So, i've had my HD for about a year now. Came from an Ibis dealer with standard X9 groupo. The X9 front shifting was NEVER satisfactory. I've already posted most of the specifics on the "X9 2X10 Doesn't work. Period." thread in the drivetrain forum and the "The Saga Continues" thread in this forum. But for the purposes of this thread all you need to know is that the shifting didn't work properly.
I do 99% of the maintenance on my own bikes, but this one was beyond me. I brought the bike to five shops (including three Ibis dealers) and no one was able to fix the problem. In the process, I bought one new chain, two new 39 tooth chain rings, two new X9 front derailleurs and one new X9 shifter. I also paid for service at every shop. Hundreds of dollars later, the drivetrain still didn't work properly. :madman:
So, I finally bit the bullet. Yesterday, I installed a brand new XT crankset and front derailleur. The result: flawless shifting and chain retention! :thumbsup: It was simple to install and I tuned and adjusted the derailleur, myself.
So what happened!? From what I understand from talking to several Ibis dealers, the X9 system tends not to work well with the HD. Does that mean that Ibis is specing their bikes with a groupo that is destined to fail? Are the tolerances for the direct mount on the HD to big or just plain wrong? Or perhaps Sram is to blame? Maybe their tolerances are too big for the 2x10 crankset and front derailleur combo?
I know many of you out there are thinking, "Crappy mechanics are to blame. I could have made it work." But I just know that you couldn't have. I've had every mechanic in five bike shops standing around my bike scratching their heads. The scene is always the same. I tell the story to a service guy at the shop. He smugly explains that the other shop I went to must be full of idiots and that a front derailleur tune is easy for anyone with half of a brain and that it should only take 10 minutes and cost me $15. Fifteen minutes later he tells me to leave the bike over night. The next day he tells me that the only way to truly figure this out is to start from scratch with new parts. I buy the parts (a new big chain ring, perhaps. Maybe a new derailleur.) The mechanic still can't make any discernible improvements. They send me on my way with a drivetrain that they swear is slightly better off than when I came in, but still works like ****.
So what the hell happened? And who should reimburse me? I'm one of those ibis owners who makes less than 20,000 a year. Far less, in fact. That's right. After three years of single speeding on an early 90s hard tail, I spent more than 25% of my annual income on the bike of my dreams only to sink hundreds of dollars into something as simple as a front derailleur adjust. That sucks.
I do 99% of the maintenance on my own bikes, but this one was beyond me. I brought the bike to five shops (including three Ibis dealers) and no one was able to fix the problem. In the process, I bought one new chain, two new 39 tooth chain rings, two new X9 front derailleurs and one new X9 shifter. I also paid for service at every shop. Hundreds of dollars later, the drivetrain still didn't work properly. :madman:
So, I finally bit the bullet. Yesterday, I installed a brand new XT crankset and front derailleur. The result: flawless shifting and chain retention! :thumbsup: It was simple to install and I tuned and adjusted the derailleur, myself.
So what happened!? From what I understand from talking to several Ibis dealers, the X9 system tends not to work well with the HD. Does that mean that Ibis is specing their bikes with a groupo that is destined to fail? Are the tolerances for the direct mount on the HD to big or just plain wrong? Or perhaps Sram is to blame? Maybe their tolerances are too big for the 2x10 crankset and front derailleur combo?
I know many of you out there are thinking, "Crappy mechanics are to blame. I could have made it work." But I just know that you couldn't have. I've had every mechanic in five bike shops standing around my bike scratching their heads. The scene is always the same. I tell the story to a service guy at the shop. He smugly explains that the other shop I went to must be full of idiots and that a front derailleur tune is easy for anyone with half of a brain and that it should only take 10 minutes and cost me $15. Fifteen minutes later he tells me to leave the bike over night. The next day he tells me that the only way to truly figure this out is to start from scratch with new parts. I buy the parts (a new big chain ring, perhaps. Maybe a new derailleur.) The mechanic still can't make any discernible improvements. They send me on my way with a drivetrain that they swear is slightly better off than when I came in, but still works like ****.
So what the hell happened? And who should reimburse me? I'm one of those ibis owners who makes less than 20,000 a year. Far less, in fact. That's right. After three years of single speeding on an early 90s hard tail, I spent more than 25% of my annual income on the bike of my dreams only to sink hundreds of dollars into something as simple as a front derailleur adjust. That sucks.