Why I’m Binning My £5000 NEW Trek Slash!
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- čas přidán 8. 10. 2023
- This is the end for my journey on the all new Trek Slash. It’s been nothing but a pain and it’s super frustrating. I came across someone when I was in wales over the weekend and he mentioned that he has been riding his new slash and hasn’t been able to ride it without the chain coming off and is experiencing the same issues as me. Trek or Sram can hopefully figure it out but I have not been able to improve anything even with their kind help. What’s next? I have no idea…
- Sport
My mate has the same bike and dropped the chain on nearly every run at Dyfi bike park.
Yup… tht sucks
@@LewisBuchanan - did you get the trek recall notice about the chain guide having a 5mm spacer installed instead of the required 7mm spacer ?? Seems to have cured the issues. Would be interested to know your thoughts on the bike after the fix 👍 (assuming you can rescue the bike from the skip)
Mate has one and rides it like he's possessed, not drops. Runs mechanical Shimano.
Have you tried what Pinkbike said?
Pinkbike writes this in their review:
After reaching out to Trek and MRP, it became clear that the guide had been improperly installed from factory, with 5mm instead of the intended 7mm of spacers between the frame and the guide. 2mm didn't seem like it would make much difference to me, but after changing the spacing and taking the bike to Pemberton for a huge weekend of riding, I was unable to get the chain to drop again. The trails up there are rough, fast, and full of good chain-challenging moments, so it's possible things are fixed for good.
A rider as capable as you reviewing this stuff is gold 👍
Thanks
Did Trek test this bike?
@@chadclark2070 Probably not
Well that means that marketing is a thing and real life is another. I have been concerned about all those high pivot trending, at least for Enduro bikes. This shows that they have their use, but not for every use. Thanks for a clear review 🤘🏻
@@fabriciofracchia6732 I own a Cannondale Jekyll and have never had an issue with the chain, stays on great. The only issue I have had is a linkage bolt popping out, but that was my fault as I probably should check them more lol!
This is great content Lewis. Honest reviews are appreciated and I hope you will have a resolution soon. In the meantime, you can reminisce about Balfa BB7 frame design and how well it worked. That and the ancillotti were the best frames I’ve ever had. They don’t make ‘em like they used to :)
Thanks
Coming from a bike mechanic of over 15 years, the only thing I can see from your slow-mo video is slack chain between the top idler and the chainring. This could only be caused by a sticky freehub putting forward rotation on the chain, otherwise the freehub should always spin back taking up any slack on the top side of the chain. This could also be caused by the chain jumping on the cassette and causing it to "jam", pulling on the derailleur and then putting slack chain on the top.
I would try a different rear wheel before blaming the bike, but it could also just be the bike ;)
Sounds smart and what is actually about changing all the parts of the drivetrain ? You could take the same line of parts but just new ones...could also just be that one tooth, one chainring what ever is maybe weird produced
Hi, I dropped into the comments to say something similar. Watching it at 0.25 speed you can see on the 1st chain drop the slack appear between the cassette and the idler that then whips round the chain and throws it off.
Based on that I would say that it's a freehub or the bearing in the idler that's to blame.
This has got to be it
@@jimthesa1ntyou both close but the issue is actually from the rebound of the bike, when he compresses off the lip his chain length increases, then as he unweights the bike with a fast rebound the chain is left to become loose in free space as the cassette and front sprocket distance decreases rapidly, leaving the whole chain to become weightless and floating off.
Only solution here is a idler pully with a fast acting tensioner to remove the slack during the rapid change from rapid decrease is chain growth! The tensioner would have to be very responsive tho!
The tension provided by a derailleur is deffos not fact acting enough through such a large distance needed to pull that chain back tight.
The problem with an issue like that for the average Joe is they are at the mercy of the shop they bought it from and in my experience they can often give you a million reasons for not properly sorting the bike, you could be left with an expensive lemon.
Hopefully trek will sort it out, seems to be they could greatly improve it by making the idlers better. Hp bikes drop chains a lot anyways and not too many people seem to complain so I think most people will be ok.
