Hi guys,
I got into MTB in February 2013 after injuring my lower back at the gym. Although the injury was relatively minor it left me unable to train legs for about 5-6 weeks so I needed an activity besides sprinting to stimulate the legs. I went to a bike shop knowing nothing at all about bikes and after some consultation about what I wanted from a bike (I only wanted to ride to and from the gym at the time) they advised me to buy a Giant Roam.
I thought they looked terrible and after browsing around the store a blue Giant Reign caught my eye. The rep kept insisting for me not to buy it because it would be way too much for what I wanted to do, but once I have my eye on something it's hard to convince me otherwise. After handing over the cash I rode around to and from the gym and thought 'this is awesome' and was really itching to check out some trails.
My first trail experience was down at Bruce Ridge as it was close to home and I wasn't too keen on throwing a dirty MTB into the back of my car with leather seats. My friend on an older model Reign showed me the ropes and raved about Stromlo. It was only a matter of time until Stromlo would become my second home.
Eventually I caught the bug of wanting to do all sort of things to the Reign, but thought it was a bit of a lost cause with its heavy frame and not being the most efficient pedalling bike. Things were aided somewhat when someone did a hit and run on my car and I needed a bit of cash to fix it up. I sold it after owning it for about 4 months and the search was on for the next steed. After searching and being off a bike for about 3 months I came across a second hand SB66c that I just had to have! Pics on what it looked like when I first picked it up:
Build Specs:
Frame: Yeti SB66C
Fork: Rockshox XX Revelation World Cup Carbon
Shock: Fox RP23 Kashima
Handlebar: Bontrager Rhythm Pro 720mm
Stem: Easton EA70mm
Seatpost: Crank Brothers Cobalt carbon post
Saddle: Bontrager Evoke
Pedals: DMR Vault
Rear Shifter: SRAM XX 2x10
Rear Derailleur: SRAM XX 2x10
Brakes: Avid/SRAM XX
Brake Rotors: 160mm/160mm
Cassette: SRAM XX
Chain: KMC
Crankset: SRAM XX 175mm 42-28
Bottom Bracket: SRAM
Hubs: Easton M1
Rims: Easton XC90
Tires: Kenda Block 8/Slant Six
Grips: ESIs
Seat clamp: Salsa QR
Build weight - 10.6kg without pedals
I rode around on this set up for a couple of months getting used to the bike and set up. One day the seat post decided to snap in half so grabbed a KS Supernatural with the under seat lever:
In January 2014 I was flying through Pork Barrel and ended up slicing the rear tyre on a rock while turning into the rock roller and with the momentum I was carrying, couldn't stop in time. As a result, I ended up having to roll down the roller with a rear flat resulting in a hairline crack in the EC90s. I kept riding on them for another three months as I could get away with being so light (66kg). I ended up picking up another set of carbon hoops laced to Chris King hubs:
After some advice, I ended up converting to clip-ins and RockShox Pikes while getting the wheels on.
Blew the RP23 before my Enduro race so an order was placed on a RockShox Monarch Plus Debonair. Love it!
Three things were slowly getting to me in the back of my mind while riding. I started to dislike the twitchiness of the 720mm/70mm bar/stem combo, the Avid brakes and the lack of a clutch rear derailleur in the Sram XX drivetrain. I felt I was holding back a little on some of the tracks, especially Pork Barrel where I had dropped the chain a few times right before some of the drop offs. After a little shopping I ended up with the following:
Mounted to a single bracket =)
I added some minor aesthetic touches and this is the end build:
Frame: Yeti SB66c
Fork: Rockshox Pike RCT3 160mm
Shock: Rockshox Monarch Plus Debonair
Handlebar: Enve Carbon DH 800mm
Stem: Syntace Megaforce 2 50mm
Seatpost: KS Supernatural under sear lever
Saddle: Bontrager Evoke
Pedals: Shimano XTR
Rear Shifter: SRAM X01 11-Spd
Rear Derailleur: SRAM X01 11-Spd
Brakes: Shimano XTR
Brake Rotors: Shimano XT Icetech 180/160
Cassette: SRAM X01 11 speed black
Chain: SRAM XX1
Crankset: SRAM X01 Black 170mm
Bottom Bracket: SRAM
Hubs: Chris King ISO with 11 speed XD driver
Rims: Enve AM
Tires: Schwable Hans Dampf Front/Maxxis Icon Rear
Grips: ODI Yeti lock-ons
Seat clamp: Salsa
Build weight - 12.7kg
Will need to take some nicer photos of it when I get the time but much rather ride it whenever I can.
UPDATE - Better photos below =)
You can find me out at Stromlo every weekend trying to hammer this thing up the hills so I can get to the fun part of going down. I think my goal for 2014 is to get this up the Fireroad of Pain!!! I never thought I would enjoy MTB as much as I really do, but it has now become quite routine and I need to get out every weekend. It's actually more demanding then I ever thought it would be and I love the enjoyment of pushing myself every weekend!
Special thanks to the boys at Bike Culture and Wil at Ollo Industries for all their help and advice!
