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Small Brown Bike - USB bike check

don

Turbo Monkey
Nov 8, 2001
1,319
0
Rumson, NJ
Build Specs:

Frame: USB Molly Maguire Gen 4
Fork: Manitou Jumper w/ spring mod
Headset: King modded w/ Dia Compe compression ring
Stem: FBM Crown Royal 53mm w/ Tree Compression Bolt
Bars: Solid - Custom 3" rise
Grips: Duo Chris Doyle
Bar Ends: FBM - soon to be Tree
Lever: Odyssey
Seatpost: FBM
Seat: Demolition
Clamp: Profile
Cranks: Profile 175mm
Spindle: FSA Ti
Chainwheel: Tree 34T
Pedals: Sun ZuZu
Chain: KMC 710-SL
Hubs: Profile 20mm, Profile Cassette w/ Eastern Alloy Nuts
Hoops: Sun RhinoLite XL
Spokes: dt Champions
Front Tire: Maxxis Holy Roller 24x2.4
Rear Tire: Tioga FS-100 24x2.1
Brakes: Revenge
Brake Pads: Kool Stop
Cable: Odyssey Linear
Extras: Knight Axle Tugs, Knight Cable Hanger
 

don

Turbo Monkey
Nov 8, 2001
1,319
0
Rumson, NJ
Sorry to post multiple times - just didn't want to type a bunch and hit the wrong button - which I've done.

The Gen 4 frames are great - ride wise, it doesn't feel much different than my Gen 1 but that's a good thing as that frame I've had for the longest of any which says a lot for a picky guy like me. Lee & Sean got it over to me quick - I swapped the parts, took it for a driveway ride and then tore it down and packed it for a trip to Ray's.

Just like the Gen 1 frames, the new Molly rode great at Ray's. Stable, flickable, light. I hadn't been on a bike much in a month or so before the trip so it was good to be on some familiar ground.

I love the small but nice changes to the latest batch: externally butted seattube, yoke update, smaller dropouts, and a bit more clearance around the 990's.

I'll be changing some little things this spring:

- Tree Bar End Caps
- possibly the fork to a Z1 w/ Nem Pro lowering Kit and shaved disc hole or tryout the AtomLab GI60 fork
- Get the bars painted - either brown or tan, fork will be the same color too
- maybe get a little modern and run a pivot seat/post setup

If anyone is interested, I'm selling my Gen 1 Molly: www.defconfour.com/other/forsale/index.asp
 

BikeSATORI

Monkey
Apr 13, 2007
720
0
one world...
oh man, she's a looker, don, good stuff! Solid set-up.

I wanna throw my Revenge back on my Molly and get rid of that Demolition, but I want to either paint it, or find a black one... mine is just raw alu. and sticks out like a sore thumb on the stealth bomber.
 

Stoked

Turbo Monkey
Nov 28, 2004
1,809
1
LI, NY
new build looks great don. why did you go back to the jumper? thought you had a marz on your old build.
 

gackrider24

Monkey
Jun 4, 2007
150
0
NJ
nice build don i went ahead and got one for myself. What trails do you ride, and where are they. I have my own dj spot, but i'd like to check out some other places in NJ to get some ideas and variety into the mix .
 

Leethal

Turbo Monkey
Oct 27, 2001
1,240
0
Avondale (Phoenix)
Thanks so much Don, the bike looks great as I knew it would.

I personally, am the second happiest person for builing a frame you like so much, ride so often and that you hang onto for so long....(you wife being the 1st of course).
 

don

Turbo Monkey
Nov 8, 2001
1,319
0
Rumson, NJ
nice don,can i get an invite to the trails this season
hell yeah! Anytime you want to come on down.

I've got some work to do over the next couple of months on them but they should be running nicely. I can't wait to for this weather to break.
 

don

Turbo Monkey
Nov 8, 2001
1,319
0
Rumson, NJ
nice build don i went ahead and got one for myself. What trails do you ride, and where are they. I have my own dj spot, but i'd like to check out some other places in NJ to get some ideas and variety into the mix .
There are a couple spots - in the Monmouth County area is all I can say on a forum. I have no problem having people from other trails ride our spot - typcially the people that dig know what's what. Once this weather gets better and I can get some digging in and things running again - I'll let you know.
 

don

Turbo Monkey
Nov 8, 2001
1,319
0
Rumson, NJ
Super nice bike, but I have a few questions:

1) Why don't you have bar ends

2) How did you butt the seatpost

3) What does: mean?
I have a FBM bar end on one side of the bars. When I took those pics I had just gotten in a 20x1.5mm tap and had to try it out!

Seatpost isn't butted - at least as far as I know, the seattube on the USB is - externally - you can see it in the pic.

sb317 is correct - Tree makes a compression bolt for the headset - check out Tree's site: http://treebicycleco.com/
 

don

Turbo Monkey
Nov 8, 2001
1,319
0
Rumson, NJ
Nice bike. Good Band.
I'm happy someone figured the band connection. One of my favorite bike video sections was in Standpoint's Video 'zine w/ Small Brown Bike and the 'Nam Trails. Great song w/ footage of them playing live and some real sick footage of 'Nam at one of it's last jams.
 

don

Turbo Monkey
Nov 8, 2001
1,319
0
Rumson, NJ
Thanks so much Don, the bike looks great as I knew it would.

I personally, am the second happiest person for builing a frame you like so much, ride so often and that you hang onto for so long....(you wife being the 1st of course).
haha! Thanks Lee :thumb: I'm hoping to hit some new spots this season w/ this brown Molly.
 

don

Turbo Monkey
Nov 8, 2001
1,319
0
Rumson, NJ
new build looks great don. why did you go back to the jumper? thought you had a marz on your old build.
I switched back and forth on the forks a couple times last year. IDK, there's parts I like from both of them and would change for the heck of it. I'm probably going to strip the Z1, shave it down and repaint the lowers - and lower it a bit more. And see how I like it then. And then there's that Atomlab fork I'd like to see some more about.

Thanks for the props - we really have to get together and ride some trails this year!
 

Cru Jones

Turbo Monkey
Sep 2, 2006
3,025
2
Hell Track
Nice! Don't know how I missed this yesterday.

Brown was a good choice... simple and smooth. Can't wait to see action shots of that thing on the trails!
 

don

Turbo Monkey
Nov 8, 2001
1,319
0
Rumson, NJ
nice ..enjoy the new frame.

i'll be ready to throw some dirt soon
Cool - it will be good to have some extra help and another person riding this year. You'll have to see the new "Warm-up" line I've been working on over this winter - can't wait to finish it and hit it.
 

don

Turbo Monkey
Nov 8, 2001
1,319
0
Rumson, NJ
Thanks for all the props everyone!

Like Lee said, difference in weight for sure. My Gen 1 is 6.10 lbs and the Gen 4 is 5.57 lb. I bit less than Axis's difference but I think my Gen 4 was one of the heavier ones out of the batch and I believe the Gen 2's are a tic heavier than Gen 1's.

Regardless, I think 5.57 lbs for a solid chromoly 24" frame is nothing to scoff at and I'm very happy with it.

O yeah, as built my bike tips the scale at 29.5 lbs. I could probably cut weight in the brakes (those Revenges are nice but have sealed bearings), tires and maybe seat/post and maybe some other spots if I was really trying. But I think sub 30 is very respectable especially for a 220 lb rider like me.