Just finished building up this for my mate… He's been buying up parts for it steadily over the last month or so, borrowed a couple of bits off his other bike at the moment too just to get it going (hence the loooooong rear brake hose yet to be sorted), but it's now built and it all works!

It's a Kinesis Decade Virsa with an Alfine Internal Gear Hub. Forks are Rockshox Recons (which he's hoping to upgrade to adjustable travel Pikes soon), brakes old XT 4 pots (and yes, with the sliding dropouts, you can't remove the wheel without removing the caliper, but a fix is on the way!), and most of the rest of it is a mishmash sourced off ebay recently…

Obviously there's a lot of snow outside right now, so it has had nothing more than a quick ride up and down the street, but it all works currently. Hopefully he'll get to ride it soon and he will be happy enough with the way it rides!

Oh, and before anybody else says it, yes my oven could do with a wipe down to get rid of the greasy hand prints… 😉

nice! try harder with the oven front.

"Rockshox Recons (which he's hoping to upgrade to adjustable travel Pikes soon"
Why? Its a 100-130mm XC frame which is said to handle best at 100mm?
Recons aren't a bad fork, not as light as revelations but still feel fine and share 32mm stantions.

If its a second bike, I'm presuming the other is a little more hardcore? Are pikes really neccessary?

The stems not a looker though

Cos the Recons have been temporarily borrowed from his other bike, and he's after something that's got better damping, stiffer and more adjustable. The Recons are indeed not a bad fork, his are the 327 model though not the 351's with the better damping. Though they're still not bad, he wants something with a through axle and more adjustments, especially on the travel front as the Virsa is perhaps a little slack at 130mm of travel.

His other bike is a 4" travel XC full sus bike, out of the two this one is the more hardcore.

Stem is his personal choice, picked it up years ago on ebay for cheap (it's an original Kore circa 1996 when they were about £120! Not a cheap modern copy) and he's had it ever since.

Nice with the Alfine hub. Was thinking of building a similar geared bike. A cyclocross frame, but with a set of 29er forks, flat bars and shimano disc brakes. Just coz it would be random.

Nice with the Alfine hub. Was thinking of building a similar geared bike. A cyclocross frame, but with a set of 29er forks, flat bars and shimano disc brakes. Just coz it would be random.

LOL, you've seen my Gary Fisher Rig then with the Alfine, flat bars and Shimano discs? 😉

His other bike is a 4" travel XC full sus bike, out of the two this one is the more hardcore.

He's picked the wrong frame then. I love those Decades, beautiful frames, but a hardcore bike it is not. It's a lightweight trail/XC frame. 140mm Pikes will ruin it, it'll handle like a barge. The Recons look too long for it already…..

Sorry 😕

I've been toying with the idea of building something similar.

Have you put it on the scale yet – I'd like to know how heavy that config is.

That wants a Reba, not a Pike.

Nice looking frame though, and the Alfine makes it look really clean.

Yeah, wot Chakaping said. Reba. Perfik.

or Revs? I had been thinking about he same build as currently have a kinesis xc120 with revs and liked the idea of swappable drop outs. Have to say using a tension seeker on mine hasnt been the travesty I thought it would be for ss so have probably saved myself having two very similar bikes 😀

130mm revs or rebas needed, i'd give the headtube 3 months of hard use with a pike

Looks nice, but I agree with the suggestion of Reba's or U-turn Rev's over the Pikes.

It does look pretty 'laid back' with that recon on.

120mm maxle reba is what he needs

Super looking UK trail bike. I wouldn't bother with Pikes either.

why the chainstay protector??

He's picked the wrong frame then. I love those Decades, beautiful frames, but a hardcore bike it is not. It's a lightweight trail/XC frame. 140mm Pikes will ruin it, it'll handle like a barge. The Recons look too long for it already…..

Sorry

That wants a Reba, not a Pike.

130mm revs or rebas needed, i'd give the headtube 3 months of hard use with a pike

Looks nice, but I agree with the suggestion of Reba's or U-turn Rev's over the Pikes.

It does look pretty 'laid back' with that recon on.

120mm maxle reba is what he needs

Nobody noticed my use of the word "adjustable" in my original post then? Obviously not… Anyway, yes the Recon at 130mm is possibly a bit long as it is, he's thinking something with around 115-120mm would be ideal… A Coil sprung (or indeed air sprung) Pike will be much easier/cheaper to find 2nd hand and is adjustable down to as little as 95mm of travel, and anywhere inbetween. Should a 20mm axled Reba with 120mm of travel become available at a good price I'm sure he'd be tempted though. Revelations with a 20mm bolt through (again adjustable travel) would also be nice if cheap enough… "Cheap" is the operative word though, whole bike has been built on a very tight budget (everything was 2nd hand barring the headset, the front wheel and the rear rim/spokes).

Regarding the head tube comment, doubtful anything would/will happen on that front. This is a 5lb steel frame, made by DMR, using a fork within its rated travel limits, that has quite a bit of gusseting on the headtube/downtube join. It's pretty solid alright! Doubt that at 12 stone and wheels mainly on the ground he's gonna do it much harm.

