Intro + Vintage 1997 Specialized Hardrock GX
- Thread starter Justin Fox
- Start date
ando_freeagent
Likes Bikes and Dirt
nice bike man its come a way.
should have gotten someone like Grip to weld disc brake mounts on the frame so you could run a rear disc brake.
oh well still a nice bike have fun
should have gotten someone like Grip to weld disc brake mounts on the frame so you could run a rear disc brake.
oh well still a nice bike have fun
Justin Fox
Likes Bikes and Dirt
Cheers guys,
OK just a small update.
I've been itching to get started on a new bike even though this one's not even finished yet. I'm thinking something "boutique" starting with a frame. Ellsworth is on the brain, or maybe even design and make my own (well, get the guys at Westside, who do exhausts and roll cages for race cars, to make it for me) we'll see.
Last night I picked up a $100 eBay bargain on a set of brand new, never used Sun ditch witch rims with tubes, Deore hubs and Tioga tyres. I only wanted the rear as my stock rear rim is super old skool, very thin, corroded and the spokes are very rusty.
The single speed chain is in, so too the tensioner. I'll get it all on the bike tonight and post more pics tomorrow.
OK just a small update.
I've been itching to get started on a new bike even though this one's not even finished yet. I'm thinking something "boutique" starting with a frame. Ellsworth is on the brain, or maybe even design and make my own (well, get the guys at Westside, who do exhausts and roll cages for race cars, to make it for me) we'll see.
Last night I picked up a $100 eBay bargain on a set of brand new, never used Sun ditch witch rims with tubes, Deore hubs and Tioga tyres. I only wanted the rear as my stock rear rim is super old skool, very thin, corroded and the spokes are very rusty.
The single speed chain is in, so too the tensioner. I'll get it all on the bike tonight and post more pics tomorrow.
Justin Fox
Likes Bikes and Dirt
New school Giro and old skool Pro-tec, depending on the mood.
New Sette quick release skewers + chain tensioner.
OK, it's been a few hours since the last post and I've finally finished the Specialized build.
I had some problems with the single speed conversion, when out of the seat and going up hills the chain was skipping on the front cog, making the chain shorter fixed the trick!
The bike feels slow on the road, mainly due to the fat tyres I think (especially the 2.5 wide front tyre). Off the seat pumping feels strange as the front suspension seems to zap a lot of energy, or it could be that I'm mighty unfit! Also, the clip in shoes and pedals once clicked in feel great but getting into them isn't easy! Maybe I need to adjust them a little somehow.
The bike feels much more at home in my messy garden where I have a few steps and a bit of dirt to play with. Steps are strange with the new suspension, it feels soft but less predictable that with rigid forks, might just take some time to get used to.
All in all I'm just really looking forward to hitting some trails with it, hopefully this weekend!
starship303
Likes Dirt
Tidy work Justin. She looks pretty slack too whick could be fun. Honestly its not going to feel super sharp on the street with its ol' skool geo but it will definitely feel pretty good once you get going on the trail.
Gotta say tho the thing i like most is your skateboard deck wall behind it. Nice.
Gotta say tho the thing i like most is your skateboard deck wall behind it. Nice.
Justin Fox
Likes Bikes and Dirt
Cheers guys. Here's an update:
I took it for a little blast around Centennial Park's off road jogging trail. I know, we're not meant to be on there, but it's so much fun (I used to do it as a kid, we loved being chased by the ranger back then lol). I was secretly hoping I'd be chased by the rangers again, but alas we went largely un-noticed.
Single speed:
I had a hard time up the hilly bits with the single speed but only had to walk it once. All in all I LOVE the single speed! I also took rear brakes off, and there's plenty enough stopping power with just the front disc for my kind of riding. Initially it felt very strange to have nothing at all on the left side of the handle bar but I got used to it quickly. The chain stayed put through everything, no skipping, jumping or falling off... it's all good!
Shocks:
The shocks are awesome. So it's my first ever time riding on suspension and I very quickly realised that you don't have to lift up the front at all over rough terrain. It felt like I was just plowing through anything. I used to hit tree roots to initiate jumps on my rigid when I was a kid, but this doesn't work anymore with the shocks. Of-course I tried to do a few wheelies but the heavy front and single speed just takes the fun out of it. I'm sure I can get there though with more practise.
Cleats:
The 661 shoes are awesome but my pedals suck (I've got a thread on it elsewhere). I've ordered Crank Brothers Mallet C's though so looking forward to trying them out. At slow speeds I was hating the single speed and being locked in but on faster stuff I loved being locked in and it made doing a few jumps here and there a lot of fun.
