Crestline x DJI - RS 181 SPECTRE Edition

BikingBad said:
Cool! Until there’s more robust solution, I’m using high density foam tape.

View attachment 166624
Click to expand...
That wouldn’t last 15min into my rides, but everyone’s terrain is different. I hope it helps for you.
I would need mine wrapped with thin stainless, as aluminum would just dig in and not deflect.

IMG_2847.jpeg
 
⚡ EMTB Pro Go Pro — exclusive discounts & ad-free Peaty's 25% off & more · Ad-free browsing · Pro badge See the deals →
AlumiPro said:
That wouldn’t last 15min into my rides, but everyone’s terrain is different. I hope it helps for you.
I would need mine wrapped with thin stainless, as aluminum would just dig in and not deflect.
Click to expand...
Ouch, that looks painful. I also considered 3M taping neoprene rubber sheet which is much stronger and impact absorbing but it‘s significantly heavier compared to dense foam. 1st ride tomorrow.
 
Plastic will slide and deflect, but it'll crack. It doesn't seem that brittle compared to some other covers I've seen so it may last. Similar but different, I've been using OneUp campsite pedals for the first time and I really do see the advantage to aluminum pedals in the same way. It's been almost a year and they're still running strong.and currently on sale for $35!
 
BikingBad said:
Nice battle scars 🤙 I’ll get some tomorrow…

View attachment 166629
Click to expand...
I’m all about keeping my bikes 2 colors; frame color and black components, but damn! I’m digging the orange fox contrast with the frame color! That thing looks fast just sitting there.
And I see the derailleur power cable fastened to the dropout 🥰. I also like that the derailleur power wire is more tucked with a GX derailer. I have the XO derailleur and the wire hangs out past more for the battery location.
I like the XO cranks too. I really wanted those but couldn’t find the 150mm in stock and Troydon recommended the SRAM 90 cranks, so that’s what I went with.
You should go with a FOX orange coil for the rear to tie it all together, and so the current FOX and RockShox don’t rival fight each other, that’s the worst!
 
Last edited:
mrtrinh said:
Does your amflow rattle like your crestline? Mine sounds the same 😞.
Click to expand...
Not as much. The Crestline (VPP) rattles way more than the amflow. I suspect its not just the Avinox motor, it’s the suspension kinematics. VPP has more chain growth, so when the suspension compresses it tugs on the chain/chainring, which makes the motor’s internal gears chatter louder. The amflow is a 4-bar Horst link with less pedal kickback, so the motor still makes some noise, but nowhere near as much as the VPP.
 
My motor is a later revision motor and has no rattle. I’ve included a YouTube short showing two Crestlines (1 with rattle and one without). DJI really messed this up by mixing new and old inventory. I have a sidekick hub (18deg of float) and the suspension feels superb. BTW, my BB is chewed up after 2 rides…. I didn’t even bash it into anything, just lots of rocks/shale shooting up at the bike, I think it’s made of cheese

IMG_8942.jpeg

- YouTube

Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.
youtube.com youtube.com
 
MTB_MIKE said:
My motor is a later revision motor and has no rattle. I’ve included a YouTube short showing two Crestlines (1 with rattle and one without). DJI really messed this up by mixing new and old inventory. I have a sidekick hub (18deg of float) and the suspension feels superb. BTW, my BB is chewed up after 2 rides…. I didn’t even bash it into anything, just lots of rocks/shale shooting up at the bike, I think it’s made of cheese

View attachment 166653

- YouTube

Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.
youtube.com youtube.com
Click to expand...
I have the same motor cover and a sidekick hub as well and still have rattle. Agreed mixing motors is ridiculous. Amflow Owners have the same issue.

Edit: i tried pulling on the chain as well and my resistance seems similar to yours. Really mind boggling.
 
Last edited:
Rob Rides EMTB said:

New video.... Interested in the rattle mine has compared to your guys bikes... let me know!
Click to expand...

The Avinox rattle is a mystery. I have an Amflow and the motor sounds like a bucket of bolts - just like your video.
I got it in March so it's DJI branded - however looking at facebook groups/forums there are early adopters who have both quite and rattly motors.
I've also met owners who have quite motors and spoken to others over SM who also have quite motors.
YouTuber Ian Richard says his is silent and he got his last year.

