2008 Iron Horse Sunday

Justin Fox

Justin Fox

pedal porn peddler
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Last week I saw a ‘Wanted To Buy’ listing on Facebook Marketplace for an Iron Horse Sunday. The listing used a photo of the incredible build by Austrian downhill racer and machinist, Julian Neubauer.

I thought to myself, yeah right! Good luck with that mate! But I noticed that someone had replied to his listing with some photos of a Sunday frame with the iconic Sam Hill 2008 Val Di Sole World Championship Edition livery.

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Julian Neubauer’s Sam Hill replica Sunday rebuilt with modern geometry. Full feature here.

The guy who posted the photos of the frame commented “how much are you willing to pay?”. I direct messaged him right away and he let me know that the guy who posted the WTB listing had already contacted him and was mega keen on it, but that he would keep me updated if the sale fell through.

I nudged him a little over the next few days, and it was looking like the sale was wrapped up as he was getting a shipping quote. Fair call I figured as I wasn’t the one who put up the WTB post.

Fast forward to this week I got a message from Robert to say the sale fell through and the frame, forks, shock and wheels were mine if I still wanted them. He left a number, I called!

Turns out Robert is a collector that has way too many bikes and builds on the go. He’s sad he didn’t get to finish the build but he’s got ore than a few dream bikes he wants to get going on. We had a great chat with more than a few laughs (I swear our chat felt more like an Al‑Anon meeting!). The legend also threw in a spare shock, extra decals, the original headbadge and a Ti coil spring from a small bike (that should suit my weight better).

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In 2008 I went to watch Sam Hill race at the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup at Stromlo and took this photo of his bike in the wash bay.

I was a huge Sam fan (still am!), so much so that I had Sam Hill 5:10 shoes and even bugged him for an interview for BMU (Bikes Move Us Forums) a year after Worlds. There are dream bikes, but I honestly never dared to dream of owning his Sunday though. I’ve actually never owned a downhill bike (just nowhere to ride one close by), but I’ve always been tempted by Giant Glorys, Konda Stinkys and Orange bikes that pop up on FB Marketplace, but this thing takes the cake!

I’m chuffed, but I’m also well and truly in the red. It’s not the first time I’ve had multiple builds on the go, but I really should focus on the Yeti SB66 build first, so for now this Sunday is on display as art.
 
Can't think of a better community to ask for advice on what parts to choose in order to finish the build off.

I'm not fussed about period correct parts, or trying to make it as close a replica to Sam's 2008 machine. I doubt I'll be riding it frequently, but a trip to Stromlo at some point would be awesome!

Just getting my head around DH components as nothing I have from my parts bin works with this frame. The fork is actually a 27.5" with 20x110 non-boost axle spacing. I think a mini mullet setup would be sick?!

Frame has an 83mm BB shell, so none of my BB's and cranks fit. Previous owner Robert had a full X9 groupset on it before and left the 9-Speed cassette on there. I have SRAM Code Stealth Silver brakes which I bought from The Brig for the Yeti SB66, but ended up going Shimano on the Yeti instead. Was going to put the Code's on my Specialized Chisel as the G2 brakes on that (even with good pads) suck so bad, but I could use them for this build instead.

So I need:

- Shifter
- Rear derailleur (maybe a new cassette).
- 83mm BB
- Crankset + chainring (would love 155mm arms as it's what I'm used to but I doubt I'd get that short on a DH crank?).
- Brakes (use my SRAM Codes or something else).
- Brake rotors (not sure what the native fork rotor diameter is, I assume 200? Rear has an adapter for a 200mm rotor).

What I don't really need but kinda want:

- 27.5" front wheel + tyre.
- Maybe a cheap AliExpress lever operated or wireless dropper seatpost so I can at least try to pedal it.

Budget wise, it's tight atm so I'm open to sourcing second hand stuff on eBay or FB Marketplace. I'd love a new 10-Speed Saint groupset, brakes and cranks but I just don't see myself riding the bike frequently enough to justify the cost. Any advice/suggestions appreciated!
 
Is this your first dh bike?


Are you aiming for period correct/adjacent? If so...

Most dh cranks of the era are 165mm or 170mm arms. The only choice for crank is the shimano saint, but a truvativ descendant would also be good. And you will definitely want a chain guide. Is the frame iscg05 or iscgOLD? Yes...i have all those things.

For the drive system x0 shifter to x9 short cage or saint to saint/zee both in 9 speed with a road cassette! But sram 7 speed set ups are what I would put of it i was rebuilding my 951.

Get some hope brakes (yes i do) for the build. They are what this thing deserves. The avid codes from this period were a good brake and there is always saint. But modern options are going to yield better braking. 200mm rotors front and rear, though I have ran a 180mm rear more often based on a suspicion that it was less likely to warp.

Don't put a dropper on it. The seat tube is long enough to house enough seat post to pop up for a short climb along the fire road to the trail head.
 
fjohn860 said:
155mm cranks with DH specific spindle...


