CATASTROPHIC TREK SLASH Failure But Shocking 2nd Place Redemption At Enduro Race!
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- čas přidán 1. 10. 2023
- What a disaster! Watch the full video to find out just what happened and how I managed to still grab second place in my category. It’s time to figure out this problem and hopefully find out why it happened.
- Sport
Bad luck... but seems the high pivot is really delivering on its chainless feel...
😂😂
🤣makes sense now!
I got some coffee thru my nose cuz this comment, Geez 😂
it makes chain out of the game=no pedal feedback. yay!😂😂
Trek's all new Chain Disengagement System™
Proper good old school race vid vibes! Nothing better than watching you hurtle through the trees and slop at speeds I can only dream of, keep up the class work man 🤌🤌
As annoying as it is to have such Problems, im just glad you and Paul Aston bring out videos about real problems with bikes, unlike most magazines/websites
we need more honest "reviews" on mtb bikes/products. No bias. unlike most marketing channels that just put out fluffy spin.
We are trying to get it right from here on out’ I got some good help
@@LewisBuchanan surely that is treks research and development team's job? not you the consumer.
I mean I guess so right
New to your content Lewis, but loving it. You're a top man and although you were clearly not happy with the issues during the race, you managed to keep your cool much more than I would have done. Well done on the podium 👍
Thanks! Appreciate you subscribing/being here
Lew kept calm, because he (probably) thought...... "this could make a whole series of videos"?
Appreciate this honest vid. So many people spend hard earned money on these expensive bikes these days and it’s a real bummer if they don’t perform. Hopefully you get some answers soon.
Congratulations on second! Even with the chain issues. Love the content 🤟 like the honesty with the bike and your open to get it sorted.
Thankyou.
Its refreshing to see actual reviews (or not reviews) of these bikes, rather than the "promotional" videos posted elsewhere. Im not a fan of trek bikes anyway, so doesnt really affect my decisions to buy regardless, but this sort of honest reporting is just we actual buyers need. Keep it up, and anyone shouting you down for doing so is just odd!
Well done mate, second place, no bad with those problems you have with that bike🥳 yeah you are absolutely right to tell people the truth about all the bikes🤙🏻
Thanks
Insane riding dude even without a chain! Piss poor from Trek, hopefully not a wide spread problem and you get it sorted! 👍
Thanks. Working to try resolve it
I work in the bike industry along with two of my friends who just got the new slash 9, one of them dropped his chain multiple times throughout the day yesterday, as we work in the local bike shop we have close ties with some folk over at MRP. So hopefully soon there should be a solution to this problem, as we will be sure to express our input. You really would think that Trek would've sorted something that my friend experienced within the first 2 days of riding.
We tested two Slash with GX AXS for one day and dropped the chain three times on the lower idler. Never on the high one...
@@0x0x66maybe try running a different bash guard(one without a pulley in it) then taking a few links out of the chain.
Yeah Ive only seen it come off the lower idler, though I'm sure riding for extended periods without replacing it would cause it to come off the higher one as well. I just wish MRP would've puut a chain guide over that bottom pulley like what they have on their standard chain guides. I understand that it would add extra weight and make it more difficult to work on, but in my opinion that would be a super simple fix to this problem.@@0x0x66
Appreciate honest reviews 👍 I hope the manufacturer contacts you to resolve this issue. If my £5k bike was damaged through no fault of my own I would be furious.
Not trying to trigger anyone but thats not a standard slash he had put on his own suspension or am I missing something? This could definitely effect the chain?
@@shaunschneeberger6301 Fair comment 👍I’m of course assuming the works were carried out by a competent person.
