# Crosstrac Sonoma



## stan4bikes (May 24, 2006)

Wow ! did any of you see the Crosstrac that just sold for $240.00 on Ebay? Sonoma fork, XT components, Synergy wheels? A nice buy for somebody on a little known but well built bike. :thumbsup:


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## First Flight (Jan 25, 2004)

If we didn't already have one, I probably would have bid on it. I think the mixed era parts probably hurt the value?


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## heeler (Feb 13, 2004)

*Whats the story on these...*

Never seen one. Seat mast is interesting for sure. Anyone gonna share?


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## Sideknob (Jul 14, 2005)

That one has a real shock thank goodness, not that rubber football bladder, LOL.


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## DeeEight (Jan 13, 2004)

I used to deal them, the gas bag shock wasn't that bad but the use of presta valves for the shock and fork was annoying. The high forward pivot really would benefit from a modern Fifth Element or Fox Float Propedal shock though.


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## uphiller (Jan 13, 2004)

I always wondered how those forks rode, and what was going on inside... How would they stack up against, for example, an almost-contemporary 1996 Z1?


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## DeeEight (Jan 13, 2004)

They stacked up better. They were Air/Oil forks with 4 inches of travel and a single air-valve filled both fork legs (so you never had imbalanced pressure between each leg).


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## milehi (Nov 2, 1997)

The only one I ever saw on the trail had a solid, polished aluminum strut in place of the rear shock.


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## muddybuddy (Jan 31, 2007)

Hey Stan, don't you have one of those in your collection?


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## stan4bikes (May 24, 2006)

*as a matter of fact...*



muddybuddy said:


> Hey Stan, don't you have one of those in your collection?


yes I do, also not period correct but still lot's of fun and a real attention getter.


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## Fillet-brazed (Jan 13, 2004)

uphiller said:


> I always wondered how those forks rode, and what was going on inside... How would they stack up against, for example, an almost-contemporary 1996 Z1?


I had one of those on my DH bikes in 1994 and it was the best thing going (IMO), but still needed help. It was in dire need of a negative spring. Typical air spring with the high initial load required to break into the travel. The fork in that ebay auction is on backward if I recall correctly. The brakes were meant to be run like a C-dale Force 40 and behind the fork. I remember one time I somehow deflated the fork in the middle of a ride and had to finish up the ride fully bottomed out. Thats one of the downfalls of having both legs run off of one valve.

I would have much rather ridden a Z1, but those werent out yet. I do remember seeing one of those crazy Z1 Bombers for the first time at Mammoth and was blown away by the great action. Heavy though.


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## stan4bikes (May 24, 2006)

*I thought something looked wrong...*



Fillet-brazed said:


> The fork in that ebay auction is on backward if I recall correctly. The brakes were meant to be run like a C-dale Force 40 and behind the fork. .


 The crown is right but the sliders (?) are backwards. It looks like it could run either way though, I don't see any offset in the dropouts.

(picture from FirstFlights website)


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## Fillet-brazed (Jan 13, 2004)

*Yep.*



stan4bikes said:


> The crown is right but the sliders (?) are backwards. It looks like it could run either way though, I don't see any offset in the dropouts.
> 
> (picture from FirstFlights website)


Yeah, it doesnt look like it matters as far as offset goes.

And a 4" travel, air-sprung FS bike in 1994 was ahead of its time I would say. Compared to a Mag21, this fork was really different. Never had a chance to ride the frame, though.


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## Mr. Zero (Dec 5, 2006)

*Yeah, I saw it...*

Well, here it is after a rebuild and some mussing with the forks. I was surprised to have it all come together at 25.4lbs. A wheel swap would easily drop a pound, but it feels reasonable where it's at for the time being.


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## DeeEight (Jan 13, 2004)

Out of curiousity since you used V-brake levers why you didn't use a rear V-brake also ?!?


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## Mr. Zero (Dec 5, 2006)

It's a matter of aesthetics really: braze-ons that go left unused feel awkward to me somehow. Typically if a frame has a braze-on rear cantilever brake cable stop I'll fit a canti in the rear and do my best to find a matching V-brake for the front. The V up front tends to provide more than enough stopping power and I don't feel like I've extraneous appendages on the frame.


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## DeeEight (Jan 13, 2004)

So why not replace the missing powercam for the front brace and run a second cantilever then?


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## stan4bikes (May 24, 2006)

I like it, it looks great and I think your brake explanation makes good sense. Work with watcha got  That fork looks awesome, a nice clean and functional appearance.


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## pinguwin (Aug 20, 2004)

Any reason why most forks have the bridge in the front and not the rear?


