Mongoose 2016 Argus Sport fat bike from mtbr As received
Lauf Carbonara forkWorldwide Cyclery offered 15% introductory discount from already competitive pricing.Gregg Kato's 'First Look: 2015 Mongoose Argus' claims that it has a "0 stack headset that allows you to put in an aftermarket headset adapter so you can upgrade it to a tapered fork." .. but that is not quite accurate, at least for 2016 Argus Sport. Cane Creek EC44/40 lower bearing cup has an insertion depth of 12.mm, but the Argus Sport head tube lower insertion depth is only a little over 9mm. A belt sander removed nearly 3mm from EC44/40 cup insertion depth, then finished using a flat file and deburring tool. Argus fork and lower headset bearing located EC44/40 cup, then held square steel bar around cup lip to gradually tap in place using a small machine hammer. Cane Creek's 40-series 52/40 crown race is too tight for my Carbonara; I did not think to first measure Lauf's crown diameter.. Should probably instead use Cane Creek alloy 110-Series instead of steel 40-series. Cane Creek also has a 10-series polymer crown race, but it lacks seal of 40 and 110 series. FWIW, these are not actually crown races, since Cane Creek uses cartridge bearings having their own races.
Argus spokes ~ 264mm and could be ~ 2mm longer. Spoke wrench is #2 or "C" (red). Park Tool spoke tension 25-26 left/disc side, 23-25 right. Argus fork with skewer and top cap 1070g Argus wheel & hub w/disc w/o liner 1760g Argus hub 300g - spoke hole center radius 29mm - flanges are 88.5mm apart Carbonara with axle and expander plug 1200g Argus wheel + DT Swiss hub 1680g DT Swiss 350 hub 216g - spoke hole center radius 29mm; flanges are 96mm apart. Both hubs have 29mm spoke hole center radius, enabling spoke reuse. Any number of Internet wheel lacing How-To's discuss "key spoke", but IMO there are 8 "key spokes"; the hub flops around until all 8 are in place. After those, I proceeded by installing successive adjacent spokes, paired for third crosses to minimize spoke bending. The rim's valve stem hole was coated with gasket shellac to combat corrosion. ---- Lauf fork was installed without cutting, using a 40mm carbon fiber headset spacer. Unlike others, Wheels Manufacturing's spacer clears Lauf's steerer tube. Lauf's instructions specify new-to-me carbon assembly compound for the stem. 200mm rotor and 20mm post spacer are needed for Avid BB7 caliper. rear bearing adjustmentSide play was discovered at rear axle while testing after 200mm rotor installation for Carbonara.After reviewing vid1900's rear hub messages, I dropped the rear wheel, found my 15mm cone wrench and 17mm box wrench, pulled the brake side rubber seal and began fiddling. Tightening the lock nut while holding the cone nut reduces end play from slightly loose to binding. The cone nut needed to be backed off about 1/2 turn from finger tight before tightening the lock nut. While this is my first fat bike, I have been maintaining road and mountain bikes for awhile, and am concerned that this hub seems relatively weak. A 190mm axle may stretch more than do 135mm axles, but this was after less than 500 miles. It had previously been adjusted when new then a week or so later. Planning ahead, the DT Swiss 350 Big Ride seems the lowest cost 190mm QR hub with strong reputation... FWIW, I was initially concerned that Argus' medium frame might be too small, but standover clearance is much reduced after tire and fork upgrades. Cut Bars on short stemRemoving 30mm from each end of original (2016 Argus Sport) Mongoose bars,replacing original stem with the shortest cheap stem on eBay and clamping that on uncut Lauf steerer tube puts grips about where wanted. saddle tuning?I may have replaced the stock Argus Sport saddle too hastily.Until now, my favorite saddles have been Fi'zi:k's discontinued Kurve Bull, which is unpadded and was expensive, and WTB's more affordable Speed Comp, which is too padded. (I might prefer, but have not tried, pricier Speed models.) Those two saddles have in common cutouts in their composite/polymer shells, so that covers behave like miniature hammocks for sit bones. My Kurve Bull began creaking, so swapped on the Speed while the Fi'zi:k gets disassembled, cleaned, lubed and reassembled. When fetching the Speed, I noticed that the Mongoose saddle has 1) screws to facilitate disassembly and reassembly 2) star-shaped slices started in the shell beneath sit bones Perhaps those slices could be enlarged and/or cut out for improved sit bone conformity. Screws merely secure trim, which helps staples resist being pulled loose: Tuning surgery from the bottom will be less fun. Polymer shell is soft enough for X-acto blade to cut rear fenderKenda Pro 4.5 throws more sand at bottom