[zdus13]

OK, so i've now had my 2020 Gambler 920 for half a year. In that time i upgraded the wheels to some Spanks, Zee brakes and a Chromag seatclamp (the original quickrealease is just uuuugly). Anyway, i've been using the thing for everything, much of that time is 30km commutes. I live quite a ways away from any trails or anything close to being appropriate for a DH bike. I love this bike, except for the POS Sram GX DH drivetrain - i really hate everything about it!!! So my next upgrade would definitely be a new drivetrain....but then i thought if i just commute with the thing to work/school/trails which are quite far...why not a wide range cassette?
I then looked at my hardtail - a Ragley Big Al which has a dropper... I've seen some guys using enduro/freeride bikes fitted with dual-crowns and basically turning them into almost DH rigs but with the ability to pedal long distances. But why not go the other way round? Make a DH bike more enduro. Imagine - the plushest suspensions around, no creaking CSU (unlike the Pike that i replaced with a Durolux 36 on the hardtail), the strongest frame, the STIFFNESS, the capabilites and oooh the disgusted looks from other riders. A DH bike with a dropper and a high range cassette.
The drawbacks. Pedal bob - probably scarily bad, the seat angle is about 10 degrees slacker than the average AM/EN/FR bike, no locking out suspension, especially on the rear.
But then you think about the other enduro bikes on the market today...they all get slacker by a tiny amount compared to last year's model, the weight is growing blurring the lines between a DH and an enduro bike and all that talk about stiffness...Then you see Pinkbike's own Grim Donut. Damn! The stock head angle on the Gambler is 62.9 in the low BB position, but with the included +/- 1 degree cups i can get a 61.9 degree head angle. THE FUTURE!! So how about it? I'm thinking of fitting an 11 speed XT drivetrain (like on the hardtail) with some Atlas or Hope cranks and a OneUp Dropper V2 in the 150mm size, as the frame doesn't allow anything longer...another problem is the cable routing as well...there is none for a dropper, but i believe theres enough space to squeeze a cable through the seattube and between the BB shell and the downtube and just fit a fork bumper on the right side of the toptube with the same one as on the left side (which has two holes for the derailleur and rear brake). If this fails i'll just slap a Reverb AXS on there and be done with the cables.
So, what do you think about this? Anyone else had thoughts like this?

 

[Streetdoctor]

Stupid idea. I have the same bike. It pedals like ****. If you live anywhere that warrants a DH bike you aren't climbing with it and you look like a fool riding around town. If not sell it and buy a trail bike and do everything faster. Nothing wrong with GX 7 speed either... Derailleur and cassette is identical to XO1 just a little heavier, if anything upgrade just the shifter.

 

[zdus13]

Stupid idea. I have the same bike. It pedals like ****. If you live anywhere that warrants a DH bike you aren't climbing with it and you look like a fool riding around town. If not sell it and buy a trail bike and do everything faster. Nothing wrong with GX 7 speed either... Derailleur and cassette is identical to XO1 just a little heavier, if anything upgrade just the shifter.

Think so? I know it pedals terribly, i literally pedal the thing everywhere. I already have a trail/enduro bike, it is a hardtail with a 160mm fork which is very much fun to fool around town with and just jump about...but man do i love the Gambler, but the GX DH is just yucky. I hate how you need 50Nm to take off the cranks, i hate the preload ring, i absolutely despise the derailleur - it, since new, constantly eats the chain with the upper pulley no matter what gear you're in. Just pedaling it's fine but if you bunny hop and squish the suspension, the chain disengages from the top pulley and the teeth and chain start to make this ratchety sound, sometimes the chain just gets stuck between the pulley and cage, it goes away after cycling through the gears, i tried correcting it, my shop mechanic tried everything...nothing helped. Oh, and the clutch that you can't disassemble nor service, unlike my Shimano XT which has over 13 thousand kilometers on it and still works like new. I hate the thing and i will be putting Shimano on no matter what lol.

 

[Streetdoctor]

You can’t service any SRAM clutch, if it’s jumping off the ring it isn’t adjusted properly. I have eagle axs on my trail bike and GX with an XO1 shifter on my gambler. There’s literally zero performance difference. Sounds like most of your complaints are non-issues....

 

[zdus13]

You can’t service any SRAM clutch, if it’s jumping off the ring it isn’t adjusted properly. I have eagle axs on my trail bike and GX with an XO1 shifter on my gambler. There’s literally zero performance difference. Sounds like most of your complaints are non-issues....

Like i said, both me and the shop tried adjusting it, browsed around on other forums and a few people seem to have similar problems...But that's the thing - i hate non-servicable parts, that's why i am a big fan of Shimano, TRP is also on the shortlist.

 

[Streetdoctor]

Like i said, both me and the shop tried adjusting it, browsed around on other forums and a few people seem to have similar problems...But that's the thing - i hate non-servicable parts, that's why i am a big fan of Shimano, TRP is also on the shortlist.

sounds like you need to find a better shop or learn to work on your own bike, a 7 speed is about as easy as it gets to work on. I’m racing the open class at Bootleg Canyon on mine next week. I also have a 920 and stripped pretty much everything... except the drivetrain cause they’re all the same. Upgrade the shock, fork damper, wheels, brakes, handlebars, etc. The only thing better than parts that are user serviceable are parts that don’t ever require service. I have thousands of miles on sram derailleurs. I’ve never felt the need to touch the clutch. Even on 12 speed with a very long cage. 7 speed is a non-issue.

