Natasha the Lynskey

[kanerdog1x1]

I was unsure whether to start a new thread for the new frame/bike, but have decided to piggy back onto this one, after all, most of the transmission parts will carry over from the 29er to the new 650.

In anticipation of the frame arriving in the next couple of weeks, I have been trying to pass the time productively. Having sold the wheels from the 29er, I really didn't like blue, I ordered a pair of red hubs from the LBS. I had them spec the same stainless steel freehub body as I had on the 29er, I know it should last well.

Yesterday, I stripped them down with the aim of re-greasing the bearings. I know the newer Hope bearings don't last as long as the older ones seemed to, and wondered if it was caused by a poor quality grease, or more likely lack of it.



Turns out it's both. It looks like they use a very thin, clear, colourless grease that feels like silicon. In my opinion, it's not heavy enough to lubricate a bearing that is doing such hard work, so I thoroughly cleaned it all out, and added something much thicker.



My favourite grease for hubs is a little known product from Motorex, called 'Grease 2000'. Is mega thick, and is hard to clean off, is waterproof, and is almost too thick for some jobs. I don't have any pics of the grease going in, I didn't want any grease near the camera!

The hubs feel a little sticky now, as you would expect, but are still very smooth. I wonder if hope adding only just enough grease is simply so that they feel smooth when you pull them from the box?

Two other little jobs I performed today, I reassembled the rear mech, but added the titanium jockey wheels I sourced from eBay.



I did have blue Hope ones before, but they had to go.



And I assembled the XT shifter pods onto the Hope tech3 levers. I'm so impressed with the design if this little setup, It's so slick.





Still eagerly waiting...

 

[Cookielad]

Looking forward to this build. Great level of detail, if it's like the original it will be some bike!

 

[kanerdog1x1]

Thanks. The previous bikes were merely thrown together with parts I like, this bike is having a little bit more time and thought invested.

The spokes arrived earlier this week, so I started the wheel build. Before lacing them, I took the time to hand polish the spokes, something I have never done before, and while it is a dirty and time consuming job the reward is fantastic.



No dramas lacing them up, I took the time as I always do to line up the logos on the hubs with the logos and valve hole on the rims. With the polished spokes, the wheels look killer.

 

[kanerdog1x1]

The frame has finally landed.

 

[kanerdog1x1]

So, the frame. It's lovely. I'm sorry I don't have any pics, I'm so tired this evening from a long day at work, I didn't take any pics before I left. It is supplied without the decals fitted as I didn't want the screw on decals the frames have this MY, and it looks a bit weird naked. But I'm seriously tempted to leave it like that...

The frame has post mounts for the brake, so I have ordered an adapter from the LBS, along with the bottom bracket, seat clamp and cranks. While a little bit of me was tempted to try the new Hope crankarms, I wanted to stay with Raceface. Every bike I have built for the last, thinking about it hard, 12 years?, has had Raceface cranks, and I love them.

I've just realised that I took pics of the Forks while they were apart for a check over, and hadn't posted them here. The fork is a used Rockshox Revelation RCT3, I think from 2013, I hunted high and low for these and had to settle for a used pair as I wanted the teflon coloured uppers rather than the black, and white lowers.



The quality of the components in the damper on these is fantastic, It reminds me of the clockwork parts in high end R/C cars I used to race.



The forks are back together, and are ready to fit. With any luck the remaining parts will be in the shop tomorrow so I can get it built.

 

[kanerdog1x1]

I dislike integrated headsets. I think that although they look sleek, they are not the most robust of designs. So when I saw that the new frames had them as standard, I met this as a challenge. I know that both King and Hope make really nice quality bearings, so I'd choose to fit one of the two. I was a little disappointed to learn that these frames run Italian dimensions, which rules out both of my choices. No problem I thought, Just make new cups to accept the Hope bearings, which are really easy to source in the U.K.

I have a few handy in the workshop, and a piece of billet Ti that was earmarked for headset development.



Only problem, try as I might, I can't remove the headset cups from the frame. They look to be bonded in, I tried a bit of heat, but don't want to damage the frame, so I have to admit defeat.

For now I have bought a cheap Chinese headset from the LBS just to get the thing rolling. Perhaps in time I will have another go at it.



I had hoped to have built the thing up by now, but none of the parts arrived today at the LBS. None. Very disappointed at this, but what can I do? Cry a little bit.

Rather than do nothing, I decided to dry assemble the frame/forks/headset/stem to see if I needed to trim any steerer, it turns out that the steerer is only about 5-10mm too long, so for the time being I will just runs a few extra stackers. One thing led to another and before I knew it I had greased the headset and was starting the build with what I had. The rear axle was a tight fit into the dropout, so this was chased through with a tap, I'm surprised at the amount of material it removed.



Wheels on, brakes on. I found a silver rear brake mount, I will replace this with black when it arrives. Bars in, seatpost too.

Rear mech on, and cabled up. Its starting to look like a bike now. Dig a saddle out, add that too. The Thomson seatpost is a thing of beauty, the fit and finish are perfect. One thing I dislike though is the cable routing from the bar mounted lever. It heads straight forward, and looks a little untidy. In a moment of clarity I found a solution, and made a little doofer to aim the cable in the same direction as the brake and shifters.



It's quite hard to get a pic of it fitted as it's a very busy area on the bars, but you get the idea:-







And how we stand this evening. Still waiting for the bb, cranks, and the dropper guide seat clamp.



Next week, I guess.

 

[Bullpup]

I really love your workmanship and attention to detail. I wouldn't normally suggest it however the colour of the forks doesn't really suit the rest of the build - could you have them coated to say a gunmetal grey to match the frame or at a pinch, black?

 

[kanerdog1x1]

Dya recon? Black forks are easy to get atm, but I really had to hunt for white. I've got a bit of a fetish for white forks anyhow, and given the choice I would always choose white. My Merlin Oreas has silver Fox F100s, they were only available in silver that year, but I'd have had them in white in a heartbeat.

Finally, all the parts have arrived:-



And I this evening had the spare time to assemble the thing. The hope bottom bracket is a thing of beauty, and is so nice to fit. The cranks are also lovely, but don't have that special 'something' that previous models have. I was slightly foxed at the apparent special too needed to attach the four arm spider to the R/H arm, turns out it is simply a HG bottom bracket tool.

It's raining out, but only drizzle, so I took the opportunity to grab a few shots of the bike.









And my favourite view:-



Not ridden yet, I think I'll need to play around with the saddle and bar positions a little, but I'm pleased with the outcome.

 

[Bullpup]

Looks fantastic - great photo's!

 

[kanerdog1x1]

Thanks. I was worried the rain would show in the pics but you can hardly see it.

Maiden voyage this evening, after a quick spin around outside just to check the saddle and bar positions. Initially I was worried that the stem was wrong, but after getting the saddle angle dialled it feels perfect.



Doesn't feel any different than a 26er, until you ride over grass, where it is noticeably easier to ride. The little loop we do has a horrible climb across some grass on the very top of a hill, and because it is so open, there is a lot of moss on the ground and this rolls so well over it.

I know the trails are drying out well as its both (relatively)dry and windy atm, but this bike works well in the really technical stuff.

So far, I really like. I don't miss the 29er at all.