Facts, I recently bought a high pivot bike (I won't name the brand or bike yet until their customer service gets back with me) and the finish is atrocious. On the surface, it's a beautiful bike, but the brake hose routing through the rear triangle has a sharp bend in the tubing (it has an internal tube to guide the hose through the seatstay). It also is rough and may abrade the brake hose. The head tube was faced so thoroughly that the headset compression ring dust cap doesn't cover the facing (so you see raw scraped carbon around the top of the headset). They also did not pack the bike with everything (wrong tire, I received a 27.5 tire for a 29er bike and no PowerLink for the SRAM t-type chain). Now, as a shop employee, I know that we'd build that bike up, get a tire that fits and order a t-type power link, and do what it takes to route the brake hose. We'd sell the bike as is. The customer would always have trouble with the rear brakes, I have no doubt in my mind. As it stands, I have no clue what I would do if the manufacturer doesn't warranty this faulty frame. I guess I would sell it and let the buyer know what they're getting, and name and shame the bike man. Still, the shop is the ultimate arbiter and they aren't always looking out for the end user's best interest. I doubt many shops would send the bike back, in my case.
If I was Lewis I would send the video to Trek and make them pay for that Lemon .. 🤬
@@DarkFeedFPV Lewis has enough viewership that I'm certain this will get back to Trek and they'll make it right. 😁 But! Never buy Trek.
@@seanrequiredfieldcannotbel1362 so true, I will never be a trek again
I fully agree with you on this man,I was considering buying one so thank you for the info man! Too expensive to be that bad...
What I’m here for! Just sharing my personal experience
Jeepy have a look at the hope hb916 if you're in the UK. Similar looks but it's supposed to be better.
Great review! Thank you for diving further into this issue. Good troubleshooting process! Curious if Trek comes out with more information soon.
So I have been riding the Forbidden Dreadnought for 2 years and switched back from the old gx AXS to a shimano drivetrain. My collegues on bikes with "normal" suspension designs never had issues with AXS. For me it seems that the clutch on at least the old AXS is just too weak and cannot be adjusted at all. I did have a couple of chain drops (I am not using an idler behind the chainring) on rougher stuff but never again with the adjustable clutch on the shimano derailleur. The bike was loud as hell as well because of the AXS derailleur moving around so much and the chain slapping. I am not sure if the transmission is the same though. On your slow-motion footage it almost looks like it. If you play back the drop footage really really slow with youtubes 0.25x speed you can clearly see that the derailleur stays up top for after the initial impact and thats seems to cause the loose chain to come of after the following chunk. Before that right after dropping off the slab when the rear is rebounding and getting shorter (as on pretty much all HPP bikes) the loose part of the chain seems to wander forward beyond the idler on top. Before the impact on the floor the chain is already pretty loose between the idler and the chain ring. If you ask me, I'd try out a drivetrain with a stronger adjustable clutch for chain tension.
btw you can go through videos on youtube frame by frame with , and .
After looking at the footage im 100% sure that, like you said that the chain cant go back fast enough when rotating the crank backwards wether its due to to the top pulley positon or too much friction in the drivetrain. You can clearly see the chain links making a little "v" on the chainring already in the air, and then the impact on the ground + the loose chain around the chainring makes the chain come off.
Thank you so much for providing a real review of the bike; it’s so hard to find unsponsored reviews
Could it be bad/sticky bearings on the freehub body? That would basically cause the chain to have more tension at the bottom and possibly slacken at the top. Add the high-pivot+idler design which shortens the axle-idler distance as the suspension compresses, further exacerbating the low tension and slack at the top, that's basically your recipe for a dropped chain.
I added T type and MRP to my dreadnought a few months back. It’s mullet with ziggy so almost identical in appearance to the trek. I have smashed it at dyfi week in and week out and had no issues at all with the drivetrain. What you have experienced absolutely should not be happening. Hopefully trek can sort this for you as there is clearly some design issue that’s been overlooked somewhere. Great content, fingers crossed for you as 5k is a lot of time and effort to go down the drain.
