[305coco]

Hey guys, I've had my trek x cal 7 for a week and so far I love the bike,


but would like it to stop a little better considering I'm on the heavy side 230, and after riding my buds bike with bigger rotors I'd like to upgrade

It has oem 160mm rotors and I'd like to upgrade to 200 mm, I've looked online at price point.com and seen a few 200mm rotors but can't decide on wich to get also can anyone point me in the right direction on wich spacer bracket I'll need for the caliper?? And I read on the oem rotor to use resin pads only, after I get the new rotor should I stick to resin pads or is there something better?

Thanks in advanced for any input,
jorge

 

[eb1888]

I'd change the brake first.
The front brake is the minimum upgrade and would answer what you want in power and control if you switch to an SLX from your stock m395s. Swapping both front and rear would be $123.73 shipped.
Shimano SLX M675 Brake Levers and Post Mount Calipers (set), Brakes, BRAKES MTB
Enter the destination and currency to get the US price. These are moto style left is rear. To get left front call Jenson and get a price match.
Clean your rotors with alcohol. Sand lightly with 250-600 sandpaper. Bed the new pads in with 20-30 near stops on a hill.
Going with a larger rotor requires an adapter for your caliper to space it correctly.

 

[305coco]

Thanks for your reply eb1888, I don't want to go that route yet, that's why I was asking for advice on just a rotor upgrade, I see lots of rotors for a very decent price and was wondering wich 200mm and spacer plate would fit my bike?

 

[305coco]

And I'm not gonna lie, I like the look of the bigger rotor up front. Lol

 

[tigris99]

Stock forks will only handle 180mm. That alone will help alot. Secondly do a proper bed in procedure. I have m446 brakes on a 2012 marlin (same bike basically, but got the brakes cheap as mine came with mechanical so I originally upgraded to bb7) and am 270lbs. They stop me great, oh and I got better pads for them, semi Metallics.

If u have the funds slx are awesome brakes but not a need if u get bigger rotor and bed the brakes in properly.

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[eb1888]

To go to 180 rotors you will also need adapters to put the calipers in the correct position. So add the cost of rotors, a new set of pads and adapters for a questionable performance increase against a proven component that ships with new pads that you can take to your next bike.
Before you do anything, clean your front rotor will alcohol and sand lightly. Sand your existing pads against a piece of 250 grit sandpaper on a flat surface like a piece of glass until flat. Bed your front brake in on a paved hill with 20+ near stops. Your brake may not be working as it could.
With an SLX or even Deore M615(smaller hose for slightly less power) brake you really only need a front replacement. Once you have all that power, your back brake becomes almost unnecessary. You'll do 80% of your braking with the front....with just one finger.

 

[305coco]

Stock forks will only handle 180mm. That alone will help alot. Secondly do a proper bed in procedure. I have m446 brakes on a 2012 marlin (same bike basically, but got the brakes cheap as mine came with mechanical so I originally upgraded to bb7) and am 270lbs. They stop me great, oh and I got better pads for them, semi Metallics.

If u have the funds slx are awesome brakes but not a need if u get bigger rotor and bed the brakes in properly.

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Gotcha, I'm deffenetly gonna get better pads for mine, and the bigger disk as it will be cheaper and easy for me to install. Thanks for the advice

 

[305coco]

To go to 180 rotors you will also need adapters to put the calipers in the correct position. So add the cost of rotors, a new set of pads and adapters for a questionable performance increase against a proven component that ships with new pads that you can take to your next bike.
Before you do anything, clean your front rotor will alcohol and sand lightly. Sand your existing pads against a piece of 250 grit sandpaper on a flat surface like a piece of glass until flat. Bed your front brake in on a paved hill with 20+ near stops. Your brake may not be working as it could.
With an SLX or even Deore M615(smaller hose for slightly less power) brake you really only need a front replacement. Once you have all that power, your back brake becomes almost unnecessary. You'll do 80% of your braking with the front....with just one finger.

Cool thanks, I'll clean up the disk with alcohol and sand it to see the difference it makes, but after riding today with some buddys that haul ass thru these up and down hills and sharp turns, I found myself using the back brakes the most, it felt like I was riding my motocross in the turns and if I pulled the front brake to much I was gonna Eat it...

 

[305coco]

I found this website that sells the disk adapters, can anyone tell me if I need post to post adapter for the front or IS to post ?? And how about for the back?

Shimano Disc Adapter Front 203mm IS to Post

Shimano Disc Adapter Front 203mm Post to Post

Thanks.

