Ride Lugged » loose http://ridelugged.com A site about lugs, tan sidewalls, maybe jazz, classical, punk and bluegrass, local riding, worldly riding and people, cool cats, lame ducks, 110 bcds, wool, and smelling like hell after a long ride. Tue, 13 Jul 2010 17:59:45 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9 en hourly 1 answer my riddle! http://ridelugged.com/2009/06/09/answer-my-riddle/ http://ridelugged.com/2009/06/09/answer-my-riddle/#comments Tue, 09 Jun 2009 14:46:54 +0000 voice of reason http://ridelugged.com/?p=1783 ok, so where did our frequent posting go, yikes!!

anyway here is a conundrum I am in these days, see if you can answer it:
(I’m pretty sure it’s a recurring issue I know the solution for, which I’ll pipe in with later.)

when I am pedaling along at a normal (~75rpm) cadence under a light to moderate load (generally flat terrain) on my mountainbike I have a distinct slipping feeling at my left foot with each revolution as the foot passes the top (12:00) dead spot. it has the feeling of a loose pedal or loose crank or even a poorly adjusted cleat. seeing as how none of these have turned out to be the culprit, please help me try to solve the problem. as a note, I do sometimes have the feeling that pedaling smoother circles can somewhat diminish the issue, and also that it may seem to go away on longer rides (maybe I just forget about it.)

in the interest of science I have replaced the pedals, with a new pair of a similar model; I have replaced the cleats with a new set; and I have tried a second set of same model shoes with their old cleats; none of which have alleviated the issue.

clean drivetrain

clean drivetrain


now for some tech specs:
frame: Moots, 29er ybb with S&S couplers (which were checked and verified to be tight)
cranks: RaceFace Deus (verified tight, then taken apart cleaned regreased, and retightened)
chainring: a single Blackspire SS chainring (cleaned, checked, and not sharkfinned; all bolts tight)
bb: RaceFace X-type (replaced with stock replacement 10 months and <1200km ago)
pedals: CrankBrothers Eggbeater S (regreased; 4yr olds but rebuilt by CBros 16 months ago)
chain: Rohloff S-L-T-99 (cleaned, no significant wear; perfect SS chainline)
rear hub: Rohloff Speedhub 500/14 CC DB OEM (no outward sign of wear; 100% functional shifting)
rear cog: Rohloff steel (cleaned, no significant wear)

btw, everything is always (85% of the time) lubed and cleaned directly (within 3-4 weeks) after every ride. and all (~35%) rides take place in ideal (or possibly rainy, muddy, or snowy) conditions.

that’s about it.
lots of little checks and the problem persists.
leave questions and answers in the comments!

-cory

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