Maverick has made a kit available to replace the Monolink with a new one that rides on sealed cartridge bearings. Got mine today MSRP is about $225 (contact your LBS). Didn't have time to ride any more than the 5 minutes home, but it feels promising. Very smooth and much less stiction than the original bushing setup. My Palomino bobs (a little) when I pedal! I'll update soon.
Maverick has made a kit available to replace the Monolink with a new one that rides on sealed cartridge bearings. Got mine today MSRP is about $225 (contact your LBS). Didn't have time to ride any more than the 5 minutes home, but it feels promising. Very smooth and much less stiction than the original bushing setup. My Palomino bobs (a little) when I pedal! I'll update soon.
Shawn
Angry Man finally gave up after snapping three frames and now has a Ventana X-5.
Maverick has made a kit available to replace the Monolink with a new one that rides on sealed cartridge bearings. Got mine today MSRP is about $225 (contact your LBS). Didn't have time to ride any more than the 5 minutes home, but it feels promising. Very smooth and much less stiction than the original bushing setup. My Palomino bobs (a little) when I pedal! I'll update soon.
Shawn
Angry Man finally gave up after snapping three frames and now has a Ventana X-5.
Yeah, I hope this isn't a prelude to a cracked frame. I was thinking of an HT 29er before the owner of the shop snagged me in the adjoining coffee shop and told me about this improvement. (Tom, if your lurking maybe you shouldn't tell him ;-) ) I like the bike a lot, but shorty me (5'7"😉 has always had some difficulty with BB/saddle height while getting started on steep hills, so I've been considering a new ride. Now I gotta see what this does for the Palomino.
Maverick has made a kit available to replace the Monolink with a new one that rides on sealed cartridge bearings. Got mine today MSRP is about $225 (contact your LBS). Didn't have time to ride any more than the 5 minutes home, but it feels promising. Very smooth and much less stiction than the original bushing setup. My Palomino bobs (a little) when I pedal! I'll update soon.
Shawn
They are charging to fix a design flaw... someone needs some prison time! _____ Slack
Shawn wrote: Angry Man finally gave up after snapping three frames and now has a Ventana X-5.
Yeah, I hope this isn't a prelude to a cracked frame. I was thinking of an HT 29er before the owner of the shop snagged me in the adjoining coffee shop and told me about this improvement. (Tom, if your lurking maybe you shouldn't tell him ;-) ) I like the bike a lot, but shorty me (5'7"😉 has always had some difficulty with BB/saddle height while getting started on steep hills, so I've been considering a new ride. Now I gotta see what this does for the Palomino.
Shawn
Shawn,
I'm riding a small frame X-5 and I am 5'5". You'll have no problem with it. Standover is amazing, even with the high BB.
Maverick has made a kit available to replace the Monolink with a new one that rides on sealed cartridge bearings. Got mine today MSRP is about $225 (contact your LBS). Didn't have time to ride any more than the 5 minutes home, but it feels promising. Very smooth and much less stiction than the original bushing setup. My Palomino bobs (a little) when I pedal! I'll update soon.
Shawn
They are charging to fix a design flaw... someone needs some prison time!
Nah, an upgrade. It worked well before, just not ultra smooth, as it appears to work now. And anyway, the upgrade comes from Maverick, not Klein/Trek/Fisher.
Shawn wrote: Angry Man finally gave up after snapping three frames and now has a Ventana X-5.
Yeah, I hope this isn't a prelude to a cracked frame. I was thinking of an HT 29er before the owner of the shop snagged me in the adjoining coffee shop and told me about this improvement. (Tom, if your lurking maybe you shouldn't tell him ;-) ) I like the bike a lot, but shorty me (5'7"😉 has always had some difficulty with BB/saddle height while getting started on steep hills, so I've been considering a new ride. Now I gotta see what this does for the Palomino.
Shawn
Shawn,
I'm riding a small frame X-5 and I am 5'5". You'll have no problem with it. Standover is amazing, even with the high BB.
Standover is OK, BB height is the real problem. With reasonable saddle height (I'm not a stretched-out-pedal-stroke kind of rider BTW) it's a real stretch from the saddle to the ground for my toes.
I'm riding a small frame X-5 and I am 5'5". You'll have no problem with it. Standover is amazing, even with the high BB.
Standover is OK, BB height is the real problem. With reasonable saddle height (I'm not a stretched-out-pedal-stroke kind of rider BTW) it's a real stretch from the saddle to the ground for my toes.
Shawn
Hmm... I can't ride like that. My toes have never touched the ground from the saddle on any bike I have owned. That's why I go for the standover. If my feet need to be on the ground, I'll be off the saddle anyway. When the pedal is all the way down my leg is about 95% extended. So you are saying you like riding with your knees more bent (more FR/DH)? But why do you have to have your toes touching ground from the saddle? Fast corners with dabs? You've got me confused now.
You can also get a Ventana ElSaltamontes which would lower the BB, but keep almost the same strength. I have seen some riders with the ElSalty done in an X-5 jig. I think (not sure) that keeps the lower BB, but adds an inch travel (don't count me on that).
I'm riding a small frame X-5 and I am 5'5". You'll have no problem with it. Standover is amazing, even with the high BB.
Standover is OK, BB height is the real problem. With reasonable saddle height (I'm not a stretched-out-pedal-stroke kind of rider BTW) it's a real stretch from the saddle to the ground for my toes.
Shawn
Hmm... I can't ride like that. My toes have never touched the ground from the saddle on any bike I have owned. That's why I go for the standover. If my feet need to be on the ground, I'll be off the saddle anyway. When the pedal is all the way down my leg is about 95% extended. So you are saying you like riding with your knees more bent (more FR/DH)? But why do you have to have your toes touching ground from the saddle? Fast corners with dabs? You've got me confused now.
You can also get a Ventana ElSaltamontes which would lower the BB, but keep almost the same strength. I have seen some riders with the ElSalty done in an X-5 jig. I think (not sure) that keeps the lower BB, but adds an inch travel (don't count me on that).
Scratch that! A Salty with the 5" travel option will have a higher BB than the X-5 and all the X-5 jig does is slacken the head angle. Odd.
I'm riding a small frame X-5 and I am 5'5". You'll have no problem with it. Standover is amazing, even with the high BB.
Standover is OK, BB height is the real problem. With reasonable saddle height (I'm not a stretched-out-pedal-stroke kind of rider BTW) it's a real stretch from the saddle to the ground for my toes.
Shawn
Hmm... I can't ride like that. My toes have never touched the ground from the saddle on any bike I have owned. That's why I go for the standover. If my feet need to be on the ground, I'll be off the saddle anyway. When the pedal is all the way down my leg is about 95% extended. So you are saying you like riding with your knees more bent (more FR/DH)? But why do you have to have your toes touching ground from the saddle? Fast corners with dabs? You've got me confused now.
My leg extension is pretty normal, about in line with the Chris Carmichael recommendation (saddle height at about 85% of inseam). On *really* steep hills, the only way I seem to be able to get started is from a seated position, one toe scraping the ground. Otherwise, I have too little weight on the back wheel, and it spins out when I start.