My Czar has been sat around waiting for parts to arrive from sram and stans, but it’s finally a functioning mountain bike! Total weight came in at 21.2 lbs(*)

It’s a mix of sram and shimano parts. I kept my old XTR brakes as there’s nothing better, and the cranks so I could keep the stages powermeter. 36t raceface narrowwide ring, and the rest of the groupset is XO1, with a gripshift(!!) because sram don’t have any triggers in the US a the moment.

The fork is the SID world cup with the three settings damper – It’s going to take some getting used to compared to the lefty I had before. Easton finishing kit, and the new Mt Zoom flat bar from Ant at XC racer. The wheels are stans crest, maxxis ikon tyres.

(*Internet weight. It’s actually bang on 24 lbs as it sits in the photos.)

looks lush, would love one of these for marathon races! need some carbon wheels 😉

Carbon wheels are definitely on the list. The stans cant be beat for the price or simplicity though.

WANT!!, Looks amazing. Loved my Flux

Love it. So close to getting my new Turner (Burner) finished.

It took a couple of months to get on the trail. It was agonising having it sat at home without the parts to finish it off.

I would love one of these!
Had three Turner’s in the past and two Giants now.
This is just up ny street!
The credit card mite need flexing!
Thanx ,
Max

Nice.

That looks superb. I’m tempted to get rid of both my bikes and build something like this up… Something to do silly distances at silly speeds!

A little bit of a better picture from this morning. I’m starting to regret the extreme stem slamming. I’m going to try a couple spacers underneath and see if it feels better. One thing is certain – rear suspension got a lot better since I last had a full susser. It climbs so much better than the hardtail.

I’m looking for a replacement for my stolen Giant Anthem 29 Advanced.

Liking that but not keen on the BB30 standard. might go with a Santa Cruz Tallboy plastic as Giant seem to have stopped doing the Anthem 29 now in frame set form.

Blazin-saddles

The Czar is pressfit30, which I think is a bit different, but I don’t know how. I got the raceface bottom bracket that converts from PF30 to shimano cranks, and it’s really well built. You can also replace the bearings without removing the whole BB from the frame, which was a big thing for me. It seems a lot better than the wheels mfg adapters I was using before.

Hmm, not sure on adapters etc. would prefer direct fit bottom brackets. not that it would be a reason not to buy another wise sorted bike.

These are popular;
http://praxiscycles.com/conversion-bb/

Stunning bike

(*Internet weight. It’s actually bang on 24 lbs as it sits in the photos.)

😆

Looks great! What’s the saddle? Romin Pro?

Liking that but not keen on the BB30 standard

Trouble is Dave, as you’re finding, virtually everything is press-fit these days!

Can I chime in ?

We and Gf have a czar each. 2000+ miles, she’s on praxis bb and I’m on pf30 wheels manufacturing – neither have been a problem, and I too want sure about the standard.

I run xx1/x01 and she runs shimano slx, again it’s been a decent experience with only me having some SRAM issues. Expensive cassette bonded itself to free hub after 600 miles, the splines got sheared off when removing. Also x01 rear mech has developed play, both have gone back under warranty.

Frame has been amazing, had some minor issues getting grease in but I reckon that’s because it didn’t need as much as previous Turners.

Just awaiting my enve 50/50s which causes me a lot of grief in the finance / daft spend department but I thpught stuff it.

Mine is nowhere near 21lb despite a light build though but do insist on hope brakes/hubs etc due to durability.

And yes, I’m from the school of having a slightly higher cockpit as I put big long miles on mine and I see no need to be so low at the front at all. (Is this an xc trend that no one questions?)

That is lovely

And yes, I’m from the school of having a slightly higher cockpit as I put big long miles on mine and I see no need to be so low at the front at all. (Is this an xc trend that no one questions?)

More weight on front end = more grip. For many the higher front end on a 29er can be a problem, not fashion related. Chris’s is fairly extreme though.

Isn’t that an aggregate of the bikes whole geo though? I’ve not struggled for front end grip.

But I do favour a slightly more upright position (not trail sit up and beg).

Trouble is Dave, as you’re finding, virtually everything is press-fit these days!

god bless santa cruz 🙂

stem position looks spot on to me,

how are you finding the forks as i fancy some SIDs

It’s not the press fit part per se, just the 30mm axle bit. I’ve already got GXP XX1 cranks so want a ‘normal’ b/b. I’m a big guy with a fair bit of power and I’ve never noticed a b/b axle being flexy!

god bless santa cruz

Mmm, overpriced heavy frame, just to get a threaded BB shell. I’m unconvinced 😉

It’s not the press fit part per se, just the 30mm axle bit. I’ve already got GXP XX1 cranks so want a ‘normal’ b/b. I’m a big guy with a fair bit of power and I’ve never noticed a b/b axle being flexy!

I’ve only heard good things about the Praxis adapters.

Lovely bike KC.
I’ve had my Czar running for a couple of months now. Weight comes in at 22.8lbs, although I have chucked some money at it!
I went for a zero rise stem but still feel a bit low on steeper stuff. Thinking of moving the one spacer I have back under the stem.
I used R1 brakes in an effort to get the weight down and I’m not very happy with them. Have RX’s on my Niner and they’re fine but I wish I’d stuck with XTR on the Czar.
One thing I’m very happy with is the Saint front shifter after some advice on here. Brilliant, effortless gear changing.

Mmm, overpriced heavy frame, just to get a threaded BB shell. I’m unconvinced

haha there is that, my TallboyC feels bombproof compared to the Scalpel i had – and i suppose it is, more trail friendly than ultralight xc

I could keep the stages powermeter.

Power meters on mtbs make Tom sad. 😥

Why? Stages adds 20g and the OP is an Elite XC racer. On your average weekend warriors’s bike it’s a little pointless, why would it annoy you?

Totally agree – useful training metric that allows you to kern track of workload and form.

They are everywhere now.

It doesn’t annoy me, it’s just I’ve always seen mtbs as fun, rather than about stats. Road riding, yeah, all about stats, and that’s a big part of the *coughs* ‘fun’ but not for mtbs for me I’m afraid.

you can have fun and want to be faster though, to me the faster it is the more fun it is (i have a powermeter on the MTB)

you can have fun and want to be faster though, to me the faster it is the more fun it is

This.

Blazin-saddles – Member
It’s not the press fit part per se, just the 30mm axle bit. I’ve already got GXP XX1 cranks so want a ‘normal’ b/b. I’m a big guy with a fair bit of power and I’ve never noticed a b/b axle being flexy!

You can keep your GXP crankset – just buy a bottom bracket that has a PF30 ‘outside standard’ and a GXP ‘inside standard’

I think the term ‘adapter’ is making you concerned. The ‘adapter bottom brackets’ from Praxis, Raceface and others are just bottom brackets like any other product you’d buy. The difference is they convert between two standards. The raceface one I’m running is completely flawless. If PF30 meant I had to give up my 24mm spindle shimano cranks, I wouldn’t want it either.

tomhoward – Member
It doesn’t annoy me, it’s just I’ve always seen mtbs as fun, rather than about stats. Road riding, yeah, all about stats, and that’s a big part of the *coughs* ‘fun’ but not for mtbs for me I’m afraid.

Your fun ? my fun.

Isn’t that the best thing about mountain biking?

It’s a good point. I think Hope do a 30PF to GXP Bottom bracket. may have just imagined it though.