Weight:
The bike was 12kg's dead stock, not bad for a 1997 bike with 21 gears. It's now at 13kg with only one gear so I'm a little bummed. All of the weight is in the new wheels which are wider than the old ones, the tyres are ridiculously heavy and so too the handle bars, stem, and the mother load is in the 2.6kg front forks!
On another note: My mates P3 weights 17kgs and damn you can tell when you pick it up. It's heavy at the front like mine but damn heavy in the rear too.
I've been studying the weight weenie sites out there and a lot of people are running very thin and lightweight tyres (say Maxxis Maxxlites). I think the 2.5 High Roller at 1.2kg's is overkill for me but I think thin tyres wouldn't do too well in soft sand where I still struggled, mainly because I had no speed.
So here's the diet plan:
- Ditch QR seat/wheel skewers in favour of lightweight non quick release.
- Lighter/longer stem/bars.
- Ditch Maxxis 2.5 front tyre and replace with Larsen TT (same as rear).
- Ditch heavy tubes for Maxxis flyweight tubes.
- Rear brake lever, cabling, cantilevers, pads and bolts are now off the bike.
- Ditch lock on grips for Ritchey foam grips
- Look into carbon front fork or lighter shock (SID?).
All that stuff, bar the front fork, is cheap and effective. I'm not sure I want to go back to rigids but a 600g carbon front fork will already see me at 11kg's. Replace the fat tyres as well and that's 10kgs!!! So I'm thinking... it's keeping me up at night too lol.
Direction
I'm having too much fun with this bike. So much so that I can't think of a new bike just yet. I feel it's far from finished, so only until it's finished will I move on to a "proper" XC build.
I intend to keep modifying it and more importantly keep getting back into riding.
The seat height is set just a bit lower than what it should be for maxximum power and it suits me fine. I realise that the bike ended up looking like a dirt jump bike but I'm no dirt jumper so back to XC it goes. A longer stem is on order and I might even go back to flat bars. More pics soon.
Justin Fox
Likes Bikes and Dirt
Small update:
After the headache of buying some cheap pedals (see thread here:http://forums.farkin.net/showthread.php?t=118718) I ended up forking out for Mallet C's:
Will go for a ride later today to test them out.
Also got myself a neat army grade hydration unit and some light tubes too.
After the headache of buying some cheap pedals (see thread here:http://forums.farkin.net/showthread.php?t=118718) I ended up forking out for Mallet C's:
Will go for a ride later today to test them out.
Also got myself a neat army grade hydration unit and some light tubes too.
mad bike. if i had the money id build a single speed like that, i was going to, i even bought a paul word rear hub but the i decided against it. but anyway, if you want carbon forks have a look at a set of fetish cycles ones, they come in either disc only or disc+v, the disc only ones weight bugger all and they make you go fast i've got a set of the older models on my current bike and roadies can't keep up. you can get them quite reasonably too, $150+ about $40 for shipping (thats us but the exchange rate is so good now it doesn't matter). i know it sounds like a blatant plug but they are good.
i've got a set of the older models on my current bike and roadies can't keep up. you can get them quite reasonably too, $150+ about $40 for shipping (thats us but the exchange rate is so good now it doesn't matter). i know it sounds like a blatant plug but they are good.
fletcha2233
Likes Dirt
i could help noticing you have a really sweet looking house!
nice bike to!
nice bike to!
Justin Fox
Likes Bikes and Dirt
Hey cheers guys,
ducan! You guys were a great help that day, thanks. I actually bought the vbrake off you guys on eBay, but haven't used it yet. I loved the Cannondale in your shop, the raw finish one. I'm a sucker for Cannondales.
OK guys, just some calculations I've done:
Sun Ditch Witch wheelset: 2.6kg
Marzochi DJ II's: 2.34kg
Larsen TT 2.35's 680g/each
Bilt Stem: 360g
Hayes rotor/caliper/lever: 460g
WTB riser bar: 360g
OK so these parts might be going as they're more than what I need, and heavy to boot.
Lightweight stuff I've ordered:
Ritchey 2008 WCS Grips $16
Syntace Stem $42.80
Maxxis Maxlite 310's $99
SASO carbon fork $173
That stuff alone will see the bike into 10kg's.
Nopw the wheels, that's the last step. Thanks to Farkin/search I've found a great deal on Chain Reaction for a set of Mavic 717 + blingfarkintastic red Hope II hubs. That will knock the bike into 9kg's and I'll be done. Whether or not I can stand it on the trails is another thing, we'll have to see. Ultimately buying good parts is best, they can all go on a Ti frame later one, perhaps, at least a frame with horizontal dropouts.
ducan! You guys were a great help that day, thanks. I actually bought the vbrake off you guys on eBay, but haven't used it yet. I loved the Cannondale in your shop, the raw finish one. I'm a sucker for Cannondales.