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## DeeEight (Jan 13, 2004)

You mean most as in other than Pace and Manitou? Yeah its cause you don't have to do any sort of careful engineering to prevent the brace whacking the downtube. As to why some manufacturers do use reverse arches its because it makes for a stiffer fork using the same mass of brace.


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## margo (Dec 7, 2010)

*Sonoma's never die...*

Awesome! Ressurecting this thread with my Sonoma. I bought it new in '94, and it is STILL my primary XC rig, having been rebuilt on several occasions. The latest rebuild saw the Crosstrac front fork replaced with a little more reliable Rock Shox Recon 351. I got sick of having to replace the presta valve on the equalizing tubes when it got pinched and snapped during big hits, flattening the front end to zero suspension and horrific geometry for an attempted recovery from a large hit. I also custom fabbed a rear disc brake mount and updated wheels to Mavic Crossrides. 1 1/4" No threadset (!) was reduced to 1 1/8" Chris King, and stem/handlebars were replaced. I still run the original Kooka crankset I built it with originally in 94', as well as the Fox rear shock, which has been rebuilt a few times over the past 16 years.









These bikes are awesome to ride, though not the most efficient pedaling machines. They get looks from anyone who could consider themself a bike geek, and even more looks from anyone not familiar with them. You'd think you were riding a spaceship 

I still log hundreds of miles every season, and last year, rode the old beast from Fruita, CO to Moab, UT via The Kokopelli trail...I was the ONLY rig out of seven (less ONE flat tire) to not have a single mechanical issue.


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## Fillet-brazed (Jan 13, 2004)

margo said:


> Awesome! Ressurecting this thread with my Sonoma. I bought it new in '94, and it is STILL my primary XC rig, having been rebuilt on several occasions. The latest rebuild saw the Crosstrac front fork replaced with a little more reliable Rock Shox Recon 351. I got sick of having to replace the presta valve on the equalizing tubes when it got pinched and snapped during big hits, flattening the front end to zero suspension and horrific geometry for an attempted recovery from a large hit. I also custom fabbed a rear disc brake mount and updated wheels to Mavic Crossrides. 1 1/4" No threadset (!) was reduced to 1 1/8" Chris King, and stem/handlebars were replaced. I still run the original Kooka crankset I built it with originally in 94', as well as the Fox rear shock, which has been rebuilt a few times over the past 16 years.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


great post. wouldn't mind seeing more pics. cool that it's still running and being ridden after all those years. 1994 was not a time when FS bikes were very refined, but this one was ahead of its time I think.


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## uphiller (Jan 13, 2004)

16 years and counting from an FS bike is impressive. Does that rear pivot have any play in it?
Seems like it would benefit from a stable platform shock if it is a bad pedaler.


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## Veloculture (Dec 18, 2005)

I have one and was surprised at how well it rode in relation to how horrible my early Mountain Cycle San Andreas rode. I quite enjoy riding my Crosstrac.


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## margo (Dec 7, 2010)

uphiller said:


> 16 years and counting from an FS bike is impressive. Does that rear pivot have any play in it?
> Seems like it would benefit from a stable platform shock if it is a bad pedaler.


The pivot has no play at all. The only issue I ever had with linkage, was a stripped bolt on seat mast. Drilled out and threw a heli-coil in about 6 years ago and no problems since. Really is an impressively engineered and built bike. Seated climbing up technical stuff gets some pedal-suck, but when out of the saddle, it almost locks out to hardtail status. And the downhills are extremely fun.

Here are the finished pics just after the latest build two years ago.


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## muddybuddy (Jan 31, 2007)

What's that white stuff on the floor?


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## margo (Dec 7, 2010)

muddybuddy said:


> What's that white stuff on the floor?


Snow. Bad seal on the garage door. Was windy that day so we got some creeper drifts under the door.


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## msamusick (Nov 15, 2010)

It's nice to see there's some people that appreciate this bike. There's a guy selling a nice blue one on craigslist, here's the link for it.
On a related subject I also have one of these that I inherited from my father. He was one of the guys out on the fab shop floor and had done the cutting/drilling/welding on it. Needless to say it's a bike I treasure now. :thumbsup: 
margo - I took mine into the lbs and the owner swore this frame would never be able to take disk brakes, it's nice to see someone has done it. How hard of a job was it to get them fitted? I wonder if they would be worlds better than the hydraulic magura pinch brakes I currently have...
One thing I've noticed about mine is that whenever I release all the air out of the forks it will let out a little bit of dark oil. Is that a sign of an internal leak?


