[myitch]

I"ve got 4 rides on the Spot. OK, so my new Spot rides nicely, as expected. But what wasn't expected was that I would be hitting the cranks so damn much! I can't even ride like usual because I have to stutter pedal and watch the obstacles more. My Titus Switchblade had more clearance and I rarely hit the cranks.

All the parts from that bike went to this bike. The cranks are the same length. The sag on the rear shock is set correctly. I"m just used to a higher bottom bracket.

Sorry to say, this homer is going back to my old Switchblade. The Spot is going on the market sadly:???:

 

[The Squeaky Wheel]

Time for an RFX

 

[MightySchmoePong]

Is your shock stuck down?

I"ve got 4 rides on the Spot. OK, so my new Spot rides nicely, as expected. But what wasn't expected was that I would be hitting the cranks so damn much! I can't even ride like usual because I have to stutter pedal and watch the obstacles more. My Titus Switchblade had more clearance and I rarely hit the cranks.

All the parts from that bike went to this bike. The cranks are the same length. The sag on the rear shock is set correctly. I"m just used to a higher bottom bracket.

Sorry to say, this homer is going back to my old Switchblade. The Spot is going on the market sadly:???:

I had the same experience; I was wacking my pedals on _everything_. Turns out my shock was stuck down 1/2 an inch. Since I fixed it no problems. I did a 40+ mile ride in a lot of rocks yesterday and hit the pedals ~6 times.

Dave

 

[Jerk_Chicken]

Odd because I had a Burner, would rarely smack pedals upstate (NY), then got a Flux, which would smack all the time. The Spot has more bb height than both.

 

[Whafe]

myitch, perhaps give it some more time. When riding a buddies 5 Spot wen I had my Id, I noticed the low BB hugely, quite un neving when riding. I got used to it, the lower COG helps with the hangling, guess it is why 99% of people love the Spot. Having moved from the Id to a Motolite, I have noticed the bb being slightly lower than the Id, not sure how it compares to the 5 Spot though......................... You may have to go to a MotoLite

In all seriousness, you will get used to it, the ride chaneg will become habitual soon, you want even think about it. I hate gettting used to a new bike.............

Good luck either way...............:thumbsup:

 

[Jaybo]

Get a bigger fork

I"ve got 4 rides on the Spot. OK, so my new Spot rides nicely, as expected. But what wasn't expected was that I would be hitting the cranks so damn much! I can't even ride like usual because I have to stutter pedal and watch the obstacles more. My Titus Switchblade had more clearance and I rarely hit the cranks.

All the parts from that bike went to this bike. The cranks are the same length. The sag on the rear shock is set correctly. I"m just used to a higher bottom bracket.

Sorry to say, this homer is going back to my old Switchblade. The Spot is going on the market sadly:???:

I don't think the Switchblade has a higher BB. Weird. I owned a Blade and didn't notice it hitting any rocks less than the Spot. A 518mm crank would lift the BB a touch. This is assuming you don't have one now.

Jaybo

 

[Jayem]

Different pedals?

 

[glader60]

All the parts from that bike went to this bike. The cranks are the same length. The sag on the rear shock is set correctly. I"m just used to a higher bottom bracket.
:

What is the bottom bracket height? should be 13.25" off the floor.
What is the fork length? should be 501mm from axle to top of fork crown.

If this measures up, maybe the shocks are set up with too soft compession..

 

[FoShizzle]

bummer.....it sounds like a horst-link version of the Spot

 

[Bikezilla]

MSP's got a good recommendaton. Also check your spring rate. You could still have a good static sag but be riding low on the trail. I found I was accidentally running an horribly low spring rate on the RP3 (if that's what you're running) without a major increase in sag. ... but a partial stuck-down seems more likely.

 

[jokermtb]

stop worrying about it....on my spot - I've worn down seven of the big ring teeth when coasting over rocks and stuff. The extra clearance is nice, and I don't have to worry about damaging any teeth, since there are none in that one location on the chainring....And if you've ever seen antique bicycle chainrings, you'd quickly determine that 40+ teeth on a big ring is a bit excessive. I've got a nice collection of files, so I just smooth the dinged teeth down to nothing and everything is just dandy - no chain wear issues at all....

Think about it - a big ring has over 40 teeth on it. Loosing 7 teeth is no big deal - still more than your middle ring, right? I only really use my big ring for cruising on the road to the trails, and rarely any hammering in the big ring [I do all my hammering in the middle ring], so it's hardly worn down in almost 3 years of active duty.

I realize this is not a solution for everyone, but it has worked flawlessly for me for almost three years....

 

[Zion Rasta]

It is not the bike, is the set up

You either do not have the correct sag for when you are fully dressed in biking gear or your shock is stuck down - plain simple.

I was hitting my cranks on the spot for the first two rides and I figured I was ridin at 50% sag fully dressed. I was 50 psi off. Now it is perfect.

Measure your sag with all your gear and your cammel back full of water.

 

[myitch]

Thanks for all the suggestions fellas.

The shock is not stuck down. It quickly rebounds back as it should.

Sag was set with me fully geared up. I have just a hair over 1/2" of sag now.

Yeah, the 44T big ring I have hits more now too, but it's the pedal/cranks that I'm concerned about.