EDIT: Not so budget friendly
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Saw those! But even at cost price they'll probably be pretty expensive! I'll check what cost price is in any case TY.

pink poodle said:
Is this your first dh bike?


Are you aiming for period correct/adjacent? If so...

Most dh cranks of the era are 165mm or 170mm arms. The only choice for crank is the shimano saint, but a truvativ descendant would also be good. And you will definitely want a chain guide. Is the frame iscg05 or iscgOLD? Yes...i have all those things.

For the drive system x0 shifter to x9 short cage or saint to saint/zee both in 9 speed with a road cassette! But sram 7 speed set ups are what I would put of it i was rebuilding my 951.

Get some hope brakes (yes i do) for the build. They are what this thing deserves. The avid codes from this period were a good brake and there is always saint. But modern options are going to yield better braking. 200mm rotors front and rear, though I have ran a 180mm rear more often based on a suspicion that it was less likely to warp.

Don't put a dropper on it. The seat tube is long enough to house enough seat post to pop up for a short climb along the fire road to the trail head.
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Yup! My first DH bike, and definitely not at all interested in keeping it period correct.

I get parts at cost price, so going full SAINT 10-Speed (shifter, brakes, derailleur, bb, cranks and cassette) might work out to be the most hassle free option. Having said that I've just test fitted the SRAM Code Stealth Silver brakes I recently bought from The Brig and they're on there now with 203mm Galfer rotors front and back from my parts bin (have not and will not cut the cables down just yet).

Totally forgot about the bash guard/chain guide! I have a spare ISCG05 OneUp chain guide in the parts bin and it fits right on.

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GX 7 speed drivetrain is cheap. The GX cassette is 25t largest verse 23t for do. It makes a difference on flat transitions. GX is bulletproof and works awesome. Cheap from AliExpress.
 
jrewing said:
GX 7 speed drivetrain is cheap. The GX cassette is 25t largest verse 23t for do. It makes a difference on flat transitions. GX is bulletproof and works awesome. Cheap from AliExpress.
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Yup I think GX would be rad. I have GX on my Chisel and it's awesome. Shifts so good, even with a weight weenie ZTTO cassette from AliExpress.
 
Ive had a few of the gx 7 speed and it does what you need on a dh rig.

If you are getting things at cost price and can access the full saint set up...do it. Except the pedals. They suck. Otherwise run whatever tickles your pickles and get it rolling. Just dont put a dropper on it.
 
pink poodle said:
Ive had a few of the gx 7 speed and it does what you need on a dh rig.

If you are getting things at cost price and can access the full saint set up...do it. Except the pedals. They suck. Otherwise run whatever tickles your pickles and get it rolling. Just dont put a dropper on it.
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The pins on the SAINT pedals look a little too... smooth and rounded? It's the first thing that came to mind when I saw them on release. They look slippery. Regarding the dropper, don't worry... if I ever get one it's because it's for the trails I'll be initially riding this thing on. No-one needs to know it's on the bike as I won't take photos of it installed lol. 😅

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No Wife, Happy Life!
 
pink poodle said:
Except the pedals. They suck.
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Back when I was a young and impressionable drivel the first expensive (I.e. not a $30 pair of V8 knock offs) pedals I bought were a set of Saints. How smart I felt when I strolled out of the bike shop. How confused I felt when after 6 months my shins resembled a Jackson Pollock (only with less colour variety).

I think I gave them away in the end. Ah well. The brakes are still awesome though.
 
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I settled on SRAM GX DH groupset. Figuring out how to get the end cap off in order to fit a cassette removal tool was interesting! Turns out the end caps screw off. The cassette is interesting (to me) too; 11-speed spacing, uses an 11-speed chain, fits onto an HG freehub with the included thick spacer.

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SRAM GX DH derailleur.

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Thank Jesus for SRAM Matchmaker. PS: PNW bars suck, well, they're fine, but the screen printed graphics just don't hold up and look ratty AF if you swap or adjust parts often.

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Hope 40mm 31.8mm 0 Degrees direct mount stem. I swear they had “gold” in the dropdown menu, but turns out they don’t make gold, and the box it came in says “bronze”. Pretty annoying as it’s a completely different colour to the gold Hope chainring I also ordered (these things piss me off!).

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Robert (guy who sold me the bike) gave me a Ti spring which came off a small, or extra small DH bike. Can only assume that it’ll be better suited to my weight so I thought I’d swap it out (thank fuck I paid careful attention to him when he told me how to remove the rear shock).

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Robert also just found the Sam Hill rear shock decal. He’s posting it to me so I might leave the shock out for now until the sticker gets to me (not a massive deal though as I’m not really trying to make an exact Sam Hill replica here and you can’t really see the shock piggy anyways).
 
Almost time for you to find out if the DH trails behind sutho cemetery still exist!

Or just push run black hawk down at Mill Creek……
 
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