Doesn't make any sense - it would be great if DJI could clarify.
 
MTB_MIKE said:
My motor is a later revision motor and has no rattle. I’ve included a YouTube short showing two Crestlines (1 with rattle and one without). DJI really messed this up by mixing new and old inventory. I have a sidekick hub (18deg of float) and the suspension feels superb. BTW, my BB is chewed up after 2 rides…. I didn’t even bash it into anything, just lots of rocks/shale shooting up at the bike, I think it’s made of cheese

View attachment 166653

- YouTube

Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.
youtube.com youtube.com
Click to expand...
Interesting. Just watched, thanks for sharing. It seems the silent one is quieter because the motor freewheel/chainring won’t actually rotate backwards. I wonder if as a result of this there’s more drag in the system because the gears are meshed tighter together. I bet it’s really hard to rotate the chainring backwards on that one?
 
Rob Rides EMTB said:
Interesting. Just watched, thanks for sharing. It seems the silent one is quieter because the motor freewheel/chainring won’t actually rotate backwards. I wonder if as a result of this there’s more drag in the system because the gears are meshed tighter together. I bet it’s really hard to rotate the chainring backwards on that one?
Click to expand...

I read a review some years back, pretty certain it was with a Shimano motor engineer, that said something like (paraphrasing here): 'it's no mystery, you can either have a rattling motor with good efficiency, or a quiet motor with poor efficiency, based on how you choose to set up the gear lash...'

Of course, Bosch with the Gen5 managed to combine high efficiency and low noise in one package. Don't they have some sort of freewheel that disconnects or something inside the motor? Which would explain the generally larger size.

Ultimately, we are still averaging pretty low watts. On my F60 if a 430w battery lasts 3 hours for instance, that's an average of 143 watts, 25 watts of drag would be a 17% loss in efficiency for example.

PS. I'm going completely off of memory here and very low knowledge of electrical systems, so hopefully I didn't botch this!
 
Last edited:
mrtrinh said:
I have the same motor cover and a sidekick hub as well and still have rattle. Agreed mixing motors is ridiculous. Amflow Owners have the same issue.

Edit: i tried pulling on the chain as well and my resistance seems similar to yours. Really mind boggling.
Click to expand...
I also have the “newer” AVINOX cover and SideKick hub and have rattle. BUT as I stated; the rattling was definitely reduced when I turned OFF the Freehub Pre-Engagement and Quick Start settings. I’m sure the Freehub Pre-Engagement setting was the main cause for obvious reasons with a VPP platform.
I have my SideKick set in the middle (I believe 13deg) As the 18deg I felt was too much float for technical rock shelf climbing.

IMG_2852.jpeg
 
Last edited:
FYI the remotes use the same coin battery as the Bosch 👍🏻
I like having an extra battery for the AXS remote and drive system remote in my pack just incase one dies on the trail!
I also carry an extra AXS battery so if I completely drain the DJI main battery I can unplug the derailleur power wire, plug in a battery, and at least shift gears to get the dead emtb home. (Doubt I’ll ever let this happen though)

IMG_2853.jpeg
 
The thing we don't know is what exactly is causing the motor to make a rattle. Based on the little evidence we have, it seems to me it's the clutch engaging and disengaging from chain slap and kickback, rather than a few bad tolerance pieces banging around. Kickback on the VPP Crestline is greater than the Horst link Amflow, so the Crestline would have worse rattle with the same motor.

The E13 won't totally eliminate kickback, 18 degrees isn't enough for VPP and you'd still have chain slap. If you have a motor prone to rattle there's really no add on that'll completely help.

I guess a way to crowdsource some data is go check out your chainring, does it rotate counterclockwise easily? If it does, does it also rattle "a lot." And vice versa.

Alternatively, my ep801 doesn't rotate counter clockwise and they're notorious for noise (I don't really notice, also I have an ochain AND E13) so who the F really knows about any of this?
 