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## margo (Dec 7, 2010)

I was able to make a bracket at work to match the small holes in the dropout. It took some revision to relieve for the axle and to clear the swingarm. I bolted it on, but it was very flexy and didn't stop well at all. Was pretty bummed and thought about reverting to v-brakes, but made a last ditch effort to make a strut out of some M6 all-thread with a metric heim joint on the end, which hooks to the existing brake boss. 1000% improvment. Works really well, with no flex at all. The only negative is when the brakes are wet, they tend to squeal and the sound reverbs through the entire frame which is a huge, hollow, aluminum sound tube. Gets pretty annoying on rainy days.


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## DeeEight (Jan 13, 2004)

What shock are you running? Sonoma's are one of the few canti-beam bikes with a pivot even as high as Trek's were, and all the fun pedal bobbing that resulted.


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## msamusick (Nov 15, 2010)

margo - How big of a difference did the upgrade make compared to the pinch brakes?
DeeEight - The rear shock is a Stratos Helix with a Eibach 400 lb spring and about 180 psi. I find that I hardly ever use the lockout since it really doesn't bob that noticeably.


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## margo (Dec 7, 2010)

msamusick - The brakes are older Magura Louise single pistons which aren't the greatest setup, but the stopping power improved 10 fold...esp. the modulation control coming down techy steeps. Can feather them and even stop on a dime with one finger. Never toyed around with the Magura hydro pinch brakes, but have heard horror stories about them.

As far as I can tell, the bit of oil leaking out, does NOT mean internal leaking. In my experience, there is no internal cartridge type setup in these. The forks are bullet proof and will take miles of abuse as long as you don't touch the presta valve on the equalizer tube. In fact the last time I blew it up, I was riding on the Rubicon trail near Tahoe with some friends who were 4x4'ing...I used some JB Weld to piece the valve stem back together, then borrowed some 10-30 motor oil to refill the shock to ride the rest of the 12 miles or so. Worked well, other than being sluggish due to heavy oil.

p.s. I'm loving the polished swingarm two-tone look, and "old's cool" Ritchey SPD's. I get so much crap for my Ritcheys but I LOVE them.

DeeEight - I am running a Fox Alps 4 at around 180 psi (I think) with the rebound set to the slowest setting. In the saddle, it suffers from a bit of pedal suck, but more often than not, I am out of the saddle which (just by the design of the frame) almost locks the rear end out. One day, I might give in and pick up something with a lockout, but in 16 years of racing and riding, I've never felt the need to yet.


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## stefan9113 (Aug 4, 2008)

Hi all,

search for a long time for this bike



today it arrived 

need please some help with the rear shock. I think it dosn't work right.

thanks a lot

Greetings from Bavaria 
Stefan


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## muddybuddy (Jan 31, 2007)

No first hand experience, but from what I've heard, there's probably good reason that none of the other bikes in this thread still have the Crosstrac shock.


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## margo (Dec 7, 2010)

stefan9113 said:


> Hi all,
> 
> search for a long time for this bike
> 
> ...


That is pretty. I've always liked the blue frames. Love the cranks and cream tires. Pure 90's :thumbsup:

Is the shock holding air? If not, the rubber bladder is likely dried out/cracked, or the valve/air line is leaking. If it's the valve, it's tricky to find, but replaceable. If its the bladder, finding a FUNCTIONING replacement (that someone will be willing to part with) will be next to impossible at best.



muddybuddy said:


> No first hand experience, but from what I've heard, there's probably good reason that none of the other bikes in this thread still have the Crosstrac shock.


Amen to that.


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## yo-Nate-y (Mar 5, 2009)

good luck with the shock---that' a great looking example!


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## Fillet-brazed (Jan 13, 2004)

Are there various size frames?

And yeah, that blue one with the white tires looks pretty nice. Except for that 83 degree seat angle.


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## msamusick (Nov 15, 2010)

margo said:


> msamusick - The brakes are older Magura Louise single pistons which aren't the greatest setup, but the stopping power improved 10 fold...esp. the modulation control coming down techy steeps. Can feather them and even stop on a dime with one finger. Never toyed around with the Magura hydro pinch brakes, but have heard horror stories about them.
> 
> As far as I can tell, the bit of oil leaking out, does NOT mean internal leaking. In my experience, there is no internal cartridge type setup in these. The forks are bullet proof and will take miles of abuse as long as you don't touch the presta valve on the equalizer tube. In fact the last time I blew it up, I was riding on the Rubicon trail near Tahoe with some friends who were 4x4'ing...I used some JB Weld to piece the valve stem back together, then borrowed some 10-30 motor oil to refill the shock to ride the rest of the 12 miles or so. Worked well, other than being sluggish due to heavy oil.
> 
> p.s. I'm loving the polished swingarm two-tone look, and "old's cool" Ritchey SPD's. I get so much crap for my Ritcheys but I LOVE them.