Love the brutal honesty- 2nd place and mostly on a no chain, “out of shape” 2nd place is still legit af congrats
Sick riding bro, always enjoy ur vids.. Sorry to hear about the troubles on the new bike.. The first thing I think I would try would be to start shorting the chain 2 links at a time and re test.. get it as tight as possible. Could have something to do with the swapping of the suspension. Rear shock working different then stock maybe.. Hard to say.. Also make sure ur clutch on ur dee is working right as well..sometimes those can have issues. U were ripping in the race man, bike looks like it suits u if u can get the bugs worked out... Good luck..
Now is when you announce a chainless mtb series for the win. Awesome riding in difficult conditions too. Love your vids.
You've been having some tough luck with bikes lately mate, I can 100% relate. But props for how well you handled it, I would be pissed
It was great to see you racing again but the mechanical issues really suck. I was in the market for a Mullet enduro bike and went with a canyon torque, after seeing this I feel like that was a great decision.
Lewis, fantastic chain less riding! I'm sure someone has said this, but just in case. I am suspicious that your problem is with the setup on the transmission. Since it doesn't have the normal adjustments, the last step of transmission setup requires you to manually set the derailleur cage position. SRAM says changes to the drivetrain, and I'm guessing the shock change, might require you to do this again. When I first installed mine, I encountered dropped chain, and I had to redo the setup, since then it's been flawless. If that is something you want to try, it's pretty straightforward. Best of luck!
Presuming you mean B-axle tension, provided the chain is being tensioned properly to begin with, that shouldn’t cause the issue since once the chain rolls over the cassette the tension is between that and the idler. Or from the chainring to the idler if you were to pedal backwards, either way as long as the chain is tensioned it should stay on.
(Unless I’m misunderstanding you)
Hey! Some of the terminology might be going over my head. I know that the Transmission did away with the B Tension screw and adjustment. In the final step of setting up the transmission you have left the derailleur hanger loose, and you pull the derailleur body towards the back of the bike so the chain is tight, and then you torque down the derailleur. In my installation, I hadn’t done this properly and was dropping my chain off the chainring. Once I redid this step properly, I’ve not dropped a chain again.
I was going to mention that its easy to blame the chain but don’t mention its not the standard slash out of the box.
Great content as usual man. Bummer about the chain sitch!
Are you still not allowed to race in the UCI enduro?
Respect brother, u kept trying even though u were struggling.
Hi Lewis, I might have some news for your problem. I was the owner of a highpivot bike and mounted several at the shop. The top pulley were always with narrow/wide technology. Trek somehow did not use that for their downhill bike (when you look closely, last season Vergier lost numerous of times his chain) and I took a high definition look on your unboxing, and the teeth are not narrow wide or at least not as big as compared to other brand (Forbidden, Kavenz,...) on the higher pulley. There are some companes selling replacement pulleys (NS Billet for example) but the number of teeth and the fixing has to be the same than what you have on your Trek, which is pretty special.
Hope it helps, thanks for the video I learned something,
Peace
Could be the transmission rear mech… I know they need reset sometime after a knock, it’s just a case of loosing the rear axle and letting the mech fall back into place. I’m not 100% sure it is, but it’s worth a check.
Weak clutch too
Great riding! Shame about the chain on your bike! Any progress on the issue at all since the race day? Even getting in touch with Trek or looking at Forums etc?
Super interesting video! I’ve been riding my HB916 since April this year and not dropped a chain yet. Not had any issues with the high pivot/ idler idler setup whatsoever. Would be very interested to see what you think of Hope’s High pivot offering.
Sick video! I was curious what your action cam setup is? Thanks!
I had this issue on a traditional low pivot bike and I was noticing that the underside of the chainstay was absolutely SHREDDED from the chain flapping against it when I was in my highest gears hitting rougher stuff. and I noticed that with the bike in it's lowest gear (biggest gear, and therefore least amount of chain slack in the system), there was a HUGE range of motion left in the derailleur cage, so I took out 2 links out of my chain (which still left about an inch of movement in the cage when in the lowest gear, which seems to me to mean they shipped it with the chain far with too many links), tightened the resistance on my derailleur cage until I could JUST start to tell i added tension through my shift lever feel, and it has completely solved my issue. I'm not sure if the high pivot introduce enough new variables to render my solution moot, but It might be worth a try! it looked like you had basically no tension on you derailleur clutch.