bracket and chainwheel than did Sport 4.0.BMI Karts & Parts sold 29" X 4.5" Red Motorcycle Fenders back pedalMy lock nuts are actually 12mm.Returning balls to greased bearing races is easiest using a grease injector (pointless marinade syringe or horse syringe). Cleaned balls stick to injector tip grease, then stick better to the greased races. I would not have expected those pedals to be rebuildable, and resin pedals are much kinder to shins than are alloy. FWIW, creaking thought to come from left pedal actually came from right square taper. derailleur hangerNot wanting to wait, I bought mine from AmazonIt was stiffer than the original, but also brittle, breaking while straightening a second time. Probably cast and neither forged nor heat-treated. Cheaper replacements can be found on eBay by searching for Timberline instead of 94 (but not so cheap as AliExpress). 2016 Sport rimsHaving changed 4 different tires over a half dozen times on either rim,difficulty of maintaining concentric tire bead against rims is frustrating. After fiddling with an original Jug 4.0 to get less than 2mm runout, then inflating to 9 psi and riding for a half hour, runout was up to 5mm, which at 15 mph is enough to generate a bumpy ride on flat smooth pavement. Sun CityWhile working hide food into my 1973 Coventry Eagle's Brooks saddle, soon after moving to Sun City... it struck me that bicycling here would not be about covering distance or running errands, and much higher rolling resistance makes the fat bike better for exercise than a road bike. SunRace STMS30 combined 10-speed shifter/brake leverFor beach riding with a 4.5" tire @ 3-5 psi and 30T chainring,the stock 9-speed Sunrace CS M99 Cassette has a good range; 36T was so slow that I had a hard time balancing with torque to bury the tire in sand and 11T was too tall to overcome rolling resistance except down grades with the wind. Moving away from the beach and inflating to 10 psi expanded those tires, which with bead runout left no clearance. Reverting to original 4.0" Jug Sports reduced effective gearing to often want 11T cog, but step from 11T to 13T is excessive. Shimano's Acera ST-EF65 combined 9-speed shifter/brake works well with Ergon GP1 grips. While Shimano offers no comparable combined 10-speed control, both eBay and Walmart sold SunRace's STMS30 10-speed shifter/brake lever. It is no longer available... STMS30 cable pull shifting from 10 to 1 measured about 40mm, roughly matching 11T to 36T cog spacing on 10-speed cassettes, wanting a derailleur with about 1:1 ratio. Shimano's 11-speed RD-M8000 may be ideal, but an SRAM X7 9 speed Long Cage Rear Derailleur 1:1 (already on-hand) seems promising: ...with adequate range of motion and adjustment, but confirmation pending delivery of a KMC X10EPT chain. An STSM30 downshifts up to 4 gears per stroke, but upshifts only one. An Acera ST-EF65 downshifts up to 3 gears per stroke, but also upshifts only one. SunRace STMS30 shifter/brake lever review10-speed chain arrived; as hoped, SRAM X7 9-speed 1:1 derailleur range of operation suits STMS30 and 10-speed Shimano cassette.Shifts are more positive, but many miles of beach sand had worn shift ramps on 9-speed cassette teeth and chain. Shifts feel less springy; 25% longer cable travel per shift reduces impacts of cable stretch and housing compression. bench standReplacing Nashbar portable stand freed up some floor spaceand simplified access to bench drawers while sacrificing 5x5-inch benchtop space: Retracting crosstube reduces droop, but pedals cannot rotate: This stand seemingly has been replaced by Conquer 400-BENCH-RS, changing color to orange and clamp knob to quick release. maintenance - 24 Sep 2024Argus fat bike resin platform pedal bearings have seized after < 2K miles;blame years pedalling along Edisto Beach shoreline. Most new platform pedals have metal pins;  ... but not being a shredded skin fan, I installed an unused pair of similar all-resin VP pedals Ergon GP1 Grips were installed 8 years ago.  "Wings" discourage concentrating weight on palms with bent wrists ... except that mine had over time rotated enough to want repositioning. Nearly all pedalling this summer has been in faster gear ratios, with a 42T chain ring. SRAM PG-1050 cassette has 11,12,13,14,15,16,17,19,21,23 teeth; swapping in my 48T ring will run the chain nearer cassette center for less wear. Chain ring bolts - 25 Sep 2024
Replacement double hex chain ring bolts are advertised as stainless,
but were packed with desiccant and are magnetic:  SRAM X9 Long Cage 9 Speed Rear Derailleur ESP - 16 Oct 2024Current RD still works OK, but a spare was cheap; new jockeys cost more.
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maintained by blekenbleu |
