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pdc fr build notes and pics

vitox

Turbo Monkey
Sep 23, 2001
2,936
1
Santiago du Chili
first of all a big thank you to pdc racing and kyle who hooked my friend antonio up with a frame for the worlds and WC final in europe, shows a great commitment to the sport and a lot of confidence in his product, i mean, it doesnt get much more abusive than privateer WC racing!

got the frame on saturday, built it up at the airport parking lot while i waited for other stuff, and proceeded to weigh it at the check in counter, got a bit suspicious stares from the security personnel but managed to stay out of trouble this time.

complete frame, no shock bolts:
3,8kg or 8,4lbs thats with QR dropouts
3,9kg or 8,6lbs with 12mm thru axle dropouts AND axle.

thats 1/3lbs to 1/2 lbs less than a med m3.


first impression was very favorable, very clean welds and a beautiful very compact and simple approach to the design, as im sure you can see on the pics that have been around.

the linkage and pivots that normally is the downfall of the similar bikes ive wrenched on, namely karps and cortinas, is very well thought out and simpler than both those other designs, that upper link horseshoe takes almost all the guessing out of setup. axles are indexed and 13mm steel so i do not expect any bending as happens a lot on other bikes.

we put antonios 3 year old avy dhs in there, stock shock is 2 3/4" stroke but we figured a little more travel wouldnt hurt and freehand dremeled a 1/8" shaft spacer to make the stroke 2 7/8" and gain roughly a half inch travel, thats as big a shock as the bike will take however, without removing material from the lower links which didnt seem like a good idea.
no problems in fitting the shock at all and a rather short hose can be used, correct spring rate is 450 for his 170lbs and full on race use.
we first put a 8" boxxer with flat crown on there but angle was too steep and not enough clearance with the cane creek reducer headset, everything went fine with a drop crown and a small spacer between the crown and headset to avoid the crown contacting the HS top cap, will be installing a e13 zerostack upper cup to drop the bar a few mm's and get some angle adjustment on the fork that is maxed out at the moment.
in the crank dept, xtr 116mm worked fine, SRS bolted to the chainguide tabs using 3 spacers, cranks are 165mm and come about 2 or 3 mm close to the rear end, problems might arise if using 175mm cranks so watch out for that although that would be a fairly strange combo. chainline (and all other alignment actually) was spot on.
cable routing is so natural and straight forward that we didnt even bother much as you see on the pics.
mud clearance is good but not great, no problems with the comp24 you see in the pics on a very muddy day yesterday, one very very cool thing about the rear end is that the upright is so wide and the shock is placed so close to it, that it works as a mudguard for the shock, keeping it perfectly clean!

built as you see in the pics its a hair under 43lbs, in race trim it will be around 1lb lighter.

wheelbase as pictured is 1158mm (45,6") with a front center bias, i mean the rear end is really short and the front center relatively longer, bb height static is 372mm (14,6")

rider impressions are that the bikes corners extremely well and that there is lots of leg room for maneuvering, the bikes is very progressive and has a brilliant small to med bump performance, plus the long top tube seems to put a guy of antonios (6" ish) height in a very efficient pedalling position. i think he is going to do very well on this bike and after only two days he is not missing the old one has to say something.

all in all two thumbs and up for this one, especially considering the asking price.

btw one final note i think the bike pedals so well and is so progressive, SPV is not needed at all.

















 

vitox

Turbo Monkey
Sep 23, 2001
2,936
1
Santiago du Chili
thaflyinfatman said:
Sick as. I'm very seriously considering one of those with an 06 Boxxer or 888. Too hot.

ah! that brings me to a point i had forgotten, for pure dh i would suggest a fork with a length equal to the 8" boxxer, or more. this particular bike has a bit steeper headangle due to the extra long shock, but i reckon a shorter fork like a 180mm dorado would mean a bit to steep headangle. 888 owners rejoice!
 

thaflyinfatman

Turbo Monkey
Jul 20, 2002
1,577
0
Victoria
vitox said:
ah! that brings me to a point i had forgotten, for pure dh i would suggest a fork with a length equal to the 8" boxxer, or more. this particular bike has a bit steeper headangle due to the extra long shock, but i reckon a shorter fork like a 180mm dorado would mean a bit to steep headangle. 888 owners rejoice!
Yeah I worked that out. I spoke to Kyle a couple of days ago and (not sure if this is/should be publicly available information) he said he could get the top shock mount raised slightly (to lower/slacken it) if I could give him enough lead time. You really can't fault PDC's service!

