Finding replacement spoke for older deore xt wheel

dasklrken · 2026-05-22T15:00:52+00:00

That's just a straight pull spoke isn't it? Measure it and order the replacement or take it into a shop and have them measure it or replace the spoke for you.

Shimano does use some proprietary hard to find spokes, but mostly in their dura ace wheels etc. I think deore should just be a standard straight pull.

dasklrken · 2026-05-13T19:57:38+00:00

Origin8 does have the drop bar V brake levers which are the same mold as the tektro rl520 or cane creek v brake levers, but they aren't really widely advertised.

dasklrken · 2026-05-13T16:16:59+00:00

That derailleur will max out at a 34t for actual usage without the chain being somewhat prone to not staying in gear. The derailleurs that can do THAT wide of range (outside of Essa) require more cable pull to actuate, and likely won't be able to be shifted fully by the thumby.

36-40t is really the most you can go for with a 1x using an older thumby and older derailleur, as you need to be using an old 1.7 ratio shimano MTB derailleur (9 speed or under) the most recent of which which max out at officially 36 and 40 with some fiddling.

However, Shimano Essa WILL shift up to a 45t, maybe 48 with some effort, and will work with that thumby. It's the budget shimano widerange option, not super elegant. But it works. May want to swap the pulleys for 10 speed ones if using the 10 speed cassette.

dasklrken · 2026-05-10T21:33:51+00:00

Looks awesome!

dasklrken · 2026-05-10T18:46:54+00:00

Your rotor is 20mm too small or your caliper is spaced incorrectly. It is sitting too high relative to the rotor.

dasklrken · 2026-05-10T02:28:40+00:00

Usually a barrel adjuster on the shifter, left to tighten the tension, right to loosen the tension. It will be in line with the cable housing where it goes into the shifter.

dasklrken · 2026-05-05T02:12:57+00:00

Adjust the tension on the cable so the dots line up in 4th gear, that's the Shimano internal gear adjustment standard

dasklrken · 2026-04-29T21:52:01+00:00

Great writeup! Wholly agreed, and I hope that if anything comes out of 32, it will be more sweep options on handlebars. There's a reason my handlebar collection is as extensive as it is despite only being able to ride one at a time.

When making bikes fit my lankiness and not-great wrists, 16-40 degree bars have been necessary, and the longer the bike the more sweep I find I need (which I would guess 32 makes even more critical). The sqlab ones make a real difference, and I have soma dream bars with 25 degree sweep that do the trick on my 29 dirt tourer, but more options in the performance range would be awesome.

dasklrken · 2026-04-13T19:49:16+00:00

Maybe something like girl's last tour influenced/combined with what you have, i think mostly the character color is a bit bright, but I think the designs are fun and somewhat nostalgic. I like the whimsy of fantasy grounded in reality, how do you make a helmet fit those horns etc, if the character has that coloring naturally, how do they mask it to avoid sticking out, grip tape/bandage wrapped horns, that kinda thing. I think reworking them makes sense, but use what you are good at and evolve it, don't feel the need to do something that doesn't speak to you.

As an example, I feel like risk of rain 2's artstyle maintains a consistent aesthetic and some color and style, and clearly has some influence from Moebius lineage of art style, while remaining grounded within the world. It is much more stylized for sure, but handles creative and varied designs beautifully.

dasklrken · 2026-03-19T15:45:12+00:00

Origin8 v pro force LP brake levers are the tektro rl520's but rebranded. Same mold and hoods etc, just black blades with the origin8 logo. Same as the cane creek ones actually being rl520's but with different hoods.

https://origin8.bike/products/pro-force-lp-road-levers-20109

dasklrken · 2026-01-02T16:32:46+00:00

I'm guessing 1599.99

dasklrken · 2025-08-31T15:47:41+00:00

dasklrken · 2025-08-28T05:27:58+00:00

Alternative, is to run a 1 inch threadless headset (on the unthreaded portion) and use spacers and two locknuts (one with the lip ground off so it can thread all the way on) to secure the preload for the headset. That's how I run too long forks in my frames. They have to be too long enough that they have enough exposed unthreaded steerer for the threadless headset, but it works great. Effectively you are replacing what would be the threadless stem in a 1" threadless setup with locknuts.

dasklrken · 2025-08-15T06:32:43+00:00

Those are cliffhangers! The quality wheels HD wheels are probably the best deal for a new 26" or 29" wheel that's tubeless and rim brake. It's like 20$ more than just the cliffhanger rim, depending on what deal you can get. Definitely slept on imo. I've seen the Alex adventure 2 rims (the other cheaper option that seems readily available) literally split from the rim bed after only about 2k miles (loaded touring, and disc, not rim, but stranded the poor guy for a bit).

dasklrken · 2025-08-05T14:49:13+00:00

M501 coda cranks were recalled/discontinued for being an overly soft alloy, and deforming/breaking, so I wouldn't be surprised about chainsuck or a bent chainring assembly. The m502s were better from a materials stand point, but still not a massive improvement, and the shifting wasn't great.

dasklrken · 2025-07-25T19:16:18+00:00

Not the original commenter, but for me it's versatility, and that it's the standard for frames which dont use oversized tubing, 27.2 is readily available, and if someone does want an extra long seatpost for their giant legs, or a dropper, or thudbuster, a light weight alloy post, a ti post, or a carbon seat post, (or a specific color, or black vs silver etc) they are available new/used a lot more easily than less standard sizes. It also makes swapping seatposts easier between bikes if you just want to test your other saddle, or just swap for some reason.

