[MJM]

2002 NRS 2 Skipping Problem! Any Help?

I bought my NRS 2 in 2002 and since day one I don't think it has ever shifted right. I came from Treks (8000 and an STP) and never had a shifting or skipping problem.

So my NRS 2 developed the famous skipping problem. I tried to fix the problem!

- I found out about the full length cable fix and did that

- I have switched my cranks to XT

- My chain broke on the second ride and I switched that to SRAM

- The cassete is stock but it is fine

The bike still skips while cranking up hills. Its not every time but enough to be annoying and its dangerous. Today while cranking hard up a hill the thing skipped and I almost put my teeth through the handlebars. I have had enough. I have had my LBS where I bought it tune it up and have had them look at it several times. I had them install the full length cable housing and check the chain and cassette. Everything is fine.

So who do I contact about this at Giant or what should I do. I don't think a bike at this price point should have these kind of problems and after trying to deal with it for a couple of years I have had enough. Thanks for any help or suggestions!

MJM

 

[BikeSATORI]

Sorry to hear about your difficulties w/ the NRS. Check the chain line, your cranks might need to be moved slightly in or out on the bb on the drivetrain side, I've heard of some frames being specced wrong or something. I personally have never had that many problems on mine. It didn't skip too bad, but I drilled out the cable stops and ran full housing anyway and my NRS is riding excellent now. Check your seatstay/chainstay bushings for play too. If your rear end is flexing a ridiculous amount it will cause shifting problems. I just purchased a bearing/bushing set off of a guy on ebay for pretty cheap, I think he posts on this forum too. Breaking chains shouldn't have anything to do with your nrs frame? Then again, maybe you got a lemon out of the batch?

 

[MJM]

Thanks for the suggestions. The chain line has been checked and the cranks are fine. The RF prodigy cranks that came with the bike were awful and that is one of the first things that got switched out. Anyway... maybe I'll look into the bushings.

 

[RedRocker]

Define "fine" for your cassette. After two years it could very well be time to replace it. Other posters have gone to a SRAM RD and possibly shifters to fix it.

Hey BikeSATORI - have you put your bearing/bushing kit on yet? I just ordered one a couple days ago. I'd appreciate any thoughts on installing it and the ride afterwards. I don't have a crank puller. I guess I'll need to buy one or have the LBS take off my drive side then put it back on after I'm done servicing my suspension.

 

[BikeSATORI]

RedRocker- did you get it from toolmanjohn? Nothing against him, but I think I got ripped off somewhat. He claims everthing is as good or better than factory, which seems true for all the parts but the medium sized bearings that go into the middle pivot of the rocker. The walls are incredibly thin! Also, the piece that the bushings spin on is made out of steel instead of alu (upgrade I don't know?) and it has a hole in the side (which I would think is just another way for dirt to contaminate the bushing?) - and on top of that I was charged much more than he is offering the kit for now- I guess that's just the price you pay for being one of the first to purchase some things. Either way you look at it, it's still much cheaper than a factory replacement.
I have the new XT760 cranks so replacing the main pivot bearings wasn't too hard, although my stock ones weren't bad at all. Everything else installs super easy w/ just allen/hex wrenches. Oh yeah, getting the old bearings out of your rockers seems incredibly hard, like they were pressed in. I just used the bearings that came already installed in my SGF rockers, since I was not impressed by the medium sized bearings anyway.
I really didn't notice much improvement on the ride after installation, but it gave me more peace of mind knowing I have fresh stuff bolted on. None of my bearings were crunchy yet, like I've felt on other bikes.
Just a tip- pick up some Blue loc-tite, or an equivalant medium thread lock.
Good luck.
BTW- I wonder what the bushings on a Turner look like? They use all bushings instead of bearings, and they also have grease fittings on every pivot, where the NRS recommends no grease at all. I almost picked up some graphite lube anyway- maybe next time. If you think about it, bearings are made for high speed revolutions, where on susp. they don't even revolve one full turn, therefore are only using 3 or 4 actual ball bearings! This is why bearings quickly get a crunchy feeling on most bikes. It boggles my mind for sure.

 

[RedRocker]

Yep, that's who I ordered from. I guess I got the new improved pricing. Yes, I do own blue loctite - good stuff Hopefully the quality is good. This is the first negative post I've seen regarding his stuff.
How'd the crankes make it easier? It looks like it's the rings that get in the way of taking the pivot apart. Do you think the cranks are worth the $? Mine RaceFace cranks are still going around OK so I haven't felt the need to replace them.

