The Frame weighs in at 5.96 lbs. The entire bike weighs in at 32.25 lbs. This total bike weight will not be permanent as I will be swapping out components in order to lighten the load. As I am a weight weenie, I am shooting for around 21-22 lbs. I believe this will be a really good weight for XC/AM trail riding with a few small jumps.
The beast in its natural habitat.
Valve stem cap which will remove and install the valve stem core without special tools. Makes it incredibly quick and easy to pull inner tubes and tires.
Overall, a few photos of the rig. Let me tell you the equipment i’m running:
XLC comp 25.4 seat post
Bontrager Seat
Sram X-3 derailleur 8 speed
Sram x-4 derailleur 8 speed
Sram locking grips
Ritchey comp stem
Cane Creek S-1 headset
Shimano Deore M575 brake levers and calipers
FSA gravity crankset
FSA gravity bottom bracket bearings
Sram 8 speed cassette
FSA gravity 150mm x 110mm DH wheelset 26”
Bontrager XR3 2.2 tires
SR Suntour Durolux 140mm travel front fork
Manitou S-type SPV rear air shock
Bontrager SSR handlebars
Exustar pedals
All bolts, fittings, bearings and raw materials were acquired from Mcmaster Carr:
Close up of the left side lug/hydraulic disc brake boss. I quite enjoy the shape that turned out from sculpting the lug. Currently am running Shimano Deore M575 hydraulic discs front and rear with 140mm rotor rear and 180mm front. The M575’s are a BITCH to bleed but eventually you get used to the process. Some have rated these brakes as being “average at best.” I disagree. They require special equipment in order to bleed but if done properly and with patience (and alot of extra brake fluid) and also with a larger sized rotor, they perform quite nicely, especially under emergency stopping. I have not felt them fade yet.
Given that i bought them used, I am looking for an upgrade simply for peace of mind. I know Shimano sells Deores that have pads with heat sinks connected to them. I may look into buying those. They look snazzy.
I’m hoping the brake boss is beefy enough to handle enough pressure in order to lock up the rear wheel and skid without anything breaking. I don’t see any reason for that not to be a reality.
Image of the drive side lug with buttress brace, derailleur hanger, 8 speed rear cassette and rear triangle.
Drive side clearance for an 8 speed chain was very difficult to achieve. I had to go back and shave off alot of material from the inside of the lug that wraps around the dropout in order to make enough room for the beefy 8 speed chain. I will be switching soon to a 10 speed setup which will allow for even more clearance due to the thinner 10 speed chain.
In order to set up this assembly, I created a “T” like structure out of aluminum comprised of a threaded tube and small rectangular block with a hole in it. The track roller, which is threaded, screws nicely into the tubing which runs all the way up through the assembly.
In the picture, above the rollers, you can see the aluminum tubes that go all the way up to the top of the lug. This is to add strength when the stresses are applied to the rollers.
A macro image of the roller/track setup. The point of this assembly is, due to the distance from the pivot point where the auxiliary triangle hinges to where the rear shock connects to the triangle, I decided to brace the upper section somehow in order to reduce side flex when the rear wheel hits rocks and bumps irregularly. As the shock compresses, the rollers ride the track and apply pressure to whichever side the wheel is flexing against.
An image of the bike assembled. I would like out the rollers and track brace at the top of the auxiliary triangle almost where the rear shock meets the attachment point.
Had to go into surgery for my left ankle tendon. Will have to be on crutches for a while then onto getting a boot. For a month and a half to two months I wont be cycling at all, hiking, working out, really much of anything. Going to try and get as much done as i can on the blog in the interim. It will be easier to work with the boot on than on crutches so it may go a little smoother in the weeks to come.
On a parallel note, recovery from the breakage and redesign on the rear triangle is going swimmingly. A few things have gone wrong but they have all been smoothed out and taken care of. I’ll be explaining those in future posts soon.
Sorry for the lack of posts, I have sustained some bodily trauma as of late and then a full time job has occupied me plus, I have discovered some major errors in the design and have broken a few things. So far, everything has been ironed out and the details are soon to come. Alot has changed and things are progressing, I just haven’t had time to post. Thanks for being so patient!
HERE IT IS. The rough, whole frame both front and rear triangle.
Furry mascot
The rear triangle all glued up and ready to be immersed. Immersion will consist of a slight saturation of highly densified epoxy resin. I’m using a thickening agent to increase the consistency of the batch. I’m looking at almost a slightly runny paste or a thick molasses in order to keep the epoxy in place. This will give the connections some strength so that i can remove the rear triangle and wrap the connections with a fiber-epoxy composite.
The new crankset. FSA Megaexo GAP. The bottom bracket came and broke almost instantly. The seal ring popped out between the snap in sleeve and the bearing cup. No one i’ve talked to has really heard of this happening before. Luckily, the company i bought it from sent me a new one.
I also recently managed to pop out the plastic sleeve without damaging it so I simply took out the broken seal. It wasn’t really doing much in the way of sealing anything anyway even if it was intact. It works fine now, I’m hoping it will keep enough dirt out despite the seal so now i will have a backup BB just in case.
The crankset is heavy. Not heavy enough to be a huge concern and its weight will allow me to ride all mountain on the side of downhill trails.
I eventually want to float down to the side of lower all mountain/XC and take as much advantage of lower weight parts as possible. That makes it so the frame is primarily designed for solid all mountain but the components will make it a light all mountain. With this said, after some money comes in, I will be purchasing a carbon arm crankset geared for all mountain use and hopefully setting up a front derailleur system.
