Simtra Drop-Outs

PB Forum :: Dirt Jumping & Street
Simtra Drop-Outs
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flag robrenaud
Posted: Apr 3, 2008 at 19:39 Quote
Hey, I am going to be getting a Simtra Psycho and I keep reading that the drop outs suck on them.. and im just wondering why?
flag iwannabeondropin
Posted: Apr 3, 2008 at 21:21 Quote
the drop outs dont suck, there perfectly fine, i actually own a simtra unlike half the peoople who whine about them.
flag robrenaud
Posted: Apr 4, 2008 at 4:42 Quote
Oh really... Ok well I guess thats good to know... Any more comments on them?
flag simtrabikes
Posted: Apr 4, 2008 at 17:07 Quote
YOu should not have any trouble with them. The frame comes with a notice on how to install them.
If ever you cant figure it out, you can always get the U shaped parts that make the drop out like a regular horinzontal drop out.

If you have any questions, e-mail me.


Christian
Simtra bikes
flag jonslater
Posted: Apr 4, 2008 at 17:32 Quote
yeah i heard about the U shaped drop outs but aren't they like 20$?, I just made my own out of a piece of aluminum, not because i couldn't figure the other drop outs out but just because i hated them.
flag warrior1
Posted: Apr 4, 2008 at 18:04 Quote
This post is probably long enough to be published as a short story or small novel. I apologize in advance.



simtrabikes wrote:
YOu should not have any trouble with them. The frame comes with a notice on how to install them.
If ever you cant figure it out, you can always get the U shaped parts that make the drop out like a regular horinzontal drop out.

If you have any questions, e-mail me.


Christian
Simtra bikes
So, I'm going to add my experience with Simtra frame in here.

The dropouts aren't that hard to figure out. You need a solid axle hub (like you should have with any horizontal dropout, because QR doesn't hold the wheel tight enough).

You simply take a tensioner plate and put one on each side of the axle after removing the bolts. Then you slide the wheel into the frame's dropouts.

Of course you tighten the axle nuts tight.

Then, the frame has bolts that you can put in to hold the dropout plate onto the frame and stop the plate/dropout/wheel from sliding. The bolts were too long for one side of mine since they hit my hub, so cutting was required. Still, they didn't a whole lot even when tightened all the way.

Then there's the tensioner part. You either have a plate with a screw connected to it, or a plate with a hole for a screw to go into. At first I had the screws that weren't connected to the plate. The problem was, the bolts were either too long or too short for the chain length I had. So I emailed Christian and he mailed me out some plates with a tensioner screw connected, free of charge though it did take some convincing.

So I got them, but didn't install them right away. I figured I'd wait until another problem came up or I got a flat, because after enough fooling around I finally had the wheel in a position where it didn't slide and I had a good chain tension, so I didn't want to loose that.

I may have went for a ride or two. Then I went out one day and not long into the ride I was riding up a short and steep run-in when I heard a weird noise and my cranks locked up. I look down and the tensioner screw was twisted to a point that it was garbage, and so the wheel slid in the dropouts until the tire rubbed against the frame enough to stop me instantly. So that was fine, I coasted home with my friend. We got there and installed the new plates that I luckily had lying around.

We go riding and yet again, the same day, the dropouts slide. Now, this wasn't an installion error or lack of tight axle. The 'T' part of the tensioner is flat on the side that sits against the frame. The problem is that since it's flat, it can slide out, and once it slides out it brings the screw with it. Instead of twisting this one, it bent the brand new screw that was connected to the plate.

At the end of the day I found the design very smart on paper. People can ride a MTB or BMX hub in either 10 or 14mm meaning basically any hub build for street can be ridden on this plus many more (plus disk or vees for 24 or 26"). With this comes more potential customers for Simtra which = more money. However, the majority of these people are just riding a basic 10mm MTB hub and nothing more. If I wanted a BMX hub I'd probably get a Union Street (available in either 24 or 26" specific, and I'm a big fan of riding a frame made for the wheel size I'm riding, ie. 24" frame if I'm riding 24s and obviously 26" frame if that's what I'm riding).