Dreadnought FTW!!
IIRC from some of the tech talks I've seen on this bike, Trek has designed the rear suspension with the lower idler to intentionally limit an increase of chain tension throughout the travel (similar to how the upper idler eliminates pedal kickback, the lower idler prevents lower chain tension from imparting forces on the suspension system via the derailleur cage). They showed clips of them cycling the suspension through the travel and the derailleur cage did not move.
I'm sure a big brand like Trek has tested the hell out of the bike, but maybe an increase of chain tension as the suspension compresses would keep the chain on better?
I got to demo the Slash 9.8 AXS the day it was launched. Rode some of the roughest stuff in the Lake District and had no issues with the drive train. I even tried to shift gears as badly as I could - under load and in quick succession - the T-Type was flawless. Bike road great. That being said...my take-away was I wouldn't buy one 'cause I'm rubbish at mechanics and there's just so much going on with the drive train I'd be stressed out about cleaning and servicing it.
Videos like this and the previous one make me love my hardtail even more.
Clutch on the derailleur is likely not stiff enough. My axs had zero chain offs until a few weeks ago, now it happens occasionally. Checked the rear mech and it there was little resistance compared to a friend's brand new (also replacement due to bad clutch) derailleur
This
Those slow mo’s at the start just make me want to get out on my bike! It’s great to see you back doing DH again and also some gnarly free ride.
My buddy just got the new slash and had been riding the hell out of it. He’s like 275 pounds and this bike has been an absolute tank for him. No drivetrain issues yet
Is the top idler pulley narrow/wide? I have a Norco Shore 2 and had similar issues with the chain always coming off. I concluded it was because the idler pulley wasn’t narrow/wide. Bought the Forbidden idler and haven’t had my chain come off since.
I've called Trek out on a couple of frame design issues in the past, they sent out replacement bikes both times.... Same issue, both customers got refunds and bought a different brand of bike 💁🏻♂️
What was the issue? What were the bikes?
Gutted mate seems there not all they have been made out to be hope you get something sorted with it bud and good luck in future races
Great to see honest reviews, there are so many industry plants with so many biases pushing new parts and bikes onto consumers, mountain biking is fucking terrible for it at the moment. These reviews are a breath of fresh air mate. Cheers!
Top quality review there thanks you’ve potentially saved me and a lot of other people time stress and money. Honestly, gutted though, as it’s a sick looking bike.
I subbed. Thanks for the honest review. We need more of this type of content.
Thanks for subbing
This is a great video Lew. Very valuable feedback/review.
Finally an honest rider! 👏 ❤
Idlers cause unwanted tension in the chain and they break constantly. Single speed for the win. Canyon Torque does the same thing with no idlers at all.
Man I’d look into a Santa Cruz nomad. They have an ever so slightly rearward axle path. Just went to one from a RM Slayer. With it now being mullet it would tick all your boxes and not have any ridiculous drivetrain nonsense going on.
That’s super weird! I have the exact same bike and size. (I sized down to ml for a more playful bike as well) I’ve done trails way more chunky than these trails shown and I’ve never had my chain fall off…
If you pause it on the drop the chain is already off before you land. Something is making the chain slack around the chainring. Other people have the said the mech, could also be the chain is a bit damaged or has a sticky link, and maybe the top guide is catching on the chain.
great Video as always.
how would you compare the riding to the Norco Range ?
My bike used to lose the chain in the same way as well. Turned out it was a worn chainring and the tension in the derailleur was very weak. I now run shimano and NEVER have a problem becasue there’s an actual clutch
It’s like the age old saying, If ain’t broke don’t fix it 🤷🏼♂️ companies always trying to reinvent the wheel and it always just causes more headaches and potential failures and problems.
What if you pull the idle wheel that the chain keeps falling off closer to rhe crank? Might put more tension on the chain in that spot
Defeating the purpose
After listening to you describe what you wanted in a bike, i do really think an arrival would be perfect.
