New Sled for Junior

K

komdotkom

Likes Bikes and Dirt
My son is out growing his current bike which is a 2020 Meta TR with travel extension, it's been a good rig but he's outgrown the capabilities of a relatively short travel bike.
This is also an excellent opportunity to bribe him into being more diligent with his home work and study; this will be his reward at the end of the school year if he fulfils his potential instead of watching videos of people riding bikes and being hardcore.
I bought the frame used from another 'burner and it arrived last week. It's certainly been well used and cosmetically has a number of scratches and marks, but it's an Enduro bike so I'm not super worried. Generally the frame is very nicely put together, all the pivots are in perfect alignment and there's no shortage of material. There's a couple of welds that are just a little bit hot and are undercut at the edges, but it's on the seat tube which is built like a Sherman tank so I don't think it will be an issue. As soon as it arrived I stripped it and started the cleaning process, if I get time I'll finish most of the cleaning tomorrow but it's going to need a new down tube protector and the chain / seat stay protectors stuck back on.
I can't find a buyer for my Paradox so I'll strip most of the gear off that and sell the frame set, or put it with all the other bikes I don't want to sell.
The guys from NSD did me an incredible deal on the Ohlins package including custom tunes and were more than happy to answer my never ending questions about valving, spring rates and servicing.

Frame - Privateer 161
Rear shock - Ohlins TTX Coil
Front shock/fork - Ohlins RXF 36 M.2 170mm
Handlebars - One Up Carbon
Stem - Anvil
Headset - Generic
Grips - TBC
Saddle - TBC
Seatpost - Transfer 150mm
Front brake - TBC
Rear brake - TBC
Cranks - XT 165mm
Chainguide - Not required
Chain - XT
Pedals - One Up plastic
Front derailleur - Shimano LX 3 x 9
Rear derailleur - XT 12 speed
Front shifter - Sram Grip Shift
Rear shifter - XT 12 speeed
Cassette - XT 12 Speed
Front hub - DT350
Rear hub - DT350
Front rim - LB 30mm carbon
Rear rim - LB 30mm carbon
Spokes - Yep
Nipples - Sensitive
Tyres - Michelin Wild Enduro 2.5 / Hans Dampf 2.35
Tubes - Are for roadies
Total weight - All of it.

On the things to do list:
  1. Find a down tube protector for it
  2. Massive clean
  3. Track down a new hanger
  4. Build
389873
 
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K

komdotkom

Likes Bikes and Dirt
Oh, if you want a Rockshox Super deluxe ultimate 205x65 trunion with a Meg neg let me know. No longer required with the coil going in.
SOLD.
 
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K

komdotkom

Likes Bikes and Dirt
Anyone ever done a Kydex bash guard? I'm deep down the rabbit hole on this and looking at some from our friends at AliExpress.
It's one of those things that looks simple but I feel like it's going to be hard to make it look good.
 
B

BurnieM

Likes Dirt
komdotkom said:
Anyone ever done a Kydex bash guard? I'm deep down the rabbit hole on this and looking at some from our friends at AliExpress.
It's one of those things that looks simple but I feel like it's going to be hard to make it look good.
Click to expand...
Its pretty straight forward.
I wasted the first one just getting used to how much heat I needed. Still only used half a 300x300 sheet.
I only needed to bend mine in one plane. A two way curve could use a bit of time.
Not something that needs to be perfect as it is mostly out of sight.
I used 3M VHB double sided tape to hold it on.
 
K

komdotkom

Likes Bikes and Dirt
I started 'dry' building this over the weekend to see what would go wrong. I'm glad that I did because there's a few things I need to work out.
  1. Cable routing. This frame is setup for LH shifter and RH dropper. While it's possible to run the shifter cable along the downtube in the external cable routing clamp jiggers it's clearly supposed to go inside the frame so that it can slide as the rear triangle moves, the problem is that there's only one port in the frame and it's on the RHS. When it's clamped down to the frame on the outside the cable ends up slack on the downtube - will have to get some P clamps for the drink bottle bosses to hold it in place.
  2. Chain is too short, I should stop being lazy and just put a new chain on.
  3. There's some weird shit going on inside the seat tube. I don't know if the previous owner had a shim in there and mangled it in the bottom but there's some munted folded up sheet metal looking shit at the bottom of the seat tube which made dropper routing a pain.
  4. Sort out the front wheel
A quick ride around was a bit strange, the super steep seat tube angle is very noticeable. While it's supposed to be roughly similar in reach and stack to my Bird it feels tiny.

390346
 
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ozzybmx

ozzybmx

taking a shit with my boobs out
komdotkom said:
A quick ride around was a bit strange, the super steep seat tube angle is very noticeable. While it's supposed to be roughly similar in reach and stack to my Bird it feels tiny.
Click to expand...
Looks awesome !

For years ETT was my go to number for bike sizing, now reach and stack must be factored in.
Still has me doing a comparison on Geometry Geeks on previous/current bikes I know that fit.
 