Christian, you said in another thread recently that you had those U pieces "for those who still dont understand how they work". So, I'm just letting you know I rode that frame with those dropouts and I fully understand how they work. They simply didn't hold up. My only recommendation is to simply make the 'T' part of the tensioner have sides that lets it sit on each side of the dropout. If you look at most BMX tensioners this is how it is done so the tensioner screw can't slide outward or even inward because the lips prevent that. Otherwise having the bolts come in the appropriate size would be good - as in the tension screw built onto the plate should just be long enough to fit the bolt with a few threads behind it when the axle is slammed, and the screws to hold the plates into the frame should be just long enough to do their job since there's no need to have it sticking out the other side of the dropout. However, a simple dropout without tensioners or anything else is what most people want.. basically like Black Market has done. Of course this would take the uniqueness of the frame partly away, though.

Otherwise the frame seems solid. It's weird though, I've heard of 3 on the east coast cracking but I believe they may be the only ones that cracked. The frame did ride nice as well, geo wise.
flag jonslater
Posted: Apr 4, 2008 at 18:15 Quote
Yeah it took some cutting of bolts and filling parts to get the dropouts to work right, I'm still riding it with two and a half holes in it and a bent dropout. Not putting simtra down in any way because i do like how they ride but I think more testing should have gone into the hardware and the dropouts. And for some reason i couldn't run V's on my frame, i tried three or four different sets of brakes and they never set up right so do you know what might be happening?


And can you explain one thing to me? how can you run a 110mm bmx hub on the frame and also run a 135mm on the same frame?
flag ron-burgundy
Posted: Apr 4, 2008 at 18:17 Quote
warrior, this one takes the cake...honestly one of the longest posts ever....
flag warrior1
Posted: Apr 4, 2008 at 18:32 Quote
norcoman-1314 wrote:
warrior, this one takes the cake...honestly one of the longest posts ever....
Moon Big Grin


As for the dropout spacing, I believe you may still need to ride spacers in order to have a BMX hub fit. At first I was under the impression that you could fit both without extra spacers, but I can't see it working. I'm sure Christian, or someone with a BMX hub could answer better.
flag robrenaud
Posted: Apr 4, 2008 at 20:01 Quote
Thanks for the input guys!
And Christian I will e-mail you if I have any problems... hopefully my frame gets shipped out on Monday Big Grin
flag Philly-bnb
Posted: Apr 4, 2008 at 20:09 Quote
i found my simtra drop outs to be the easiest things to set up ever and were an amazing design. I ran quick release on mine?
flag robrenaud
Posted: Apr 4, 2008 at 20:16 Quote
Yea..? Well mines not going to be qr so I have no idea... how its going to be to set up.. I would think its not to hard..
flag warrior1
Posted: Apr 5, 2008 at 7:45 Quote
Philly-bnb wrote:
i found my simtra drop outs to be the easiest things to set up ever and were an amazing design. I ran quick release on mine?
If the quick release is strong enough to hold the wheel then it would work fine, but I know for all the hubs I tried it wasn't near strong enough to hold the wheel. It would slide before I even started to "ride" (as in it would slide when I pedaled once or twice).

I don't find them hard to set-up really, like I said in my last post it's pretty easy to set-up (but compared to other frames, especially in that price range, it's not convenient). The dropouts just didn't perform well.
flag simtrabikes
Posted: Apr 6, 2008 at 16:51 Quote
Warrior,

Thanks for that educated post. So to solve this problem, I have U shaped parts that are arriving very shortly. These will replace the tensionner and give the frame a regular drop out.

E-mail me for more details on how to get yours.

Christian
Simtra
flag warrior1
Posted: Apr 6, 2008 at 17:11 Quote
simtrabikes wrote:
Warrior,

Thanks for that educated post. So to solve this problem, I have U shaped parts that are arriving very shortly. These will replace the tensionner and give the frame a regular drop out.

E-mail me for more details on how to get yours.

Christian
Simtra
These pieces seem like they'd work, but you're too late for me. I sold that frame a while ago to a user on here. I actually ride BMX now..
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