 

[eb1888]

Things aren't going to be as easy as you hope.
You need to use a lot of brake to help you maintain control on faster bumpy downhills. And you don't seem to have enough.
The reason for the brake requirement is the fork. Suntour designed it for bike paths only. It has no adjustable rebound, is flexy with 28mm stanchions and doesn't have a spring able to handle your weight. The interior parts are also not up to the heavier use of trail riding. You need a 51mm offset Reba or at least a Recon.

Putting more rotor on to get more power out of you existing brakes won't make you faster just safer with the $60 under designed fork. Your fork may not have space for a 203, check with Nick at Suntour NA. Call him.

A good fork with a decent tire and a light wheel will make you safe and cut your times in half.

You can probably get by with a Manitou Tower Pro with 48mm offset.

Buying the rotors, adapters and pads is throwing money away.

By the way, the guy who sold you that bike is incompetent. You need a X-Cal 9 or Superfly 5 for your riding. I would take it back and get 15% off the replacement.
Or get a refund and buy the Marin Bobcat Trail 29 off ebay for 600.

 

[305coco]

Things aren't going to be as easy as you hope.
You need to use a lot of brake to help you maintain control on faster bumpy downhills. And you don't seem to have enough.
The reason for the brake requirement is the fork. Suntour designed it for bike paths only. It has no adjustable rebound, is flexy with 28mm stanchions and doesn't have a spring able to handle your weight. The interior parts are also not up to the heavier use of trail riding. You need a 51mm offset Reba or at least a Recon.

Putting more rotor on to get more power out of you existing brakes won't make you faster just safer with the $60 under designed fork. Your fork may not have space for a 203, check with Nick at Suntour NA. Call him.

A good fork with a decent tire and a light wheel will make you safe and cut your times in half.

You can probably get by with a Manitou Tower Pro with 48mm offset.

Buying the rotors, adapters and pads is throwing money away.

By the way, the guy who sold you that bike is incompetent. You need a X-Cal 9 or Superfly 5 for your riding. I would take it back and get 15% off the replacement.
Or get a refund and buy the Marin Bobcat Trail 29 off ebay for 600.

Gotcha, wish I would have done more homework before the purchase but got carried away with the rush to make it to the mtn bike park the next day so I bought what the sales person sold me..

So in your opinion is it best to trade it out for the x cal 9 for $200-300 more? and I see that it has different components than my 7 or just put a manitou fork on mine? I see they are pricey

Im not gonna race or try and ride like a pro since I've broken a few bones in the past so now I'm a lot more carefull, but would like a descent bike for the money and my riding conditions..

Thanks a million for the advice.
jorge

 

[eb1888]

You will be good on the 9. Bed the brakes in properly. The Manitou is a better fork than any offered on any model for non race trail riding. It has real tuning options and can be set up for noticeably better small bump compliance...but you won't need that level of performance until after a couple of seasons of development. It goes on sale a couple times a year online for 250-300.
You could use good pedals like these Origin8 flats for use with trailrunners and watch these vids for low heels technique and turning.
Pedals Platform OR8 UL8 MTB Slimline 9 16 MTB BMX | eBay

Should speed up confidence building.

 

[305coco]

Kool, thanks a lot, I could exchanchage the bike for the x cal 9 but this reddish orange color has grown on me and I'm just gonna keep it and upgrade it little by little, and as soon as I get better at riding I'll order that manitou fork, already ordered some pedals and now I'm going to get some better tires
The vids came in real handy thank you.

 

[305coco]

Does anyone know the weight of the oem bontrager tires? And tube weight?
I'm going to order better tires but don't want to order anything heavier than what I already got.

 

[eb1888]

Bontrager: XR1 Comp (Model #11871)
Looks like it's an XR1 Comp 2.0 at 635g for the tire.
The XR1 Team 2.2 or last year's 29-1 Team 2.2(on closeout $44) are very grippy fast tires.
Scwalbe Nobby Nic Performance 2.25 makes a good front tire and Rocket Ron or Racing Ralph or Nobby Nic(slower but more volume) are good rears for me.
Add pressure if you get rim hits.
The biggest weight cutting move you will make is to replace the 6.2lb fork with one in the 4lb range. Next would be the front wheel.
Getting that weight off the front makes handling quicker and climbing through bumps easier.

 

[305coco]

Bontrager: XR1 Comp (Model #11871)
Looks like it's an XR1 Comp 2.0 at 635g for the tire.
The XR1 Team 2.2 or last year's 29-1 Team 2.2(on closeout $44) are very grippy fast tires.
Scwalbe Nobby Nic Performance 2.25 makes a good front tire and Rocket Ron or Racing Ralph or Nobby Nic(slower but more volume) are good rears for me.
Add pressure if you get rim hits.
The biggest weight cutting move you will make is to replace the 6.2lb fork with one in the 4lb range. Next would be the front wheel.
Getting that weight off the front makes handling quicker and climbing through bumps easier.