Good point about bearings being made for high speed revolutions. Maybe someone needs to come up with a way to "rotate" your bearings so you're loading different balls. You will load both the top and bottom ones when the suspension moves though. The nice thing is that they're sealed and that should give them nice life. Mountain biking does tend to be a harsh environment with water, sand, grit, etc.

 

[BikeSATORI]

the xt cranks only need an allen wrench and the little plastic shimano tool that comes w/ the cranks to remove them w/rings in only a couple min. - And yes, I love the cranks, I will never go back to internal bb cranksets! btw- I got the crankset on ebay brand new for $186 shipped along w/ an xt760 cassette for $56- the guy was parting out a bike (must have been stolen -JK)
As for the bushings on a turner- they are sealed w/ somesort of o-ring so the lube doesn't get contaminated.
I wasn't trying to be negative about the bearing set, but apparantly it did look that way from all my complaining in the previous post. I just think I was expecting some sort of super bearing/bushing set when I read about how some of the pieces were superior, but appear to be bought from a local shop. Maybe your set won't have the thin-walled med. bearings? I'm still happy I purchased them.

 

[RedRocker]

Sweet deal on the XT gear! I'll keep that in mind when my ISIS needs replacing.

 

[MJM]

Hey Guys, Any more help on the original topic would be appreciated!

 

[Mr.Whitney]

your derailluer hanger may be bent a little. I had the same problem on my ventana and I had a damaged link in my chain that made the chain skip sometimes.

 

[kauaibaz]

skipping

I tried the full cable housing with the avid rollamajig and it took care of the skipping and ghost shifting problem for me.

 

[johnmre]

Check your hanger

I now carry an extra all the time... Mine was bent and I had the skipping problem, too. The hanger is like 10 bucks. I replaced mine because it kept bending. Worth it. The only other problem I have had with it turned out to just be a loose cable. Ran out the barrel adjuster at the shifter until the problem stopped. Granted... I have replace the shifter/levers with XTR, new XT cranks, new XT cassette, new chain, and XT front der, and XTR rear. Mine shifts perfectly. (it should after all that, huh?)

 

[bikeCOLORADO]

I started on a 2001 NRS-1...broke the frame and Giant warrantied it with a 2002 frame. I had constant "ghost shifting" with both frames. The shop tried every trick in the book...they all got to know me by name and hated to see me coming in the door with the bike in tow! After TWO years of having the bike in the shop about once a month to try for another fix - I wrote a letter to Giant.

They "warrantied" the 2002 frame with a 2003 VT-1 frame...coming close to admitting that my riding style, the terrain I ride and my 185lbs was just to much for the NRS...that the seat stays were flexing too much. I sold the VT-1 frame on e-bay, took the NRS-1 parts and built a sweet ride for my son.

I now ride a stout 2002/2003 AC-1!!!

 

[BikeSATORI]

I really don't know what else you can do- I personally think it might be the 02 and previous frames? If you've tried all the "fixes" and even full housing didn't work your rear triangle might be screwed? Mine rides perfect- and I take it bike-packing very often so I weigh in the 180lbs range w/ a pack on and it never ghost shifts at all.
Just make sure there is slack in the housing between the rocker and the stop on the top tube so it isn't getting yanked around when the susp cycles. It should be a nice curve.
btw- bikeColorado- I saw your AC in the role call forum- Nice ride, I have a freind who just picked up the all grey 04 AC2. That thing is plush! He is pretty pissed that the AC is getting phased out for the Maestro. On ebay there was an AC just like yours but with the Maverick DUC fork up for bid ~$2500 I think?. It looked pretty smooth.

 

[bikeCOLORADO]

Thanks man...that is my baby. Shoulda gone that way from the beginning, but I didn't really know what type of riding I'd settle into. Turns out that I really like rough, rocky techno terrain with lots 'o rock gardens, ledges, drops, etc. The NRS just wasn't built for that.

My AC keeps me happy for hours on end...I might not be able to climb quite as fast, but dang it feels light for all it's 37lbs...and it is so good at climbing/descending technical terrain, drops, etc!

Dunno about the "Maestro"...as far as I know it's just rumor so far.

