Ottrott flex

[jmchenry]

Hello, I have had my Ottrott for the last two years and have been happy with the bike except for the bottom bracket area flex. Anytime I put the hammer down or stand-up my front derailleur will rub against my chain rings. It this because of the DKS suspension? Im small person 5'7 and weight in at 165,so Im not a heavyweight and had the frame made for me. All of my other Serotta's that I have dont have any flex. Any Idea's?

[Kevin]

I have an Ottrott ST. I have never noticed any flex. Unfortunately I have no experience with the DKS rear.

Kevin

[BumbleBeeDave]

. . . not your frame. At least, that’s what Jason at the factory told me when we were talking about my old Vitus doing the same thing. I strongly doubt that your Ottrott frame would be flexing. That’s the whole point of the carbon tubes in there--so it WON’T flex laterally (torsionally).

BBDave

[Ozz]

You might get your shop to check the position and alignment of your front derailleur.

[Tom]

I guess that makes sense. I did deform a Shimano 105 (or whatever they put on the 105 group) 52 tooth ring on my old bike one day. All of a sudden I hear grind, grind, grind, and when I inspected it, one side was about one chain width bent out to the outside. Just like a potato chip. That thing was soft.

[Russ]

Originally posted by jmchenry
Im small person 5'7 and weight in at 165,so Im not a heavyweight....

Hum.... That sounds a bit heavy for me.... But NOT to flex that frame!

[SPOKE]

ottrott dks, one of the few. what carbon tube set was used. i think at the time they had 3 different stiffness tubes available for the top and down tube positions. you also had a couple chainstay options and probably a couple seatstay options. in any case, even the least stiff carbon top and down tubes would have made for a slightly stiffer front triangle than a standard built legend. you would likely notice that when you sprinted or climbed a very tough hill that the front triangle didn't "twist" as much as a standard legend.
as for the dks rear........with the standard chain stays it may allow a little extra movement in the bb area but i kinda doubt it would be any more than a standard legend due to the stiffer nature of the carbon down tube.

[jmchenry]

Thanks for the input all. I will live with the problem. And thanks Russ the intellectual and mature input. I hope to pass you on the road soon.

[rnhood]

I be damned if I would live with a flaw like this on high tech bike. I would advise you to call Serotta as they should be able to resolve this.

[SPOKE]

the chances of the frame flexing are pretty slim. what i have noticed is the inside width of the front derailleur cages are a little smaller with the newer 10sp drive trains. this can lead to some rubbing in certain gear combinations that were not a problem with the 8 & 9spd systems. what drive train is on the bike???

[rwl]

No, no! don't live with it. It's fixable, 'fer sure. (unless, uh, the lifespan of carbon tubes is being discovered, ;-)).

I guess this depends on your FD a bit, but make sure the height is right (1 mm above the larger (duh) ring for Record 10, I think), and that the angle is right (i've got a *tiny* bit of toe-in, which I think makes the shifting a bit smoother). Of course a good whack on the cage would really reduce the clearance. (and I've fallen over a couple of times, daydreaming).

What didn't work for me when I first installed this was the position of the BB. Ended up needing a thin spacer on the drive side (<1mm, I'd guess). Thanks to a great shop (plug for Terry Shaw) for figuring that one out.

-- rick

[Ahneida Ride]

I Suspect it is the FD and not the Frame. When I switched
from a Campy crank to a TA Crank I noticed a bit of rub
in 48/13. There is a tad bit still there. My Lbs Guru is
still working on it. A few more iterations and it will be perfect.

There was zero rub with the old Campy 53/42/30.

I think there is a real art to setting up the FD. My
LBS Guru actually got out a pair of Channel Locks and
deformed the FD to his liking. Worked great after that
gentle massage.

Perhaps the real secret is to locate an excellent mechanic,
who is willing to constantly tweak it. Not an easy task !

Setting up a FD is an art.