ignore the component manufacturer's spec.

coominya

The proceedure in the specs is incomplete I think since it doesn't stipulate which chain ring the chain should be on when you measure the clearance. Why not put yours on the smaller ring and then measure the clearance between outer cage bottom and outer ring. I would be interested to know since I didn't measure that before I adjusted it but I certainly lowered the derailleur a few mm to get it right.

prj71

It's a rigid 29er just like this bike...

https://www.specialized.com/us/en/bi...e-sl-29/106470

cs1

Except the Specialized is a SS.

badger1

I'd disagree a little. The Toughroad is certainly 'inspired' by 29er mtb design, especially in its tire clearance, but it's not a mountainbike.

The frame/fork geometry is not suspension-corrected (as is the Crave LS 29 -- a significant difference), and the overall geometry is clearly intended to be as good a compromise as possible between on- and off-road handling.

I'd call it (if a label matters) a 'fast on/off-road flat-bar light touring bike' -- something like that. Could also think of it as a flat-bar 'gravel' or 'adventure' bike -- to use a couple of the current marketing terms.

LHawes

So much to learn about the technical aspects of modern biking. No matter the label it seems to behave just as you have described it Badger, and was the main reason I bought it.

LHawes

BTW I am really surprised how much I like this bike. Granted I do not have a ton of experience on new bikes but this fits my riding style and neighborhood riding routes to a 'T'. There are places where I ride where I can stay on pavement but choose to go off road for safety and fun and I love the option. Can't wait to break in that Brooks (my arse?) and go for some longer rides.