 

[BikeSATORI]

The Maestro is fact according to the Giant rep who swings through the local shop. Also fact that the AC will be gone.
That AC w/ the Maverick apparantly weighs under 30lbs!!!
I've built my NRS for more trail riding because I like tech, gnarly single track too, and it weighs around 28lbs. Luckily I'm light so it can handle most of what I throw at it w/ the 4.5in rockers, the 100rlc, Salsa Bashring, BG 2.35s, 180mm rotors, etc. - everything except for the steeps (head angle) and drops w/out trannys (weak xc frame) that your AC was meant to handle. It works for me as my all around epic trail rig that I can still swap parts out for a race.

 

[bikeCOLORADO]

Check this out on www.nsmb.com
"However, upon recently talking to Paul Nash at Giant Canada in Vancouver about what I was looking for, he suggested I try the Giant AC-1 and was kind enough to provide me with a test bike to try out. The AC frame series--"AC" an acronym for "All Conditions"--first appeared in 2000 and since then, it has evolved into a burly and capable North Shore mainstay. According to Nash, Giant has some new suspension surprises in store for 2005, but the successful AC series will still be offered."

http://www.nsmb.com/gear/ac_1_review_06_04.php

 

[Kronk]

I started on a 2001 NRS-1...broke the frame and Giant warrantied it with a 2002 frame. I had constant "ghost shifting" with both frames. The shop tried every trick in the book...they all got to know me by name and hated to see me coming in the door with the bike in tow! After TWO years of having the bike in the shop about once a month to try for another fix - I wrote a letter to Giant.

They "warrantied" the 2002 frame with a 2003 VT-1 frame...coming close to admitting that my riding style, the terrain I ride and my 185lbs was just to much for the NRS...that the seat stays were flexing too much. I sold the VT-1 frame on e-bay, took the NRS-1 parts and built a sweet ride for my son.

I now ride a stout 2002/2003 AC-1!!!

Hey bike COLRADO...
I have the ghost shifting and tire rub when climbing hills on my 2001 NRS 1, took it to the shop to see what the rep had to say. Seems they couldn't get any ghost shift riding it in the parking lot, and the tire rub was flex in the wheel. Over the winter I did the bushings and new crossrocks.

The fix: I was offered new cables, and full housing was not even suggested apparently. I declined them working on the bike!

Wondering what type of wording it takes to get a realistic assesment from them, given your experience. I was going to zip tie a full housing and use a 32 spoke UST from another bike, give it a ride and see if it was the same. If so, then put it back to them.

Thanks

 

[bluronthetrails]

dude

That is a [email protected] mofo of a pic you got there...nice fog and pines and trail! Damn i wish I were there......

 

[mappable]

same chain skip problem on 2002 Giant XTC SE2

I have a 2002 Giant XTC SE2 with similar chain issues. When climbing or pedling hard on rough trail conditions, the chain jumps off the middle ring to the smallest ring or off completely.

The following has been replaced attempting remedy the chain jumping off the middle ring under pressure of a climb:
SRAM PC69 chain (broke several times at master link)
Race Face Middle and Big Chain Rings
Shimano XT Rear Cassette
Rear Shifter Cable and Cable Housing

One of the tech's mentioned that the rear derailleur hanger might be slightly bent. We haven't replaced this yet. Also the BB and Cranks are the original Race Face Prodigy XC. The front derailleur is LX, while the rear is XT.

The LBS is at a loss after five or six visits. These guys are not Giant dealers. My original shop does not carry giant any longer. The LBS has been gracious and not charging me labor fee's attempting to resolve the problem, but i'm into this for over $200 on parts with the same chain jump issue and couple of dents in my knee when the chain gave out.

I'm leaning towards havinig the cranks and bb replaced to see if that helps.

any thoughts?
terry

I bought my NRS 2 in 2002 and since day one I don't think it has ever shifted right. I came from Treks (8000 and an STP) and never had a shifting or skipping problem.

So my NRS 2 developed the famous skipping problem. I tried to fix the problem!

- I found out about the full length cable fix and did that

- I have switched my cranks to XT

- My chain broke on the second ride and I switched that to SRAM

- The cassete is stock but it is fine

The bike still skips while cranking up hills. Its not every time but enough to be annoying and its dangerous. Today while cranking hard up a hill the thing skipped and I almost put my teeth through the handlebars. I have had enough. I have had my LBS where I bought it tune it up and have had them look at it several times. I had them install the full length cable housing and check the chain and cassette. Everything is fine.

So who do I contact about this at Giant or what should I do. I don't think a bike at this price point should have these kind of problems and after trying to deal with it for a couple of years I have had enough. Thanks for any help or suggestions!

MJM