Yup it's got xr1 tires, I'm getting ready to order the schwalbe tires or maxxis ardent.

I lowered the pressure on my last ride from 35 to 25 in the front and 30 in the back and it rolled over stuff so much smoother, it felt like the fork/shock didn't have to work as hard.

i don't have a scale but the front oem rim and tire feel very light to me, will running one that may weight for example 1 pound less make that much of a noticeable difference?

 

[tigris99]

100 grams per wheel will be noticed. 100 grams per tire will be noticed even a bit more, 200 between them on each front and rear will be noticed alot!!! Unless ur trails are often wet or alot of loose rock and crap (especially on climbs) xr1 in the rear is good. Similar tire or expert xr1 that's lighter weight, fast rolling but with some side knobs will go a long way. Front go knobby, how knobby depends on ur trails. I'm picking up expert series xr1 2.0 for rear and xr2 2.2 for front but I see very little loose stuff, and almost no wet trails. Keeping my kenda karmas (1.9 rear 2.2 front) for hitting trails I haven't ridden before or ones in Missouri I ride 2-3 times a year.

I will say x2 on the xcal 9. Didn't fully read that u had a 7. 7 is useable but at ur weight, forks are borderline dangerous lol. As I learned quickly on mine. Forks I have currently are same as come on xcal 9 (got just over cost cause forks would have been a deal breaker, so lbs upgraded them cheap). Throw a 180mm rotor on front of xcal 9 and your golden there. Get good tires (or at least knobby but not too heavy front) and enjoy. I'm guessing when I told u brakes were ok I was thinking u had a 9 not a 7. Brakes on 9 are also what I currently have, with 180mm front rotor they work great.

If ur keeping the 7, get ride of the damn forks asap. If ur on a budget, manitou tower experts are good and 100-200 cheaper. Only difference is much better tuneability due to internals (and lighter weight but not a ton) if buying brakes get deore or slx.

I'm going to say unless ur set on the color, the 9 is going to be insanely easier on the wallet. But if ur upgrading: front tire, brakes, fork need to be first 3 on ur upgrade list, then wheels.

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[305coco]

100 grams per wheel will be noticed. 100 grams per tire will be noticed even a bit more, 200 between them on each front and rear will be noticed alot!!! Unless ur trails are often wet or alot of loose rock and crap (especially on climbs) xr1 in the rear is good. Similar tire or expert xr1 that's lighter weight, fast rolling but with some side knobs will go a long way. Front go knobby, how knobby depends on ur trails. I'm picking up expert series xr1 2.0 for rear and xr2 2.2 for front but I see very little loose stuff, and almost no wet trails. Keeping my kenda karmas (1.9 rear 2.2 front) for hitting trails I haven't ridden before or ones in Missouri I ride 2-3 times a year.

I will say x2 on the xcal 9. Didn't fully read that u had a 7. 7 is useable but at ur weight, forks are borderline dangerous lol. As I learned quickly on mine. Forks I have currently are same as come on xcal 9 (got just over cost cause forks would have been a deal breaker, so lbs upgraded them cheap). Throw a 180mm rotor on front of xcal 9 and your golden there. Get good tires (or at least knobby but not too heavy front) and enjoy. I'm guessing when I told u brakes were ok I was thinking u had a 9 not a 7. Brakes on 9 are also what I currently have, with 180mm front rotor they work great.

If ur keeping the 7, get ride of the damn forks asap. If ur on a budget, manitou tower experts are good and 100-200 cheaper. Only difference is much better tuneability due to internals (and lighter weight but not a ton) if buying brakes get deore or slx.

I'm going to say unless ur set on the color, the 9 is going to be insanely easier on the wallet. But if ur upgrading: front tire, brakes, fork need to be first 3 on ur upgrade list, then wheels.

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Cool, thanks for the advice

 

[305coco]

Hey guys, I ended up going with the nobby nic tires but the front tire does not do very well on my trails while cornering since we have a lot of loose sand over hard packed on the turns and the nobby nics seem to float and slide out, also I ordered the 2.35s wich are too wide, and these nobby nics weigh 739 grams.
So I'm going to order 2.25s rocket Ron's wich weigh 509~. And give them a shot.

Also, I ended up going with the bigger rotors and adapters and they did make a very noticeable difference on braking power, I can now lock up the rear tire but I could not with the smaller rotor, but I'm getting this loud humming noise when braking that vibrates the bike and it's very annoying, I tried adjusting the caliper every way possible but the noise is still there, This is only in the rear, the front is fine. Does anyone know how I can fix this issue? Thanks..

 

[305coco]

Also, I'd like to upgrade the rear hub with a hope evo 2, does anyone know wich hub I need? I will be keeping my oem rim, spokes etc..