[AngryMetalsmith]

Hab, the Ardents are the deal. Very grippy, even on leaves. And they roll well, much better than 2.35 Nevegals.


The anti-squat pedal feed back is a little weird. It's most noticeable when pedaling out of the saddle. Can that be tuned out or is it just something that takes a little getting used to ?

 

[jdcamb]

Oh yeah we will.

First impression so far :

Fast, very fast.




277 Miles. Pisgah National Forrest at the Ranger district.

Are you going to be in Raliegh ?

Apex... and hotel in Cary... No bike or transportation though....

 

[AngryMetalsmith]

This bike is the sh!t !

I put the shock in the slack setting, 66˚ for a real mountain ride today. With the fork in the min. travel setting and the pro pedal on, it climbed great. Didn't need the granny gear once. Switched to full open for the DH stuff and pinned it through the rocks. I was able to clean a nasty boulder strewn switch back section of trail that I couldn't do on two different DH rigs.

After bumping up the shock to about 155 psi the pedal feed back went away.

Next time I head out to break some rocks, I'll put a bash guard on. Two teeth on my big ring are now significantly shorter than the were yesterday, clearly Shimano's fault.

 

[JustMtnB44]

Your Spitfire build looks great and I'm glad to hear you are liking the ride.

I still like my Spitfire, although I wish we had more fast and flowy trails around here to fully take advantage of it.

My only complaint is the bushing pivot system is a poor design. While similar to Turner, it is not executed well and my bike developed significant wear and play at the main pivot. I made some shims to space out the bushing more to take up the play, but there is no good long term solution to prevent more wear from occurring.

 

[AngryMetalsmith]

I'm pretty meticulous about maintenance so I'm not too concerned about the bushings wearing.

When it was time to replace the bearings on My Kona Dawg, I had to strip it down completely to do it and it was a full day job. From what I understand, changing the bushings on a Spitfire is easy and the kits are cheap.

 

[-BB-]

You're going to love it. It shreds. Best trail bike I've ever ridden.

I'll second that!!!
I'm loving my Spitty more and more all the time. In fact, I used to have a Hollowpoint, a 7Point and a DH bike. Now that I have the Spitty I really only ride that and the full-on DH bike. Almost all of what I rode on the 7point, I can now do on the spitty.


Oh, and I agree... Black is the ONLY color to get.

On Sunday morning I did a local "epic" called San Juan. It is about an 8mile climb to the top. I have to say that this was about the LEAST tired I have been once reaching the top/turn-around spot. And the tight/steep switchbacks were really no problem as long as you know how to balance/trackstand.

After you climb up, then you turn around and come back down.... Fast, flowy with good whoops/pump sections. And about a million turns with good little berms to them. Longest straight section is maybe 25 yards. DANG was it fun. I've ridden the trail about a hundred times but this is the best I've felt on it. Maybe it was bc the ground was a bit damp so traction was great, but the Spitty sure contributed.

 

[-BB-]

I cant tell from the pics.... What length stem do you have, what size frame, and how tall are you?



Oh... QUESTION FOR ALL THE SPITTY OWNERS. I'm finding that when I'm in my granny and I coast a bit (slight little "downs" etc) that the chain rubs against the tire (a larger 2.35). This is the top of the chainring to top of the cassette part of the chain. Maybe my BB spacing is off a bit? How many spacers do you use on the driveside of the BB? I'm only using one. Should I use two?

some times if I forget to shift to the larger ring in front when Im descending, the chain will actually get pulled down into the Chainstay by the tire and it makes a horrible buzzing. I have to stop, then roll the tire backwards to release it before I can continue.

 

[HAB]

Man up and ditch the granny?

 

[AngryMetalsmith]

I cant tell from the pics.... What length stem do you have, what size frame, and how tall are you?

It's a medium, I'm 5' 10" and the stem is 75mm. I might go with a 65mm when I upgrade the bar. And yourself ?

 

[-BB-]

Man up and ditch the granny?

LOL... YOU CRAZY

No way I'm gonna climb some of the stuff down here w/ no granny.
Mathis (at Aliso)... Heck NO
Trabuco... Heck NO
Noble... DOUBLE Heck NO

 

[-BB-]

It's a medium, I'm 5' 10" and the stem is 75mm. I might go with a 65mm when I upgrade the bar. And yourself ?

5'11" Medium with a 70mm, 30 degree rise (so actual "forward" length is more like 50mm). I also had to use a 400mm post, so the one it came with was useless to me. Also wanted a post with a setback.

HAB on the other hand is about my height, maybe an inch taller and he was fine on a Lg. Tried his and it was way too big.

 

[HAB]

I'm doing fine without one.

 

[HAB]

Hab, the Ardents are the deal. Very grippy, even on leaves. And they roll well, much better than 2.35 Nevegals.

Wait does that mean you like Nevegals? If so I may have to discount anything you have to say about tires.

The anti-squat pedal feed back is a little weird. It's most noticeable when pedaling out of the saddle. Can that be tuned out or is it just something that takes a little getting used to ?

I never got rid of it, until I ditched the granny ring entirely. It is less noticeable in the slack setting.

 

[AngryMetalsmith]

So...as I was switching the shock setting from slack to steeper I discovered a couple of tiny scratches on the shock body from yesterday's rock fest. Ooopsy. This has to be a new record for me, third ride.

Fortunately I was able to de-burr them with a piece of 800 grit sandpaper on a popsicle stick. I have a feeling this shock will get to take a trip to Suspension Experts in Asheville by springtime.

Ride fast, take chances.

 

[JustMtnB44]

I'm pretty meticulous about maintenance so I'm not too concerned about the bushings wearing.

When it was time to replace the bearings on My Kona Dawg, I had to strip it down completely to do it and it was a full day job. From what I understand, changing the bushings on a Spitfire is easy and the kits are cheap.

The problem I had was that the lower frame link wore instead of the bushing. So replacing the bushings didn't help. I would advise all Spitfire owners to disassemble, clean, and grease the pivots every few months or so if you ride a lot to hopefully prevent this from happening. And when tightening the bolt that holds the pivot axle in place, only make it hand tight plus a little bit more, and use blue loctite on clean threads to hold it in place.

Man up and ditch the granny?

This, I run my Spitfire 1x9 and have had no issues yet. But I don't have monster long climbs on a regular basis.