hi there fellow balfa lovers i was just wondering if you could help me resolve a few issues my BB7 is having at the moment?

first off is my chain is slipping whenever i shift to the bigger gears on the back and i have tried to resolve it by fitting my saint chainring which is 38t (i previously had a 32t chainring on it which probably added to the problem) i'm not sure what to do i mean i've tried different chain devices different chainrings not sure how i can solve this problem any ideas?

you may need to know what my drivetrain setup is

my chainring is 38t
my cassette is 11 - 32t (could be the issue with it being a little on the big side for a dh bike)
my chain device is a blackspire stinger (which i have spaced out in order to clear the rear tyre and fitted at "9 o'clock" as the balfa website suggests)

and finally rear suspension

am i or am i not right in assuming that a bike like the bb7 is prone to peddle bob? (as are most if not all single pivot frames)
i mean my suspension barely moves as much as i expected it to and i'm not sure what causes it to act like it does i mean for a 9" travel frame it feels like a hardtail most of the time. i did buy my bb7 frame second hand (i couldn't pass it up) anyway my suspension barely moces even after loosening the coil on my shock to its loosest extreme. it maybe the spring rate i mean i'm 13 stone and the spring on my shock is 500lbs (i assume by reading on the spring) what would you suggest i do to resolve this problem?

my rear shock is a 5th element (which may very well be the problem since i have read many negative reviews about them)
it could also be the spring rate but i am not sure.

please help me return my bb7 to its former glory because i know it can be SOOOOO MUCH BETTER than it already is, sure being limited to 2 gears and feeling like you're riding a hardtail sucks but its still an awesome bike regardless especially with the totem ufront soaking up everything in sight

thanks in advance for your help

First things first, hello and welcome



I think you should take a closer look at your chainline - front ring should be roughly in line with the middle cog in the rear. If you have spaced the chain device too far from the frame, the chain can be crossed too much to work properly.

Another reasons can be worn out chainring or rear cogs and/or adjustment.




Gnerally, thanks to high pivot, the BB7 should be little less prone to pedal bob than classic single-pivot designs, but I remember from mine that it definitely didn't feel like a hardtail My suggestions:

1) Make sure you have correct spring rate - dress up in your riding gear and measure SAG (eye-to-eye leght of rear shock with you on the bike in sitting position should be 199-201 mm). You can also use spring calculators available online, if you discover that your spring is too hard - but be careful, getting correct results for BB7 can be tricky. Prepare for some trail and error, try to borrow different springs from friends etc. This is absolutely crucial for your bike performance so it's worth spending some time on it.

2) Check your rear shock setup: http://www.progressivesuspension.com/pd ... nglish.pdf Adjustment that affect pedal bob most, are low speed compression damping and air pressure (pressure changes the range of damping adjustment) - set them minimum, but remember to not exceed min/max pressure. Also, use minimum compression damping when measuring SAG.

3) Check your shock and suspension hardware - condition of rear shock bushings and suspension bearings can vastly influence suppleness of the frame. Unscrew the rear shock and cycle suspension to check if bearings are smooth.

4) Consider Fox DHX shock - hardtail-feel can be just an attribute of 5th Element... BB7 feels sooo much beter with DHX!

i know it sounds like i'm complaining about the BB7 as a frame but i'm not i mean to tell the truth i don't know enough about downhill bikes to complain about it and since this is my first ever downhill bike that has only been built for a week or 2 now there's bound to be "teething problems" so to speak. i guess once i get the right setup the BB7 will ride like a dream. the chainring and cassette teeth aren't worn however they are secondhand and and have plenty of life left, the chainring i am running on my bb7 has been working perfectly fine on my specialized enduro for as long as its been on it and its been on there for at least a year and a half until now and the teeth look fine but still it could be due to how its setup like you said about the chainline. the chainguide is spaced out to the point that it'd be where a bb mounted chainguide would be (i have put 4 washers behind the chainguide round each iscg bolt it may seem a little.. "excessive" but i had to ensure it was out of the way of the rear tyre as i will be upgrading to new ones as the ones on it are only temporary as they are worn down quite a bit. where the chainguide is though doesn't seem to be a problem because its directly inline with the chainring.

as for the suspension i read on one of the posts that you were talking about how you had a 5th element, a manitou swinger and have upped to a fox dhx? (or something like that) if you had a 5th did you have issues with the setup? i mean it has all kinds of adjustments on it all i care about is compression and rebound i don't really care for air pressure and stuff like that the shock i'm running on my enduro is only a vanilla R that i downgraded to because my fox dhx air was leaking air over time perhaps it would be worth getting that serviced and putting it on my bb7 although the i to i is probably too short as the shock on my bb7 is huge compared to anything else i have had on a bike.

and yeah saying how the bb7 felt like a hardtail is laughable to say the least but when i've went off the littlest of kerbs on the street it has felt like a hardtail seriously but yeah there will be a way around it maybe there is just too much air pressure in the shock or something.

anyway thanks for your help wooyek its much appreciated