One other thing Lewis, spoke to our store mechanic and he said that norco had a similar issue due to using a too soft aluminium for the idler pulley. They firmed it up with a tougher alloy and it fixed it apparently.
I wonder of Forbidden, Deviate or GT have had similar issues.
I've had 3 high pivot bikes going back to 2010. 2 canfield jedi (26" followed by 27.5") and now a norco range. The canfield bikes worked very well minus a few minor naggles not worth mentioning. The range has been a nightmare. I do feel a big difference but it brings both pros and cons. The norco in a size medium has you too forward in the bike imo, chainstay is too long. The balance makes some maneuvering more difficult (like jumps, jibs, popping over obstacles).
With the range... I've had (and seen on forums I'm not alone):
-Eats an idler every 250-500 miles, can't get new ones for 6mo+ during covid, bike was down 9 months at one point. They are cheap when you can get them, but supply is extremely limited to this day.
-convoluted cable routing makes a cable dropper frustrating to adjust saddle height and the spring tension on the rear mech has difficulty overcoming the cable tension - axs solved this problem after 700 miles of adjusting/replacing cables.
-tons of cable rattle unless you line the cables that remain with foam wrap
-bad geo imo
-poorly manufactured/designed - cable grommets are loose, cut outs for cables was wrong in the frame, pinching the cables, frame protection doesn't work (chain slap hits the carbon - wearing it out)
-did not like the factory shock/tune at all. ttx22m worked better out of the box (by a landslide)
-Norco support has been CRAP.
I'm probably forgetting a few things, but it's been a very frustrating ownership experience.
Yikes man
@@LewisBuchanan I'm hoping to get another high pivot in the future, and the slash is/was on my list, but this video was very PTSD inducing (reminiscent of a few bad days I had on the range)... let's see if the slash's problem(s) will be solvable! Looking forward to your next drop :)
Apart from that how does the bike feel? Especially compared to norco range? Does the high pivot work its magic?
Did you think to take a link out of the chain at try it after the race is over? Same trail etc.
Interesting. Definitely would like to hear more updates on this in the future...
Hey Lewis, My Forbidden Dreadnought has had some interesting issues as well… it’s because B tension and Chainguide tension are independent are hard to setup and leaves room for the chain to come off. I have to reduce chain length.
Good advice. That is what I was thinking... also check to make sure the clutch tension is correct on the rear derailleur. I was throwing the chain on my non-high pivot bike on the back pedal. I fiddled w everything until I finally cleaned and regreased the spring in there. These multi-pulley rigs make the set up even more difficult to get right.
Amazing riding. I had my Slash 8 gen 6 since launch. I don't race, but I´ve had 4 days in different bike parks. Riding everything from blue to blacks. Conditions have been far from smooth due to heavy rain this autumn. I've had zero chain drops (Shimano XT on the Slash 8) Could it possibly be a SRAM issue?
would it be possible to shorten the chain not using idler? or shorten it to have more stretch on derailer.
Would a Shouldered or caged top roller not work? Like the old twin plate chain devices of old
PR dudes: "He got 2nd place even without a chain, this is how good these bikes are!"
Unbelievable riding considering your issues Lewis. You'd expect better from Trek, hope you get sorted pal.
Was constantly happening with testing here aswell chain off lower idler through every little jump n knock interesting seeing yours coming off the top chain wheel ours was the bottom all the time
My mates away to try the shimano zee derailleur from his DH on it see if makes the chain tension tighter as that is a tight shifter it might work
All that drama for a difference you can't even notice.🤣
It might be the answer in DH but its hard to see the benefit anywhere else.
Keep up the good work Lewis.👍
Do you not carry a multi-tool (or whatever it needs to remove the top chain protector)?