Oh and @ PP… You run a 140mm travel fork on a regular Inbred… Surely that makes it pretty slack considering its meant for a 100mm fork? Also, even with a 130mm fork on this Decade currently, it's still about 2 degrees or so steeper than a 456 Summer Season with similar travel, plenty of people rave about their Summer Seasons… Personally it's a bit slack for me yeah, but he seems to prefer his bikes that way…

why the chainstay protector??

Previous owner was silly enough to be running gears yet didn't put one on. Chainstay is a mess of chipped paint at the moment, so until that gets sorted he wanted to hide it.

Still don't get the point of a Pike – adjustable or not. Not trying to have a go, but genuinely don't see the point.

You mention that the frame should cope as it will be ridden mostly with wheels on the ground, so wouldn't a U-turn revelation (85-130) be better suited? Especially as you mention in one of your posts that it's perhaps a little slack at 130mm. A Revelation would be ideal – 110mm normal riding, 85mm climbing, 130mm descending…..

Out of curiousity, why does it have to be a through axle? Surely QR is stiff enough for wheels on the ground type stuff? It might give more options when looking for a fork? Or does your mate have a front wheel with a through axle only hub?

Through axle forks are just much stiffer, more confidence inspiring etc. Maybe not so you'd notice perhaps, but they are stiffer.

Revelation with U Turn and 20mm axle would be spot on, sadly £500 price is not! He's looking to spend a max of about £200 on picking something up 2nd hand… A Pike with adjustable travel will be perhaps 1lb heavier than a Revelation, but will work just as well. 4X Riders often run a Pike out of choice, setup with about 100mm of travel, as they are noticeably stiffer than a similar QR fork. The weight gain is obviously worth it for them so…

Besides, it's got an Alfine on the back, which ain't light! Not weighed the bike, but a quick tot up and guess compared to a couple of my bikes that I know the weight of, and I reckon it's under 28lb as is. A Pike is gonna see it over 28lb most likely, so still plenty light enough really.

What Candodavid said

What Candodavid said

I already answered that one! 😕

random question but were you in downlands the other day with the frame?

Hi Bigman

Where's Downlands?

It's my mates bike, we built it up last night, where he was the other night with the frame I'm not aware!

Its a shop in Canterbury! Just wondered as someone wandered in with one 2 days back!

Just a a suggestion,

How about the 20mm adjustable fork goes on the FS and get the 130mm Recon spacered down to 100, 115 or 120mm? Or run loads of sag on the Kinesis?
You friend might notice more difference with a pike on the full suss than on the hardtail?

I suppose singletrack did run a 140mm 20mm fork (was it a Thor?) on a Virsa for a while recently?

Pikes are total overkill on one of those, it's like putting pikes on a Handjob, pointless big heavy forks on a bike thats best at around 110-115mm of travel.

Definitely Rebas or Revs are the way forwads.

i like the colour

you can't remove the wheel without removing the caliper

With that and the Alfine making it a pain already, I'd go tubeless. Nice bike though, looked at that frame myself.

criticism aside, it's a bike and i hope he enjoys it.

That's what matter most innit?

Pfft! bloody forum nonces.

Its a shop in Canterbury! Just wondered as someone wandered in with one 2 days back!

Definitely not then… We live about 3 hours drive (at least) from Kent.

Definitely Rebas or Revs are the way forwads.

If you're offering to buy, I'm sure he'd not decline… 😉 As it is, anything with a 20mm axle that's lighter than 4.5lb is going to be VERY expensive. An air sprung Pike is just under 5lb, that Recon on there at the mo is 4.5lb. QR on a suspension fork of anything more than 80mm travel running disc brakes larger than 6" is IMO NOT a good idea… Besides a 20mm axle really stiffens things up.

Strangely enough, with the weight of the Alfine hub on the back, running a heavier fork makes more sense than you might think. It would even up the front/rear weight distribution making the bike feel more neutral probably.

I suppose singletrack did run a 140mm 20mm fork (was it a Thor?) on a Virsa for a while recently?

They did, and I thought it looked a bit too slack at 140mm travel too… He wants something around 120mm travel, with a bolt through… Pikes are infinitely adjustable in their travel, and a whole heap cheaper than Revelations or Rebas, so that's probably what he'll end up with. IMO it's more sensible to buy a fork with external travel adjust when you're not sure what fork length will feel right, so you can mess about with it out on the trails. If it's a lb heavier than ideal, so what!

With that and the Alfine making it a pain already, I'd go tubeless. Nice bike though, looked at that frame myself.

Point to you Rich… That's the "Fix" in the pipeline…

His front wheel running the same rim and tyre has held via the ghetto method now for a couple of weeks, probably gonna convert the rear this weekend. He can get the bike in his car without removing the rear wheel so it's not an issue, only time he should ever have to undo the axle nuts will be when the chain has stretched hopefully

That's not fair, I'm saving up to buy one as we speak!

Oh and @ PP… You run a 140mm travel fork on a regular Inbred… Surely that makes it pretty slack considering its meant for a 100mm fork

Actually he runs it on a 853 inbred which were designed for longer forks than the standard inbred. I've run 130mm forks on a standard inbred and a 853 one and I can safely say the 853 was very well designed for them, handled very well. Pity the chainstay were cack though. :-/