[Closed] BFe build

The BFe uses a standard HT2 bottom bracket, like the one that'll come with your new SLX crankset. It's a 73mm BB and the spacers should come with the cranks as well.

The only obvious thing I'd do to save a few quid is not bother with the XTR cables and use the standard ones which will come with the SLX shifters.

I have a Ragley Blue pig not a million miles away from your build, a mate have a BFe

Obviously you've already got it, and I'm sure it is a good fork but I would suggest getting an air sprung sektor over the coil;

1. You save weight.
2. You can adjust the spring-rate easily for different conditions, weight and gear changes.
3. Travel adjusters appeal in principle, but the geo on the BFe is just fine at 140mm, its just another thing to bugger up TBH.

I'd seriously check out X-fusion's new forks too.

In terms of the other components I can't speak for the Mountain Kings but have just taken my new pair of Schwalbe Hans Dampfs for a spin today and am pretty impressed.

The 2.35'' come up over 2.4 on nice wide rims like you are thinking of and their climbing traction was excellent in the claggy clay I was on this afternoon. Definitely worth a look IMO.

For headsets, personally I think Nuke-proof are pretty hard to beat for the money, and Cane Creek I've had a good experience with. I think headsets are a bit like pedals - after about £50 you stop getting any real additional performance or durability gains and it becomes more about showing off.

Whilst certainly not popular Hayes brakes last of ever, never need tweaking, even if you prang them around.

Alex

I have an older BFe and managed to sort the bottom brackets out myself, however the rocket I just built was well clogged up, I took it to the lbs and asked them if they could just chase it out there and then as they where hanging around chatting - even with all the correct gear it took them quite a while.

So it might be worth buying your BFe with the hope bb already installed, depending how friendly you are with your lbs.

I have coil Sektors on mine and they work well, they are 150/120 switchable but your 140's will work well.

Not sure how much your dropper post would cost but you could spend that money somewhere else. Perhaps go for 180 rotor on rear too.

Bike Brechfa are selling their ex demo BFe's - Cotic site has details FYI

Good luck, great bikes.

My mind is set on trying out a coil fork. I couldn't for the life of me find a coil sprung Sektor in fixed length, as I'd actually prefer that, but since I'm going to need to change the spring for my weight anywayI might convert it myself. Anyone with experience of this? Where would I find the spring (and other parts if they're needed)? 140mm X-soft for the 2011 model RL DPC.

I was set on Nukeproof headsets 'till I recently started hearing a lot of bad things about their sealing. Maybe there are a lot of happy owners with contrasting opinions though? Would love to save a few bucks there for sure, especially if I'm going with the pre-fitted Hope BB.

Oh, and I already own the gravity dropper.

Thanks for all the input, keep 'em coming.

Deore brakes really good on my bfe build. New type are less than £100.
Secondhand Pike worth a look 454 less than £200
I built min for less than £1000 with decentwheelset 1 x 9 transmission decent finishing kit
Regards
Richard

Cane Creek MX headset for twenty quid off absolute cycles
Full SLX groupset inc brakes for under four hundred quid off merlin, or probs cheaper from germany

+1 for a second hand pike air fork

Yeh, get some shorter travel forks and 1x10 gears with a chain device.

Also.

45mm stem?
And what is that monstrosity of a saddle? You could probably get a 135gram SLR 2nd hand for about £35.

I'd go for Flow EX rims plus a Rubber Queen on the front and consider going 1x10 instead. Don't run the fork too soft, you want to be able to lean on it without it diving. I don't know how big you are but my Soul is set up fairly similarly with 50mm stem and 711mm bars and fits 5'10.5" fairly broad long-armed me very well.

I run 120mm travel and 1x10 at the moment, want 2x10 and longer travel on the new bike since I want to increase the amount of climbing and technical descents on my regular rides without giving my knees too much of a beating. Got a good deal on the Sektor so hopefully I'll be happy with that - have to build the bike up and try it out to know for sure.

The Funnduro stem might be a a bit short (though I love how it looks...) - I'm using a 50mm now with 730mm bars which is fine, but the BFe has shorter ETT and shorter chainstays than my 456 so might be playful enough with ~60mm stem. Wouldn't want to go longer than that though. Any suggestions for a 50-60mm stem with good weight and price that comes in a nice anodized red (or blue, haven't decided on the colour scheme 100% yet)?

I weigh in at around 140 lbs geared up so x-soft coil and Arch EX should be fine I reckon?

