Needing help with Vendetta

[Kenneth Jessett]

The winter has been somewhat wet, but now I'm getting the Vendetta (purchased a few months ago) out to give it a try and am having some difficulties with my position on it. I've taken a few photos to show the problem but the error message is saying the files are too large. I'll try to find a way to reduce the sizes, but if anyone here knows how ...

My problem is that with the boom fully extended (the pivot bolt on the hole closest to the crank) so that my feet are in the proper position on the pedals, my thighs hit the handlebars. Maybe the bike is just the wrong size for me.

A thought here though is that if the designer of the bike had the pivot attached to the yellow boom instead of the slider, then with the boom fully extended for me, I could have then pulled out the slider so that the handle bars cleared my knees. With a regular standard bike there are several adjustments that can be made with the seat position and the handlebar position, but with the Vendetta, moving the boom also moves the crank.

It is very likely this bike will be for sale very soon (mainly because I really love to ride my carbon Scott standard bike) and I will advertise it here, but in the meantime I would like to get on it for a ride down the road. If anyone has any ideas, please tell me. Thanks. Ken.

 

[Jeremy S]

Hi Ken, do you know which version of Vendetta you have? (It sounds like a 2.0.) Adjustment is different between the different models.

You should have two main points of adjustment: where the boom attaches above the fork (on the 2.0 you pick which of several holes to put a bolt through), and the actual length of the boom (controlled by sliding the silver tube in and out of the yellow tube). It sounds like you are only adjusting the first and not the second.

 

[ratz]

1. Point pivot clamp so that the bolt hole is towards your body. This clamp has two position towards BB and towards handlebar. Towards seat/handlebar raises boom. And gives more clearance.
2. Connect boom at bolt hole that place handlebars closest to seat. This will NOT be the last hole.
3. Loosen bolt on the clamps around BB. Loosen wheel skewer. Loosen boom ring.
4. Sit on bike. Put HEEL on pedal and push until leg fully extended. If boom falls out you need a large.
5. Tighten bolts.
6. Test pedal. If your legs still hit handle bars your cranks are too long for your thigh/calf ratio. You can also pickup more clearance by switching to a ventisit seat which is about ⅓ the thickness of the stock ones.

 

[Kenneth Jessett]

Jeremy,

I have the boom on the last hole - so that the crank is furthest away from the rider - but if I pull the slider towards me, the crank will also come towards me.

Ratz,

I'll go back to the workshop and try your suggestions. I've found that the slider is wedged firmly into the boom, so I may have to do some hammering to get it out.

Thanks both.

Ken.

 

[ratz]

I'll go back to the workshop and try your suggestions. I've found that the slider is wedged firmly into the boom, so I may have to do some hammering to get it out.

Ah ha. That might mean that the slider was pushed too far in; because of the bend in the slider it can actually get wedged/stuck; you might have a whole lot of extension that you haven't been able to access. This happened to Eric Winn when he built his and documented. The rest of us learned from his error.

The slider should move freely when not clamped.

my bet is that if we can get you squared away your Scott Carbon wonder bike will get very lonely in your Garage.

 

[Kenneth Jessett]

If Eric is the expert in freeing sliders, he needs to come to my house. ;-)

I've just had another go at it and it is firmly wedged in and no amount of hammering with a block of wood and hammer is moving it.

If Eric is reading this, hopefully he will offer his suggestions on how he fixed the problem.

The engineer in me is thinking freezing the slider thereby contracting and reducing the diameter of it versus the boom (what is the expansion coefficient of Aluminium?), but then, I don't have the equipment to do that. And even if I did, the slider and boom are both of the same metal, so that wouldn't do any good. But as you can see, I am grasping at hypothetical straws.

I did just spray some WD40 hoping to get some between but to no avail.

Hoping for some wise words from the readers.

Ken.

 

[ratz]

I believe Eric had to get a replacement boom as his was permanently wedged.
This was one of the reason the design was changed with the V20. Not the only one but one of them.

So....

If it's oxidized then Ammonia is what you need.
If it's just wedged then heat expansion would do it. Probably packing the inside of the boom with dry ice and using a hair dryer to heat the outside would do it to give you a sustainable differential.

If you need a lubricating fluid that will suck itself into the tiny space; then Drano drain cleaner will work and also solve anyAuliminum Oxide; but from that point forward you are working with gloves and a mask.

Another way to work at it; to put the bike on a trainer with the boom loose and do high load high power pedaling until it slips free just be-careful not to hurt yourself.