At 5:28, look at the bit of chain between the high idler and the chainring. It's NOT a straight line. As if the cassette rotated slightly in the drive direction forward when the suspension unloaded, pushing the chain towards the high idler (but your chainring was stationary when going off the jump), and that introduced slack inbetween the high idler and the chainring. It's very obvious. When you landed, that slack was still present, and the chain merely stepped off the idler from the impact alone. Trek almost needs to add yet another tensioner between the high idler and the chainring to prevent a backpedal induced chain jump-off
Noticed the same thing, and I think there's an issue with a tight upper pulley or maybe free-hub, chain getting stuck somewhere in the derailleur, or simply weak chain tension. Lewis should to backpedal sharply and try to find what could cause this. Nothing what a competent bike mechanic couldn't solve.
Damn, good eye. It's like the hub isn't freewheeling properly and is pushing the chain forward but it has nowhere to go because the cranks aren't moving.
a draggy hub cassette driver perhaps.....@@bearded4glory809
The chain was coming off the front of the chainring before he even hit the ground.
@@krushiXX Yup, you nailed it. The free-hub has more drag than the idler. The chain is being pushed forward by the cassette, rotating the idler, which gathers the chain up at the stationary chainring, creating enough slack to pop the chain off. I'd try a different rear wheel.
Hey Lewis, I don't know if you'll see this but pinkbike had problems with it in their huck to flat field test. They realigned the lower pulley wheel by 2mm and apparently solved all the problems.
That’s heartbreaking, those idler gears seem like really new technology that perhaps havnt been fully vetted
As a bikeshop mechanic for more than 10 years - when you buy a bike from a shop the mechanics at that shop will have removed the bike from the box and fully checked the bike is built correctly and the gears and brakes are functioning as they should. After a break-in period the shop will usually offer a “free first service” to dial in anything that might be wrong (like indexing adjustment).
If the bike has come from Trek’s overseas manufacturing facility straight to you in a box then anything might be wrong with it. Typically these are thrown together as quickly as possible with little to no grease and shipped to distribution centers to be correctly assembled by the bike shop that is selling it.
This does not seem to be incorrectly assembled - this seems like a completely flawed design that will never work…
There are 2 types of boxed new bikes, manufacturer to dealer, that works as you've described, and manufacturer direct to consumer, like YT, Canyon, Trek, etc. Lewis is right in that the bike should be ready to ride out of the box, BUT I think that it's still a good idea to have direct to consumer bikes checked out by a mechanic. Nevertheless his issue seems like it may be a design flaw. High pivot mania is adding so much complexity to mountain bikes for so little advantage. World cup downhill and enduro races are still being won just fine on traditional linkages where any real advantage would show itself in such slim margins.
I worked for a Trek dealer in the UK - I was unaware they had moved to a DTC model - where I live now, in the USA they have done the opposite (they are buying the local shops and rebranding them as Trek shops).
When I left the UK the only real DTC brand was Canyon - and every one of those we unboxed we would charge £150 to put together and they were terrible…
there is a Trek dealer about 30 mins drive from Peebles, used to be an independent shop, as you say@@workshopninjathe1st
I think it very well could be the clutch in the derailleur. I don’t think it’s allowing the correct amount of tension which is allowing play in the chain and allowing it to come off under bumps. I think a potential quick and easy thing to do would be installing a different transmission derailleur from a friend or a bike shop demo bike and give that a try.
Good call.
Thanks for honesty 🙏
I struggle to imagine that a flaw this large would make it through Trek RnD (totally possible but seems unlikely). The only thing I can think of is that you are unlucky and have copped a dud frame with sections of the tubing out of tolerance. I would personally pull the frame apart, and when rebuilding it, check that all bolts line up correctly and go in easily. If there is any fighting required you know they didn't have it in the jig right when welding or something. Definitely a major PITA
Mega review, thought the flow between talking to camera and related bike shots was excellent
I planned to order one of these later today. I'll hold off for now and consider other options.
