Sinister Ridge rides again

[Mindmap3]

Looks nice mate... The flat bars do look strange though but that's only because every bike has risers bars these days. I've got to say I've fallen into the trap of wide bars (780mm!) and love them. My 'Dale has flat bars and they feel so skinny now, but I never had any issues previously.

That is an awesome parts bin.

 

[IbocProSX]

Nice bike,

Good to see "my" old Ridge is back on the trails, it is such a great ride. It is a size Medium by the way, and the 1.5 head tube should give away the year, later models reverted to 1.1/8standard. And I like what you did for a build, 1x10v with 11-36 out back is a nice set-up. Plus
the white forks suit it very well and Magura's are Ace.

But looking at your rims, the very light weight Olympics? My gut feel is that the Sinister will have you ride downhill in a way that you'll be looking for a sturdier rim soon. Or should do....

I have to agree with the comments re wider flat bars. Shorter stem and wider bars will fit the same arms, and transform the steering. Plus twist the bar a bit for some "up"sweep. Just my 0.02$

Enjoy!!

 

[wynne]

I know what you mean about the bars. I did have 50mm stem and 680mm bars on but I struggled to get enough weight forward on the steep climbs - this is my winter XC bike as well and I do like to ride up as well as down. I'd like to try some wider flattish bars with the 80mm stem on there - thinking Renthal Fatbar Lite 10mm rise.

The rims on there are a temporary measure as I'm going to build up the same Hope hubs onto some No Tubes Flows. Every time I leave the ground I expect to hear the creaking of the breaking metal on landing - but so far so good - and still true and round.

Also going to put a 2.5" tyre on the front.

This bike is a lot of fun.

Rich

 

[misteroo]

Nice.....best colour for a bike too!!...

 

[Bullpup]

Ah wondered what had happened to this. Very jealous - I thought it was going to be too small - now I know I should have bought it.

 

[wynne]

You might not say that if you saw it with the rims I've ordered for it - lime green Velocity p35.

It's going to look spectacular/very grim/Irish.

 

[Bullpup]

Just don't make it look too nickable.

 

[wynne]

Brace yourself... actually looks all right. Sort of. It's going need a thief with fairly poor taste I reckon.

Built the wheels up last night. Tensioned the spokes so that the wheels give a rendition of Riverdance when when I'm on my favourite descent.

Went out for a very muddy ride today. The wide rims give the tyres a really massive profile. The already wide 2.5" Geax on the front comes up huge on the p35 rim. The grip is great even in the slop.

My wife reckons I''ve been behaving like a 13 year old since I got this bike. Makes me laugh that I've got matching helmet and rim. Snigger. I rest her case.

 

[Mickey]

Ah!
That bike is from the first pre-pro run of the Ridge 2.0 frames we made
right after Interbike 2004(I was working with Sinister then).

I spent a solid 4 days riding DH at Bootleg Canyon outside Las Vegas after the show. That bike had a 7" sherman singlecrown on it. It was really heavy but man- I rode everything on it. I was actually nipping at Frank's heels most of the time and he was on his r9! I was XC fit then, as long as I was clipped it I could go fast, but my legs did turn to jello!

The final version of that frame did have a standard headtube- those would have shipped in May 2005. About 30 of the 2.0 frames were built. At 4 pounds they made an indestructible bike that was focused around trail riding instead of the weird hucking geometry that the original owners of Sinister wanted. The original ones were 6 pounds and essentially overbuilt Metalheads for low-speed woods riding. Those bikes sucked ass.

We really like those dropouts and still use them a good bit, even shaved down for road bikes!

A 5" fork would make that bike handle the best.
trust me- Get a 70mm stem with as much drop as you can, -15deg if you can find one and a wider(740ish) bar with the lowest rise you can get.

The bike will climb much better, descend much better and ride on flat ground much better.


Note- careful with the deraileur hanger- we're out of them right now and it might be quite a few months until we have time to machine more.

Hardcore Hardtails are awesome- the right way to do them is with 650b wheels- unfortunately even with the yoke there isn't enough room to fit one in the rear- I really wish there was enough room, because I have one of the proto frames stashed in the scrap bin(y'all would be jealous of our scrap bin!) that I want to build up with a 7" boxxer and fat tires and go huck shit!

Frank still has buckets full of parts for those frames. The last ridge-ish bike he built was a 29'r with a sweet tubular monostay to shave some weight-

p.s.-
Here's my r9!

Those bikes were SO FAST and they still are fast today.
By the end of Sinister the bike was getting a little too steep.
We built a shorter shockstay to get it lower and slacker- If the frame wasn't so heavy it'd be a fast bike even today. 10 really well controlled inches of travel makes it unstoppable in a straight line!

 

[wynne]

That's great information. Thank you.

Yes, I was thinking if only I could get my 650b wheels in there it would be perfect... I love the chunky monostay on the one under construction. I saw it a while back on your tumblr page.

The fork on the Ridge is 140mm travel - which feels just about right. I have some wider low rise on the way. You really think a -15 drop on the stem is what it needs? Think I've got something knocking around so I'll give it a try.

I've sort of accidentally ended up almost solely riding frames built by Frank - or that you've had a hand in. The current hoard includes an old dark green Bandwagon (from the first Spooky iteration), the Ridge, new Spooky Supertouch, Skeletor and 650b Darkside. Let me know when you're next clearing your scrap bin...

The frame I truly regret selling was an old FRO - plain yeti blue with really small, very understated black graphics. I was moving flat at the time and had nowehere inside to keep a bike. Darn.

That r9 looks a beast. I love my hardtails, but there's a no nonsense look to that that I like. Built to do a job.