[synchronicity]

Heya all,

I've known about ridemonkey for a long time since it always comes up in google searches & been thinking of joining...

I'm relatively new to DH and figure I better get it out of my system before I get too old (I turn 32 at the end of the month).

I'm Australian, but I currently live & work in Tenerife, anyway, it's an awesome place for DH as it's the world's third largest volcanic island, so we have up to 7000ft descents here!

Anyway, without blabbing any further, I present my first and current downhill bike:

The frame gives me heaps of confidence & I've taken it on about 10 rides already. The post has been cut down a bit so as not to interfere with the rear shock, but I prefer to leave it a little longer for when I do have to ride up...

I'm really stoked with all the remaining parts (except for the fork which has to go due to the crappy internals)

 

[mrpercussive]

sick rig... a friend of mine had one of those shockwaves... they rode pretty well from what i gathered... XD

 

[rockofullr]

Those bikes were so sic and so burly looking! Whats a rig like that weigh?

Edit: Just noticed, are you running WierWolf's? Is that the LT or the standard? I tried both for XC riding. They are super fast but feel sketchy in loose corners. How do you like them?

 

[Total Heckler]

Cool bike. Interesting fork.

Where do you people get those colored chains?

 

[mrpercussive]

Cool bike. Interesting fork.

Where do you people get those colored chains?

KMC makes them

 

[Sandwich]

Welcome to the

That's a great bike for a beginner, and you've outfitted it with probably the best bang for your buck parts that you can get. That frame is super stout and while the geometry is a bit wacky, when you sit on it the bike really levels out. Codes and hussefelt stuff is icing on the cake. The only thing that sketches me out is the fork. Not sure what those look like inside, but last I knew they had some MCU/coil spring stack, and maybe a closed damping cartridge. Otherwise a great build! Post some riding shots.

 

[time-bomb]

Nice frame. Take care of it and it will last for ever. Those things are bombproof. If you ever need to slacken the HA a bit and lower the BB you can buy a new set of links directly from Mountain Cycle. You will have to run a 8.75x2.75 shock and it will reduce your rear travel to 8". They designed that set up to update the geometry to make it more racer friendly. I guess that is one way to do it, or you could just make new frames once those are sold out and slacken the HA but keep the super plush 9.5" of travel.

Anyway, nice looking rig. Have fun.

 

[greenhood]

Love the Mountain cycle. You are gonna have a blast on it.

 

[eknomf]

Nice bike - my 9.5 was my favorite bike I've owned and they last forever.

 

[synchronicity]

the last time I weighed it on a set of bathroom scales in came in at 18kg.

Yeah the chain is one of the pricier parts on it. I bought it from this ebay seller in Germany.

About the tyres, they are the widest weirwolfs I could find. Trouble is, I don't have anything downhill-specific to compare them to. I know one thing: they are TERRIBLE in muddy conditions. They pack up too much and you might as well be riding with slicks. I'll be trying a more traditional square-knobbed tyre like Minions next...

As for the fork, the externals are CNC machined and it seems really good. The down side is that I've had a really tough time getting the fork to respond the way I want. At first it was too soft. Then I dialled in more preload and the knob changes half way through a ride... not cool. Then I realised that the rebound damping was waaay too slow for high speed sections, even when on the fastest setting. So I tried to get lighter oil put in the cartridge. That exploded and basically couldn't be done right, even by a bike shop qualified in such repairs... I have now got the fork stiffer by eliminating the preload adjustment entirely, but the rebound is still too slow.

If I could just find or adapt a decent cartridge, it would be awesome. But I think I will trade it in for a Marzocchi Bomber 888 or something similar...

As for the frame, I couldn't be happier. I know that there are better rear shocks currently on the market, but going over rough terrain, the rear feels planted. I would describe it as plush, progressive and bottomless. It just does it's job & I have no complaints. It's also quiet. It's only usually when something is not right that you are aware of it - well I don't get any such feeling from this frame... possibly there is a bit of brake jack when skidding downhill round corners, but then that's typically not the fastest way around anyway. There is a floating brake kit available, but I can live with it the way it is & would rather not have the weight penalty.

 

[Horror Business]

Welcome. Nice bike.

 

[norbar]

What is that fork? Kinda looks like my old dnm yet a bit different.

 

[bohorec]

Edit: Just noticed, are you running WierWolf's? Is that the LT or the standard? I tried both for XC riding. They are super fast but feel sketchy in loose corners. How do you like them?

Interesting, I put them on xc bike as well, they felt like boat anchor to me. Disaster in mud. Worst tyres I ever had. They were cheap though.

 

[synchronicity]

... and rather than starting another thread, here's my secondary "all mountain" style bike in various guises:

I've since installed Deore as it seems to last longer than sram X7 (the derailleur pivots wore out). Also replaced that terrible saddle for a Selle Italia SLR XC... and I hope to be upgrading to some of the newer quad-piston Saint brakes in the next few months...

 

[synchronicity]

Here's the latest incarnation:

 

[Sandwich]

holy ****, nice mrazek. I used to love those bikes?

 

[bdamschen]

Dude! Power Grips! People always give me a blank look when I talk about those things. Used to rock those hard back in the day because toe clips sketched me out.

 

[62kona]

Nice ride. I saw one of those completely polished once and it blew me away!