Either way pedaling a downhill bike around town isn’t very smart. Good luck with whatever you decide.

 

[zdus13]

sounds like you need to find a better shop or learn to work on your own bike, a 7 speed is about as easy as it gets to work on. I’m racing the open class at Bootleg Canyon on mine next week. I also have a 920 and stripped pretty much everything... except the drivetrain cause they’re all the same. Upgrade the shock, fork damper, wheels, brakes, handlebars, etc. The only thing better than parts that are user serviceable are parts that don’t ever require service. I have thousands of miles on sram derailleurs. I’ve never felt the need to touch the clutch. Even on 12 speed with a very long cage. 7 speed is a non-issue.

Either way pedaling a downhill bike around town isn’t very smart. Good luck with whatever you decide.

I do work on my own bikes, i have both completely stripped right now to the bare frame for a full one year service, but for the life of me i just can't seem to find what the hell's wrong with the derailleur...well we'll see what's gonna happen next, but thanks for the input!

 

[ron m.]

I don't think my response addresses your question directly but as a "non-racer" who enjoys riding a DH bike on some of our harder trails, running a 7-speed high-gearing cassette seemed impractical. I'm running a 30-T chainring coupled to an 11-42T 9-sp cassette (tried to shove a 50T but I just can't deal with long cages and I honestly don't need it). It's been a good set-up 99% of the time (pedaling up to get down).

 

[zdus13]

I don't think my response addresses your question directly but as a "non-racer" who enjoys riding a DH bike on some of our harder trails, running a 7-speed high-gearing cassette seemed impractical. I'm running a 30-T chainring coupled to an 11-42T 9-sp cassette (tried to shove a 50T but I just can't deal with long cages and I honestly don't need it). It's been a good set-up 99% of the time (pedaling up to get down).

View attachment 1911003

ooooh looks cool, yeah this looks like something i'd do but also add a dropper, i'm currently disassembling my frame to see if there is space for a cable in the seattube-BB-downtube section. Love the chromed out fork!

 

[ron m.]

There was a time I had a dropper on this bike (in the beginning when I had it). But I didn't like the extra external cable and frankly, the purpose of a dropper is to prevent disruption of "flow" from pedaling to riding down. Most of the DH trails here are mostly pedal and then hike-a-bike, so the dropper was really unnecessary.

in Alameda, California, United States - photo by microfiz - Pinkbike

Photo of in Alameda, California, United States.

www.pinkbike.com

 

[zdus13]

There was a time I had a dropper on this bike (in the beginning when I had it). But I didn't like the extra external cable and frankly, the purpose of a dropper is to prevent disruption of "flow" from pedaling to riding down. Most of the DH trails here are mostly pedal and then hike-a-bike, so the dropper was really unnecessary.

in Alameda, California, United States - photo by microfiz - Pinkbike

Photo of in Alameda, California, United States.

www.pinkbike.com

agh, understood. Well the situation here is that...trails are rare, the most popular one with jumps galore was destroyed by the nature protection services, as basically 80 to 90% of all forests here are "reserves". Makes it nearly impossible to build anything. We do have one official trailhead with pretty cool features but there is no tech, only flow or A-line style jumps..So basically you ride from trail to trail around town and rack up hella miles on the way, easy on the hardtail, not so on the DH. But the DH is just SO much fun on the chundery, rooty and sketchy natural lines that i just bite the bullet and pedal the thing, somedays up to 60km according to Strava. Legs, of course, are getting mighty strong but when you're going up a grade with a headwind....maaan does it ever suck. So to me a dropper and a drivetrain similar in style to yours would make it dreamy haha...atleast on paper, but i just wanna do something different too.

 

[Streetdoctor]

Have you thought about selling the hard tail and the downhill bike and buying an enduro bike and putting a downhill fork on it? I did this with a Scott Ransom and it was a lot of fun. 33 pounds 170mm/190mm travel and eagle 12 speed.

 

[ty4]

Hi what weight rear spring are you running for your weight on the 2020 gambler I'm 200 lbs and wondering what spring I would need

 

[zdus13]

Hi what weight rear spring are you running for your weight on the 2020 gambler I'm 200 lbs and wondering what spring I would need

I'm running a 500lbs. spring, it's the stock spring that comes on the L and XL size. I'm also 200lbs and it works for me, no bottom outs, didn't have to preload the thing at all, no weird suspension settings, just set the rebound to my liking and 3 clicks of compression from open...atleast that's how i like it. Don't see myself getting a lighter spring in the future, MAYBE a 550? But that's only if i start REALLY hucking the thing off of massive drops and such.

 

[zdus13]

Have you thought about selling the hard tail and the downhill bike and buying an enduro bike and putting a downhill fork on it? I did this with a Scott Ransom and it was a lot of fun. 33 pounds 170mm/190mm travel and eagle 12 speed.

I have..with the shortage of bikes this year i bet it would get bought in an instant..but i've already ordered a full Saint groupset, i just love how the bike feels, looks and so on. It makes me feel whoozy when i look at it

 

[zdus13]

OK OK OK, so i've now put th full Saint groupo on there, wondering if i should go with TRP DH-R Evos or Saints. Having installed the dropper....MAN does this thing feel awesome! It really is everything i've wanted...still doesn't pedal too well, but the Contis and dropper help a lot! An update shot

Still have a few minor kinks to work out, including the seat angle..