I've considered saving a few quids by going with Deore brakes - supposedly they are great for the price. Then again so are SLX. Depends on the deal I can find I guess.

I'm not a fan of coil forks, imo they're too much of a compromise unless you get lucky and are just the right weight for one of the few choices you're given. Yes they feel nice in the car park but I don't notice much of a difference when actually riding, plus having the right sag seems to make more of a difference anyway! When they're just right they're great though..

I liked around 120mm on my BFe, 140mm made it a bit tall and wandery at the front.

I run my BFe on 2013 110-140 Talas, seem to work quite well, stick it on 110mm for climbing, bmx/4x tracks etc. Wind it out to 140mm for descents, light DH etc.

If I had to stick at one fork length though I think _tom_ is right and 120mm seems to be the all round sweet spot.

That looks like a decent build. And I say keep the fork. I use the U-Turn on my Pikes (on my BFe) quite often. I can take the bike down the local jumps or to the BMX track and wind the forks down to steepen the head angle and lower the bars. Obviously it also helps on long climbs but I find it climbs fine at 140mm so don't usually bother, I would with DPC and do with DPA on my Lyrik.

The BFe is a massively versatile bike and for somebody who can't really jump and is slow on the BMX track it does a plenty good enough job.

[b]Frame:[/b] Cotic BFe
[b]Headset:[/b] Hope 2H
[b]BB:[/b] Shimano XT HT2*
[b]Fork:[/b] Rockshox Sektor RL DPC*
[b]Wheelset:[/b] Superstar Tesla/?
[b]Tyres:[/b] Mountain King II 2.4" Protection
[b]Brakes:[/b] Shimano SLX M675 180/160mm
[b]Crankset:[/b] Shimano SLX M665*
[b]F Derailleur:[/b] Shimano XT M786*
[b]R Derailleur:[/b] Shimano XT M773*
[b]Shifters:[/b] Shimano SLX M670 i-spec
[b]Cassette:[/b] Shimano HG81*
[b]Chain:[/b] KMC X10 93
[b]Chainguide:[/b] Blackspire Stinger
[b]Stem:[/b] On-One CNC Superlight*
[b]Handlebar:[/b] Funn Fatboy*
[b]Grips:[/b] ODI Rouge*
[b]Seatpost:[/b] Gravity Dropper Turbo Standard 4”*
[b]Saddle:[/b] Funn Skinny II*
[b]Pedals:[/b] Nukeproof Proton*

So the spec is updated with little bits I've already acquired (marked with asterisk) and some other small changes. If I can get a hold of a nice used Soul, I'll probably get that. I haven't completely ruled out 456 EVO either, depending on funds.

Now I'm pondering rim choice. I weigh in at about 138lbs ride ready and I want something that can handle just about anything I can throw at it, which includes rocky and rooty descents, maybe the odd lift assisted session, but no big jumps or drops (no more than 5 feet, perhaps? I doubt I've cleared anything bigger than 3ft to transition right now, but obviosuly aim to improve).

I have four candidates in total. Either I go lighweight with Pacenti TL28 or Arch EX, or I err on the side of caution and go for Pacenti DL31 or Flow. I'm planning on going ghetto tubeless.

What do you reckon?

721s for rims every time.

Running Flows on my BFe and love them, but I weigh a bit more than 10 stone! One of the lighter Stans rims might suit you better.

[img] [/img]

While 721 are cheaper, I'm willing to pay a little extra for Flows, which is lighter but definitely plenty strong for me, or Arch which are even lighter and _probably_ strong enough. I am leaning towards the latter at the moment - I know of people who have done downright DH with Flows so surely they are overkill for my weight and riding?

Okay, so slight some slight changes of plan!

1. I got hold of a ex-demo Soul for a good price. Mk2 I believe (the one still being sold as the "classic"?). Well happy!

2. I think I'll just go with Hope Hoops for wheels - this limits me to Flow which isn't a bad thing as I don't have to ponder that anymore. I'll just be happy with the extra peace of mind.

Actual questions:

3. I'm thinking that I might go 1x10 again, after all. Should I just get a SLX triple crank and fit a bash, dedicated SS ring and remove the granny, or would you recommend something else? I want 32t or possibly 30t - I think SRAM (or was it RaceFace?) offers a different BCD that would allow this? Any good? VFM?
The SLX double that I already bought won't provide an optimal chainline regardless of crank spacer setup, I assume.