That said, a flat-crowned 888 or Boxxer and maybe a shorter-stroke shock or something (if not having the upper shock mount relocated) would go nuts on that frame. I really like the looks of the geo - short stays, longer TT, fairly low bb... why did he have to label it a "freeride" frame! haha
 

binary visions

The voice of reason
Jun 13, 2002
22,092
1,132
NC
I think that it's awesome that a thread titled "pdc fr build notes and pics" has nothing but mud splattered and broken-in pictures of the bike :D - I was expecting shiney build pics, but it looks like he couldn't wait to get it on the trail!

Frame looks nice. Hope he enjoys it.
 

vitox

Turbo Monkey
Sep 23, 2001
2,936
1
Santiago du Chili
binary visions said:
I think that it's awesome that a thread titled "pdc fr build notes and pics" has nothing but mud splattered and broken-in pictures of the bike :D - I was expecting shiney build pics, but it looks like he couldn't wait to get it on the trail!

Frame looks nice. Hope he enjoys it.

oh i have those too but the dirtier the better huh?
 

vitox

Turbo Monkey
Sep 23, 2001
2,936
1
Santiago du Chili
thaflyinfatman said:
P.S. I'm coming to chile one day. Those mountains are rad.
yea were blessed with some outright humongous mountains right outside santiago.
these pics were taken no more than 25 minutes of driving from the business district.

now, for a real tease, ive prepared these points for you, you need google earth, load them in and see for yourself how nice these mountains are.

it would take a pro dher around 25 to 30 minutes and its pretty much non stop hi speed dh.
 

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thaflyinfatman

Turbo Monkey
Jul 20, 2002
1,577
0
Victoria
Holy mother f'ing crap. You are SUCH a bastard! haha... that kind of terrain is something we only dream of over here!

I love how it's all open and free of dense undergrowth... everything over here is either thickly grown-over or completely inaccessible (or more commonly, both). So much easier to build tracks when you don't have to cut down half a forest to do it. That scenery actually reminds me a LOT of the south island of New Zealand.

Thanks very much for the google earth stuff tho, that's so rad that if were any moreso you'd be sued by Easton for copyright infringement.
 

Brad23

Monkey
Jan 9, 2004
236
0
West Oakland
google earth no work on Mac! perhaps a good thing.
That PDC seems f'n incredible. Keep the updates and review coming in.
I'm curious to how it pedals uphill. How does the seat angle work for crankin at full extention?
It is in the running to replace my RFX someday...I pedal up to most of my downhills though.
 

FlipFantasia

Turbo Monkey
Oct 4, 2001
1,659
492
Sea to Sky BC
oh yeah.....man, the more I see these popping up the more I want one.....kyle, the production version is so sweet, great job on the refinements, I'm seriously bummed I didn't hook up with you guys during crankworx for a test ride....hopefully soon!
 

dogwonder

Nitro
May 3, 2005
1,849
0
Walking the Earth
thaflyinfatman said:
That said, a flat-crowned 888 or Boxxer and maybe a shorter-stroke shock or something (if not having the upper shock mount relocated) would go nuts on that frame. I really like the looks of the geo - short stays, longer TT, fairly low bb... why did he have to label it a "freeride" frame! haha
Interesting...the website advertises a 67 degree head angle on a 7 inch fork (I think). What would the angle be if an incher was used? Aside from the angle, it reads like a smokin' DH ride as well.
 