I got into MTB in February 2013 after injuring my lower back at the gym. Although the injury was relatively minor it left me unable to train legs for about 5-6 weeks so I needed an activity besides sprinting to stimulate the legs. I went to a bike shop knowing nothing at all about bikes and after some consultation about what I wanted from a bike (I only wanted to ride to and from the gym at the time) they advised me to buy a Giant Roam.
I thought they looked terrible and after browsing around the store a blue Giant Reign caught my eye. The rep kept insisting for me not to buy it because it would be way too much for what I wanted to do, but once I have my eye on something it's hard to convince me otherwise. After handing over the cash I rode around to and from the gym and thought 'this is awesome' and was really itching to check out some trails.
My first trail experience was down at Bruce Ridge as it was close to home and I wasn't too keen on throwing a dirty MTB into the back of my car with leather seats. My friend on an older model Reign showed me the ropes and raved about Stromlo. It was only a matter of time until Stromlo would become my second home.
Eventually I caught the bug of wanting to do all sort of things to the Reign, but thought it was a bit of a lost cause with its heavy frame and not being the most efficient pedalling bike. Things were aided somewhat when someone did a hit and run on my car and I needed a bit of cash to fix it up. I sold it after owning it for about 4 months and the search was on for the next steed. After searching and being off a bike for about 3 months I came across a second hand SB66c that I just had to have! Pics on what it looked like when I first picked it up:
Build Specs:
Frame: Yeti SB66C
Fork: Rockshox XX Revelation World Cup Carbon
Shock: Fox RP23 Kashima
Handlebar: Bontrager Rhythm Pro 720mm
Stem: Easton EA70mm
Seatpost: Crank Brothers Cobalt carbon post
Saddle: Bontrager Evoke
Pedals: DMR Vault
Rear Shifter: SRAM XX 2x10
Rear Derailleur: SRAM XX 2x10
Brakes: Avid/SRAM XX
Brake Rotors: 160mm/160mm
Cassette: SRAM XX
Chain: KMC
Crankset: SRAM XX 175mm 42-28
Bottom Bracket: SRAM
Hubs: Easton M1
Rims: Easton XC90
Tires: Kenda Block 8/Slant Six
Grips: ESIs
Seat clamp: Salsa QR
Build weight - 10.6kg without pedals
I rode around on this set up for a couple of months getting used to the bike and set up. One day the seat post decided to snap in half so grabbed a KS Supernatural with the under seat lever:
In January 2014 I was flying through Pork Barrel and ended up slicing the rear tyre on a rock while turning into the rock roller and with the momentum I was carrying, couldn't stop in time. As a result, I ended up having to roll down the roller with a rear flat resulting in a hairline crack in the EC90s. I kept riding on them for another three months as I could get away with being so light (66kg). I ended up picking up another set of carbon hoops laced to Chris King hubs:
After some advice, I ended up converting to clip-ins and RockShox Pikes while getting the wheels on.
Blew the RP23 before my Enduro race so an order was placed on a RockShox Monarch Plus Debonair. Love it!
Three things were slowly getting to me in the back of my mind while riding. I started to dislike the twitchiness of the 720mm/70mm bar/stem combo, the Avid brakes and the lack of a clutch rear derailleur in the Sram XX drivetrain. I felt I was holding back a little on some of the tracks, especially Pork Barrel where I had dropped the chain a few times right before some of the drop offs. After a little shopping I ended up with the following:
Mounted to a single bracket =)
I added some minor aesthetic touches and this is the end build:
Frame: Yeti SB66c
Fork: Rockshox Pike RCT3 160mm
Shock: Rockshox Monarch Plus Debonair
Handlebar: Enve Carbon DH 800mm
Stem: Syntace Megaforce 2 50mm
Seatpost: KS Supernatural under sear lever
Saddle: Bontrager Evoke
Pedals: Shimano XTR
Rear Shifter: SRAM X01 11-Spd
Rear Derailleur: SRAM X01 11-Spd
Brakes: Shimano XTR
Brake Rotors: Shimano XT Icetech 180/160
Cassette: SRAM X01 11 speed black
Chain: SRAM XX1
Crankset: SRAM X01 Black 170mm
Bottom Bracket: SRAM
Hubs: Chris King ISO with 11 speed XD driver
Rims: Enve AM
Tires: Schwable Hans Dampf Front/Maxxis Icon Rear
Grips: ODI Yeti lock-ons
Seat clamp: Salsa
Build weight - 12.7kg
Will need to take some nicer photos of it when I get the time but much rather ride it whenever I can.
UPDATE - Better photos below =)
You can find me out at Stromlo every weekend trying to hammer this thing up the hills so I can get to the fun part of going down. I think my goal for 2014 is to get this up the Fireroad of Pain!!! I never thought I would enjoy MTB as much as I really do, but it has now become quite routine and I need to get out every weekend. It's actually more demanding then I ever thought it would be and I love the enjoyment of pushing myself every weekend!
Special thanks to the boys at Bike Culture and Wil at Ollo Industries for all their help and advice!
Last edited:
