i've been riding the f1 frame since mid june, and during that time have logged about a week's worth of shuttled "shore runs" here in oregon, plus 12 days at whistler and 3 on the true north shore. i came into this season with only a little bit of dh experience, having raced the ncs and kamikaze at mammoth in 2000 on a kona stinky, and having owned a uzzi slx in the intervening years. on the other hand my bike handling has been good thanks to years spent messing around at a low sport level on various trials bikes. enough background.MikeD said:
the frame had some teething problems. i didn't like it much at all after my first day out, for instance: some of these reasons were due to my unfamiliarity with such a long beast (its wheelbase is noticeably longer than any other bike in my riding buddies' collective stable), some with my own poor configuration choices and some with the frame itself.
the biggest problem was with chainline. on the first day the chain skipped every time i would apply more than middling torque when in the 3 largest cogs, which, needless to say, was not a confidence inspiring trait when gearing up for difficult trail features. this problem turned out to be solved quite easily, however, by moving the upper pulley (the balfa-esque one) inwards about 4 mm and since then i've had no chainline or skipping issues.
the second obstacle that i had to overcome was getting used to the really long wheelbase. this took a few rides and many a failed attempt to manual the bike in the parking lot (nb: only two riders so far have been able to manual it. i am not one of these two), but now i have come to love the long wheelbase and backwards-then-upwards axle path for the stability and plush suspension action it provides. especially since i have chosen to run a monster t on my bike i have had no problems at all even on the tightest of trails on the north shore.
a final note is that avalanche shocks fit, and craig has all the details if you're interested. while the swinger 6 way originally fitted to my frame provided for exceptional climbing characteristics i have found the avalanche to have a superior feel, both initially and throughout the travel. the best way to describe it is that the avalanche feels very viscous without being sticky at all while the swinger felt more metallic. admittedly i did not experiment at all with the swinger's settings, so more patient owners may come to different conclusions. the avalanche allowed me to have 9" of supple travel that i only know to have bottomed out hard (as in through the bump stop) once, while never feeling harsh or oversprung.
would i get the frame again if given a choice? yes, i would. although i sadly will not be able to ride much dh in the foreseeable future due to schooling constraints the f1 frame has proven to be all it was cracked up to be. as you may recall i came into this looking for a frame with a low standover height and low center of gravity, and my medium f1 met both requirements with ease. more importantly these traits allowed me to trust the bike on every kind of trail, from the choppy braking bumps of whistler to the tight, wet corners of the north shore's finest.
ps: loctite those pivot bolts!
