Decathlon STILUS Full Suspension Electric Mountain Bike - SRAM SX

[Jeffers]

Upgraded fork to a 2018 Lyric with 170mm of travel. Holy cow how much better it is! It is noticeable even riding up an access road. It eats more of the small road chatter. But then on a steep rocky and rooty descend it just plows through where previously I was fighting for my life. It eats everything so much better, gives more grip, and makes me less tired even though I was riding faster than usual.

The second was a smooth trail but with a lot of braking bumps at the entrance of corners. It was fine on the stock fork but Lyric just makes those bumps nonexistent. This leads to more grip and more speed through the corners.

I'm very happy with this upgrade and can't recommend enough to upgrade the stock fork. The only drawback is that now shock is lagging behind and I already want to make it even with the performance of the new fork.

Thanks , what did you upgrade from and which bike, brand/model do you have?

 

[Zecalama]

Hello, anyone has installed tubeless on the original (Smart Sam) tires?
Can`t get any more flats, they have been ruining my rides..
Took the tires to a LBS but they told me these tires don`t work well with tubeless, because of the tire walls.

 

[Jammybastard]

Hello, anyone has installed tubeless on the original (Smart Sam) tires?
Can`t get any more flats, they have been
Took the tires to a LBS but they told me these tires don`t work well with tubeless, because of the tire walls.

I’m running Hutchinson self repair tube and a FR sludge the weight of tubes is no more then you can lose on a long ride ????‍

 

[kydel]

Hello, anyone has installed tubeless on the original (Smart Sam) tires?
Can`t get any more flats, they have been ruining my rides..
Took the tires to a LBS but they told me these tires don`t work well with tubeless, because of the tire walls.

yes no problem and you will notice big difference, had 3 flats in one day before, dont forget to refill regularly and check pressure before each ride.

 

[N16BS]

Does anyone have torque values for the shock mount? Or can suggest some safe values to shoot for.

 

[RustyMTB]

You're not going to get torque specs from Decathlon nor Lombardo I would imagine but when I took mine out recently, top & bottom were super tight. I took a middle view & put them back in at 35nm with blue Loctite which is on the light side & made them part of the bolt check. Haven't rattled loose yet.

 

[MickS]

Hello, anyone has installed tubeless on the original (Smart Sam) tires?
Can`t get any more flats, they have been ruining my rides..
Took the tires to a LBS but they told me these tires don`t work well with tubeless, because of the tire walls.

Yes, I did that recently after asking here a similar question .
Even if not marked as tubeless ready, these tyres have sealed very well for me, without any issues so far (but I'm only after 2 rides after the conversion). I've put some cheap tubeless valves from Aliexpress (but they look exactly the same as some branded ones, so I think it can be the same thing just without branded packaging). Tyre walls do not "sweat" the sealant at all, I've used Trezado sealant (polish brand). The regular Stan's sealant (which I think for you will be more accessible) should work very well, too (as others reported when I've asked).

 

[RustyMTB]

Another thing to check on these. I rode through a freshly mown field at the weekend & picked up a fair bit of... cargo. Stripped the cassette down to clean & clear the grass & generally check it over & found the mech hanger bolt loose. No loctite on mine either. That could spoil your whole day if it were to let go.

 

[Timmoh]

Another thing to check on these. I rode through a freshly mown field at the weekend & picked up a fair bit of... cargo. Stripped the cassette down to clean & clear the grass & generally check it over & found the mech hanger bolt loose. No loctite on mine either. That could spoil your whole day if it were to let go.

View attachment 70152

Yeah, it's a amazing how that little bolt gets forgotten in the check over by a lot of people.

 

[N16BS]

Has anyone had problems with their derailleur? Mine appears to be bent (no wonder I can't get cable tension right). No crashes, can it be just from shifting on steep ascends? Internet opinion on Sram Eagle SX seems to be pretty low.

 

[Lordy71]

Has anyone had problems with their derailleur? Mine appears to be bent (no wonder I can't get cable tension right). No crashes, can it be just from shifting on steep ascends? Internet opinion on Sram Eagle SX seems to be pretty low.

View attachment 70797

View attachment 70798

Rear mechs do not last to long , my original eagle did not snap but was bent and just worn out so i replaced with shimano deore which i then snapped, currently on a SLX mech as it was all we had between us in back pack at time of damage..

 

[RustyMTB]

You're running an SLX mech on a SRAM drivetrain? Does it work ok?

 

[Planemo]

Has anyone had problems with their derailleur? Mine appears to be bent (no wonder I can't get cable tension right). No crashes, can it be just from shifting on steep ascends? Internet opinion on Sram Eagle SX seems to be pretty low.

Is it deffo bent? I was surprised at the really odd bends on my brand new SLX which I bought to replace the SX on my bike. So odd in fact I was convinced it had bent in transit but the packaging was mint and I found there was a clear note on the instructions (with pics) which confirmed it is actually designed to be like it in order to help indexing. I was super surprised, I had never seen anything like it before!

You're running an SLX mech on a SRAM drivetrain? Does it work ok?

As above, I fitted one to my Haibike and it shifts perfectly, although I did use an SLX shifter as well. Only because the SX shifter appeared to be made of pasta like the SX mech. I did read somewhere that the SX shifter was fine indexing the SLX mech though.