RFX is more bike and weight than I need or want. It is a great frame too though.

I didn't measure the fork or BB height. But like I said, all the parts from the Blade went to this Spot. My Blade had the 5.7" travel link, which may have made enough of a difference for me not to hit as much as the Spot.

And this last ride I did was with tall DH 2.7 and 2.5 tires front and rear. So, the BB is a little more than the stock 13.25 actually...still hitting the cranks more than the Blade.

Oh, and the lower BB is much worse when I climb with my PIKE set at 95mm. Then I'm really hitting the pedals/cranks! I can't even make it up this technical climb that I always clean on my Blade.

The lower BB is nice on certain stuff, like jumps, it handles better, more balanced. But really, I'm not into jumping like in my younger days. So, thats not a selling point for me.

Also, interestingly enough, the ride on the fast DH is just not as plush as my old Blade. Hard to believe, but true for me. Sure the Spot is more efficient on the uphills with the ProPedal feature, but I also keep forgetting to change it back when going down. The DHX Air just has too many adjustments, more than I need. I like the simplicity of the Float R I had on the Blade...set and forget.

I just cannot justify the money for this new frame when there is not much difference from my old Blade and I actually prefer the ride of the Blade too. Thanks a bunch guys!

 

[Bikezilla]

Double check the I2I measurements on your shock. Some folks found they had a partial stuck-down that was not obvious to the casual observation. The reason I suspect something is wrong is I haven't read a lot of people complaining about lack of plushness or the Spot being significantly less plush thatn the SB. You may have a prefrence for the Blade and that's cool, it's a great bike. The excessive pedal strikes and lack of plushness seems somewhat uncharacteristic for the Spot though. (cept when compared to the RFX )
I beleive Jaybo has both a SB and a 5S so maybe he can shed some additional light on base plushness between the two...

Plushness has a great deal to do with the shock being used...
I have both the RP3 and the DHX-C for my Spot and I fully agree the RP3 isn't on the same planet with regards to plushness compared to the DHX-C, or from what I've read the DHX-A. If you are not interested in trying a shock that will give you the ride you are looking for (because of complexity) then maybe consider having the shock you have now Pushed and dialed for the ride you want.
BTW how much do you weigh and what pressure are you using now in your shock?

Really though, you should consider borrowing a DHX and play with it. The difference in plushness is night and day. It may save you the trouble of a new frame or other possible gyrations. It's reallynot at all hard to set up and once it's set you usually don't need to change anything.

 

[myitch]

Thanks, Bikezilla.

I'll check the i2i and air pressure later today and post it.

Do you mean trying a DHX coil? I have the DHX Air 5.0 now. I'm very sure the coil would give me the plushness I'm after. But I don't want the added weight. If I did go coil, I'd consider just a Vanilla R. More simple and less weight than the DHX coil. Do the Vanilla's come in a length for the Spot?

But changing the shock won't solve the BB height problem. That's my main concern.

 

[Zion Rasta]

yes!

The vanilla r with propedal comes in 7.5x2 which is the size for thespot.

Could you take a picture of you sitting on your bike?

 

[rmac]

The 'Blade is/was a great bike - I only ever rode it in the 4.5" mode. I also loved my Quasimoto which had a pretty high BB and similar travel to your 'Blade. I find, however, that I love the low BB (of my Burner - quite a bit lower than the 'Spot) in the rocks and slow technical stuff mostly because of the handling but also because I can get a foot down quickly and easily . I beat up several pedals on the climbing and agree that that messes the technical climbs up a little. You gotta do what you gotta do and if the pedal hit deficit outweighs the handling benefit you gotta go back - the 'Blade was ahead of its time and still remains one of the best trail bikes ever - would also be sweet to score the coil version rockers and set it up with a coil in the back .

You should have no problem selling the 'Spot - sorry it didn't work out for you!

 

[Bikezilla]

Myitch, Somehow I thought you were running an RP3...if you have a DHX-A on right now and you aren't getting enough plushness something is really odd IMO. You won't need to switch to a DHX-C unless you're deep into Clydetown. (230lbs+)

Your're right that changing the shock won't solve the pedal strike problems unless you're having a trouble with the shock or it's somehow set up improperly. Does the SB and the Spot have that different BB height?

When you check your I2I, also note all your other settings. I'm really curious what they are.
-Main chamber PSI
-Boost PSI
-Bottom out adjuster
-Propedal setting
-Rebound setting
& your riding weight.

 

[scepticshock]

I also came from a Quasimoto to the 5-Spot and had a similar problem. I did, and still do noice the pedal strikes, and on one of the initial rides, crashed on a tech climb through some rocks, due to a pedal strike that I would have not have hit on the Quasi. The Spot does have the superior climbing traction almost always I'd say. And the slack H/A and Lower BB have some advantages on the DH .

One way around it I found was to use some of the platform of my Push'd Van fork for the non-DH part of my rides, and use mid position on my RP3. That helps a lot at the cost of some plushness. This also leads me to think shock set up has a big part in this. I expect the RFX to remedy all of that. (That Quasi frame is for sale BTW ).

 

[kornhole]

at santa teresa park

Did this happen at santa teresa park? On rocky ridge trail or Stiles? Well it happen to me to, I just put a little more air in the boost valve and it took care of that problem.