Check the clutch on the rear derailleur. I was throwing the chain on rides and found out my clutch was sticking and the spring needed to be tightened and the b-screw adjusted. It is not high-pivot multi pulley system. Lots of moving parts there. Good luck. I'm sure you will figure it out.
My ptrain's idler is a built in aluminium guide, impossible for the chain to come off as everything is super tight. But then that is less than ideal in thick mud so you win some, you lose some
Could the bottom chain tensioner be too loosely set? If it is adjustable, then that's where I would start the troubleshooting.
Great video and congrats on 2nd place. Be interesting to see how it works with different drive trains e.g shimano mechanical. When you could pedal how did you find the shifting with the GX transmission? I’ve only ever ridden shimano mechanical so wanted to see if it’s worth switching.
its not worth it. Shimano arguably shifts smoother under load than transmission and is substantially quicker. If you want to make any dt upgrades get a GX axs upgrade kit and throw it on your shimano stuff, its a flawless combo. Faster and smoother than transmission. If i didnt work in the industry i wouldn't have bought XO transmission but here we are. save your money
@@dylananderson4314 Shimano have a stronger/adjustable clutch which can help massively with chain drop.
Damnn that’s no good at all! Have found though working at a store that sells trek that some of the bikes come with a chain that is a link or 2 too long? I would say this is probably what’s causing this! Did you put it together or a Trek dealer?
You did so well to come 2nd having no chain for some of the race , appreciate your honesty with all your new bikes ,I think seeing this is enough to put me off high pivot idler wheel bikes couldn't be doing with chain dropping that much, great content and riding as usual
I have a high pivot norco range I ride it hard asf never dropped a chain once had it for over a year now. Seems like maybe just this iteration of design from trek is shite. I love my high pivot I would not want to go back to normal chainring design. so dont let only treks version of the high pivot steer you away from them in general
@@miniwhinney1362thanks for letting me know
Nice race! Definitly want to know the outcome of how this gets fixed. espicially since im picking one of these up
Having a high pivot Deviate i have never dropped or jammed a chain, it's been flawless but it does have a big solid housing/guide for the idler, i rekon it's either the small idler guide not really being up to it or a setup issue, maybe even the transmission drivetrain.
Awesome pace and great footage. so frustrating having mechanical issues when just out riding, infinately worse when it's a race result affected. Perhaps getting it looked at by a mechanic, see if there's manufacturing fault?
Lewis, is there any adjustment in the pulleys? wondering if anything has come loose like it can with first rides on new bikes? Personally I've got no interest in the bike but a lot of interest in the Canyon. Mint result regardless!
Thanks! No adjustment on those pulleys apart from them bottom one you can slide. We are trying stuff to see if can limit this happening again
I had the exact same problem with my high pivot Norco Shore. It would constantly come off the pulley and get jammed inside by the frame. Ended up buying a different idler pulley that comes on a Forbidden Dreadnaught and it seemed to work better, although it still sometimes slips off. The newer pulley featured the "big tooth small tooth" which I assume made the difference between the OEM Norco one which had standard teeth.
My friend had the same problem with his Shore. Norco provide free of charge a new tighter chain guide to help with this as it is a known problem. He also installed a STFU, which completely solved the issue.
Go check out Paul Astons Norco Shore saga, I think he did find a solution in the end.
Dude, I appreciate your take that a bike should work when you buy it. It's a reasonable expectation. These bikes are a damn fortune to buy, they should work out of the box. I'd love to see this content continue. It's great to see real feedback about these frames. I hope you continue to get the resources to do this kind of work.
They do and they do really well. They don’t when you don’t set it up correctly. Still not sure how he managed to get a bike directly from track when they don’t do buyer direct.
@@Jeff-hz7xb Trek has their own shops mate. I have a bud that ordered a Session from their one of their shops and they shipped it for him.
