After waiting for what seems like an eternity, finally managed to get my Chumba VF2 built.

Bloomin brilliant frame, only managed a short ride to see if anything drops off but seems very promising..

From this….

to this….

Can I also comment on the excellent service offered by Si from Progressive..

Feel free to slag it off or tell me to get the mower out.

Looks nice that fella.

Apart from the lawn being a little long everything seems perfect. Do you ever ride your bike? 😆

Lovely.

Love the look of the bike – Hate the name !!

Always thinking of that band that chucked a bucket of water over Prescott at the brits

clearly not.. to busy maintaining his house and garden to say off the STW massive! 😀

nice btw.. very nice..

You've made a nice job of that, looks great!

edit out the background and you have a couple of decent catalogue shots there.

nicely finished.

Thats is stunning, may have to speak to Si@progressive myself 😉

sofatester – it's box fresh, not ridden it in anger yet only just finished building her up. need to re-bleed brakes after chopping hoses and set fork and shock up. It's taken me nearly 5 years to get the funds together to build this so it been a bit of a labour of love.

Give it 2 weeks and it'll be bo**oxed..

frankers – Name is a bit iffy, superb build quality tho..

swift – can't recommend Si highly enough, top bloke.

that looks nice same colour as my XCL enjoy and look forward to a ride report.

Well done mate, that looks great. I'm sure the five year wait has been worth it.

Good work.

whats the weight?

27 lbs (approx)

Looks good Steve!

Probably the nicest looking blue Vf2 i have seen, understated and classy 😉

Cool, really smart bike 😀

mate's have them – metalheart and dipper – nice bike, lovely carbon rear end.

both of them criticise the RP2 shock however suggesting the rear end is very "active"…..although the rear end is apparently extremely stiff and well supported / direct.

i like them 😀

nice seat clamp too !

Nice looking bike.

But the tyre logos aren't lined up on the front, shame on you 😆

Well thought out build – very nice!

Yup, that is looking nice. As Si says understated and classy for sure!

Wondering how you managed a 27lb build though. Mine not hugely dissimilar build is ~31 (but will be going on a diet soon).

And yeah Si is pretty helpful (usually gets back to you within a couple of hours…)

Be interested in what you make of it once ridden 'properly'.

thanks for the kind comments chaps, been a while since a built a bike from scratch. enjoyed every second. Am itching to take it up the Peaks for a proper thrash. It'll have to wait until weekend tho sadly.. 😥

steve_b77 – you spotted the delibrate mistake! think it's a tyre fault to be honest, if you compare both pic's I've posted you'll see on the other one they line-up.. perhaps this is why they're cheap from Merlin?? ❓

metalheart – read a few of your posts on the VF2 over the past months, is it the fact the rear end is a bit over active climbing you don't like? does a good dollop of pro-pedal on the RP23 cure it?? Be interested to see how the 2010 RP23's handle, now they have the boost valve fitted.. any thought's would be appreciated on set-up, As I'm moving from my SS to this. Last Full Suss I had was a SC Heckler over 7 years ago!!

maybe I'm a bit out on the weight thinking about it.. as metalheart says perhaps it's closer to 28-29??? not had chance to weigh it! just guessing.

Person who get's closest win's a pat on the back!!

I'll do a weigh in at weekend.

metalheart – read a few of your posts on the VF2 over the past months, is it the fact the rear end is a bit over active climbing you don't like? does a good dollop of pro-pedal on the RP23 cure it?? Be interested to see how the 2010 RP23's handle, now they have the boost valve fitted.. any thought's would be appreciated on set-up, As I'm moving from my SS to this. Last Full Suss I had was a SC Heckler over 7 years ago!!

Braylee8, the problem I've found is that the rebound goes from way fast to way slow over one click which makes the back end buck a bit (mostly at 'moderate' speed) as I keep it on the faster mode. I don't notice it as much at higher speeds for some reason.

I don't really use the pro-pedal as with it on the position seems 'high'. With it off it sits down into a better position (for me anyways).

With regards set up set the sag, set the rebound and ride it and get used to it. You may not have the same issues.

I'm sure you will have fun though it is a nice bike…

😀

I'll do a weigh in at weekend.

I'd say between 29 & 30 (I have Pikes, Tech 4 brakes, AM bars and 321 rims otherwise not wildly different). That said someone over on MTBR.com has one weighing in at a smidge under 24…

(for reference: according to MBA the stock xtr model is 29 pounds).