thaflyinfatman

Turbo Monkey
Jul 20, 2002
1,577
0
Victoria
dogwonder said:
Interesting...the website advertises a 67 degree head angle on a 7 inch fork (I think). What would the angle be if an incher was used? Aside from the angle, it reads like a smokin' DH ride as well.
An 8" fork would bump the head angle out ~1 degree to roughly 66. If you could lower the back a bit and get 65 out of it, you'd be on a no-holds-barred winner.
 

bc2002

Chimp
Nov 23, 2004
65
0
Vancouver, BC
vitox said:
yea were blessed with some outright humongous mountains right outside santiago.
these pics were taken no more than 25 minutes of driving from the business district.

now, for a real tease, ive prepared these points for you, you need google earth, load them in and see for yourself how nice these mountains are.

it would take a pro dher around 25 to 30 minutes and its pretty much non stop hi speed dh.
Holy FREAKIN @#$%!!! That's the coolest thing I've seen in a long time! :eek:
 

vitox

Turbo Monkey
Sep 23, 2001
2,936
1
Santiago du Chili
newsflash:
just installed the upper part of a e13 zerostack thing y and it netted a 19mm shorter stack height, i put a bigger spacer in between the headset and upper crown and got the crowns back to a safe distance, and then was able to get an extra half inch of axle to crown, and a quite slack headangle as a result, again, with a stock shock this would be probable slacker than most people could want so just about with any 8" fork you will be able to get any headangle you could want.
 

RaID

Turbo Monkey
damn that frame looks great, awsome spec,

keep us posted on how it rides and its durability
could you fit a DHX in there?


Vitox why do you have to post things like that trail
now i theres another place i wanna go to
that trail just looks amazing
 

vitox

Turbo Monkey
Sep 23, 2001
2,936
1
Santiago du Chili
RaID said:
damn that frame looks great, awsome spec,

keep us posted on how it rides and its durability
could you fit a DHX in there?


Vitox why do you have to post things like that trail
now i theres another place i wanna go to
that trail just looks amazing

no definitive word on dhx compatibility but i dont think there will be a problem fitting it.

so you liked the trail huh! im glad, thats the one ive been going on about for ages and im trying to get together funding and permits for staging a megavalanche esque race, i posted it so you guys could see it and maybe come visit some time, stiff came here and rode it and digged it bigtime, kyle strait also said it was way cool.
its a really great trail because its so close to the city and its very varied, the upper part, between the lagoon and "tranque parva" is high mountain terrain with loose pointy rocks and sand, then you have altiplano with some mud holes and creeks and grass, smooth trail, rock slabs again, narrow trail on rocks, steep switchbacks on rockgardens, narrow fast trail between c16 and c14, with some vegetation, and then the last part is between small trees and really twisty.

does anyone know if google earth plus has better resoluton all over the world? id love to post some more trails

ill keep you informed about how the frame fares at livigno and fort bill although i dont foresee any trouble from the experience after two hard and muddy test sessions and the inspection we performed afterwards.
 

Rik

Turbo Monkey
Nov 6, 2001
1,085
1
Sydney, Australia
Yup, depends on location in GE, you can see individual cars and people in some places.

Beautiful bike, same goes with the trails. I think Mr Fatman has soiled his pants a few times over since this thread was posted!
 

shagwell

Monkey
Jun 15, 2004
144
0
beautiful frame for sure, would be interested to hear reports after the worlds and world cup at fort bill.

vitox, you mentioned in your first post that the bike was progressive and wouldnt need mch spv, reckon an rc would work nice in there?

also what size are the 24s your guy is running, as the clearance looks pretty tight?

it`d be nice to hear from the guys at pdc about the benefits of their design, weve all heard why the sunday, m3 etc. are so good, what about this badboy, axle path? neautral braking? all the tech stuff i dont really understand but which might make me wanna buy one!

some footage here mixed in with some other stuff from the uk importers of pdc ive just found..

