New Bike Build

[Flat Broke]

I was going to put this in the General Discussion forum, but figgured it might sit better here. If George or one of the other mods feels it belongs somewhere else, feel free to move it.

With that out of the way, about a month and a half ago I decided I wanted to build a fully on a pretty tight budget. The idea was that I'd find a frame that would work for trail and more abusive uses then swap the parts from my Transition Vagrant over to the new frame. I was hoping I could nail everything down for under $700. I found a Haro Extreme (think Bullit knockoff with hydroformed top tubes) with SRAM drivetrain (which I had been wanting to upgrade to on my Vagrant) for a couple hundred bucks. I figgured that I could score a used shock (and I did) for around $100, then move my parts over after striping and re-powdercoating the frame. Not two days after I pay for the Haro, do I find this thread on the monkey slickest of the steel garage dh frames ? - Ridemonkey.com ( I hope no one minds the cross link) I shoot off a PM and find that I could get one of the beta frames for $375 plus shipping. So I decide that I'll grab one (hence all the questions about rear shocks) and figgure out what to do with it when it gets here.

To free up some cash, I decide to sell my Vagrant frame, but in the process end up selling the entire bike less wheels/tires/tubes. So that puts more $$ into the coffers to help with this build and starts the conundrum of which fork to run. While I'm waiting on the payment for my Vagrant to clear so I can pay for the new frame, I get a PM on the Monkey from someone coming back from Chile who has one of the beta frames that hasn't been powdercoated. I talk to the guy I had been dealing with and he says by all means, buy the one that's already stateside as it will be cheaper by virtue of not having to pay for shipping. The only downside is that the front triangle hadn't been powdercoated, and the rear triangle just had a coat of black applied. This was no big deal as I can PC parts on my own, and have a ton of white powder.

So after waiting for funds to free up so I could pay the man, I met up with Sanjay down at the Path this afternoon to pick up my new tank. The pictures here are ones that he had taken for me, but I'll take some new ones tomorrow and we'll kind of do a little build up story so everyone can really see why my moniker fits like a glove.

Here is the the bare nekked frame


1.5 headtube and gusset


Swingarm pivot


And a shot of one built up from the RM thread


When I picked up the frame today, there is not doubt that "steel is real" rings true... in this case it aint air hardened reynolds 853 and has the heft to prove it. But I honestly think I can build this to within a pound or two of my Vagrant at it's heaviest, so while it will udoubtedly be a pig, it hopefully won't be the final nail in the cofin of me spending more time on the trails.

Spec is going to be pretty cheap compared to a lot of rigs on here, but oh well. 07 Fox Van36RC2 up front, Santa Cruz blowout 5th Element out back (If I really likey the frame, I'll sell the 5th on Ebay and buy a Rocco TST), SRAM x7 goodies, Shimano Etype front derailleur so I can attempt to run 2 rings on it cause I aint got the legs for a single ring setup, Hayes 9 brakes, Atomlab Aircorp stem, undecided on bars, FSA Gravity cranks, Gigpipe BB, WTB Speed V seat, hopefully a Thompson post, and my old mavic 219s laced to Formula hubs with either blings or 2.35 Minions.

With any luck, I'll get the frame PC'd this weekend and can start puting things togther over the next couple of weeks.

The bike was designed to be an affordable alternative for folks looking to get into DH racing. The older version is still on the website at Fcycles but for a real deal DH frame under $500USD plus shipping for the new finished models, you can't go wrong. My thought is that I'll use it as long as I can for all of my riding; then if I'm still loging decent miles, I'll put some $$ away for a Bottle Rocket or whatever else tickles me funny at the time for a trail bike, and put this frame on standby in the event that I ever decide to take a stab at downhill racing. On the bright side, no matter what, I won't have an excuse to miss another Tunnel run once I have this rig dialed.

Sorry for the uber long post, but it's Friday night and I'm home with my sleeping 19month old daughter, so there isn't a whole lot more to do besides be a little gitty about a new bike

Chris

[Geronimo]

Cool frame. I was checking out on RM and it looks like the builder sweats the details. Hell for that price I want one too. That frame is designed around a big fork however. The 36RC2 will screw up the intended geometry and handling. You need a triple or a large single ( think rockshox totem or an 07 66).

