...For those of you who have heard the saga I apologise...But my recent venture into the world of 29ers and carbon fibre frames didn't end well! I had a 2011 Marin CXR 29er but it cracked, BAD! I am still trying to get some sort "help" from Marin but its not looking hopeful. I have decided that maybe carbon is more for race light people and maybe not 6ft 4 17 stoners! Any way I can't afford a new carbon frame! Luckily the rest of the components on the bike are fine so I just needed a new frame.
...For the first time in probably 20 years I thought out of the box and another brand other than Marin... Whyte? No too close to Marin...what else? I did consider something steel like a Cotic Solaris or a Salsa El Mariachi...but no still wanted lighter than steel so lets try Aluminium. I narrowed it down to a Salsa Marmasita or a Santa Cruz Highball.
When I was a young boy of the 80's I used to ride Santa Cruz skateboards and loved them...I still wear a Santa Cruz belt to keep my jeans up even at nearly 40! So after some scouring of reviews and tests I decided my heart was set on the Santa Cruz.
Up comes a frame for sale on Ebay. A Highball in large pearlescent white with bottle green decals...not really my colours of choice but the price was good and it was in my size soooooo (well you can always repaint), I thought I would give it a punt...they retail new for £599 so I offered the guy selling £270 delivered....the deal was done and it came with an XT front mech (good because that was the only other component to have been trashed on the Marin).
The frame arrived today... in really nice condition less than a year old and still looking fresh. It needs a headset and after a lot of head scratching and help from "Exeter Man" I have managed to hopefully order the right headset. A mix and match from good ol Hope! The seat post was a different size to the Marin but got the right sized Easton Haven one (30.9mm). So now I need to wait for the headset to arrive and then I can bolt all the XTR goodies onto this frame etc. The Marin frame weighed in at a stunning 2.75lbs and the Santa Cruz 4.1lbs. So given that the Marin weighed in at 21.5lbs built up with the same parts, this should build up to around 23lbs still respectable enough for me!
So without further ado I give you a couple of pics of the frame as it stands...watch this space it should be fully built within the next week or two!
...For the first time in probably 20 years I thought out of the box and another brand other than Marin... Whyte? No too close to Marin...what else? I did consider something steel like a Cotic Solaris or a Salsa El Mariachi...but no still wanted lighter than steel so lets try Aluminium. I narrowed it down to a Salsa Marmasita or a Santa Cruz Highball.
When I was a young boy of the 80's I used to ride Santa Cruz skateboards and loved them...I still wear a Santa Cruz belt to keep my jeans up even at nearly 40! So after some scouring of reviews and tests I decided my heart was set on the Santa Cruz.
Up comes a frame for sale on Ebay. A Highball in large pearlescent white with bottle green decals...not really my colours of choice but the price was good and it was in my size soooooo (well you can always repaint), I thought I would give it a punt...they retail new for £599 so I offered the guy selling £270 delivered....the deal was done and it came with an XT front mech (good because that was the only other component to have been trashed on the Marin).
The frame arrived today... in really nice condition less than a year old and still looking fresh. It needs a headset and after a lot of head scratching and help from "Exeter Man" I have managed to hopefully order the right headset. A mix and match from good ol Hope! The seat post was a different size to the Marin but got the right sized Easton Haven one (30.9mm). So now I need to wait for the headset to arrive and then I can bolt all the XTR goodies onto this frame etc. The Marin frame weighed in at a stunning 2.75lbs and the Santa Cruz 4.1lbs. So given that the Marin weighed in at 21.5lbs built up with the same parts, this should build up to around 23lbs still respectable enough for me!
So without further ado I give you a couple of pics of the frame as it stands...watch this space it should be fully built within the next week or two!