http://www.ftmb.net/video/projectleeds_teaser.zip
 

vitox

Turbo Monkey
Sep 23, 2001
2,936
1
Santiago du Chili
shagwell said:
beautiful frame for sure, would be interested to hear reports after the worlds and world cup at fort bill.

vitox, you mentioned in your first post that the bike was progressive and wouldnt need mch spv, reckon an rc would work nice in there?

also what size are the 24s your guy is running, as the clearance looks pretty tight?

it`d be nice to hear from the guys at pdc about the benefits of their design, weve all heard why the sunday, m3 etc. are so good, what about this badboy, axle path? neautral braking? all the tech stuff i dont really understand but which might make me wanna buy one!

some footage here mixed in with some other stuff from the uk importers of pdc ive just found..

http://www.ftmb.net/video/projectleeds_teaser.zip

ellou!


the pictured tire is a 2,5 dh24, its a quite meaty tire if you compare with a maxxis 2,5. im guessing a 2,7 would fit but witout mud clearance, a 2,5 tioga white tiger im not so sure about and a 2,5 hutchinson probably wont fit.

anyways i know pdc is getting their own cnc machine setup pretty soon so and i already asked kyle if custom dropouts were a possibility for other reasons some time ago and the reply was a roger, so take that into account.

as for the fox rc compatibility i really dont know, bike is sitting at lost&found at the airport in milan right now so i cant go out and check the clearance, ill report back on that one as soon as possible, but basically yes, at least for progression the bike doesnt need any help. i only pedalled the bike around with that setup and i would rate it as a definitely better than average to very good pedaller, it remains quite active under power without much bobbing, this without a platform shock and with the compression damping all the way open.
as for braking performance and wheel path, its pretty much just like a karpiel, slightly rearward axle path at the top of the travel so very supple.
also the swingarm doesnt rotate much during the travel so braking is very fairly neutral, also a trait on the karps.
 
shagwell said:
it`d be nice to hear from the guys at pdc about the benefits of their design, weve all heard why the sunday, m3 etc. are so good, what about this badboy, axle path? neautral braking? all the tech stuff i dont really understand but which might make me wanna buy one!

Don't worry about it bro. It's all marketing BS anyway. They ride sweet, really sweet! Really!

If it really bothers you, it's got,

MRE - Moving Rear End - A new technology developed at PDC. Years and years of R&D work have gone into this.. The rear wheel actually goes up and down when you hit bumps and stuff.

BAS - Brake and stop. Not availible on any other Dh bike. Hit the brakes, you slow down. Top stuff :D

MPO - Multiple paint options - Overlooked by many manufacturers, you can get some pimpin colours.
 

eddiegold

Chimp
Nov 25, 2004
25
0
yeah was thinking of the travis as well. Not sure which would be better suited the 180mm or 200mm. Does anyone know the axel-crown lengths on those yet
 

ohio

The Fresno Kid
Nov 26, 2001
6,649
23
SF, CA
AR_ said:
Don't worry about it bro. It's all marketing BS anyway. They ride sweet, really sweet! Really!

If it really bothers you, it's got,

MRE - Moving Rear End - A new technology developed at PDC. Years and years of R&D work have gone into this.. The rear wheel actually goes up and down when you hit bumps and stuff.

BAS - Brake and stop. Not availible on any other Dh bike. Hit the brakes, you slow down. Top stuff :D

MPO - Multiple paint options - Overlooked by many manufacturers, you can get some pimpin colours.
Fantastic. The forum needs more of this.

Cracking my **** up... :thumb:
 

xy9ine

Turbo Monkey
Mar 22, 2004
2,940
353
vancouver eastside
^^ yeah. AR_'s got the right idea.

eddie - apparently the 203mm travis has about the same axle to crown as the 7" 66 (595mm?) so it should be in the ballpark.
 

eddiegold

Chimp
Nov 25, 2004
25
0
Thats a bit longer than i thought it was going 2 be, dont know if i'd like it that slack. I'd be better off with the 06 888's now they have a flat crown and run a zero stack headset.