 

[castlerobber]

Sam Patterson (he of the Patterson Metropolis crankset) used all manner of lubricants and techniques to get the BB cups loose from my Hase Kettwiesel (corroded aluminum threads, he said). Marvel Mystery Oil, AeroKroil, beeswax, heat expansion...it took him several weeks of soaking and coaxing, but they did finally come out without stripping the threads. Don't know if those products would be of any use to you.

 

[Jeremy S]

Jeremy,

I have the boom on the last hole - so that the crank is furthest away from the rider - but if I pull the slider towards me, the crank will also come towards me.

Not if you lengthen the boom at the same time by sliding the silver tube out of the yellow tube (which it sounds like you are unable to do since it is jammed).

 

[Kenneth Jessett]

Well, I am happy to report that I am luckier than I deserve to be - since I was the clod who forced the slider into the boom in the first place - and whether it was the WD 40 or the hammering or both, when I went back to the bike, straddled it and twisted the handle bars, to my great relief the slider turned and I was able to draw it out. Whoopie!!!

So now, I will take all the advice (thanks everyone) and see if I can make the bike fit me. I'll let the forum know.

Ken.

 

[jond]

1. Point pivot clamp so that the bolt hole is towards your body. This clamp has two position towards BB and towards handlebar. Towards seat/handlebar raises boom. And gives more clearance.
2. Connect boom at bolt hole that place handlebars closest to seat. This will NOT be the last hole.
3. Loosen bolt on the clamps around BB. Loosen wheel skewer. Loosen boom ring.
4. Sit on bike. Put HEEL on pedal and push until leg fully extended. If boom falls out you need a large.
5. Tighten bolts.
6. Test pedal. If your legs still hit handle bars your cranks are too long for your thigh/calf ratio. You can also pickup more clearance by switching to a ventisit seat which is about ⅓ the thickness of the stock ones.

another way of raising the bar height is to add a stem extender. i did this and so did abbott. my boom v2 is almost perfectly horizontal. good luck ken. once you master the bike's steep learning curve (your challenge sir) you will throw away the DF instead as an inferior product. your scott will seem uncomfortable impractical and slowwwww. be warned. i have a 7kg tour frame DF that now sits in all it's expensive 7k glory alone , unused and unloved........ohhhhhhhh poor thing. i might even steal it's wheels as a final insult. so if you want to ride fast whilst in luxurious comfort and be able to see the view without straining your neck wrists and getting a sore bottom then ride 2000klm on the V and see what it can do for you on your journey.

 

[ratz]

Whoopie

In the corner the SCOTT shudders with fear.

 

[super slim]

I believe Eric had to get a replacement boom as his was permanently wedged.
This was one of the reason the design was changed with the V20. Not the only one but one of them.

So....

If it's oxidized then Ammonia is what you need.
If it's just wedged then heat expansion would do it. Probably packing the inside of the boom with dry ice and using a hair dryer to heat the outside would do it to give you a sustainable differential.

If you need a lubricating fluid that will suck itself into the tiny space; then Drano drain cleaner will work and also solve anyAuliminum Oxide; but from that point forward you are working with gloves and a mask.

Another way to work at it; to put the bike on a trainer with the boom loose and do high load high power pedaling until it slips free just be-careful not to hurt yourself.

If you need a good well used rubber mallet and axe, Ratz has them!!!

 

[Eric Winn]

Well, I am happy to report that I am luckier than I deserve to be - since I was the clod who forced the slider into the boom in the first place - and whether it was the WD 40 or the hammering or both, when I went back to the bike, straddled it and twisted the handle bars, to my great relief the slider turned and I was able to draw it out. Whoopie!!!

So now, I will take all the advice (thanks everyone) and see if I can make the bike fit me. I'll let the forum know.

Ken.

You're a very lucky man. Jim and Maria found a way to get my original boom unstuck which was really quite simple if somewhat crude. He provided me a video that is absolutely hilarious but I will need to defer to Jim to share it or not. I will say it took an absurd amount of force to dislodge mine...

 

[Kenneth Jessett]

Good grief! Now the pivot clamp is jammed inside the slider, don't know how that happened but no amount of tugging will free it.

I tell you, if I had a shot gun I'd shoot the thing and put it out of its misery.

Ken.

 

[LarryOz]

Sounds about right Ken. This feeling too will pass.
I think this is where Ratz used his "axe".
Try loosening everything else up. If you have the shell clamp and wheel clamped in, nothing else wants to move.
It's been awhile since I've "played" with a V2.? That is one of the benefits of the S30/V20 common boom/slider. They are easier to setup - They just don't look as cool!
Don't worry Ken, when you are finally "one with the V" then these will all just be distant memories!