[wysiwyg]

Jus perusing PB classifieds and theres an old Uzzi SLX, which back in the day was an immense bike, but now way behind the times geo wise. But could it be improved and viable with very little effort? And what other bikes could be reborn? MK1 Bullit etc?

 

[yd35]

Sunday. It's still a sweet ride as is, but with a 63 degree head angle, it would be killer.

 

[dytrdr5]

I think there is more to that equation than just a simple HA change. Spare parts availability, leverage ratios, axle paths and not to mention that a lot of those older frames came with a straight normal head tube. The market on used frames right now is so good that why bother taking a chance on a really old frame.

 

[MinorThreat]

Transition Gran Mal. Would still be a truck but it would be an über-slack truck.

 

[no skid marks]

Works Components do 1 degree angle sets for 1 1/8th head tubes.
I'm guessing axle paths and leverage curves have only changed for the better on about 25% of new bikes. And with a variety of progressive and Linear feeling shocks available, old frames can be refurbed pretty easy now. There's still not that many great old bikes though.

 

[Sonic Reducer]

what year uzzi are you talking? might as well go socom if its from that generation. great bike for a lighter rider. if the older horst link uzzi is what you're talking about, no, can't be made current.

a lot of the good mid 2000's frames are 1.125" HT so slackening is limited. what's more most of them are kinda hammered by now.

as for what bikes I really like the older giant faith. stiff, not super heavy, reliable, pedals well, jumps well, good all around. and cheap!

 

[IH8Rice]

i dont think the HT diameter is that big of a issue. 1 1/8" worked for years and still works.

 

[no skid marks]

i dont think the HT diameter is that big of a issue. 1 1/8" worked for years and still works.

The point is you can only slacken them at the headtube by 1 degree with 1 1/8th.

 

[ritche]

intense SOCOM!

 

[toodles]

Square tube DHR. Except for the no piggy-back shock thing.

 

[kidwoo]

Square tube DHR. Except for the no piggy-back shock thing.

I've got a buddy who threw an angleset in and did the shock link drill mod on his. That bike is friggin awesome.

 

[was?]

rotec rl-9 would be worth a try.

 

[daisycutter]

My Intense M1s have come alive with their new angles

 

[ChrisRobin]

It's amazing what even an offset bushing can do. Not that my Scott Ransom, a trail bike, is the best thing ever but that 3mm offset at the lower shock mount made a huge difference. Luckily it already had a low BB height to begin with.

 

[IH8Rice]

The point is you can only slacken them at the headtube by 1 degree with 1 1/8th.

which would still be sufficient for 99% of the riders out there..unless of course the original HT angle was like 67*+

 

[Tomasis]

would be nice re live up my old norco 2002 dh team. it has 1/8 ht and super high BB

 

[al-irl]

the vp-free makes a good starter dh bike, built up one for my GF with a short shock, offset bushings and its setup pretty nicely. You can build it pretty light too. If she rode it more Id probably get an angleset for it

 

[Tomasis]

al-irl, interesting. What year? How much angle did you got with offset? 1 degree? any shock? I wondered if new shock would be overkill. I might start new thread about that later.

 

[captainspauldin]

Offset bushes in my old ironhorse mkIII def. made a difference, much more stable down rocky/rooty descents.

As far as DH bikes..
GT Fury? Mongoose Boot'r/Pinn'r? Pre-Sam Hill Demos?

 

[norbar]

which would still be sufficient for 99% of the riders out there..unless of course the original HT angle was like 67*+

To be honest if you can get away with a 65-66deg ha bike you don't need a dh bike in most cases.

 

[al-irl]

al-irl, interesting. What year? How much angle did you got with offset? 1 degree? any shock? I wondered if new shock would be overkill. I might start new thread about that later.

Cant remember what year it is but its the last generation vp free with the 1.5 headtube, i put in a 8.5x 2.5 shock into it. I put in 2mm offset at both ends which made it shorter by a good bit. If i remember correctly it dropped the bb about 1.5" in total which slackens it by close to 2 degrees. Its over a year ago since I did it but it certainly made for a nice bike for a beginners dh and was built quite light and quite affordably. When i first built it with a crossmax xl front wheel i had sitting round it came in at 32-33lbs

thats it before the short shock


sorry no after pic, she noticed a big difference from the short shock and offset bushes. Its way too small for me to test ride it

 

[300hp]

Running my O.G. Sunday with an RC4, Funktion flat crowns and a 1.5 degree VP varialset.

So money. I'm sure there are better bikes out there, but the performance you get for the $$ is going to be really hard to beat.

Straight-up shred.

 

[4130biker]

Offset bushes in my old ironhorse mkIII def. made a difference, much more stable down rocky/rooty descents.

As far as DH bikes..
GT Fury? Mongoose Boot'r/Pinn'r? Pre-Sam Hill Demos?

This is an interesting idea- the old demo would need a shock that could
Keep you up in the travel a bit, but with the massive top tube, 64ha and a 14.5" bb it could be a great candidate for short-shocking

 

[Sandwich]

older intenses might work. woody had a 6.6 for a while that was all awkward and gangly. The large size was huge for him, but with cups and a shorter shock/offset reducers it may have worked better. It also might cut some of the S into a C as far as axle path, which might help it pedal less gay.

 

[mattmatt86]

This thread and Sandwich's Piggy have me intrigued to start my own "project bike" with an older frame and cheaper and reliable parts. I think I'm over my "keeping up with the Joneses" phase of bikes, especially DH.

 

[Sandwich]

my pig is pretty good, but it's a little tall. I've got my 64* HA, but my BB sits at 14.5". I already have -2 reducer cups and -1.8mm offset reducers (maximum of 0.9mm on an avalanche). I am running 2.7" tires though. We'll see what the final result is, but I was a tad disappointed to not hit somewhere around 14.1. Must have had like a 15.5" bb originally.

 

[CrabJoe StretchPants]

With any luck, anything in this thread.

http://www.ridemonkey.com/forums/f19/lets-get-ready-huck-broooooooooooooooo-111111111111111o-neone-256727/

 

[iRider]

My Intense M1s have come alive with their new angles

Can you tell me more? What did you do? Angle headset and bushings? How did you avoid tire buzzing on the frame (unless you have a large)?

 

[iRider]

older intenses might work. woody had a 6.6 for a while that was all awkward and gangly. The large size was huge for him, but with cups and a shorter shock/offset reducers it may have worked better. It also might cut some of the S into a C as far as axle path, which might help it pedal less gay.

As much as I love Intense and as cheap as you can get used 6.6 frames, this bike is not really worth your time. The swingarm is a wet noodle (and that comes from a guy that doesn't mind a little flex in a frame).

 

[Sandwich]

no help from a bolt through axle?

 

[al-irl]

the bolt through will help a bit but the lower links used to eat bearings on those frames. The 6.6 was indeed a pig and the frame has to have some charm to start with.