[Flat Broke]

I hear you on the 36. I talked to Victor about it before I bought the frame and he said the same thing, "run your 66 or go 888". But then I sold the 66 with my frame and found a killer deal on the 36. I'd been wanting to try a 36 sprung for my weight, so we'll give it a go. Changing the bike from it's intended geo is a gamble, but might work out as I'm also using it a tad outside it's designed application. The 36 is going to steepen the HA and drop the BB a touch, both are things that aren't automatically bad as I won't be using the bike for dedicated DH to start. If it sucks, I'll know why and where to get a quick fix with an 05 888 or 66, or even a previously loved Boxxer. The other thing is that with the shock shuttle/mounting rail setup on the downtube, there are some options available to tweak things if need be. By default there are 3 different shock positions (determined by the i2i measurement to keep the same overal dimension). But these could also be experimented with to alter the base geometry. While the linkage ratio and subsequent relation between stroke and travel is fixed, the geometry could be manipulated by running different i2i combinations or even making new shuttle plates.

As far as details, the frame is pretty nice, and very nice when you consider the price. As a for instance, the seat tube is beefier in the top 2" than the rest of the tube. This was done to shave a little weight and only have the beef in the clamping area. The water jet cut gussets and front emblem (I'll get pics during/after powder) are nice touches. The headtube and bottom bracket are nicely machined, and overall the weld quality was better than I expected. Victor made mention of a lighter tubeset being available soon, so I would PM him (Vitox on RM) and see what they can do.

I was hoping to get the frame coated today, but some stuff came up and hopefully I'll get it banged out tomorrow. My shock and fork show up on Monday, so then we'll be able to see how the geo will shape up. I was halfway tempted to strip the swing arm down to raw, hit the whole deal with an orbital, then clear the frame to show off the beauty of raw steel. But I like white bikes, so I'm gonna do it up right. Plus since this is the first one in the U.S. that I know of, it'd be cool to have a more conventional scheme on it to show better for the guys back in Chile.

Chris

[spookydave]

that's gonna be a 48 pounder.
I agree with the fork comment. Heck, I'll sport you a loner 7" or 8" fork if you want to ride it while you look for the proper one.

[roadkillross]

that frame is sick
would think about pickin one up if it wasnt single pivot.

[Krunk]

Nice tig welds ... I own a fully 4130 steal bike and weights in at 45lbs . Great hucker bike.

[Flat Broke]

Originally Posted by roadkillross

that frame is sick
would think about pickin one up if it wasnt single pivot.

None of the guys runnin Morewoods seem to mind

They can also do a 150mm rear end version, and I believe they're workin on a floating rear brake setup. At that point, there isn't much to worry about witih regard to the single pivot.

Dave,
The 36 will be here tomorrow, so hopefully I can get the finish sorted out, slap in the cups and mock things up. If it just feels wrong, I know where I can get an 888 and I'll just be pushing one hell of a heavy sled for now. If the rest of my goodies come together and I'm in need, I'll take you up on the loaner offer.

Chris

[SAR_boats]

Looks like a bike for the push-a-kona ride

[roadkillross]

hmm good point, but for me after coming off a V10 with vpp, single pivot feels weird riding. but for that beast of a bike, i could get used to it

[roadkillross]

who did u contact, and how long did it take to get it

[RacinJason]

Most of the big bikes are 150 it sucks for some people that spent a lot of money on normal spaced wheel sets.

[Flat Broke]

Originally Posted by roadkillross

who did u contact, and how long did it take to get it

Ross,

I sent ya an email with all that info.

Chris

[roadkillross]

yup thanks a bunch. plan on ordering it as soon as they email me back.

[2wheel_lee]

I'm with Ross on the single pivot...once you've had a good suspension design, it's hard to go back to a single pivot.

Looking at the picture of the bike built up, the pivot looks way too high! That thing is going to jack up with each pedal stroke.

And with the bent seat tube, you can't lower or raise your seat much.

I like the raw look on the front triangle. I'd consider putting a clear coat on it and call it done.

[Flat Broke]

I know the thread is up at the top right now, but I don't have the frame anymore It moved to Idaho shortly before I picked up a more trail friendly ride. If I had the scratch to build a dedicated DH/big mountain sled, I'd pick up another one of these.

Chris

[2wheel_lee]

DOH!!! I didn't see the original posting date.