OK guys, just some calculations I've done:
Sun Ditch Witch wheelset: 2.6kg
Marzochi DJ II's: 2.34kg
Larsen TT 2.35's 680g/each
Bilt Stem: 360g
Hayes rotor/caliper/lever: 460g
WTB riser bar: 360g
OK so these parts might be going as they're more than what I need, and heavy to boot.
Lightweight stuff I've ordered:
Ritchey 2008 WCS Grips $16
Syntace Stem $42.80
Maxxis Maxlite 310's $99
SASO carbon fork $173
That stuff alone will see the bike into 10kg's.
Nopw the wheels, that's the last step. Thanks to Farkin/search I've found a great deal on Chain Reaction for a set of Mavic 717 + blingfarkintastic red Hope II hubs. That will knock the bike into 9kg's and I'll be done. Whether or not I can stand it on the trails is another thing, we'll have to see. Ultimately buying good parts is best, they can all go on a Ti frame later one, perhaps, at least a frame with horizontal dropouts.
Cameo
Likes Bikes and Dirt
hmmm, front brake only? bit risky in my eyes, if i were you i'd switch it around so you've lost the front, and kept the back. But then again, i'm not you so do whatever the hell you want!
bike looks real sweet, it's come a long way, and by the rate of you switching/buying new parts, it looks like it's got even further to go!
bike looks real sweet, it's come a long way, and by the rate of you switching/buying new parts, it looks like it's got even further to go!
Justin Fox
Likes Bikes and Dirt
Cameo - full brake kit coming soon!
Here's an update:
I bought a new Giant Reign 1 (http://forums.farkin.net/showthread.php?t=120662) and so this bike will be a weight weenie block buster.
XTR levers and Avid BB7 to come.
Saso, made in Taiwan and rebranded as a White Brothers product to the USA. I paid $173 for it off eBay.
Sexy as Syntace 99 stem (98g) came in the mail today and the guys at the local bike store cut my carbon fork steerer down a little. The Shimano M520 SPD clipless pedals came off my new Giant Reign. The Maxxis Maxlite 310 (310g/each in comparisson to the 760g/each Larse TT's) came in too so I fitted them along with the super light tubes (one of them popped on fitting too, hmmm. Scary!).
Currently sitting at 8.8kg with the heavy wheelset.
Here's an update:
I bought a new Giant Reign 1 (http://forums.farkin.net/showthread.php?t=120662) and so this bike will be a weight weenie block buster.
XTR levers and Avid BB7 to come.
Saso, made in Taiwan and rebranded as a White Brothers product to the USA. I paid $173 for it off eBay.
Sexy as Syntace 99 stem (98g) came in the mail today and the guys at the local bike store cut my carbon fork steerer down a little. The Shimano M520 SPD clipless pedals came off my new Giant Reign. The Maxxis Maxlite 310 (310g/each in comparisson to the 760g/each Larse TT's) came in too so I fitted them along with the super light tubes (one of them popped on fitting too, hmmm. Scary!).
Currently sitting at 8.8kg with the heavy wheelset.
AngoXC
Wheel size expert
You have got the bug havent you!
Just a few ideas from me...
I dont see V-brake bosses on the new carbon forks but I would probably be ditching the Hayes hydro and considering picking up a Avid BB5/BB7 caliper...its a mechanical disc brake and will make use of both those beautiful levers...haha!
Rolling weight is always a great place to loose the pounds as you know but you could kill two birds with one stone. Get a front wheel built up with a Hope hub but consider an Eno hub for the rear. I honestly dont know much about them (other then their price tags) Follows the same idea as the eccentrif bottom bracket but integrated into the hub. Ditches the tentioner and gives you an SS specific hub to work with.
Other then that, I would probably call this a fairly flash commuter...I daresay you would want to invest in a pretty good lock if you were to leave it in any public place for an extended period of time!
Just my $0.02...
Just a few ideas from me...
I dont see V-brake bosses on the new carbon forks but I would probably be ditching the Hayes hydro and considering picking up a Avid BB5/BB7 caliper...its a mechanical disc brake and will make use of both those beautiful levers...haha!
Rolling weight is always a great place to loose the pounds as you know but you could kill two birds with one stone. Get a front wheel built up with a Hope hub but consider an Eno hub for the rear. I honestly dont know much about them (other then their price tags) Follows the same idea as the eccentrif bottom bracket but integrated into the hub. Ditches the tentioner and gives you an SS specific hub to work with.
Other then that, I would probably call this a fairly flash commuter...I daresay you would want to invest in a pretty good lock if you were to leave it in any public place for an extended period of time!
Just my $0.02...
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