@@kneawah yes I know but they are not direct as in you can’t get a bike shipped to you. You need to get it from a dealer which builds the bike.
@@Jeff-hz7xbagree why does no one mention that the bike is not standard? Different suspension he probably didn’t set it up right can’t blame the bike then.
Did you see the astonmtb & Frameworks opinions on the idler? I'm pretty sure they said the treks location gives better antisquat on paper but you can't notice it, the disadvantage is the chain between the idler and chainring is not under any tension and intact it grows in length
Hey bud, as some one below suggested, my first thought would be to take off 1-2 links, could also adjust the B screw a bit for extra tension. Other then that i can only think of some missalignment. Try som STFU chain guids on the seatstay maybe. But my bet would be with to much chain slack. Sit on her and feel how much slack you get at sag, my bet is to much😅
Hope you can figuer it out ✌️🙏🏻
Would be interesting to see you test something on the other end of the spectrum and compare. Something super simple, single pivot like a starling twist or murmer.
Yup’ I’ll be trying my canyon torque out. Super simple design
@@LewisBuchananstill a horst link with loads of bearings, a single pivot like an orange or starling is a much better example of a simple bike imo
@@samdavidson7022 Even orange admits it sucks. hence why they finaly changed.
Love my specialized enduro! However I'm not riding a tour de gnar anytime soon. You rock Lewis!
@@LewisBuchananwhen you need bushes for the Canyon linkage ,give me a shout, will hook you up.
It just needs a much better chain guide there on the top pulley, that's the beginning and end of the solution. Mucking about with chain length and mech tension may help but it isn't going to reliably fix an issue on the other side of the chain. It's conceivable that the fact that the lower idler stops chain growth under compression is robbing the bike of tension in the chain as the suspension compresses which could be making it worse. You could test that by routing the chain so it doesn't run on the lower pulley (probably need to change the chain length) and see what happens.
good on you for speaking about bikes failing matey 👍👍👍👍
So what do You think, its frame design problem or the drivetrain? because somehow i think that is more drivetrain problem,because axs is not that stiff like cable derailleurs,and the chain design for this drivetrain is quite interesting...
Check chain length, B limit on rear mech (think the gx ones come with a little tool to set it perfect) and chainline
Looking at that this week
This shouldn't be an issue though. Came straight from the factory set up on the bike
@@BasicBodThor Im a trek dealer and have been in the industry for 5 years as a mechanic not all bikes come perfect out the box regardless of manufacturer. Generally most boxed bikes require indexing of gears, check spoke tension and a bit of light assembly.
Holy smokes the pace you have with or without chain 😅
Was this ever the case on your druid back in the day?
Check for a stiff link in chain and a burred high idler or bent tooth?
I'm having the same problem with my Commencial supreme DH bike. It was initially fine for the first 3 outings, but the last time I was out, the chain came off the high idler every time right out of the start hut at Fort William, on the straight before the first right hand corner. That section is smooth!
I tried a new rear mech on the day as the B-adjustment had oddly sheared the previous ride.
I couldn't spot anything obviously wrong. The new rear mech didn't fix it. So I gave up on the day. Since then, I've had a really good inspection. I found the chain had a stiff link. Now, I'm not sure if that's a result of the chain becoming jammed 3 times, it's highly likely. I've replaced the chain and removed a bur on two teeth on the high idler, as a result of the chain jamming. Other than that, everything looks like new. I won't know if this has fixed it until I get back out. My next option is to shim out the gaps around the high idler. Good luck with your issue. Let us know how it goes.
Ps great result considering your issues!
On the day your only solution was to leave it in 2nd/3rd for max chain tension. The high pivot gives less top chain growth but more lower growth which makes the derailleur's clutch do twice the work and overheat
Only had one high pivot bike. The only difference was how annoying it was to have to use two chains 💀
😂🤷🏼♂️
Some say there is a one chain solution offered these days.