Thanks for the info margo. I'll keep my eyes open for another set of compatible rims and brakes. I'm glad the oil issue doesn't seem as bad as I had thought. I think I found some seals so I guess I lucked out if they ever do need a rebuild.









I just noticed that we have the same pedals. I don't know if I'm a fan of clip-ins though, still having issues getting out of em and falling over like a 'tard.


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## msamusick (Nov 15, 2010)

stefan9113 - Welcome to the club. That is a nice looking bike you got there. About your rear shock... I think margo is correct. I have the original shock but don't think I would want to part with it just in case... Maybe you could find a fox alps 4 or 5 with the correct eye to eye length and stroke and swap it out?

Fillet-brazed - Here you go.


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## yo-Nate-y (Mar 5, 2009)

90 days!


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## margo (Dec 7, 2010)

msamusick said:


> I just noticed that we have the same pedals. I don't know if I'm a fan of clip-ins though, still having issues getting out of em and falling over like a 'tard.


Lots o' miles...thats all it takes to get used to unclipping them...:madman:

funny, just noticed you have an SDG saddle too. I had one on mine as well, in red, but swapped it over to my polo bike then popped one of the rails out of the body in a crash. Love the saddle, but can't figure out how to get the rail back in place. If only I had one more hand to hold it while I bend everything else into place :madmax:


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## msamusick (Nov 15, 2010)

That saddle is pretty damn comfy :thumbsup: Way better than the wtb one on my alpinestars. Have you tried locking it down in a vice?


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## eastcoaststeve (Sep 19, 2007)

margo said:


> Love the saddle, but can't figure out how to get the rail back in place. If only I had one more hand to hold it while I bend everything else into place :madmax:


I've been able to pop a few out and in by warming the saddle in the oven for a bit to soften up the base....make sure you wear gloves when you try to pop it back in...those rails really hold the heat. Don't ask how I know 

Steve


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## DeeEight (Jan 13, 2004)

90 days is enough time if you're ACTUALLY riding to find a defect in materials or workmanship. Amp's frame warranty back then was only six months.


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## msamusick (Nov 15, 2010)

Are you guys using the bolt on the bottom of the frame to anchor your front derailleur cable?


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## msamusick (Nov 15, 2010)

Anyone home? I played with the front derailleur trying to get the chain to quit rubbing the outer cage and now I can't get the darned thing to work right. Took it to 2 different lbs's and they can't seem to get it right either. Maybe you guys could post a pic of your front derailleur setup so I can get mine up and running again? My hardtail bike is nice but I miss the full suspension...


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## margo (Dec 7, 2010)

msamusick said:


> Anyone home? I played with the front derailleur trying to get the chain to quit rubbing the outer cage and now I can't get the darned thing to work right. Took it to 2 different lbs's and they can't seem to get it right either. Maybe you guys could post a pic of your front derailleur setup so I can get mine up and running again? My hardtail bike is nice but I miss the full suspension...


Two pics for you...sorry about the crappiness...cell phone shots in dim lit basement.

The first pic is of the anchor point with the connection to the derailleur just visible in the bottom.

The second is of the cable housing coming through the swingarm and the connection to the derailleur.


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## msamusick (Nov 15, 2010)

Thanks Margo :thumbsup: Mine is almost exactly the same. Does anyone have a different setup?


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## calvincycles (Oct 10, 2003)

G'Day I bought one from Supergo in '95 raced it at Mammoth then brought it home to OZ bent the frame in a drain in Jan '96 took til Sept(week before Worlds) to get replacement from new factory??? mid 97 fork slider bush wore thru lower legs mid-race pissing oil everywhere,and dropping to max travel replaced with Z1's and some coke can for shims between the crown race and my King 1.25" headset-never had an issue til I retired it,as for handling etc. I never thought it was all that much more fun than the Klein Rascal it replaced but it was sometimes more comfy,tho rear end flex was excessive,the Fox ALPS4 shock split mid 98,factory swapped it for an ALPS 5 ,no problems...sits in the back of my shed gathering dust nowadays,don't want to chuck it knowing the part in suspension history it played...


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## stefan9113 (Aug 4, 2008)

family day 



and this shox works fine 

Greetings from Bavaria

Stefan


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## adroit 96' (Sep 16, 2011)

Had a friend purchase one in 94'...cool bike.


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