Would it take 36's, or would that invalidate the warranty? (formulating a plan)

Would it take 36's, or would that invalidate the warranty? (formulating a plan)

The VF2 will take a 36, and i have had one customer do just that and a few in the US also. As long as your not 'hucking' the VF2 then the 36 will be fine as will your warranty 🙂

Could be a cheap (if you'll pardon my use of the term), alternative to a tracer. Not hucking, but 3-4 ft drops and similar?

That will be fine. I plan to try a TALAS 36 myself. I have just had an email from Chumba with a cracking deal on the VF2 if you are interested?

Drop me a mail if so.

Very nice Braylee

i've just built up a white one with 36 Floats. Only done a couple of rides so still at the setting up stage but so far so good. It works well enough with the 36's that I wonder if 32's won't be too short. I'll be trying a set of 32 QR 15 vans shortly to see.

Not overly happy with the RP23 though. It's a very active suspension design and needs quite a bit of pro-pedal for eficient climbing. Not a problem as thats what these type of shocks are for. However, despite the active rear it doesn't translate to the smooth or controlled ride on the way back down that I was expecting.

On saying that I've been using a CCDB for a quite a while so I'mmaybe just spoiled! I plan on trying a Roco TSTR and then the CCDB as well to see what the rames really capable of.

Other than that, it's stiff and handles well. BB looks to be a bit high(not helped by the 36's) but doesn't feel high on the trail. It turns as well as some low BB bikes I've ridden without twatting pedals everywhere.

Current weight is just under 30lb and thats with the 36's, 2.4 UST big bettys and easton flatboy pedals. 27>28lb is well doable

dipper, i plan on popping a CCDB on mine, once CC pull their fingers out and send me one and the one for your F5 🙂 Might even get the RP23 PUSHED to see what that will be like.

What wheels are you running on your VF2?

'BB looks to be a bit high(not helped by the 36's) but doesn't feel high on the trail. It turns as well as some low BB bikes I've ridden without twatting pedals everywhere.'

Funny that cos I'm getting pedal strike with the Pikes (esp with the flatties too). Is the front end not all over the place climbing with 160mm?

lovely but get rid of the useless Big ring expect that
very nice.

I think a lot of folk seem to be trying to make the VF2 something it isn't. It's supposedly aimed at XC / Trail rather than AM. I've built mine up using "sensible" 140 Float's RLC FIT, Hope Tech X2's, Hope Hoops DT 4.2 / Pro 2's and 2.25 Cinders along with a FSA carbon bar and Thomson stuff elsewhere. Still thinking it's closer to the 27-28 lb mark. Maybe those folk thinking of putting 160mm forks on and other heavyweight stuff should have considered an XCL???

As for the active back end on climbs, I think I'll just suck it and see. I rode a heckler for years fitted with one of the earlier fox float shocks and that bobbed like good everywhere and I still loved it to bits. I'm loving the VF2 so far still, time will tell.

If I enjoy riding it then surely that's the box ticked??

juan – useless big ring??? WTF??? I've always run a triple (other than my SS) and have no plans to drop it just yet!! don't plan hucking off stuff just riding ace trails in and around the peaks, n.wales and stuff on my doorstep! that's all I want.

braylee8- what you describe the Vf2 of being is just that, a trail bike. However, Chumba do like to over build their frames, and as a result the VF2 can be built a bit heavier as an AM bike with 160mm forks, double bash etc.

Don't worry about the bob, i certainly don't, and i tend to use the Propedal in the 1st setting and it is fine.

It's supposedly aimed at XC / Trail rather than AM.

WTF… Can someone explain to me what AM or XC/Trail is? I though it was all riding bike.
Yes useless big ring 😉 removing the ring and going 36 only remove the 3 lowest gears, mainly use on flat road, but will increase your ground clearance a lot. But then if you are happy with that

si – thanks for clearing that up, thought i was going nuts. i agree the frames are overbuilt but as I'm no featherweight this suits me fine. I just think Chumba should market there bikes differently and steer the VF2 towards the trail / XC end of the market and the XCL towards the AM set. Might generate a few more sales? At the moment there seems a lot of cross over which is perhaps making the process of choosing one a tad confusing.

I know I did ton's of research on them before getting in touch with you. and for my style of riding (steady!) the VF2 fitted the bill spot on.

Each to their own though eh?

juan – the bb is high enough to warrant me keeping it fitted ta. I'll take my chances. 😉

just done a weigh in using luggage scales – 27.4 lbs. that'll do me.

braylee8 – have you had the chance to have a proper ride yet? Just wondered what your thoughts are!