Quantcast

I Finally Have a (slow lesbian's) Bike [You're My Boy, Blue!!! 2.0]

Bicyclist

Turbo Monkey
Apr 4, 2004
10,152
2
SB
I've been bikeless (save for BMX/fixie stuff) for almost a year now due to living abroad and spending all my money traveling, but have finally pieced a mountain bike together. I got it done today, so no riding impressions.

Build/test-ride impressions include:

-Ghetto tubeless is ghetto
-DRS single-ring setup is ghetto
-These handlebars are really wide
-Hope hubs are loud
-This thing's pretty light
-Wow, it manuals well in the parking lot

Anyways, here it is.








Ghetto tube excess has been trimmed, BTW

SX Trail, medium
CCDB
Float 36
Juicy 7s (7/6")
X0 shifter
X9 shorty
11-26 Sram DH cassette
Dura-ace chain
5.1s on Hope Pro IIs, 36h, DT comps on brass
XT cranks
Wellgo MG-1 pedals
Sunline bar/AM stem/grips
Specialized Clutch SX tires, ghetto tubeless

Some temporary stuff just so I could get it together for my upcoming trip:
Thomson post/Flite saddle
Ghetto-rigged DRS with single ring

Anyways, I'll update this thread with ride impressions. Coming off a Demo 8 as an all-around bike, though, I can tell this will serve me well for a mix of DH riding/racing and trail riding.
 

dexterq20

Turbo Monkey
Mar 6, 2003
3,442
1
NorCal
Is that Jeremy R's old bike? My only hint was the slow lesbian comment... :D

And put a dual ring on that thing so you can pedal your ass uphill when you come to Tahoe!
 

Bicyclist

Turbo Monkey
Apr 4, 2004
10,152
2
SB
Yeah, it's Jeremy's old bike.

I just slapped the thing together for the photo - not totally tuned yet. Good call on the B-tension though, I'll make a mental note.

Front shifting? I'll push. :D
 

Bicyclist

Turbo Monkey
Apr 4, 2004
10,152
2
SB
Thanks man. Lots of time considering parts spec for this thing...and lots of time working it off. :D
 

Bicyclist

Turbo Monkey
Apr 4, 2004
10,152
2
SB
One question for you Double Barrel owners - is the forward eyelet supposed to be floating, or is the bushing shot?
 

Bicyclist

Turbo Monkey
Apr 4, 2004
10,152
2
SB
No bushings should have play (are we talking laterally or radially?). It gets exagerated at the wheel and makes it feel like crap over bumps.
It's lateral (but only when you twist the shock body, not side-to-side). I figure the bushing's shot. Sh!t.
 

Bicyclist

Turbo Monkey
Apr 4, 2004
10,152
2
SB
Cool, there's zero fore-aft play and no problem at the wheel. Feels good, just different than the DHX I'm used to.
 

Jeremy R

<b>x</b>
Nov 15, 2001
9,698
1,053
behind you with a snap pop
Cool, there's zero fore-aft play and no problem at the wheel. Feels good, just different than the DHX I'm used to.
Ha, I can't tell you how many times someone said, why does your shock move like that? When you grab it, you just don't expect your shock to move laterally. But yeah, its fine. That is the was it is designed.
I had more fun riding that bike than anything else I have owned by far.
I hope you have the same.
 
Ha, I can't tell you how many times someone said, why does your shock move like that? When you grab it, you just don't expect your shock to move laterally. But yeah, its fine. That is the was it is designed.
I had more fun riding that bike than anything else I have owned by far.
I hope you have the same.
I Can't believe you sold it! Everyone keeps asking me if my blue sxt was your old bike.

Bicyclist - enjoy that ripper of a bike on your trip. The shock movement is fine, I have a ccdb on mine and it is normal.
 

Bicyclist

Turbo Monkey
Apr 4, 2004
10,152
2
SB
Sorry, no riding pics for now since I've been rolling solo.

I can give a ride report though. Gonna be a bit long...

So my last bike was an 05 Demo 8. I had it for 2 seasons and played around a LOT with setup. Although I had trail bikes on and off, it was sort of the only consistent ride I had for a long time. That means I did everything from 2-3 hour "trail" rides to shuttles to resort riding on it, and it performed really well for the last 2 duties. Local riding, though, was a bit tamer than the bike's ability. I didn't want a freeride bike though, since my idea of fun isn't 1' wide skinny ladders and tech riding. I like downhill-style riding most, hence the DH bike. Overall it was a good bike for me, it was just a bit heavy for my application.

I sold the Demo about a year ago to finance a year abroad in Spain, and had only a BMX for some of the year. So when I got back, I had to build a bike that would work well for 90% of what I do since I don't really have the time or money to keep a whole stable of bikes running. I wanted something I could use as a true all-rounder, but not feel like a jack-of-all-trades. When I came across the SX Trail frame, I went for it.

Yesterday I rode Deer Valley on it (first real downhill riding in over a year) and got to really break the bike in. Some quick initial thoughts:

-The Double Barrel tracks really, really well.
-The Sunline bars are great. Definitely not too wide for my 6' and lanky stature.
-This bike rails and drifts more predictably than the Demo did, even though I'm not used to it.
-Rocky stuff isn't too bad, but the extra travel/sag did help on the Demo

So basically, after a day of resort riding, I'm pretty happy with the bike overall. It feels like a downhill bike that I can whip around, dirt jump on, and sort of climb for my trails. Would I buy this bike if I was living in Tahoe? No, I'd have a DH bike and an XC bike. Is it great for tech trails and some climbing? Yes, better than anything I've ridden before. Even though I'm a bit more worn out after a day of lifts, half of it's that my setup isn't dialed yet and I'm not in shape.

Basically, I bought a bike out of necessity but it turned out it's better at everything than I would have thought, especially since I don't have to adjust to multiple bikes. Most importantly, it's more fun than a full-blown DH bike if you're not planning to race a ton (although it'll be fine for SoCal I'm sure). Hope that helped and was relatively straightforward.
 

Bicyclist

Turbo Monkey
Apr 4, 2004
10,152
2
SB
Also: I am faster on this than I was on the Demo 8. Lower front-end and a rear end that doesn't get hung up on everything FTW.
 

AngryMetalsmith

Business is good, thanks for asking
Jun 4, 2006
21,075
9,778
I have no idea where I am
Told ya you'd like it.

The bike is freakishly easy to corner with. Too much input and you'll find yourself pointing sideways up the hill.

I could spend all day just railing berms on it.
 

Bicyclist

Turbo Monkey
Apr 4, 2004
10,152
2
SB
They work really, really well. I was surprised, especially since they're marketed as light DH tires (the SX casing). They're just about as grippy as my Minion DHF 3Cs were in the loose stuff (Deer Valley and Socal).
 

Bicyclist

Turbo Monkey
Apr 4, 2004
10,152
2
SB
Final weight....33 pounds 14 ounces on a digi scale!!!!

And I still haven't mounted my LG-1.
 

Bicyclist

Turbo Monkey
Apr 4, 2004
10,152
2
SB
Where do you get those tires I don't see them on the specialized site...
They're new for 09. You'll have to ask your local Specialized dealer. For 09 they came out with tons of new rubber and the "SX" mid-weight casing, which I love.

Uncle Cliffy, thanks for the words!

BTW I got my LG-1 mounted so I'll have to update w/ pics, way less ghetto now!