Did you end up doing a full review of the Spindrift?
Well if you want a testimony for the spindrift, everyone I've watched on youtube loves theirs, and the guy I ride with has one. It feels very capable and hasnt had a single issue
I went frame by frame at 5:25 and the chain between the chainring and the top idler wasn't tight for the whole video clip. I suspect that the derailer can't put enough tension on the chain to overcome the drag in the free hub. Have you checked how much tension your derailer has vs other derailers? Maybe you got one with a weak spring or maybe that model just has a weaker spring than others.
Sounds like the GX AXS isn't a good fit for this bike and the XT Shimano might fix it. Would love to see someone test this out.
Maybe a standard derailleur you could adjust a b-tension on instead of set and forget transmission? That sucks. Especially since this never happened on the high pivot Druids and dreadnoughts. Nice review!
Check the Nm of the derailleur Lewis
Supposed to be 35nm, that new sram doesn’t work properly otherwise
I just rode my Druid v2 this weekend. Descended over 10k feet and not even a single worry of the chain coming off.
I would have thought the idler should be sprung loaded to take up the slack when the bike is heavily compressed?
Is the crankset perfectly alligned? Or could it be missing/ using one to many spacers causing the front ring to sit slightly out of line with the two idlers?
@LewisBuchanan thank you for your reviews. chain issue aside, how does it compare to norco range on a trail?
If you can find an older SRAM derailleur try it with that. I've noticed the clutch in newer SRAM derailleurs aren't as taught as they used to be so the chain is just too sloppy.
A few things that fucked with my dreadnought: broken hub axel. Derailleur loose.
Also, is it possible your rear triangle was hit in shipping? Alloy bend.
The box it came in didn't show a scratch or dent at all.
Could it be a difference in the width of the chain links? I almost wonder if maybe Sram’s flattop chain is a little less tall, making the chain guides less effective.
I agree with what someone said here about the clutch being weak having seen in that slow mo just how slack the chain is getting but unlikely that, maybe just nature of those new derailleurs. However, totally agree that the upr idler guide should be further forward OR if you look at Yeti’s proto DH bike have a guide similar to that over the upr idler. They may have had a similar issue and made that to fix it
You have to think too, the longer the chain the harder the clutch has to work. Shimano clutches are adjustable for this and SRAM ones aren't.
@@kingflynxi9420 are they adjustable for the chain length? I thought only for how hard it was for it to ‘break away’. Chain length shouldn’t matter as, if the chain is the correct length, won’t affect the angle/position of the derailleur in each gear and will always be the same regardless of length.
Maybe you would like a Kavenz VHP16? That's what I want to try next! I wanted a HP bike and being from Quebec, Canada, wanted a Devinci Spartan but I would have to wait for a refreshed version with steeper seattube...and it won't be this year so I was looking for everything else. They all lose their chain or are reallyyyy heavy. I wanted so bad that new Slash but so happy I waited a couple of days before ordering it as I saw those heavy weights... then I saw that in pretty much all those reviews they kind of thought (not always wrote it that way lol) that it was not so good to climb and not so good to descend! Like it was a okay bike to do everything but not greaattt bike like they thought a HP would be. The Kavenz was too expensive for me in Canada but in all the reviews I saw, it seems to be the perfect bike!! It's in aluminium but lighter that pretty much all those carbon HP bikes!! Don't know if it would be solid enough for a pro rider like you but I think you should try to contact them?! Only thing bothering me is the internal cables but otherwise it seems to be really nice! I am just waiting for their new V7 version with 3 different chainstay lenght.
have you tried a new derailleur?
The slash's idler is on the arm and not the pivot meaning the location of the idler moves, basically acting like a weak clutch between the chainring and idler.
I believe they had similar issues on the session and why we seen prototype arms on that bike a few times.
damn, was really hyped for this bike
I was too
Could you put the bike on a stand, unbolt the shock at one end and then see how the chain moves as you lift the rear wheel up and down through the travel with the chainring held static. That would replicate what happened on that big landing. Would be interesting to see if big amounts of slack are introduced between top idler and chainring.
