Oxygen Scross MTB ongoing review

[RobF]

It does look more headset like.

You could try the same test with the steering at right angles - that takes fork compression out of the equation.

If it is the headset, that's good news on two fronts.

1. Should be possible to cure it by greasing and adjusting the side load via the head cap.

2. There's no real safety issue, in other words it's not going to fall apart as you ride.

 

[anotherkiwi]

I have been nursing a headset to the grave and it moves like that. Grease and tighten, grease and tighten... The steering gets woolly on rides over 30 km.

I'm going to try an RST mono-shock fork, saves a fair bit of weight and has 30 mm travel to take the bite out of paved road bumps.

 

[Nealh]

Head set replace top and bot bearings they wiil be in a race or loose, they can lose sphere shape and wear.

 

[Andy Bluenoes]

Many thanks folks.
Stripped it down last night, cleaned the bearings etc, greased and put it back together.
Still pretty much the same.

The bearings don't look great I have to say. They are in a cage... I assume the "open" side of the bearings is the side that you can see when they are in the frame?... In case I put them back in the wrong way round....

I think I need to source some new bearings either way and see what the fork is like afterwards.

Sent from my CMR-W09 using Tapatalk

 

[Nealh]

When you remove the allen bolt and cover from the stem is the internal star washer gripping the tube nicely, it should be about 20-30 mm down the tube.

 

[Andy Bluenoes]

When you remove the allen bolt and cover from the stem is the internal star washer gripping the tube nicely, it should be about 20-30 mm down the tube.

Yeah that bit looks fine.

I've watched the videos above and some others.
There is a little bit of movement in the head, but if I tighten it up any more, the steering is too tight...which suggests the bearings are shot?

Sent from my STF-L09 using Tapatalk

 

[JPGiant]

Are the stem bolts loose when tightening the top bolt?
Also does the stem (or spacer depending on where you have the stem located) sit above the steerer fork tube so the top cover clamps it and not against the tube?

 

[Andy Bluenoes]

Are the stem bolts loose when tightening the top bolt?
Also does the stem (or spacer depending on where you have the stem located) sit above the steerer fork tube so the top cover clamps it and not against the tube?

Had to think about the second part...but yes on both questions

Sent from my STF-L09 using Tapatalk

 

[Andy Bluenoes]

Just been looking at getting the bearings myself...wow, what a minefield!

 

[Andy Bluenoes]

Had the bike serviced at Brookes Cycles in Eccles. Recommended by Oxygen bikes as they are now an Oxygen stockist, and know a bit about the bikes, and not a million miles from me.

New forks were the main thing along with headset bearings. The bike needs to go back in briefly in the next week or so, as there was a problem sourcing the right size shell bearing to replace the bottom ball and cage type. The top bearing has been replaced with a sealed shell type bearing.

A couple of other minor things done while it was in, new gear cable, brake pads, the usual stuff. Bonus was the fact that changing the forks meant the stem could be a bit higher...so its now around 2 to 3 inches higher which felt really nice on my way in to work this morning.

I dropped a new set of pedals on too, as the ones I bought a month or so back were really cheap rubbish, and "ticked" when pedalling even after a few days.

New schwalbe marathon plus MTB tyre put on the back as I noticed a bit of "wear" on the wall of the tyre where it meets the tyre rim, and past experience of exploding tyres doesn't appeal to me.

So, all in all, it should be ready for the next chapter of commuting which starts in October....just 13 miles a day, so the bike will no doubt be breathing a sigh of relief

 

[Andy Bluenoes]

A few pics from the weekend.

 

[georgehenry]

Hi Andy,

I think as a long distance commuter it is always good to find a good and dependable bike shop that you can build a relationship with and know does good mechanical work.

I can do maintenance myself but as the bike saves me a ton of fuel I would otherwise be putting in my car I do not begrudge getting work done at a bike shop local to me where I know and like the two guys who run it and respect their mechanical ability.

I nursed a broken rack stay (bodged a repair) through my last four days of commuting to work (94 miles/52 off road) and then took a rack off an old Marin Hardtail in the garage to replace it with, but then took my bike and rack to my bike shop for a chat and they put the rack on with real care and expertise (I had bought it from them originally) and changed the front brake pads while I left them to it to do other chores.

I think I had the same side wall failure experience with Schwalbe Smart Sam plus tyres that you had and am now using Specialized Crossroads Armadillo 650B Tyres that I put on in January 17 and should probably be swapping the front to the back and fitting a new one on the front as the rear is quite worn now in the centre line after 4186 miles.

Though I do check my tyres regularly and although the tread in the centre line is worn down the tyre walls are in great shape and much tougher than the smart sams and despite the wear there is still a good overall thickness to the tyre tread even on the worn centre line.

I was put off replacing the smart sam plus tyres with another schwalbe tyre but note that everyone raves about the marathon plus design. As my commute includes 50% off road I might need to consider a change to Marathon plus tyres as they are more a mountain bike tyre than the specialised.

How do you find the Marathon plus tyres?

Some say that they can be skittish when the weather gets colder something I have not found with my Specialized tyres.

