k3n!f
leaking out the other end
This is going to be a build thread, if that isn’t you cup of tea, I’ll update the title when the bike is complete.
Other than a couple of warranty frames and wear items, I’m still riding most of my original 2016 bike build. That bike was paid for by the insurance company after the bike I built in 2014 was stolen. There is a small crack developing at one of the mounting points on my Yeti SB100, so it looks like this frame is slowly on the way out. I have a new baby at home so I’m getting limited riding time and too much internet shopping time which is a perfect storm for a midlife cricycle. It has been a long time since I’ve had the pleasure of building a bike, so I’ve had some time to save up to pay the required COVID tax.
The riding that I do is mostly XC style Lystie/You Yangs laps, with some 50km, 100km and stage race events thrown in to keep me honest. When I get back to visit family in Hobart I take my bike home, so I occasionally have the pleasure of being terribly under biked at Maydena, but this is sadly a rare occurrence.
As I enjoy the process of building my bikes I buy frame only, and spec them exactly how I want them. This time I’m looking for a bike that will be primarily used for XC/marathon riding, but as I only have one bike, it needs to be able to occasionally ride down Thredbo or Maydena. As much as I dislike the term, the new “Downcountry” bikes suit my purpose exactly.
Frames on the list were:
Without further waffle, here is the donor frame!
Nice alloy linkage, the S-Works one is carbon
Tidy cable routing with a piano accordian between the front and rear triangles
Nice details on the bolts
From what I can see, the internal carbon finish is pretty tidy
Subtle oak green
Cool carbon marble look in the sun
The paint has some sparkle and changes in the light
More raw carbon marble
Very tidy starting weight of 1904g, that is already 700g less than my SB100
Other than a couple of warranty frames and wear items, I’m still riding most of my original 2016 bike build. That bike was paid for by the insurance company after the bike I built in 2014 was stolen. There is a small crack developing at one of the mounting points on my Yeti SB100, so it looks like this frame is slowly on the way out. I have a new baby at home so I’m getting limited riding time and too much internet shopping time which is a perfect storm for a midlife cricycle. It has been a long time since I’ve had the pleasure of building a bike, so I’ve had some time to save up to pay the required COVID tax.
The riding that I do is mostly XC style Lystie/You Yangs laps, with some 50km, 100km and stage race events thrown in to keep me honest. When I get back to visit family in Hobart I take my bike home, so I occasionally have the pleasure of being terribly under biked at Maydena, but this is sadly a rare occurrence.
As I enjoy the process of building my bikes I buy frame only, and spec them exactly how I want them. This time I’m looking for a bike that will be primarily used for XC/marathon riding, but as I only have one bike, it needs to be able to occasionally ride down Thredbo or Maydena. As much as I dislike the term, the new “Downcountry” bikes suit my purpose exactly.
Frames on the list were:
- Yeti SB 115 – I have loved every Yeti I’ve owned and the service from Rowney Sports has been exceptional, but I’ve had 7 warranty claims on cracked Yeti’s and when I mentioned this as an option my wife quoted me Einstein’s definition of insanity: “doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results”
- Santa Cruz Blur TR – I was super excited when this came out, but sadly they will not be available until mid 2022 and if I’m being really picky I didn’t like the cable routing around the bottom bracket
- Scott Spark – Vapourware, has anyone actually seen one?
- Transition Spur – I looked very hard at this, but I’ve decided it would be a perfect bike for 10% of the riding that I do and would be too much bike for the majority of what I ride
- Canyon Lux Trail – Great pricing for a complete bike but not available, they also have stupidly large sizing, I’m 178cm and to get the reach that I would want I would have to buy a small (!?!?)
- Unno Horn – These look spectacular in real life, but sadly the first batch all cracked around the bottom bracket/lower linkage so they have been discontinued for a redesign
- S-Works Epic Evo – Basically exactly what I’m looking for, but Specialized can f#%k off with their pricing ($7600 frame only)
- I hate Specialized, particularly the pricing of their higher end models
- As a man of science, when presented with information contrary to my opinions I aim to try to objectively evaluate it
- I couldn’t ignore the reviews for the Epic Evo, it looks like exactly what I am looking for
Without further waffle, here is the donor frame!
Nice alloy linkage, the S-Works one is carbon
Tidy cable routing with a piano accordian between the front and rear triangles
Nice details on the bolts
From what I can see, the internal carbon finish is pretty tidy
Subtle oak green
Cool carbon marble look in the sun
The paint has some sparkle and changes in the light
More raw carbon marble
Very tidy starting weight of 1904g, that is already 700g less than my SB100
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