Briefly, the frame is a medium Orange Blood, with Rockshox 2Step Lyriks, Race Face cranks, bars, stem and new SRAM XO shifters and Elixir brakes (in pink and purple respectively)
NukeProof wheels, an E-Thirteen chain device and just ignore the saddle and seatpost – they’re off his touring bike…
Chipps adds…
Wow, you stick up a quick picture before going off for a long weekend and look what happens 🙂
To answer some of the questions and comments:
No, that saddle isn’t staying – I clearly said it was just whipped off my tourer because I currently don’t have a 27.2 post spare. Something squishier will go on it. The tyres, too, are easily changed. This isn’t being presented as ‘This is how all bikes should be set up’ – it’s being shown as a ‘Look, I just finished this before the weekend, here’s a quick picture…’
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Yes, I AM mainly an All day/XC rider – and as such quite representative of the average Singletrack reader. I figured that as I have the chance to build up such a (silly) bike, perhaps my thoughts and experiences on such a bike might be of interest to those fellow mid-life-crisis riders who wonder if getting a ‘rad’ bike will make them radder (it probably won’t, but it should make being rubbish a whole lot of fun).
I won’t be the only rider on it. It’ll get its share of other testers on it. In fact, if anyone’s passing, they’re welcome to give it a go one evening and show everyone how it’s ‘meant’ to be ridden. It’ll be ridden in Calderdale, but also around the place at trail centres, all day rides and whatever sounds fun. It weighs in at 33lbs currently in the build in the picture. Just swapping the saddle out saved half a pound off that…
There’s nothing wrong with pink. I merely have a dry and rather contrary sense of humour and I figured if I’m going to be riding like I’m on a Barbie bike*, then I might as well showcase it. (* I would say ‘Riding like a girl’ but I know far too many VERY fast girls…)
The anodized components were a mix of what had just been sent in (SRAM XO in pink) and a few bits designed to clash with everything else (the Race Face cranks, Elixirs, pink grips and blue zip ties…) – Lighten up everyone, it’s not meant to be a concours fashion winner. 😉
I’m running Rockshox Lyriks because we’ve not seen a pair of the 2-Steps since our previous pair were recalled a couple of years ago.
How’s that? Keep the comments coming… The near-final build will appear in issue 50 of Singletrack.
I’m afraid your untrained eye is positively a “special needs” eye 😉
Climbs are usually done on farm track or roads (for expediency reasons). Pedal striking is not an issue.
Why do you think a low BB will try to spit you off? A low BB makes a bike HUGELY more stable and un-endo-y on steep terrain… and better handling through corners too. The descents this bike is designed for don’t require much (if any) pedalling.
ben 1
TLR 0
It looks (to me) like it would be well suited to bike parks and Coed Llandegla stylee trails, where pedalling in technical terrain is not an issue, nor is going uphill particularly fast and the low BB will help in the berms and such?
my helius AM has a low BB for a 167mm trail bike and i suffer mega pedal strike on air and coil [ccdb] shocks, irrespective of sag.
good luck 🙂
Pink is wrong, even on womens bikes (well my girlfriend says so)
Hitler wasn’t happy when he got a pink bike.
Sorry, here’s a you tube clip of Hitler finding out he got a pink bike:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nB-b1RvEC28
“my helius AM has a low BB for a 167mm trail bike and i suffer mega pedal strike on air and coil [ccdb] shocks, irrespective of sag.”
Do you know that you can have you pedals at 2.45 as well as 6pm? ;]
matt – that’s my mistake, thanks 🙂
and i think it’s 3.45 unless you’ve splined your crank arms on out of sync ?
What I dont understand is why Chipps has this as his longtermer? He has stated many times before how he is more of xc rider? And I think the trip to switchbacks proved it..So what sort of meaningful review are we going to get from this? Surely it would ahve been better for one of the other more Dh oriented guys to have this?
It really does look a nonsense. Chipps is no gravity fiend, the cranks clash colour wise with the frame, the seat is too high, the tassle are silly, the tyres are wrong – why even put such a mish mash together if its not to attract attention as opposed to be ridden? There are better thought out subscribers’ new bikes posted on here every day that deserve comment after all the effort and money that has gone into them but this is a joke, irrespective of whether the blood rides well when kitted out better and ridden by the appropriate rider or not. We know Chipps has a pink fettish – remember the pink camo in 2004?
those doors could do with a lick of paint.
Yeah but (rockfield) surely if it helps Chipps to tackle riding he normally wouldn’t try with more confidence and can help him improve his DH/Freeride skills where another bike may not then he will have shown that the bike is capable and works well?
Hope it’s coming to Morzine this summer. Looks like my old Blur4x in disguise.
Well I’m looking forward to having a go on it 🙂
Rockshox and not Fox?
I’ve seen Bloods being ridden hard and fast on sketchy terrain by folk that can ride bikes, and there’s absolutely no problem with the BB height or the suspension configuration – as Ben says, these are partly what make the bike so good. Needs testing by someone who’ll give it the abuse it’s capable of taking, which is basically plenty.
surely its about how it rides? I reckon chipps has ridden an order of magnitude more bikes than most on here, and is better placed to judge. it doesnt matter that he appears to be colour blind. people are too hung up on aesthetics and kit I reckon. mind you, it does provide a nice turnover of kit bargains in the classifieds from people with more money than sense.
hello the lecht rocks can not be serious. end. it’s a bike get a grip (on the grips) ride it…enjoy it…
. . speechless . . .