Home Forums Bike Forum My Carrera Blast 24 rebuild

  • This topic has 314 replies, 26 voices, and was last updated 6 years ago by cjr61.
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  • My Carrera Blast 24 rebuild
  • stevextc
    Free Member

    I still don’t get why you’d want such a slack HA on a rigid ???

     At the time this seemed a better choice as the original fork looked too long at ~42cm (also being a rubbish coil shock has no sag), but now I’m wondering if the slackness would help with stability and confidence going down.

    Adding some extra height and slackening off the HA might be a byproduct of getting some working suspension on the front… and will obviously take its toll on pedalling and climbs… but then you are trading one off for another the bike ends up much better at one and less good at the other.

    Adding some extra height onto a rigid fork is not going to do much for confidence descending but affect the pedalling more.  You seem to be losing far more than you gain and also what you have invested time and money in.  (Or am I missing something????)

    rossburton
    Free Member

    Time, yeah I’m not getting that back.  Cost, well the new fork precisely matches the a-c of the existing fork on the second Blast I just bought which is being powder coated now, so if I decide it’s too long for the old Blast it can go on the new one instead, which presumably was designed around the longer fork (though I’ll be able to check that when it comes back).

    rossburton
    Free Member

    Has anyone had success getting Rocket Rons (cheapo performance model) going up tubeless?  I didn’t have any success with my old Islabike rims and my attempt at sealing with tape but it does turn out I’m not very good at that.  Currently wondering whether I should rebuild the stock Blast wheels with new hubs and throw a Stans rubber strip in…

    stevextc
    Free Member

       Has anyone had success getting Rocket Rons (cheapo performance model) going up tubeless?

    They work fine with the right rims.. you need more sealant  but our seated fine on Stans Crest.

    With the valve cores out Jnr can actually seat them himself with a fairly average track pump.

    After you get them to pop they will leak air through the sidewalls… I stuck in about twice the normal sealant first time (it might have been overkill) then you need to give them plenty of shaking about.

    I didn’t have any success with my old Islabike rims and my attempt at sealing with tape but it does turn out I’m not very good at that.

    I gave up trying to get his rims came with his Norco seated.  I since bought a Beco airshot-alike so maybe I’ll try again but nothing seemed to work… thin tape/2 layers off gorilla etc.??

    ballsofcottonwool
    Free Member

    Why would you bother rebuilding the stock Blast wheels replacing the hubs which are fine and keeping the rims which are dreadful ( too narrow, gap in the joint where they are pinned together)

    I couldn’t get the stock rims to go tubeless even with a ghetto rim strip ( 20″ inner tube split in half), loads of sealant and pop bottle inflator.

    rossburton
    Free Member

    ballsofcottonwool you do have a good point.  The hub is 7-speed so I want a modern hub, but the spokes are a bit of a mess and no doubt won’t be the right length, and the rim is a bit arse…  probably is better to just find new wheels.  Either way, glad to hear they do seat with the right rim.

    rossburton
    Free Member

    Those meanies at Islabikes won’t sell me a wheelset unless I have a Creig, boo.  Any suggestions for a good/value wheelset?  Those Condor rims at 20 quid each are a reasonable start but are there any prebuilt ones around?

    rossburton
    Free Member

    And we’re off!  One frame collected by a happy girl from the powder coaters (Blastclean, near Falmouth).

    This morning I collected it from Unit Cycles (Truro) who faced the headset, bottom bracket, and rear brake mounts.

    Just fitted the headset and bottom bracket whilst my daughter is out so she didn’t have to hear the swears.

    dirkpitt74
    Full Member

    I had the same issue with Islabikes last year trying to get wheels – unless i gave them a frame number they wouldn’t sell.

    rossburton
    Free Member

    Got some Condor rims and old Deore hubs being built up next week, I’ll report back on weight comparison to Islabike wheels once they’re built.

    Rich_s
    Full Member

    I had the same issue with Islabikes last year trying to get wheels – unless i gave them a frame number they wouldn’t sell.

    That’s interesting! I wonder if they monitor the forums and spotted the number of requests from people on here…

    Let’s try “Isla Isla Isla”.

    tomtomthepipersson
    Free Member

    Has any body bought one of these wheels mentioned a few pages back?

    https://www.taylor-wheels.com/bike-wheels/24-inch-bike-wheel/taylor-wheels-24inch-bike-rear-wheel-double-wall-rim-7-10-cassette-black-silver

    My littlest has a Carrera Abyss and I’m thinking of changing the rear wheel as the current one takes an old school screw on freewheel.

    bike

    It’s basically a hybrid but I’ve put some proper tyres on it, changed the crank to a Thorn 150mm (or thereabouts) with a 30t n/w ring and changed the stem and bars.

    rossburton
    Free Member

    Just weighed the wheels I’ve had built around the Condor 24″ MTB rims and some old Deore hubs I found on eBay.  Built-up wheels (hubs + spokes + rims + tape) are ~900g and ~1100g.  The wheel builder said the rims are most likely Alex rims from looking at them, which is fairly likely.

