Orbea Spin Block: keep it or remove it?

[rfgamaral]

I'm curious what people think about Orbea's Spin Block system after living with it for a while.

Do you like it or dislike it? Have you had any issues with it, for any reason, or anything else? Has anyone intentionally removed it (excluding stem replacement reasons), and if so, why?

Just trying to understand real-world experiences and opinions given that mine broke, and I'm trying to decide whether I put it back or remove it.

 

[VWsurfbum]

It broke almost instantly, carried on running it with internal routing for a good 18 months then changed over to a conventional style headset where the bearing sits against the steerer tube as it should, and the cables go on the outside of the bearing and knock block, as they should!

Easybikeparts ZS56 ICR Upper Headset Assembly for integrated cable rou

Easybikeparts ZS56 ICR Upper Headset Assembly for Integrated Cable Routing Are you tired of dealing with cables running through your upper headset bearing, turning routine bike maintenance into a time-consuming chore? Upgrade to the Easybikeparts ZS56 ICR Upper Headset Assembly and make...

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[rfgamaral]

What's the difference between the ZS56 (the one you linked) and the IS52? I have a Wild M10, how do I know exactly which part is the most adequate for me?

Also, mine is a size M, and without spin block, the fork crown hits the frame when rotating the handlebar, how do I solve that?

 

[VWsurfbum]

What's the difference between the ZS56 (the one you linked) and the IS52? I have a Wild M10, how do I know exactly which part is the most adequate for me?

Also, mine is a size M, and without spin block, the fork crown hits the frame when rotating the handlebar, how do I solve that?

Ahhhh, then you kind of still need the spin block (silly design)

 

[Suns_PSD]

Ditch it if you can, but not everyone can.

Orbea made that nice straight, strong & light downtube. However, it does not clear every fork in every size frame.

I think Zeb forks in particular have an adjustment knob on the right fork leg that sticks up high that commonly makes contact with the lower frame on the Wild.

You can buy a small 2-5mm crown spacer that moves your fork down, but then that also alters your geo, something I'm not willing to do on this particular bike. You could offset the geo change by just running increased sag or reducing travel.

What I can say is that my Mezzer clears the lower downtube on my L Wild. This is important enough to me that I am not considering any other forks, just because of this clearance uncertainty. If I knew for certain that the new Cane Creek USD fork would clear, I might buy one. But not willing to risk it.

 

[rfgamaral]

Ditch it if you can, but not everyone can.

Sadly, I don't think I can...

 

[en56]

I changed the spacers on my wild to go away from the Orbea ones that engage the spin block to stem to standard round ones. The spin block is still in there . This gives you a “soft” block. You can feel it , but depending on the preload of your headset you can push past it. It seems to serve the purpose of absorbing some energy in the event your bike falls over , something that nature .

Also, keep in mind the other purpose of the spin block. Which is to prevent kinking of your shift/dropper/brake cables running through the headset. I think the likelihood is low, but I can foresee a scenario where your handle bars get spun around in a crash and a bunch of tension gets put onto the cables.

All that said. I have a large , with a 38. And my fork does not hit . Do the criticality of the spin block is pretty low in my case .

 

[sjturner2112]

I'm curious what people think about Orbea's Spin Block system after living with it for a while.

Do you like it or dislike it? Have you had any issues with it, for any reason, or anything else? Has anyone intentionally removed it (excluding stem replacement reasons), and if so, why?

Just trying to understand real-world experiences and opinions given that mine broke, and I'm trying to decide whether I put it back or remove it.

M - H10 Wild - Fox 38, if i did not have the spinblock, my upper stanchions would smash into my frame. I am neutral on the spinblock, it doesn't bother me, I don't notice it, I'm not sure why anyone would care if they had it or not, but maybe I could be educated on why having spinblock is a negative.

 

[pdqmach26]

What's the difference between the ZS56 (the one you linked) and the IS52? I have a Wild M10, how do I know exactly which part is the most adequate for me?

Also, mine is a size M, and without spin block, the fork crown hits the frame when rotating the handlebar, how do I solve that?

What's the difference between the ZS56 (the one you linked) and the IS52? I have a Wild M10, how do I know exactly which part is the most adequate for me?

Also, mine is a size M, and without spin block, the fork crown hits the frame when rotating the handlebar, how do I solve that?

Hi
You need the IS52 model. Only reason for the spin block is if your bars spin in a crash then the fork may hit your down tube. I just put some rubber electrical tape on the down tube near the battery mounting bolt to protect it.

 

[mtrain1969]

My experience has been that it breaks on the first hard crash. I ended up just leaving it out after breaking 2. I have a size L alloy frame so fork clearance is ok. I have been running without it for about 1.5 years with no issues.

 

[rfgamaral]

Thanks for the opinions everyone. I've bough a few spare spin block pieces to replace when broke. For now that will be my approach given that I have a size M and there's no clearance for me.