Lewis uploaded another video introducing the bike a couple weeks ago and included a demo video from Trek that showcase the chain movement / pivot like you've described, was pretty interesting
@@AJRMTB just watched the Trek vid. It doesn’t address what happens to the chain between the top idler and the chainring. I think there would be value in disconnecting the shock to do an experiment. Also what happens if the pedal rotates slightly fwd or back during the jump - does mech. Front wheel spinning fwds too so that cassette can’t rotate back. 🥼🥽👨🏻🔬
It’s weird to think that my 2020 GT Force 29 Alloy was lighter than the Slash even in it’s stock configuration. Came with some pretty heavy wheels, full NX drivetrain, and doesn’t have an ounce of carbon on it. Full bike weighed in at 38 lbs stock, 36.8 lbs as I have it set up now.
Yea, modern bikes are getting heavier
I'd suggest trying it without a axs transmission setup to see if the problem still happens.
Its common knowledge chains come off from side to side movement, basically the wide link of a chain will hook on the top of a chainring tooth and derail itself.
The top pulley on the Trek doesnt have narrow wide teeth to stop this, the teeth are also very shallow, the lower idler is even worse.
Having mega tight clutch tension would help, if it was adjustable, but basically the design is just flawed.
Running two chainrings with narrow wide teeth can cause issues if the chain skips, but it should never skip like that - the top pulley needs to have a fully wrapped around guide if using standard teeth.
The bottom guide needs to be ditched or again use a much taller guide to stop the chain jumping off - one look at the Commencal V5 will show you whats necessary to overcome the issue.
Im riding a deviate claymore and the chain never came off, i can just recommend you trying it if you liked high pivot
Same thing on a Dreadnought with prev gen GX AXS here, only thing that stopped it was the updated 'Race Guide' for the idler.
Great production man! 👍
I have a high pivot bike too (Actofive P-Train) never lost my chain. I think its because my idler has a narrow wide design with longer tooth. Also the chain guide on the idler has a better design.
I think pivot has don't high pivot right on the test bikes using 2 chains like it's alot more complex but remove pretty much also issues of having such a big chain
Its surprisingly common in the industry for bikes to need assembly and tweaking out the box by a qualified mechanic. Even the legal classification of a 'true' wheel for sale is quite wide and ive had to adjust spokes out of the box, bleed brakes, add spacers and trim chains. That being said these problems on your bike are inexcusable and quite baffling, im leaning towards a design flaw somewhere since you checked so many different parameters.
The norco was sick tho just think about it with full Öhlins ❤
I am curious, did you experience any issues with the drivetrain on your old Norco Range? You rode that for a fair while and it is also High Pivot.
Trek store mechanic here, the only thing that I can think of is the eye to eye size of the new shock you installed. Is it identical to the stock shock? If not this could affect the rear axle path during compression. Also I would recommend checking the freehub body, if it doesn't spin freely it can cause the chain to bunch up between idlers when you stop pedaling suddenly. Best of luck.
I think the gx trasmition isnt desinged for 2 idlers, because its a lot harder to pull the chain with to more idlers. You could try it without the lower idler like most other high pivot bikes do.
You need both idlers because otherwise there is almost no chain wrap on the front chainring. Its the same reason why the original druid had a guide at the bottom. On the druid v2 forbidden moved the top idler back so that there was naturally more wrap so they could ditch the lower guide.