4. What chain guide would you reommend for 1x10 without ISCG-tabs? I'll probably get a Zee RD as that served me well on my previous bike, so I'm looking for retention rather than tension to complement it.

Not sure about the crank and chainline question, but I used a MRP Lopes on my 1 x10 Soul (now use 2 x10 BTW)

I think the smallest you can get on a SLX triple is 32 (although some people make a 31 I think)

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[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/17059060@N00/6618770011/ ]P1040284[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/17059060@N00/ ]eastham_david[/url], on Flickr

That looks nice. Do BB mounted guides work well in general?

104mm crank doesn't allow smaller rings than 32t (with a few exceptions) - there are other standards out there though. That said, I do like the thought of having a triple crank so that I could sell my current one and still convert to 2x10 in the future if I changed my mind... I'm indecisive like that. I'll probably just get good ol' SLX triple unless someone has another good suggestion. How is Funn Crossfire for example, for about half the price?

9 speed, but I used a triple slx crankset with a as 32 ring and bash/n gear jump stop. Now run the stiffer slx cranks off the 2x9 double and bash slx crank set

Had my bike built up similarly at first and found it great on the downs but a bit of a drag when tackling flatter singletrack that needed more pedalling, and it was a pig uphill.

Found a lighter build with a shorter fork (spaced my rev's down to 120) worked much better for me. Maybe get a fork that allows you do change the travel. Also a slightly longer stem and narrower bars (60/710) worked much better on pedally singletrack and uphill without really making much difference on the way down.

I run 1x10. Pick a cassette and chainring to suit. I doubt there's much that can't be tackled with a 32t chainring and a 36t cassette.

I use an e13 lg1+ on a BB mount, no problems here. Have popped off the lower guide and the taco for less gnarr riding.

Yer, I'm far from fit, but can get up most stuff with 32/11-34 on my soul. Would like to also try 1x10 mind for that little bit of extra help.

The last setup I used was 1x10 with 32t front 11-36 rear and similar bar/stem combo to what I will have on the Soul, so I know exactly what to expect. Just pondering which particular components to get (crankset and guide). Zee might be a bit overkill I guess?

Ideally of course, I'd just like to use the SLX double (M665) that I already have. Do you think the chainline would work - possibly by moving the spacer to NDS if needed?

[img] [/img]

140mm fork on a 1x10 (32t 11-36) Soul with N-Gear and bash guide (though am considering the new Hope one), Hoops with Flows, 50mm stem and 711mm bar. Goes up, along, sideways, airborne and down very well indeed! 🙂 Cranks are the Truvativ triple off my old Boardman HT, with a Hope singlespeed ring. I thought about getting some singlespeed or stiffer/lighter cranks for the Soul when I built the Boardman back up but I was so confused by the minefield of cranks that I just bought a Deore triple for the Boardman.

Cheers! I actually used the bash/Jump Stop combo before for 1x10 and it treated me good so that's a safe bet, but I'm curious about other options.

Quite similar setup to what I will run in general (frame, travel, bar/stem, gravity dropper, wheels). Nice.

Also, it seems like my current crank will potentionally work in 1x10 mode, so I'll just stay put until I have the necessary components to try it out before buying/selling stuff. Hard not to get ahead of yourself when doing this whole buildy bikey thingy though.

Wheelset Superstar Tesla/Stans Arch EX
Tyres Mountain King II 2.4" Protection

I ran this rim/tyre combo for a while on my Soul but ended up swapping the rims for Flow Ex. Sure it'd be nice to save the weight with the Arch's, but I found I couldn't drop the tyre pressure enough to get good comfort and grip without it getting very squirmy. Those continentals have some very thin sidewalls and the extra width of the Flow Ex supports them better. I also ended up swapping to Hans Dampfs as well, since the sidewalls are a lot tougher and go tubeless dead easy. Yeah they weigh a bit more again, but it is totally worth it in my eyes.

I know other people get on fine with a combo like that, just not me.
So in summary, its not about rim strength, but rim width.

If you are after a good single chainring then i'd recommend the one made by Surly.It's got slightly longer teeth on it to keep your chain in place although i'd use a chain device with it. I use a mrp one.It's not superlight but its not that heavy and it's by surly so it's going to be tough.I fitted mine with I.D chainring bolts which are made of steel not wallace and grommit grade cheese like some of the cheapo alloy bolts which are just a waste of money.