Asininedrivel

Asininedrivel

caviar connoisseur
ozzybmx said:
For years ETT was my go to number for bike sizing, now reach and stack must be factored in.
Still has me doing a comparison on Geometry Geeks on previous/current bikes I know that fit.
Click to expand...
Reach + stack, add wheelbase number to taste and allow to marinate for x amount of time before you go yolo f*** it and buy the thing.

I few years ago I bought a frame while ignoring the stack height. Pricey mistake.
 
ozzybmx

ozzybmx

taking a shit with my boobs out
Asininedrivel said:
Reach + stack, add wheelbase number to taste and allow to marinate for x amount of time before you go yolo f*** it and buy the thing.

I few years ago I bought a frame while ignoring the stack height. Pricey mistake.
Click to expand...
Even getting a taste for BB drop :)

Looking at drop-only, only works when you ride the same size wheels on every bike.
 
beeb

beeb

Dr. Beebenson, PhD HA, ST, Offset (hons)
Asininedrivel said:
I few years ago I bought a frame while ignoring the stack height. Pricey mistake.
Click to expand...
A V2 Banshee Spitfire got me good with this...

ozzybmx said:
Even getting a taste for BB drop :)

Looking at drop-only, only works when you ride the same size wheels on every bike.
Click to expand...
...and suspension travel. 35mm static drop on a 100mm travel frame is very different at sag to a 180mm travel frame. ;)
 
K

komdotkom

Likes Bikes and Dirt
K

komdotkom

Likes Bikes and Dirt
Junior hasn't ridden it yet, but it's not that different to his Commencal in terms of sizing. With any luck he won't get much taller in the coming 18 months.
 
wkkie

wkkie

It's Not Easy Being Green
komdotkom said:
Anyone got any leads for bolt on cable guide things? I've seen some on CRC but at $16 each they can get stuffed.
Like this but in Australia would be good.
https://alutech-cycles.com/media/image/product/2134/md/cable-guide-double-type.jpg
alutech-cycles.com

Cable guide Double-Type, 6,99 €

fits all frames with M5 threaded boss Fanes 1 0, 2 0, 3 0, Teibun 1 0, Tofane 1 0, Sennes 1 0 Width: 23mm Length: 12mm Application: clamps 1 pieces of gear
alutech-cycles.com alutech-cycles.com
Click to expand...
There was a kit at CRC that I purchased a while back now, had some of those included amongst other handy bits.

This has double triple and singles... https://www.chainreactioncycles.com...ga-am-tr-x-mtb-cable-guide-pack/rp-prod104811

Is this the one you found? Looks like it has 3 of whatever option you select... https://www.chainreactioncycles.com/mobile/au/en/ragley-universal-cable-guide-kit/rp-prod104665
 
K

komdotkom

Likes Bikes and Dirt
BurnieM said:
Its pretty straight forward.
I wasted the first one just getting used to how much heat I needed. Still only used half a 300x300 sheet.
I only needed to bend mine in one plane. A two way curve could use a bit of time.
Not something that needs to be perfect as it is mostly out of sight.
I used 3M VHB double sided tape to hold it on.
Click to expand...
Our friends at AliExpress got the Kydex sheet to me really quickly, and while the mrs was out I banged some in the oven to make the bash plate. By the time I got to the garage, it was hard again - next step use the heat gun. This is great in theory, but trying to bend the Kydex to the correct curvature and getting it to set isn't' that simple. I've got it to 80% but that last 20% is going to be hard.
 
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B

BurnieM

Likes Dirt
I cut it to size while still hard. 20 runs with the stanley knife then bend and it cracks along the line. Cleanup the edge with a file.

I put a layer of masking tape over the down tube to (in theory) stop any heat damage to the paint.
In hindsight this may not be nessecary as you do not really need it that hot. I used a cheapo Bunnings heat gun.

I found the ends slightly bending up. Heating it in place did not quite get it right so I heated up the middle then tweeked it slightly with both hands, hold in position for a minute (to cool) then dip in bucket of cold water. Two tweeks and it was spot on.

After final shaping cut out a cable port; drill holes then file.

Using 3M VHB double sided tape is working well so far.
 
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K

komdotkom

Likes Bikes and Dirt
My bike was out of action yesterday after a puncture on my mid week ride, so I took this for a hack on Saturday.
It was only a short ride and included some dirt jumps and basically xc trails. Beasleys dirt jumps and that step up out the back, down to Bourke Rd and back, for those out east.
It's still weird to ride, the seat angle is fucking crazy steep and took a while to get used to. The bike has a sort of Jekyll and Hyde thing going on, it's not fun to ride at 50% it's a real chore. Floppy front end, weird seating position and decently heavy make it pretty average when just cruising.
When pushed though the grip is crazy, my Bird is pretty well setup but the Privateer has so much more stability and it just carves the corners. It's kind of addictive just railing everything to see when it'll slip.
Climbing is actually pretty good, it's no feather weight but it's shit loads better than the Meta. It's only on the transition between down and up that you notice the additional kgs.
If I wanted an all day bike for Buller this would be it.
 
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