    For comparison the stock Carrera wheels are ~1kg and ~1.2kg, with a 7-speed hub, fairly unlikely to go up tubeless, and rust patches.  The Superstar Fuel/Crest combo are 721g/902g but are also £300 a set so that’s ~400g lighter for ~£200.

    rossburton
    Free Member

    Also to anyone in Cornwall I can’t recommend Shed Cycle Service in Illogan enough.  He quickly built the wheels up, but also knew the colour scheme I was going for on the new bike so without asking did blue nipples to mark the valve position and invisible-but-we-know-its-there hot pink rim tape.

    cjr61
    Full Member

    Right, i’ll jump in here too now!

    Blast collected (£31 off ebay).

    Stripped it yesterday and dropped the frame off at my local powder coating place.

    Complete bike weighed 13.6kg so got to improve that.  The forks alone were 2.15kg!  Poor little kids.

    stevextc
    Free Member

    For comparison the stock Carrera wheels are ~1kg and ~1.2kg, with a 7-speed hub, fairly unlikely to go up tubeless, and rust patches.  The Superstar Fuel/Crest combo are 721g/902g but are also £300 a set so that’s ~400g lighter for ~£200.

    Noone pays non-sale at Superstar (do they?)

    rossburton
    Free Member

    Sure, they do have good sales now and again: assuming sale and stock align 🙂

    stevextc
    Free Member

    Yeah its also worth noting the QR version of the current fuel rear hub is a bit pants… the free hub is only held on by the springs on the QR… so if you transport with wheels off you need to be careful or have to reseat the free hub at the other end… (only on the QR version … I have a 12mm actually is really nice – given I got the whole wheel set for £100…(when he stars aligned with a sale)

    cookeaa
    Full Member

    Just weighed the wheels I’ve had built around the Condor 24″ MTB rims and some old Deore hubs I found on eBay.  Built-up wheels (hubs + spokes + rims + tape) are ~900g and ~1100g.  The wheel builder said the rims are most likely Alex rims from looking at them, which is fairly likely.

    For comparison the stock Carrera wheels are ~1kg and ~1.2kg, with a 7-speed hub, fairly unlikely to go up tubeless, and rust patches.  The Superstar Fuel/Crest combo are 721g/902g but are also £300 a set so that’s ~400g lighter for ~£200.

    The set I built used a Mk1 rear Bulb hub (spares box) a used OEM hub off ebay (~£5) and came out a similar weight to your deore set a little under 2kg for the pair, that was using PG spokes.

    It was a similar £££s per gram type calculation, I almost certainly could have saved an easy 200g by buying nicer hubs and I could have had DB spokes for double the price and saved a bit of weight, but I really don’t think she would have appreciated the difference and for the price the rims are a competitive weight, not the lightest granted but to save another 100g per rim you are looking at quite a bit more spend…

    I suppose if you’ve got kids already racing at the sharp end a 1600g wheelset is a worthwhile investment for them, but for more “average” kids just riding about with their tubby Dads 1.9-2kg is acceptable IMO…

    cjr61
    Full Member

    Back from the powdercoaters and BB installed with lots of swearing!

    Poopscoop
    Full Member

    Looking nice!

    Are you putting on any graphics or keeping it clean?

    cjr61
    Full Member

    Custom graphics on the way!

    cjr61
    Full Member

    Very fun build so far!

    natrix
    Free Member

    Has any body bought one of these wheels mentioned a few pages back

    Yes, had one on my lad’s Hoy Bonaloy after the original Alexa rim wore through. It seems to be standing up to the abuse well enough.

    rossburton
    Free Member

    Between a few trips away over the summer and my daughter having her arm in a cast the latest build has been quite slow, but in the last week we’ve gone from a bare frame to something that actually looks like a bike (albeit without going bits or stopping bits).

    Just need some brake calliper bolts, adaptors, and a chain.

    cjr61
    Full Member

    That looks class!

    tomtremendous
    Free Member

    Picked up one for boy. Intend to do a rolling restoration. First off, replace the shredded BB…

    Had to go a all Archimedes on it.

    rossburton
    Free Member

    This seems to be a common trend with upcycled bikes like the Blast! My LBS used an angle-grinder to get the crank off…

    cjr61
    Full Member

    Nice work Tom, awesome physics bodging!  Those blast BB’s are a sod!

    cjr61
    Full Member

    Teaser:

    My birthday build is all finished for my daughter.  The Blast started life at 13.6kg and has finished at a tidy 11.2. Fun build.

    Pics to follow once the Birthday girl approves this weekend!

    cjr61
    Full Member

    Not sure who was grinning more…me or my lass!

    Birthday bike went down great!

    BearBack
    Free Member

    Super job!

    rossburton
    Free Member

    Well it’s practically done at last.

    Carrera Blast frame, Exotic fork, Condor 24″ rims on Deore hubs, M615 brakes, 32×11-16 drivechain with Zee mech and SLX shifter, Suntour cranks, Wellgo pedals, Madison saddle, cut-down ODI grips.  Somewhat cheeky custom artwork.

    Just need to swap the random mix of headset spacers and bleed the brakes.

    mechanicaldope
    Full Member

    Very nice!.  If its now been outgrown let me know and I will take it off your hands!

    cjr61
    Full Member

    Nice Ross

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