 

[Planemo]

Found a pic, although looking at the posts the 'weird bend' may only apply to Shimano mechs so you could be right in that your SRAM one is indeed bent

https://www.mtbr.com/attachments/a-jpg.1309543/

 

[RustyMTB]

Cool if it works, my drivetrain is pretty much still working perfectly 800 miles in but there is some play in the jockey wheels & hanger itself and I do have a complete SLX drivetrain lying around in the garage which would be helpful if mine were to lunch itself.

 

[Lordy71]

You're running an SLX mech on a SRAM drivetrain? Does it work ok?

Hi
Yes work perfectly but the only Sram part on drive chain is the cassette...

 

[RustyMTB]

Got it. I wonder if a Sram shifter would work with a Shimano mech. Could be fun to put it in the stand & mess about with mix & match parts just to find out.

 

[Zimmerframe]

Got it. I wonder if a Sram shifter would work with a Shimano mech. Could be fun to put it in the stand & mess about with mix & match parts just to find out.

I managed to get the sram 11 shifter to work with an 11sp xt mech. Took a while with lots of fine tuning on the adjustments. In theory you'll be slightly out at both the extremes so would probably get more wear. In the end I swapped over to the XT shifter which is much smoother, slicker, nicer than the SRAM one - well, I felt it was/is anyway.

 

[RustyMTB]

I know the SX is budget & has a bad rep but mine has genuinely been faultless & a pleasure to use. I'm a sample of one, so not representative of anything other than my own experience but I've hammered that bike through summer & winter and can't fault the groupset so far. Although I do give it borderline ocd levels of cleaning & lubing which can't hurt.

 

[emtbPhil]

I did this recently on my new bike

Came with SLX casette, SLX shifter, and XT mech.
I put my spare Sram GX mech on it and it worked flawlessly with the shimano shifter and casette
The 12 speed stuff seems to be very mix and match - obviously just need to watch for freehub type when you're selecting casette

For what it's worth though I went back to the XT setup - I thought the SX was very basic and crude and loud. The GX was lovely, much smoother but the shimano XT although being IMO uglier and a worse design shifts the best, and shifts well under full load.

My GX setup is for sale if anyone wants a bit of an upgrade

 

[emtbPhil]

As for SX bending - mine bent, my mates bent on his decathlon when a chain snapped.
They are pretty much made like cheese

 

[N16BS]

Is it deffo bent? I was surprised at the really odd bends on my brand new SLX which I bought to replace the SX on my bike. So odd in fact I was convinced it had bent in transit but the packaging was mint and I found there was a clear note on the instructions (with pics) which confirmed it is actually designed to be like it in order to help indexing. I was super surprised, I had never seen anything like it before!

Well, I can't make it shift half-decent via cable tension. It just skips and jumps. Also, 11sp Sram NX on wife's bike looks straight at every gear. On the other hand, I've had no crashes so it must be bent just by chain torque which is never happened to me before.

 

[N16BS]

Upgraded fork to a 2018 Lyric with 170mm of travel. Holy cow how much better it is! It is noticeable even riding up an access road. It eats more of the small road chatter. But then on a steep rocky and rooty descend it just plows through where previously I was fighting for my life. It eats everything so much better, gives more grip, and makes me less tired even though I was riding faster than usual.

The second was a smooth trail but with a lot of braking bumps at the entrance of corners. It was fine on the stock fork but Lyric just makes those bumps nonexistent. This leads to more grip and more speed through the corners.

I'm very happy with this upgrade and can't recommend enough to upgrade the stock fork. The only drawback is that now shock is lagging behind and I already want to make it even with the performance of the new fork.

I've got DVO Topaz to complement my new Lyric. Well, it is no less awesome than a fork. My speed on descends increased substantially and I can safely pick lines that I avoided previously. Now with a new fork & shock, it's a completely new bike! It is worth every buck and I can't recommend enough to upgrade the stock suspension on the Stilus.

 

[Lordy71]

I've got DVO Topaz to complement my new Lyric. Well, it is no less awesome than a fork. My speed on descends increased substantially and I can safely pick lines that I avoided previously. Now with a new fork & shock, it's a completely new bike! It is worth every buck and I can't recommend enough to upgrade the stock suspension on the Stilus.

View attachment 73310

OMG I will end up spending more money on reading your review LOL

 

[Tallguy888]

Hi everyone

Could anyone advise how many links they are using in there chain? I’m just interested to know if mine has the same as others,
Many thanks Del

 

[KevORourke]

Hi everyone

Could anyone advise how many links they are using in there chain? I’m just interested to know if mine has the same as others,
Many thanks Del

124 links

 

[Tallguy888]

124 links

Thank you

 

[Lordy71]

124 links

I have run at 126 , but 124 is better option..

 

[Tallguy888]

I have run at 126 , but 124 is better option..

Many thanks

 

[Lordy71]

I've got DVO Topaz to complement my new Lyric. Well, it is no less awesome than a fork. My speed on descends increased substantially and I can safely pick lines that I avoided previously. Now with a new fork & shock, it's a completely new bike! It is worth every buck and I can't recommend enough to upgrade the stock suspension on the Stilus.

View attachment 73310

Got to agree with N16BS just upgraded rear shock to a fox DPX 2 elite, and bike just feels so much more lively on rear., small bump absorption is way better. Also as everyone is going coil spring at moment there are some real bargains to be had on second hand shocks.