Kinda crazy that Trek didn't have this problem in all their testing.
also I had a similar problem with an older bike, I think a much shorter chain, and much less lower guide tension would do the job, on the lower side, the chain should be almost horizontal, just a bit of pullup on the chain, and maybe move the lower guide closer to the chainring if possible, that decreases the tension on the derailleur, if the springs in it are less stretched, the derailleur can much better actuate. you can confirm the latter with switching over to a saint derailleur for example, because they have bull strength springs, that can somewhat work with very bad chain tension. if it doesn't occur with a saint, it's probably about chain tension, and apply stuff I mentioned above(hopefully)
@@bearded4glory809 bingo. And I just built a Druid v2 and smashed it all weekend and not a single issue w the chain
Move the lower idler in between the high pivot and chainring and add a tensioner
I've designed a high pivot bike, you need to have the lower idler as high as possible to have the lower chainline as lose to passing thru the pivot. This reduces the amount of "stretch" thru the travel. Then set chain as short as possible.
So glad I bought the heavily discounted gen 5 carbon. Bike is simple, it works
I have the gen 5 Slash 8 alloy and had for like a year and a half. Since I've had it, I only dropped the chain only once with the gx drivetrain; I don't even use a chain guide or bash guard. The weight was around 35 lbs stock with pedals (I upgraded the tires and fork so now its around 37 lbs). The bike rips. Sorry to hear the next gen was giving you these types of issues. I honestly didn't like the added complexity myself of the high pivot system when I first seen it.
What are you going to do with the bike now?? Really selling it or still keeping it and keeping an eye out for other ppl with the same problem and or possible solutions from trek or sram?
The top Idler Ideally needs to be narrow wide that will stop it dropping off the top. As for the bottom one it looks like it could do with being closer to the chainring, is it possible to adjust this? I have a GT force that is very similar (hight pivot with idler) and have no problems with the chain coming off. On the GT the top idler wheel is narrow wide and I have set the chain guide up so it is very close to the chainring.
What do you think of Norco? Just bought a 2021 Sight. Loving it so far
I remember you had a Druid Forbbiden years ago. And you also tried the Dreadnought. I don't remember you having this kind of problem. At least you didn't talk about it. I have a Deviate Highlander 150. For my part, best bike ever. I feel really good with it and never have the chain problem you had. For your type of ride/competition, perhaps you could try the Deviate Claymore. This bike seems rip and I have never seen this kind of problem on this bike either.
Really sorry for you that the competition didn't go as planned. But you still got a good score despite the problems.
I hope you find the right fit for you.
Get back on the Optic! I went and bought one after watching your videos so cheers for that mate
I have a norco shore (high pivot) and on my first ride, I had the chain drop once after doing a 180 and landing pretty rough in fakie, I installed a lower chain roller (LG1+) much the same as what comes stock on this slash and I have not had a single chain drop since
Interesting that @5:26 you can actually see the chain bunch up between the idler and chainring as the suspension comes to full extension, quite a visible kink in the chain. As you come past the camera you can see where one of the links is already popping off the narrow wide chainring and that's the one that gets thrown as you land and compress the suspension.
Is it possible, that the high pivot system eliminates the pedal kick back so much that the chain loses its nature tension?
Which is usually provided by the staining on the pedal on a "normal" drivetrain and giving always tension on the upper half of the chain.
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Ps you had a Norco high pivot once, did you experience the same thing with that?
Cheers
Peet
What happens if you put a “normal” cable actuated drive train on?
Completely right in your analysis. If it is a bicycle to take it to its maximum and that an anchoring system does not work, nor buy it Greetings and it was an expensive investment
Weird to me that the bottom pully can’t be moved closer to the chain ring like back with old E13 chain guides. For the top, the guide should cover more of the pully wheel for when we pedal backwards granted chain line should fix that. But I won’t touch one of these at my shop for another few years.
It's crazy how these machines have gone through all the r&d to production models. Crazy.
I'm curious. Is the idler narrow wide type coz i can't tell and i believe it the top guide is too far or too much gap between the idler and guide. You see the forbidden druid and dreadnought(i own one) and they never have any issues even the lower guide is not slack unlike that slash and a bit close to the chain ring and still no problem.
Maybe i am guessing the idler and chain ring is too close where Kavenz, forbidden, cannodale and the rest is far apart or behind the chain ring etc. This is the first time i see this high pivot bike have this problem.