Have you set up the T-Type correctly? It might need more tension. In my bike shop, we experimented with that and it actually makes a huge difference. (By loosening the main bolt in the derailleur and pulling it back. )
You're a better man than me. By that third chain jump I would have been swearing a blue streak.
I get my stuff cheap from factories, on the frame where brakes need to mount, out of the mold, they need to be tooled flat so the brake mounts are true, some times I need to use a washer to get the brake mount into the position so the shoes don't rub, for your chain guide this may be the same situation, You may need to use a washer to bring the guide off the frame 1mm or so, so it won't drop as easily. Nice effort on getting that 2nd Place!
Félicitation pour le podium dans ces conditions, je pense que le soucis vient du t-type et bon de la poulie de renvois car en XT le velo est dingue toit comme en EWS où le velo fzit des podium également.
Incredible....i Hope Trek will be give motivation on this problem😮
I wonder if the GT force , the bike Trek copied has these same issues ?
Great riding and result.
I was really looking forward to this video, having a ‘21 slash myself, but damn that’s sh1tt7 luck/design/bad installation…
Does that top idler have any float to accommodate the different chain angles? The top guide looks like it could be improved ( shouldn’t need it but new stuff needs tweaking sometimes) to funnel the chain on ( nerd with a 3d printer could make one )
Bottom idler- again does it float? When I saw how close the idler was to derailleur I wondered if it would cause problems. Bigger guides would help keep it on, but the first and easiest place to look is the derailleur tension, and shorter chain… Best of luck getting it sorted mate
I loved bike looking at it high pivot sessions are awesome rode a few but this was my worries more problems i also like new drive train but wondered about clutch being loose guess it is
Well done on the race! It could be the rear mech. Try to loosen the rear axel and then pull back on the mech and tighten the mech from the drive side, think it's an 8mm hex. Hope it helps.
Thanks
This is what I was thinking - tension on the chain seems slack. Mine is nowhere near that loose.
Great video and riding as always. It seems like either the chain is to long so it's loose and coming off (which if it is true it is so dumb cuz the chain is the one you got with the bike) or maybe derailleur has some kind of problems with clutch and tension is just to low and this happens. I don't think it's problem with the frame cuz I haven't seen any complains bout it but maybe I'm wrong. Keep up the great work and riding!
Thanks! We’ll take a closer look
@@LewisBuchanan Good look
Dumb Question but why is it that in down hill races and in this case enduro races the rider leaves before the count down is done, does that mess with the timing?
I am year 2 on a Deviate Highlander, live in Ontario, and ride a lot in Quebec and Ontario. I went for the high pivot because of the rock slabs and rocky tech where we ride, Unlike My Mondraker and Whyte not High Pivot it has never dropped the chain. That Slash just doesn't look right but what do I know. Looking at Canyon for my wife so keen to see how you go on that. Great content, just found you while looking for something on Scotland.
Seems like you need a perfect working chain for high pivot to work. That frame damage is a bummer.
Trek is working on adding a 3rd idler wheel now....
Good Job and managed the race with this problem. I‘m interesting what was the Problem!
Can you say we good the bike pedals uphill in comparison to another enduro bike from you? Thanks for your honest experience. ✌🏼
Thanks! Bike pedals good so far uphill. Full review video coming soon
The Norco Shore models have had similar idler chain retention issues (I own one). Definitely early adoption woes, but when it works, it’s rad
He ran a Norco HP for a while .
Had a similar issue with the forbidden dreadnought. Lower idler pulley bent and went into the wheel, causing the chain to eat it. I since removed the lower pulley and haven't had an issue since. I do expect the chainring to wear faster with less wrap
Interesting
@@LewisBuchanan they’re not very robust. Have a look at cascade lower chain guide. Has worked flawlessly for me, and the dreadnought has less inherent chain wrap than the slash HP
Thanks I’ll take a look
In one part of the video it looks like the chain got stuck on chain ring teeth, have they sent bike with wrong size chain ?