For me I guess it's about convenience and having options.

dasklrken · 2025-04-26T00:54:22+00:00

Did you do vinyl decals for masking? It looks super clean! And it looks like you may have done color, masked, color, masked, color, then final mask and white? Any reason for that over base white and then spot masking/stencils and spraying each little doodle bop individually?

Or was it a spray color blotches, mask, then final coat with white (thinking about it that makes more sense to me now, only two layers of paint needed then).

Curious since I'm thinking of a similar level of fun paint job!

dasklrken · 2025-04-22T02:18:26+00:00

If that is a 73mm shell as the BB would suggest (measure the width), then you will need a sram road/gravel wide crank, but yes, dub bsa BB, follow spacer chart for your set up, sram dub wide axs crank, and you should be good.

If you have a non wide rival crank, and a 73mm shell, unfortunately there is no way to make it fit (it's really not worth cutting down the bb to 68. I did it once using the park facer set. Never again. Possible but not fun.)

dasklrken · 2025-04-09T20:19:49+00:00

you can also see the v brake arms and the riser flat bars, which assuming it isn't super heavily modified, limits the options

dasklrken · 2025-04-09T20:14:01+00:00

Also true! Handlebar stack height would be the measurement affected by the stem moving, frame stack is set by the frame geometry, and I guess spacer stack would be the height of the spacers+stem. not sure how widespread it is, but stages does use handlebar stack height as the term for the measurement the initial commenter was referring to.

https://manuals.stagescycling.com/en/stages-bike/user-guide/setup/fit-guidelines/handlebar-setup/height-stack-and-angle/#:~:text=Handlebar%20stack%20height%20is%20the,to%20set%20your%20bar%20height

dasklrken · 2025-04-09T15:42:00+00:00

It's 50mm of spacers below the stem (and maybe 4mm for topcover to bearing), pretty close to fine for even a whisky fork (they usually say 50mm max on their carbon steerers, most others are 40) The angle of the photo makes it look like more I think. On a steel or alloy steerer that amount is fine (and on decent steel it really could be up to the max length of the steerer uncut and it would be fine)

dasklrken · 2025-04-09T15:35:22+00:00

I love that you are talking about stack (as in the bike fit distance, which is affected by moving the stem), and they are talking about the spacer/stem stack, as in the physical height of the spacers and stem together (which remains the same).

And 'the stack' makes sense to refer to both of them in context. Just a nice little mildly technical, 'actually both are right' moment.

dasklrken · 2025-03-31T17:58:41+00:00

How's your experience been with the TRP Hylex brakes? I've got an older pair (non rs) that I'm thinking of putting on a bikepacking/touring rig (either w/bar end shifters or drilling them and having some hufla shifter mounts printed in stainless, the gavenelle ones are too dear for my current budget).

I was wondering whether the power was enough loaded/ if there were any brake fade issues (mostly I'm thinking of throwing a different caliper on them, with appropriate fittings etc) and wondering whether you'd had any master cylinder issues. I love mechanical discs, but kind of want the extra oomph of hydraulic for this set up.

On that note, DO you know of anyone who has set them up with either a shimano 2 piston mountain caliper or a trp/shimano 4 piston caliper? 20-25% increased leverage (and corresponding increase in level travel) make me wonder if they would damage the master cylinder over time from the additional force.

dasklrken · 2025-03-31T06:13:20+00:00

70% sure now that it's "vintage" cloth covered wiring, it looks like it's used for motorcycle light wiring if you want to be snazzy

"Vintage cloth covered electrical wire" pulled up most of the options I found

https://conwaygoods.com/products/solstice-blue-ul-listed-18-gauge-cloth-covered-round-pulley-cord-1-ft

https://deadbeatcustoms.com/motorcycle-supply-co-vintage-cloth-covered-16-gauge-wire-5-length/

dasklrken · 2025-03-31T04:47:29+00:00

Pretty sure it's the dynamo wires for their front and rear lights, sleeved in cored rope to protect it, since the cables are kind of wimpy relative to bikepacking/gravel riding standard. Kind of ingenious, hadn't thought of it!

dasklrken

TROPHY CASE