synchronicity
Senior Retro Guru
I previously posted in the "please enter the Mountain Cycle room......" thread (on page 11).
Anyway I have decided to make a dedicated thread for this bike as I have most of the parts now [finally].
Here's my Mountain Cycle shockwave 9.5 as it was built up initially in 2009.
Initially I was just trying to build up something relatively cheaply (for like < €2k at the time) to ride in Tenerife while I was living there.
Couldn't really afford or justify spending any more than that as DH was something totally new to me.
Frame
I initially got the frame new on ebay for like €640. Which I thought was pretty cheap, considering that it was brand new.
It's a size large. Glad it is a large and not medium as the reach is pretty short.
Fork
I ended up ditching the shitty SASO forks almost straight away as I realised on day 1 of riding that the rebound was not fast enough and they were a wee bit too soft and linear also. (with the combined result that they packed down waaay too easily, especially on steep sections)
Coming from the 90's, I think it's hard for me to justify spending big mega bucks on shocks and forks I suppose...
Whereas kids today will easily plonk down 2k on a fork and 1k on a shock without so much as batting an eyelid.
I dunno. Do some of you from that era feel that the price of suspension today (I mean forks & shocks) has gone CRAZY?
So I was trying to save a few bob with this SASO fork and unfortunately it didn't work out.
Since then I suppose I have realised that cheap off-brand suspension is probably never really worth it in the end.
Brakes
So about two years or so ago, it all started with the brakes (which were avid code as you see pictured here... or maybe not).
Initially, 10 years ago, I loved them. They were awesome 4 pot calipers.
But after a long passage of time, when I went to the shed to check on my trusty steed again, the dot fluid had absorbed water/humidity, the brake pads were jammed & the levers had corroded a bit. And I hate corrosion.
So I did the sensible thing and I swapped them with magura.
I have a set of Shimano saints on my other mtb (not DH) and I wanted to try something different.
I had tried Hayes before but not magura. So magura it was.
Saddle
Then I changed the saddle (which was a spare one that I had lying around, some sort of fi'zi:k and even though it had ti rails, never liked it as it came on a prebuilt bike without getting my input, so that had to go).
Was able to sell it and then with the same money directly buy a more suitable (but brand new) saddle.
Everything else
Then about a year ago, something took a hold of me, I don't know what, but throughout 2022 I've slowly been swapping out the remaining components that somehow bothered/niggled me for this build. Which ended up being practically everything!
This was a slow and expensive process.
Looking back at the bike pictured down below, the only things left from this build now are the frame, the headset (VP), the cranks (truvativ hussefelt) and the discs (formula 220mm). Well, I still have the original wheels as pictured, but they are HEAVY (built them up with straight gauge spokes and those rims weigh a tonne).
The last few remaining bits
I'm just waiting on one or two more parts so it still won't be completely finished for another month or so.
1) One part is this rear shock spring retainer. A friend is bringing that over from Switzerland in a couple of weeks' time.
2) Next, I gotta get some Stan's tubeless sealant as I am going to try going tubeless. Totally outta stock here online in OZ.
3) I have an upper crown that either needs to be painted or anodised gloss black (I'm leaning more towards anodising it).
That's it.
I look forward to posting more and bigger pics starting tomorrow.
Anyway, here is how it looked back in 2009:
Anyway I have decided to make a dedicated thread for this bike as I have most of the parts now [finally].
Here's my Mountain Cycle shockwave 9.5 as it was built up initially in 2009.
Initially I was just trying to build up something relatively cheaply (for like < €2k at the time) to ride in Tenerife while I was living there.
Couldn't really afford or justify spending any more than that as DH was something totally new to me.
Frame
I initially got the frame new on ebay for like €640. Which I thought was pretty cheap, considering that it was brand new.
It's a size large. Glad it is a large and not medium as the reach is pretty short.
Fork
I ended up ditching the shitty SASO forks almost straight away as I realised on day 1 of riding that the rebound was not fast enough and they were a wee bit too soft and linear also. (with the combined result that they packed down waaay too easily, especially on steep sections)
Coming from the 90's, I think it's hard for me to justify spending big mega bucks on shocks and forks I suppose...
Whereas kids today will easily plonk down 2k on a fork and 1k on a shock without so much as batting an eyelid.
I dunno. Do some of you from that era feel that the price of suspension today (I mean forks & shocks) has gone CRAZY?
So I was trying to save a few bob with this SASO fork and unfortunately it didn't work out.
Since then I suppose I have realised that cheap off-brand suspension is probably never really worth it in the end.
Brakes
So about two years or so ago, it all started with the brakes (which were avid code as you see pictured here... or maybe not).
Initially, 10 years ago, I loved them. They were awesome 4 pot calipers.
But after a long passage of time, when I went to the shed to check on my trusty steed again, the dot fluid had absorbed water/humidity, the brake pads were jammed & the levers had corroded a bit. And I hate corrosion.
So I did the sensible thing and I swapped them with magura.
I have a set of Shimano saints on my other mtb (not DH) and I wanted to try something different.
I had tried Hayes before but not magura. So magura it was.
Saddle
Then I changed the saddle (which was a spare one that I had lying around, some sort of fi'zi:k and even though it had ti rails, never liked it as it came on a prebuilt bike without getting my input, so that had to go).
Was able to sell it and then with the same money directly buy a more suitable (but brand new) saddle.
Everything else
Then about a year ago, something took a hold of me, I don't know what, but throughout 2022 I've slowly been swapping out the remaining components that somehow bothered/niggled me for this build. Which ended up being practically everything!
This was a slow and expensive process.Looking back at the bike pictured down below, the only things left from this build now are the frame, the headset (VP), the cranks (truvativ hussefelt) and the discs (formula 220mm). Well, I still have the original wheels as pictured, but they are HEAVY (built them up with straight gauge spokes and those rims weigh a tonne).
The last few remaining bits
I'm just waiting on one or two more parts so it still won't be completely finished for another month or so.
1) One part is this rear shock spring retainer. A friend is bringing that over from Switzerland in a couple of weeks' time.
3) I have an upper crown that either needs to be painted or anodised gloss black (I'm leaning more towards anodising it).
That's it.
I look forward to posting more and bigger pics starting tomorrow.
Anyway, here is how it looked back in 2009:
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