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Mnrider
| | Posted on Friday, November 09, 2012 - 11:12 am: | 
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I've love to take Ourdees Holy Roller for a ride,recumbants can be very fast. |
86129squids
| | Posted on Friday, November 09, 2012 - 02:28 pm: |
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Who here has piddled with tuning up their gearsets? I'm running Deore XT with the rapidfire triggers (index and thumbs), the whole thing needs a good going-over...
It's been a while, but I pretty well understand the basics of it all. I'm sure I can find a Youtube vid before I go pay $40 at the local shop to do it...  |
Sifo
| | Posted on Friday, November 09, 2012 - 02:51 pm: |
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It's pretty straight forward. You have two stop screws and the barrel adjuster on the cable. Get the stop screws set so it will drop to the smallest gear in back, no more, and so it will shift to the big gear reliably, no more. Play with the barrel adjuster until you get good shifts on every gear in between. The front is basically the same sort of thing.
I've got a Klein Mantra BTW. It's an OK bike, but well behind the times. Climbs great. Easy to go over the bars on though. I put a 5 inch fork on eventually. That made it better going down hill, tougher to climb with. I had ghost shifting problems on mine when taking big hits on the rear suspension. Fixed that by putting a longer cable housing in the center section of the rear shift cable. It needs A LOT of slack at full travel. |
86129squids
| | Posted on Friday, November 09, 2012 - 03:37 pm: |
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Thanks, buddy! Truth be told, I just kinda appreciate it for just being eye candy. I've gotta lot of work to do before I care about the design limitations...
For what I've got in it, I'll probably "flip" it and pocket the $$$. There was a $10 bike there that would suit me fine, with some TLC. I'll do some trail riding with the Mantra before I do anything though. |
Mnrider
| | Posted on Friday, November 09, 2012 - 04:08 pm: |
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All the early full susp. bikes where bad handling in those days,they've come a long way.
Rode my buddies old Specialized the other day to help him tune it and forgot how querky they where. |
Sifo
| | Posted on Friday, November 09, 2012 - 06:35 pm: |
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The Mantra is a GREAT handling XC bike. The suspension jacks up under rear braking though. The suspension stiffens up when out of the saddle helping eliminate pedal induce bob when hammering, or climbing. This works against you when landing jumps with your but behind the saddle where it should be.
I broke the rear triangle on mine, not an unheard of problem with them. It was warrantied with no problem though. I wish the rear triangle had bosses for disk brakes.
Squids, is yours the earlier aluminum "fuselage" or the newer carbon fuselage? I've got the aluminum. |
86129squids
| | Posted on Saturday, November 10, 2012 - 09:24 am: |
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I don't detect any CF on the bike- not sure what you're calling "fuselage" though...
Once I get it tuned up, there's a primo riding area called Ijams Nature Center up in S. Knox... used to ride there years ago, looks like they've seriously updated the trail network since!
Sifo- other than the Ebay postings (one IIRC), have any good idea what the market value of the Mantra might be? I've got the yellow/black color scheme... would make an excellent present from Santa 
It's some serious eye candy, surely a great ride once it gets a tuneup, but unless some big things come through for us in my house soon, I could really use the $$$ it would bring.
Holla! |
Sifo
| | Posted on Saturday, November 10, 2012 - 10:02 am: |
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They called the big boom that replaces the front triangle the fuselage on those bikes. I always found that funny. Sorry for the confusion. It would be obvious if it were carbon.
As for value, that has a lot to do with the components. Wheels are a big variable. Honestly, I was working a deal to sell mine about seven years ago for $350. Pretty much everything on the bike was newer than the frame too. I wore out or broke almost every thing except the front frame and seat tube on that bike! Come to think of it, that includes two shoulders.  It fell through and haven't tried since. You might want to check out mtbr.com. They have a classified section and they are a very active biking forum.
The problem is that they never sold that well to begin with. The URT (Unified Rear Triangle) design was considered inferior in many respects when it came out. I think it's one of the best URT designs for XC riding though. It completely solves issues with chain length growth with suspension travel, and therefore pedal feed back problems with suspension travel. It's also a lightweight, simple, and stiff design.
I could go on and on with this topic, but I think it's going to go way deeper than you are ready for based on what you've said about you bike experience. I would say tune it up and ride it. Give a holler if you have any problems getting it working well. One thing I would be a little concerned about would be the main pivot bushing. It's a durable, maintenance free assembly, but will eventually develop play. It should have zero slop. I do mean zero. Mine lasted through about 8,000 miles before needing replacement though. That was also when the rear triangle broke. I'm not sure if the bushing is still available or not. |
86129squids
| | Posted on Saturday, November 10, 2012 - 01:23 pm: |
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Mine has the Magura "hydraulic" brake system, Deore XT/LX shifters with a Sugino crankset, Mustang (?) rims, the Manitou/Answer front elastomer fork, Aheadset headset, Moto-Ace "Salsa" low riser bars, and generic cheapo pedals.
Overall the whole bike is in pristine shape, some minor scrapes of the "Mantra" applique on the rear triangle right side being the sum total of any cosmetic damage. Whomever owned it before me barely rode it, and they sure didn't do any rough stuff on it.
The only Ebay listing for a Mantra lists a "buy now" price of $1250... that bike looks just a tad better than mine, and has a few nicer parts in the build. I'm very happy for what I paid for mine, and I feel that I could easily sell it and come out ahead pretty well.
It'd be nice to NOT have to do that though- dang thing is growing on me. Sexy beast! |
Sifo
| | Posted on Saturday, November 10, 2012 - 01:45 pm: |
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The Manitou/Answer elastomer fork was one of the best when it came out. Today, it's junk. I would ditch that fork for almost anything made in the last decade. Great brakes! I haven't kept up with if they still make them or if parts are available. They are one of the best rim brakes out there though. Not familiar with the crankset. Everything else sounds good to very good. Pedals, I've had everything from Speed Play frogs to big spiked platform pedals on mine. If your happy with the cheap generics don't change them. You'll know if/when you want something else.
I'm guessing at $1250 that bike is going to sit for a long time. The shop I bought mine from had half a dozen hanging in the rafters 10 years after I bought mine. It became a bit of a joke with some of the local riders.
The epoxy paint they used on those bike is incredibly tough. With the exception of where it fell on an open pipe sticking out of the ground my main frame looks almost brand new. It's something Klein took great pride in, right after the artistry of their welders. |
Azxb9r
| | Posted on Monday, November 12, 2012 - 04:32 pm: |
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Known for beautiful welds and paint jobs.
And big fat tubes (before they came in vogue) |
Azxb9r
| | Posted on Monday, November 12, 2012 - 04:44 pm: |
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One other thing to keep in mind on your derailleur adjustment. If the shift cables are rough or gummy and dont pull smoothly, no amount of adjusting is going to make it shift right.
Also, do not store the bike upside down or those maggies will end up with air in them. |
Xb9er
| | Posted on Tuesday, November 13, 2012 - 10:32 am: |
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Here is my 08 Trek 1500. Great bike fitted with shimano 105 and just about anything Bontrager offers. Will be upgrading to a new 5.2 in the spring
Here is my 86 Trek Elance 400. I converted it into a hybrid. I'm in the process of turning it into a single speed with coaster brake
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