A 29er is born

[Jean]

Probably be the spring before I've got all the parts and it's built.

[Jean]

Ok, had some more time and a sunnier day:



It's the Inbred 'swap-out' frame, so single speed (or Rohloff) can be run after changing over to the other supplied drop outs.



The forks are in the post.

[Mugglechops]

I am changing saddles on my bike if you want an inbred seat.

[Jean]

Thanks, but I've already got one genetic misfit on my frame and another on the back of the On-One seat post I also bought, which is enough for one bike I think.

[Jean]

[toolonglegs]

Planetx have a stocktake sale on... Some really cheap frames going.
I was nearly tempted to start a 29er build... But my tt project is already hurting the bank!.
That frame can be had for 99 quid!

[Jean]

A bIt quiet of late, but a package arrived from CRC the other day. The cockpit and controls are filling the bits' box.

The headset (obviously) and 690mm flat bar.



Agonising over saddle choices at the moment.

[Mugglechops]

Bontrager Evokes are a great saddle. Have 2 now

[Jean]

No bits in the pipeline for a few more weeks, so I thought some preliminary building would be good today.

I started with some internal rust-proofing and figured sheep smell better than fish.



I've made my own headset race installation tool: a section of 25mm PVC plumbing pipe, a 25mm cap at one end and a 25mm coupler at the other end. It cost <$10 to make:



The race fit perfectly:



And went on just like I'd spent $25 at the LBS:



I'd made a headset cup installation tool out of threaded rod and wood too, but it became a horse's a#$e - mallet and block of wood FTW



Getting there:



Saddle and stem to get, then onto the wheels.

[landscapecadmonkey]

wow.... have been on the on one site the last few days doing the same thing. looking at some alfine 11 wheels from starbike

what fork did you get ? i was thinking rigid cromo, but want to do off-road so looking at shocks

[Jean]

It's a SR Suntour Epicon 29" fork with a 15mm through-axle and a remote lock out. Bought on Ebay.

[landscapecadmonkey]

It's a SR Suntour Epicon 29" fork with a 15mm through-axle and a remote lock out. Bought on <a class="vglnk" title="Link added by VigLink" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.ebay.com/"><span>Ebay</span></a>.

Thanks Jean. After doing a bit of a fork search here, i realise you did some extensive research on the Epicon, so cheers for the recommendation.

[brokenbus]

There is an Alfine 11 29er wheelset on rotorburn 4 sale- not mine
Cheers
Nicko

[Jean]

It's a SR Suntour Epicon 29" fork with a 15mm through-axle and a remote lock out. Bought on <a class="vglnk" title="Link added by VigLink" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.ebay.com/"><span>Ebay</span></a>.

Thanks Jean. After doing a bit of a fork search here, i realise you did some extensive research on the Epicon, so cheers for the recommendation.

Well I did research the bejezus out of it and it kept coming up as a capable and good value for money fork, but any recommendation would be accompanied by the proviso that I've yet to actually ride on it! I'm looking forward to trying it and I'm hopeful I've chosen something I like, but how I actually find it is anyone's guess. The joy/peril of putting a bike together this way.

[petie]

Did you buy directly from the on-one site? I was browsing yesterday and remembered there being some problem shipping to Australia, is this the case? Do you need to buy through an Australian reseller?

[Jean]

I bought straight from the UK. Shipping was a little steep compared to when I've bought a frame from Ribble in the past, but it was handled by a good carrier and fully trackable. There is an Australian reseller but they have a very limited range - I don't think they even had the 29er frames.

[petie]

I bought straight from the UK. Shipping was a little steep compared to when I've bought a frame from Ribble in the past, but it was handled by a good carrier and fully trackable. There is an Australian reseller but they have a very limited range - I don't think they even had the 29er frames.

Ah, thanks. How's the build progressing?

[Jean]

Bit slow of late, but I should be placing a largish order with CRC soon and hopefully things will speed up in July/August.

[trailgumby]

I reckon silver / metallic grey wheels would match the decals on the frame and fork nicely

[Jean]

I'm keen to go down the UST route and as I'm not inclined to factory wheels sets (too silly expensive and too few spokes generally), the rim options are rather limiting colour wise. At the moment I'm heading towards WTB i19 or maybe i23 Frequency rims, which are fully UST approved; but they are unavoidably black (with big white and red stickers) when I was hoping for something in white. Spank EVOs are another option that do come in various colours, but they are more expensive and I'm wary of new fangled rim makers, especially ones who call their company 'Spank' (I'm obviously the wrong demographic)!

I'm open to suggestions though, if anyone has any?

[antipodean]

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Mode ... elID=38860
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Mode ... elID=38858

[silentbutdeadly]

The Mavic XM819 is a UST tubeless rim. These blokes in the UK can build you a wheelset with them on their sealed bearing hubs for under 225 quid. Still have the 'problem' of balck rims but you can have white spokes and hubs.

http://superstar.tibolts.co.uk/product_ ... cts_id=314

[Jean]

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=38860
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Mode ... elID=38858

Unless I've missed something in the rather bewildering world of MTB tubeless compatibility, these don't play well with UST tyres. They were my original selections, but I discarded them when I opted to go down the low faff (but more costly, tyres wise) UST path.

The Mavic XM819 is a UST tubeless rim. These blokes in the UK can build you a wheelset with them on their sealed bearing hubs for under 225 quid. Still have the 'problem' of balck rims but you can have white spokes and hubs.

http://superstar.tibolts.co.uk/product_ ... cts_id=314

They look fine, but I don't think there's any cost or performance advantage over the WTB i19 rim/Sram X9 hub/DT Comp combination I'll be building myself.

[Jean]

Here's a hot tip for you. When measuring and fitting things to one's new frame, do so at a time when there is no time pressure and when one's small children are not involved. Otherwise one might, as I did on the weekend, insert one's new seatpost to an incorrect measurement, have it bump against the top water bottle mount and then decide to cut said post on the basis that it is too long.

Before you say it - yes I measured more than once before cutting (but it was by referring to the incorrect measurement on my meticulously kept key sizing cheat sheet). Reflection at a quieter time of the day made it clear I had stuffed up. I have cut too much off and the post is useless to me. There is, unfortunately, no emoticon for '#$(AT)%ing idjeet'.

[Jean]

Having recovered somewhat from last weekend's stupidity, the parts box has had some additions:

A white leather saddle on an MTB . It's a new saddle for me, so I hope my nether regions like it.



And my UST compliant WTB i19 Frequency rims: