Pivot Firebird ... rebuild in progress

[Hugor]

After 18 months of service my Intense 6.6 is retiring.
This bike rides fantastic and has copped a real beating over the last 18 months.
The VPP rear is very plush and it climbs great for a bike of this style. It does however benefit from compression dampening on lengthy climbs.
It has competed in lots of Enduro XC races including a few 100km marathons which is unusual for a 6.5" travel all mountain machine and highlights its ride quality.
It's being retired due to an issue which has plagued it since shortly after I bought it ..... continually loosening pivot bolts - both upper and lower. I've had these things loosen, back out, jam, break and even fall out.
They have been loktited and replaced several times.
After lengthy discussions with user groups and the manufacturer, I have not been able to get this problem fixed.

I believe the frame is too unsafe to sell, so it will now hang on the wall of my shed. As much as I would like to my girlfriend won't let me hang it in the lounge.

The components will be shifted onto this new frame.

Welcome Firebird.



Specifications

Frame - Pivot Firebird Anodised Black Large
Rear shock - Fox DHX Air 5.0
Front shock/fork - 2009 Fox 36 TALAS (160-130-100mm)
Handlebars - Truvativ 1 inch Riserbars alloy
Stem - Truvativ Team Rouler 90mm
Headset - Chris King Red 1 1/8"
Grips - BBB Ego
Saddle - Selle SMP Pro
Seatpost - Crankbrothers hydrolic with remote
Front brake - Avid Elixir CR 185mm rotor
Rear brake - Avid Elixir CR 160mm rotor
Cranks - Truvativ Noir XC Carbon
Chain - Smimano Dura-ace
Pedals - Crankbrothers Mallet 2
Front derailleur - Shimano XT direct mount
Rear derailleur - Sram X0 9 speed
Front shifter - Sram X0
Rear shifter - Sram X0
Cassette - Shimano XT 11 - 32
Wheelset - DT Swiss E2200
Tyres - Maxxis Ignitor (front)/ Larsen TT (rear)
Tubes - Stans converted tubeless
Total weight - TBA Expecting around 15kgs

I will update the thread with final shots and a ride report.

 

[BT180]

Nice work. It will be interesting to see how this one goes during your 100K enduros.

 

[Hugor]

Nice work. It will be interesting to see how this one goes during your 100K enduros.

Cheers BT.
No the Intense was the one bike to do it all back then, and I don't plan to do any marathons on the Firebird. I now use my RIP9 for XC events.
The Firebird will be my weekend play bike for the rougher trails and social rides.

 

[BT180]

Well that makes sense if you have a RIP9 also! From the reviews it sounds like you could almost use one for an 100K race.

I've been really keen to throw a leg over a Firebird, but they're few and far between....

 

[crank1979]

I'm looking forward to read what you think of the FB compared to the 6.6.

Did you use the TALAS feature much on the 6.6?

 

[Hugor]

Did you use the TALAS feature much on the 6.6?

When the Intense was my only bike I actually did use the TALAS feature.
In XC events I used to drop the front end to the 100mm setting, and reduce the rear sag to around 20% always with propedal on.
This effectively steepened the whole bike.
On technical trails and long downhills I'd extend the front to 160mm and disengage propedal.
This isn't as great as it sounds though, as its like stepping off a XC race bike and straight onto a downhill machine.
You are instantly not in your comfort zone and it takes a little time to get a feel for your new bike and its limits.

I've had both Lyriks and TALAS on this bike and both forks have suffered from the travel adjust feature failing leaving the forks stuck in the extended position.

This usually creates a turn around time Perth-Sydney return of about 3 weeks.
Eventually I just left them extended and adjusted to riding the bike that way.
The first time you try climbing in this position you don't think its possible, but you quickly adjust and become stronger for it.
If these forks failed for some reason, I don't think I'd replace them with travel adjust again but rather just a 160mm regular air fork. Cheaper, lighter and more reliable.

 

[crank1979]

Eventually I just left them extended and adjusted to riding the bike that way.
The first time you try climbing in this position you don't think its possible, but you quickly adjust and become stronger for it.
If these forks failed for some reason, I don't think I'd replace them with travel adjust again but rather just a 160mm regular air fork. Cheaper, lighter and more reliable.

Yeah, the Fox 36 Float is a great fork for the FB.

 

[Hugor]

Built !!




Bike build finished today. Taken for a short thrashing to my favourite rocky trails.
The rear suspension needs some fine tuning. I blew through the travel too many times. I'm not familiar with the DHX so I'll have to sus that out a little more before really passing judgement.
I certainly did notice that the rear was very stiff and responsive accelerating out of switchbacks. It almost felt like a hardtail. There wasn't that sensation of sinking into the rear travel with pedal power and acceleration.
Still running tubes so with UST tyres the wheels are very heavy.
The short chainstays are very noticable - manualling over obstacles is a breeze. On the flip side technical climbs were a handful with some issues keeping the front down. I'm sure this is just adjusting to different geometry and won't be an issue long term.
Overall very happy with the change.
Need more time on the bike and some fine tuning before being completely comfortable.

 

[Welshy]

Beautiful frame, from what I've read, they really thought out all the kinks before production.

However, on the flip side, I must make a large and very obnoxious "your seat is kinda scary" face...

 

[Hugor]

However, on the flip side, I must make a large and very obnoxious "your seat is kinda scary" face...

Yes the Selle SMP.
They're not the best looking seat around but they are very comfortable. I've got one on all my bikes.
Stops the male components going numb on long rides.
Probably a bit of overkill on a bike of this style where your not on the seat most of the time anyway.

 

[BT180]

Looks great - needs a black fork though.

Was the front still hard to keep down even with the TALAS set to 130mm?

 

[crank1979]

Maybe the technical climbs will take a bit of getting used to but i love how it handles them with a 160mm travel fork. Better than a Mach 5 i reckon.

 

[Hugor]

Looks great - needs a black fork though.

Was the front still hard to keep down even with the TALAS set to 130mm?

Yes I agree about the fork - it suited the Intense colour scheme nicely but it will have to do for the moment. A 1.5 inch steerer would be better too over the 1 1/8.

Have only had a chance to take it out for a 1 hr ride so far. Haven't played with the travel adjust yet.
I'm planning a long epic this weekend.
I will be changing a few things over the next few weeks but i was just keen to get it going.

Re: Climbing
I'm thinking that I've under-pressurised the DHX so I'm bottoming out easily and having a few issues climbing. I might even drop a spacer or 2 below the stem.
The pic is taken with the travel in the middle (130mm) setting so I'm thinking that the high front end might have contributed also.

Maybe the technical climbs will take a bit of getting used to but i love how it handles them with a 160mm travel fork. Better than a Mach 5 i reckon.

Agree. I've been riding my RIP9 for a while now which is a brilliant climber - I'm sure its just an adjustment problem on my part rather than an issue with the geometry. Afterall I'm going from a XC 29er to a AM 26er!

Planned changes.
Gravitydropper seatpost with remote (the 31.6 mm crankbrothers diameter didn't fit).
Stans Tubeless conversion.
Wheel upgrade??

 

[crank1979]

Planned changes.
Gravitydropper seatpost with remote (the 31.6 mm crankbrothers diameter didn't fit).
Stans Tubeless conversion.
Wheel upgrade??

The seat post diamter is 30.9. I have the Joplin i've taken off mine and replaced with a Thomson lying artound but it's not the remote version. Tubeless is awesome. 2.4" and 2.2" Conti Rubber Queens/Trail Kings suit this bike brilliantly.

 

[BT180]

Wheel upgrade??

What don't you like? I have the same wheels and I love them except they are a little soft...Either that or I need to run higher tyre pressures!

 

[Hugor]

What don't you like? I have the same wheels and I love them except they are a little soft...Either that or I need to run higher tyre pressures!

They are a stiff, strong wheelset and I like the way they look. They are quite heavy though and my LBS always has trouble getting a tubeless seal with them. They usually get a slow leak over 3 - 4 days.
Comparatively my Stans rims in my RIP9 maintain pressure for weeks.
Are you running yours tubeless?

 

[BT180]

Nah, tubes with mine. I found I was getting a few dings and I put that down to the pressures being a bit low. I've raised then since and I think it's been better.

Actually the other issue with mine is that tyres are an absolute bastard to get on and off.

 

[crank1979]

They are a stiff, strong wheelset and I like the way they look. They are quite heavy though and my LBS always has trouble getting a tubeless seal with them. They usually get a slow leak over 3 - 4 days.
Comparatively my Stans rims in my RIP9 maintain pressure for weeks.
Are you running yours tubeless?

Mavic Crossmax SX are the way to go.

 

[Hugor]

Suspension tuning ...

First of all getting the suspension dialled on this thing is tricky.
This is my first tinker with the DHX 5.0 Air. I've only ever used the RP23.
The linkages create a high pressure system and in order to produce 30% sag I need about 280 psi in the main chamber of the DHX air. I weigh a fraction over 100 kgs with my gear on.
I found that even the small gush of air as you remove the shock pump amounted to about 30 psi of pressure. This meant that I had to pump the chamber to over 300 psi to get the pressure and sag where I wanted it.
Next was this knob called bottom out resistance. By default this was setup fully on. This creates a very hard feel to the rear bordering on hardtail like. For me this was much better turned off. The bike felt much more plush and ironically bottomless this way.
The rear also feels much more subtle with the propedal lever off.
This then begs the question ....
If I'm turning everything off on this fancy device, would I have not been better off with an RP23 and save myself a few hundred grams and dollars?

 

[Hugor]

Some Mods

I cased a double the other day smashing my large and middle chainrings.
The large ring was bent so badly it jammed itself against my chainstay and it couldn't be pedalled.
I had a long walk to consider my error and also grieve over my first frame scratch.
In the words of Cat Stevens .... "the first cut is the deepest" and after that its a free for all!
I'll now be changing to a 2 ring setup with a bashguard.
I figure that I don't really use the highest few gears anyway on this style of bike.
I don't think I'll miss the bottom few either as this can't be worse than the gearing on my 29er.
The bottom bracket is quite low so I'm looking forward to a few cm of extra clearance for those large log overs.

Ordered a Gravitydropper muilti-adjust turbo the other day as I've had nothing but problems with my Joplin.

Will update pics shortly.