Great analysis and info! 40 pounds and piss poor chain retention is a hard no for me. Have owned a Commencal Supreme SX and currently have a Druid v1, never had chain drop in years on either. Very surprised trek didn't catch this kind of failure rate prior to production.
an idler too far........
It's a 5k bike.
@@LemonySnicket-EUC Which he swapped a bunch of parts onto and jumped the price up a lot. It comes down to the top chain guide not actually working, a part that would be identical even on their top of the line model.
exactly!! it shouldn't have this kind of major issue. I would expect this kind of issue from a department store bike
@@LemonySnicket-EUC
Imo if this was a big issue pre-production surely they would have picked up on this so the question is what did they change going into full production that has lead to this problem? There must be an easy way to determine what is causing the issue... replace the drive train with Shimano? swap out the rear wheel? fit a pre-production idler or alternative to the MRP tensioner?
If the free hub body is not working properly that could happen, maybe you could check it out and make sure that as soon as you stop pedaling the cassette stops right away if it doesn’t then it would push the chain forward and will make it go off. I watch minute 5:28 at x .25 an zoomed it, before you land i noticed that the chain looks weird, is seems like there is no tensión from the high pivot to the chainring that why I suspect of that. Industry nine is easy to open, it only has a plastic seal and you just pull it and get it out.well is that same seal the one that if it doesn’t saddles well gives problems
one other thing from the Slash service videos..... they say the "lower shock mount and shock need to be torqued to spec with the Bike OUT of the stand and on the floor, this allows the shock and mount to centre itself under the weight of the bike". Not sure if this would make any difference to the issues you've been having but thought I'd mention it anyway.
I bought a new, very expensive bike this last January from a very reputable brand and the derailleur bolt kept coming loose, no matter how well setup it was. I even replaced the bolt with the top of the line version and the problem persisted. Ended up replacing the whole transmission for a different brand and it has been working flawlessly for months. Rumor has it that the OEM components were not completely compatible with this specific frame, but they specced it on it anyway... This made me mad, such a lack of care on bikes that cost more than a small new car...
Try a mechanical shifting deralieur with a udh hanger. That way you have a way to properly setup b-tension which t-type really doesn't have.
Is the ohlins shock the same length eye to eye as the shock that came off the bike?
Have you checked if the cage on the derailleur is straight? A mate also has the new gx transmission and his shifting was garbage and the chain came of all the time after he hit the cage slightly. We replaced the cage and its working good now.
Checked out all good at the bike shop yup
Lower idler definitely needs a chain guide of some sort to stop the chain jumping out
Okay... I've decided to 'jump in' to this situation... I have a few thoughts(forgive my ignorance as the case may be): 1. Weather it's side to side, or top to bottom - there is too much play behind\above that top chain guide & pulley... & the proof regarding that(even though I haven't seen the bike\drivetrain in person), comes from the FACT that in order for the chain to come off, said chain MUST rise UP off of the guide pulley(so weather you glue rubber or plastic on or adjust the guide - reduce the space above the guide pulley)which 2. It doesn't seem as if said guide pulley is of a narrow\wide nature which should further reduce drops(as I'm certain you know by now)... Anyways 3. I had the same thought that you mentioned regarding reducing chain length - but since you said it's in order, how about something being wrong with the clutch or general tension of the derailleur? 🤔
If you're looking for a mullet enduro bike it could be worth testing out a Canyon Torque, you can get one with good components like Zeb fork etc for considerably less than £5k. Crucially the chain doesn't come off.
Great vid dude! Time to send back to Trek! Ill be taking one of these off my santa list 😂😂😂
I wonder if this issue is only with the alloy frame? Harden raced the gen 6 bike at Chalet and I don't think she had any chain drop issues or she wouldn't have made podium.
Not really a fan of high pivots but I wonder if the idler wheels were narrow/wide it would hold onto the chain?
At 5:28 just before you land, the chain is already bunched up between the chainring and the idler. I'd love to see a gopro mounted on the frame and capturing the event in slowmo.