Don’t think so.
Is the B-Tension set correctly? On the T-Type you have the app to set, just run though and confirm that is correct and the Mech bolt is 35nm tight.
Doing all this tomorrow to check for sure! Thanks
Insane riding bro! Could it have been a problem with the derailleur not tensioning the chain enough, or maybe too many links in the chain? Just thinking of other explanations. Good job on 2nd place despite your struggle!
Thanks
When I encounter these types of advancements in bicycles, my initial reaction is one of interest, but I tend to gravitate towards established, time-tested solutions.
Same problem with the forbidden dreadnoughts. Had a friends drip a chain in 5 races out of 6. He sold it and got a nukeproof. No point having a race bike you dont feel confident to race on.
this is when trek is learning why narrow-wide idlers exist...
on the uphill parts of the trails on course when your chain came of did you just run with the bike or did you pump hard enough to have a little bit of speed?
I had to just pump and gain any momentum possible 😂 was slow at some points haha
@@LewisBuchanan I can just imagine the adrenaline of running up a hill with your bike whilst the clocks still going 😂
very interesting, me and 2 of my mates all got the 9.8 t-type and we all think that there is a chance they have come with a few too many links in the chain. Haven't had any problems with mine expect one witch was rider error were it came off only the bottom pully. My mates haven't had any problems at all to my knowledge. Saying that we haven't done any racing on them yet just some dh and enduro laps.
Very sad to see hope you can get it sorted.
You have insta for pics? What you think about pedaling up?
The problem with that kind of setup is there's nothing tensioning the chain between the upper cassette and the forward chain rings when there's no pedalling putting the chain under load, so there are more chances for the chain to jump off the upper rings with small teeth.
Your mates, Evil Wrecker looks sick :)
Good that Trek got in touch, hope this gets sorted man. I guarantee you are not the only one suffering these issues.
Otherwise, congratulations on 2nd spot, bike is clearly capable, with these issues fixed it could be ground breaking.
Extra half turn of B tension?
Happening the same to them all mate! Pink bike UK done a review on it same issues! Like i said about my mate he's way try his Zee derailleur from his DH on it with the short hanger as it comes in 3 lengths it's just slapping about that chain on them its definitely put me off one
How did it pedal up?
What’s happened to the quality? Can’t set a resolution, bit lot of a pixel mess
I would maybe suggest the chain isn’t getting enough tension from the clutch in the mech which lead to the chain coming off over bumps and harsh impacts because the mech isn’t providing the tension the chain needs if that makes sense. I believe with the new sram mechs you can change the tension of the clutch to make it stronger or weaker,
Watched a few videos of this bike from the reviews. Chain tension looks diabolical on the slightest uneven terrain. Guessing sram and shimano havent battle tested their kit with a chain with as many links as the slash.
It just shows how fast you are to get second chainless 💪,
Stick with the Propain maybe ...that was a sweet bike.
I honestly don't see the hype behind high pivot bikes. I just might not be fast enough to tell the difference. I rode a high pivot DH bike up at whistler back in August and while it felt good, I couldn't really tell if the high pivot was really doing anything special. My current bike is a standard ol Horst Link (RM Altitude) and honestly the only difference I notice was the high pivot hung up less on roots, but that could've been down to it being a 200mm travel DH bike vs a 160 travel enduro bike, the horst link on my bike is still smooth as butter and holds traction extremely well as you'd expect for horst.
Do the lower guide wheel and the idler feature a narrow/wide tooth profile similar to the chainwheel? If not I could see that being the problem. There doesn´t seem to be that much chain tension on them in the first place so I guess the clutch alone can´t keep the chain on reliably. Maybe everything being caked in mud added to the problem? And at least on camera the trails didn´t even look that gnarly. Not too much in terms of big compressions/drops or massive rock gardens. Makes me wonder how Treks product testing looked like? 😬