John_likes_bikes said:
The thing we don't know is what exactly is causing the motor to make a rattle
Click to expand...
I’m pretty sure it’s gear backlash. Same as Bosch Gen 4.

Reverse torque spikes into the motors reduction gears generate more audible rattle on rough chatter.
 
John_likes_bikes said:
I guess a way to crowdsource some data is go check out your chainring, does it rotate counterclockwise easily? If it does, does it also rattle "a lot." And vice versa.
Click to expand...
My motor has the Avinox logo. The chain is not easily rotated backwards. It rattles "medium". I would be upset if mine were as loud as Rob's. Mine is about 1/2 as loud as my Bosch Gen 4 Race.
 
Chat GPT answer:
  • VPP (Crestline/V10) → around 12 mm chain growth, which works out to ~10° of pedal kickback. That extra tug feeds back through the chainring into the Avinox gears, so you hear more lash/rattle when it’s rough.
  • Horst-link / 4-bar (Amflow) → closer to 5 mm growth / ~4° kickback, so the chain isn’t dragging on the motor as much. Result = noticeably quieter.
The motor doesn’t care if torque comes from your legs or the suspension — VPP just delivers bigger spikes, so it sounds rowdier
  • Blue bars → chain growth (mm)
  • Orange bars → pedal kickback (°)
  • Shows why VPP tugs harder on the chain, making the Avinox motor rattle louder than on a Horst-link.

IMG_7278.png
 
Rob Rides EMTB said:
Chat GPT answer:
  • VPP (Crestline/V10) → around 12 mm chain growth, which works out to ~10° of pedal kickback. That extra tug feeds back through the chainring into the Avinox gears, so you hear more lash/rattle when it’s rough.
  • Horst-link / 4-bar (Amflow) → closer to 5 mm growth / ~4° kickback, so the chain isn’t dragging on the motor as much. Result = noticeably quieter.
The motor doesn’t care if torque comes from your legs or the suspension — VPP just delivers bigger spikes, so it sounds rowdier
  • Blue bars → chain growth (mm)
  • Orange bars → pedal kickback (°)
  • Shows why VPP tugs harder on the chain, making the Avinox motor rattle louder than on a Horst-link.
Click to expand...
@MTB_MIKE had kickback at 32 degrees way back on pg 10. Doing that type of math ain't mathin' for me, so I'll take anyone elses word on the subject. I guess the answer depends on what rear chainring size we're measuring at.
 
mrtrinh said:
Thats exactly my experience. My push fork is fairly loud so it kind of drowns out the rattle lol.
Click to expand...
A Timber Bell also helps drown out the rattle. It also helps get hikers out of your way too but without the bell they hear the motor rattle coming and wonder what pile of shit is barreling down the hill and also jump out of the way 😂
Little do they know we are actually on one of the most expensive bikes money can buy….what a surprise to them.
 
Last edited:
John_likes_bikes said:
@MTB_MIKE had kickback at 32 degrees way back on pg 10. Doing that type of math ain't mathin' for me, so I'll take anyone elses word on the subject. I guess the answer depends on what rear chainring size we're measuring at.
Click to expand...
32 degrees on gear 34/51
On 34/10 it’s way lower like 10-14
On a 36/10, around 8-12 based on data from a Santa Cruz Bullit
 
I think a big reason some hear rattle and others don’t (between Crestline frames) is due to trail conditions. Flow sections I don’t hear motor rattle. But most my riding is NOT flow, its super constant chunk.
 
Last edited:
AlumiPro said:
I think a big reason some hear rattle and others don’t (between Crestline frames) is due to trail conditions. Flow sections I don’t hear motor rattle. But most my riding is NOT flow, it super constant chunk.
Click to expand...
I think it’s variations in the motor, a few pages back someone had a good video showing both a rattly and non rattly motor. Mine happens to have no rattle, I’d be interested in range between the two. If it’s significant I’d trade a rattly motor for maximum efficiency and range 😂
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Keep reading
    Browse all

    Similar Threads

    Community Stats

    Since 2018
    669K
    Messages
    40,842
    Members
    Join 30,000+ Riders, it's free!
    Back
    Top