I am now tantalizingly close to the 10,000 mile point on my Haibike having completed 9810 on my return trip from work last Thursday and return to work today.

Perhaps someone should start a regular commuter thread for us hard core ride to work people. Any bike that can survive the rigors of regular commuting for a number of years without too much mechanical mis hap is a tough beast.

 

[Andy Bluenoes]

Hi George

Ive managed most repairs and maintenance myself up to now, but as ive now hit nearly 6k, I thought it best to get apro to look at it...very pleased to have found someone reliable though in case of things I cant do in the future.

The Schwalbes have been really good...i think i must have done 4000 of the 6000 miles on them at least, not had a single puncture with them on. The tread still has plenty left, it was just the marking on the sidewall that made me change it. It may have been fine, but the way the Schwalbe Ice Spikers exploded on me, twice, from marking in the same area, I jsut didnt want to risk it.

My new commute will be pretty much all on roads, unless I go the scenic way which I may do occasionally, which means a bit of canal tow path and such. I had read about the Specialised tyres, theyre around the same price as the schwalbe, but stuck with the schwalbes as the MTB have been very reliable.
They grip well, and can handle the mud when I have to go through it... the only negative is they dont like wet slippy painted road markings, and have had to correct quickly on a few occasions when hitting them. Cant compare that to any other tyres, maybe thats the norm though.

 

[Andy Bluenoes]

Another update.

Had a strange issue with the electrics, in that it wouldnt switch on using the usual power button.
It would start up by pulling apart the main cable connector, but then would display an incorrect voltage.
I tested the bike, and although the battery was in fact full, the display said something like 36....and of course, it conked out when it got down to 33 and a bit....checking the battery when I got home, it had around 37.9 left which is what I would have expected.

I bit of plugging and unplugging leads didnt resolve it.

Thankfully, Dale at Oxygen came to the rescue. Initially sending my a replacement cable harness as this was likely, and the easiest thing to replace. Unfortunately not.....

Quick call to Dale, and the offer is made for me to take the bike over and he will sort it. The guess was the problem either was with the connector between the main harness and the controller or the controller itself. If it was the connector, it would mean a new controller anyway as the connector cant be replaced on its own.

So, spent a couple of hours up there today. Dale soon diagnosed the problem by temporarily swapping a new controller with mine.
That was the easy part....Im so glad I took the bike and didn't try it myself....patience is a virtue I dont have, and it took a lot of fiddling to get the old controller cables out through the frame before the new one could go in.

But, its all done now, so back in business for tomorrows commute.
My guess is, something may have happened to the cable while messing around with the forks.

Big thanks yet again to Dale and Damian. I met the new owner today too, and despite chatting for a while, Im embarrassed to say I forgot his name! Really sorry, very nice guy too.

So, the bike continues along fantastically, and the customer service yet again, the best.

 

[georgehenry]

Great customer service from Oxygen. I found Dale a nice chap to talk to on the phone and he sent me 10 spokes free of charge for an Emate city I had acquired.

My 2015 Haibike Yamaha has hit the magic 10,000 miles purely commuting too and from work with a lot off road. I get great customer support from the shop (ebike shop Farnham) where I bought that.

Though my 2011 Oxygen emate city has probably done more miles than the Haibike but they are not recorded so I have no way of being sure just how many miles it has done.

Getting great customer support with the occasional hands on help should not be underestimated when deciding what ebike to buy.

I have always found Oxygen to be good at customer services but they are a bit too far away from me to give hands on help.

 

[Andy Bluenoes]

Quick update as it's been a while...

Started my new job 2 weeks ago, so the daily mileage is down to a mere 12 miles now!
Needless to say, no issues whatsoever.
Added bonus, the battery is only being charged once a day now when I get home, and the battery doesn't have to come off the bike at all now.

I do strangely miss the long rides to work, but hopefully once I've settled into my new routine, I might find time for some pure fun riding

 

[JPGiant]

New forks were the main thing along with headset bearings. The bike needs to go back in briefly in the next week or so, as there was a problem sourcing the right size shell bearing to replace the bottom ball and cage type. The top bearing has been replaced with a sealed shell type bearing.

Hi Andy
I have the same bike as you and I'm considering upgrading the forks and was wondering which size headset bearings they finally fitted?

 

[Andy Bluenoes]

Hi Andy
I have the same bike as you and I'm considering upgrading the forks and was wondering which size headset bearings they finally fitted?

Thats just reminded me...I was waiitng for the bike shop in eccles to let me know when he had the top bearing in....he replaced the bottom at the time, but not the top.
Ill probably jsut do it myself now as I dont travel anywhere near eccles anymore.
I dont know the sizes, will have to give dale a ring at oxygen

 

[JPGiant]

Many thanks.

 

[Oxygen Electric Bikes]

Thats just reminded me...I was waiitng for the bike shop in eccles to let me know when he had the top bearing in....he replaced the bottom at the time, but not the top.
Ill probably jsut do it myself now as I dont travel anywhere near eccles anymore.
I dont know the sizes, will have to give dale a ring at oxygen

Hi Andy,

I have sent you an email with all the info on it.