Obviously not quite finished as the chain was too short, but anyway =
First thoughts: It’s looooooooong. I’m 6’2″ and the front tyre is above my eyeline when on it’s back wheel. (admittedly with a 2.4 front tyre)
It’s not light = mainly due to tyres I’d imagine, On-One Chunky Monkey 2.4 and a Smorgasbord 2.25
Tubeless set up is a piece of cake – Arch EX rims, yellow taped. Smorgasbord went up no issues with a track pump, sealed very quickly. Will do the front wheel too when I decide whether to keep the Chunky Monkey on or use a Smorgasbord instead.
Issues:
Need to get a new chain tomorrow as my old one is too short.
Rear mech doesn’t seem to have a stop point on the mech hanger, so ends up swinging under the chainstay, any ideas on what I might be doing wrong? Should I just rely on the tension of the mech bolt?
I wanted a FS 29er something that’d take a beating should the need arise, and the frames are old stock so going relatively cheaply.
Or do you mean why did I buy it even though it looks weird? Look alright in the flesh, just weird in that photo.
Finished 😀 Looks great in my (clearly impartial) opinion. Not ridden yet but going for a ride tomorrow. What say you STW?
Apologies for poor quality kitchen photo:
that 1st photo put me right off as i thought the bike looked horrible, the latest pic is just the opposite and it looks great, funny how a picture does that
Between 120 and 140. Came with a spacer in the box (OEM from CRC) which makes me think there may well be a spacer in there. I’m almost scared about how fast it’ll be, might check my brakes again in the morning 😯
It’s fanbloodytastic. Perfect fit, tyres don’t seem overly draggy, may change when I put the front tubeless but I can live with that for the amount of grip it gives.
Weight is approx 13.9kg on my luggage scales, without thinking about it, which I’m happy with. Might get a Nobby Nic/ Racing Ralph SS for “summer” though.
Was on a Specialized FSR XC Comp, which was good, but a bit on the small side.
Can’t see the price dropping any further RD, they’re already £800. Not many left as far as I know.
Interesting how versatile a frame it is – mine’s built up very much as an AM bike whilst others here seem to have a more XC/Trail build.
Only thing I’d change about mine would be bottle bosses. And they have them on the 2013 ones.
IMO one of the best traits is the length, you can really “feel” your position in the bike and have a lot of latitude to move forward/back and fine tune the weight on each wheel. Makes it really easy to push the limits of the tyres.