[Closed] Building my alpine 160 any sugestions on what spec to get

Sounds good. I have
CCDB
55RC3Ti
2x9 XT
XT brakes with 203mm rotors
Saint cranks
Easton flatboy pedals
Sun Ringle Eq31 on Pro 2
Haven bar n stem
GD dropper post.

So a heavy old lump then 😉

Whats that? a picture, you say? Oh, go on then...

Kerala, India, January (with Lyriks)

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I would go for the Marzocchi 55rc3ti also,just because im anti Fox and they've gotten great reviews with alot less maintenance. Also the XT brakes, would they cope with long Alpine descents if you ever took it further afield?
Great bike 🙂

zee drivechain
renthal bar/stem and keval grips
dropper post
sdg saddle
e-13 chain guide
fox 36 front
xt brakes from rose.
hope/stans hoops

I would go for a full Zee groupset if I were building up a new bike now. Really quite fancy Zee 1x10 on my FS.

XT with big rotors gave 1 finger braking in India, Verbier, Colorado... RC3s are a sublime combination with the coil rear, but I was lucky to get one half-price-old-stock and these deals have dried up as their rep has spread.

Edit; blackspire stinger and bash working with the 2x9.

What do you actually want it to do? Alpine is always going to be a big bike but it can be built different ways effectively.

I'd suggest maybe Flow Exs instead of 721s- similiarly downhill-capable rim, but tubeless ready, lighter and wider. And Floats, mmm... Seem a little bit out of place on a bike that's otherwise a big hammer. Lyriks or 55s?

Yet another vote for the 55RC3Ti.

XT brakes with 203 rotors will be fine.
I managed to turn my rear rotor a nice shade of purple in Garda last year but that was with a 160 rotor and XTs with Kevlar pads in. (Yes, I know that was asking for trouble and yes I know that I drag my back brake too much.) 🙂

EDIT: & Flows or Flow EX

Loving the advice everyone can't find any 55rc3ti forks other than that we're all thinking alike
If anyone can't find me some links for some 55rc3ti links only found 1 on pink bike
Keep um coming
An loving the pic CRASHTESTMONKY =]

Cheers
SIR Tom

What you going to be doing on it and how heavy/abusive are you?
Wouldn't bother with XTR, XT is fine. If you planning 1x10 are you thinking of going up on it?
Maybe loose some weight in the wheels if you want.
The new Fox CTD damper is nice and makes the TALAS feel better if you want travel adjust.
Would swap out the XT brakes for Hope but thats a preference of mine.

As above, what do you intend to use it for?

There were some 36 vanillas on classifieds yesterday, but the floats are also excellent and very adjustable/tunable.

XT brakes, good dual ply tacky tyres and grippy pedals with suitable shoes.

I'm assuming yoru trying to build an AM/Enduro type bike here so sorry to reply all weight-weenie... but light bikes tend to feel better on the ups and downs, and hence if your specifying from scratch why not build light and strong?

EX721's are very strong but very heavy... if you don't need world cup downhill strength because your not nuts* (or clumsy) you could probably get away with a lighter rim. Stans Flow are the obvious choice as they are wide which gives the tyres a good shape, and yet almost XC type weight. Not the greatest when you do dunt them as there is not a lot of material there but a good compromise for weight vs strength. A Flow will probably need replaced more often than an EX721 but will feel noticably lighter. There are some Chinese made carbon rims which are similar to a Flow rim available if you fancy a gamble?

Hope stem and Renthal bars is good kit but why not go Carbon bars and a lighter stem if your buying new? Easton 35mm Havoc/Haven are the obvious choice and would be lighter - others are avialable.

Reverb - obviously! I tend to buy cheap saddles as they are just as good and light as expensive these days. Madison Flux/Charge spoon if they fit your arse.

Float forks vs Marz RC3 Ti... I've got both. The Floats are 150g lighter but don't feel as good. Does not feeling quite as good matter when they are actually both very bloody good?
You can say the same for rear shocks. I have a custom tuned Float R shock and a CCDB with a Ti spring. The CCDB does feel better but again the benefit is not huge and the Float is perfectly happy doing all the same stuff... in fact for some riding the Float combo feels better as they give more pop and feel more playful, it's only in the scary gnar and at great speed that the CCDB and RC3 Ti makes it all much smoother and are worth the (quite substantial) weight penalty. I'm glad I've got both but if I was to only have the one option it would be the Floats.

Brakes - I'm a Formula fan so TheOne's would be my choice.

Gears - if you can get away with 1x10 then I'd go XT or XTR shifters with a Zee or Saint rear mech. If I needed more gears I'd ignore the weight penalty and fit a Hammerschmidt.

No point trying to save weight elsewhere and then fitting heavy DH tyres so look for a compromise tyre... but as with the rims you might end up trashing a few to find out what works for your riding. Conti rubber queens and Scwalbe Hans Damf are good and much lighter than a full DH tyre. Perhaps only fit a DH or UST tyre on the back?

* if your a nutter who breaks bikes then check the warranty and history of Alpine failures carefully... they are not a bulletproof frame option!

There are some Chinese made carbon rims which are similar to a Flow rim available if you fancy a gamble?

Where do you get these from then?

36 Float RC2s, 1x10 Saint Shadow+ mech and shifter, CCDB, tubeless, Reverb.

Was going to go weight weeny on everything, but I'm a "sturdy" fella and wanted a bit of strength/durability. Haven't weighed but I'd guess at getting on for 33-35lbs. Gets the thighs burning up, feels fantastic everywhere else!

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Here you go I Ache

[url= http://www.light-bicycle.com/wider-mtb-26er-carbon-bike-rim-26-inch-rims.html ]Wide carbon rims from China[/url]

There are huge threads about these over on MTBR - most owners seem happy.

Last thing I would compromise is tyres. A heavy but grippy predictable tyre will enable you to ride so much better than a lighter hard compound trail tyre and only slow you down on the boring climbs anyway so no great loss!

loving thath bike its just how i picture mine looking once its finished
i am bothered about weight in some way but dont want to compromise the alpine title and durability love the stans flow idea from messiah i am an AM rider i can ride all round llandegla, lee quarry , ggisburn and others without out getting off to push but i like to shred going down it all the jumps i am only 16 used to race DH but we all need grow up i have descided to drop some weight on wheels with some stans and work from there see how light i can go with out compromising the strenght of the bike.

thanks for all your help
keep pics coming if you have a alpine i need some insperation 😀

$300 for a pair of carbon rims doesn't seem too bad. Not sure if they are worth the extra cost above my default choice of 721s.

Last thing I would compromise is tyres. A heavy but grippy predictable tyre will enable you to ride so much better than a lighter hard compound trail tyre and only slow you down on the boring climbs anyway so no great loss!

You can have a grippy predictable tyre that rolls reasonably well and isn't heavy, the black chili Rubber Queens being a fine example.

http://tinypic.com/r/25ev6fl/6 ]null

This is my Alpine built up at 31 pounds with no compromises on suspension. Careful weight saving across all components has got me to here.

Can be ridden all day and is mega for my yearly Alps trip.....

Hope this helps with ideas mate.

If anyone knows how to make that photo appear instead of just create a link then I'm all ears!

All the best,

Lee.

Trying for you. Great bike btw! Exactly how I'd like to spec one. Is your shifter at a bit of a jaunty angle?

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FYI: when looking at your pic, right click on it and select "copy image location". Then in the forum click on the IMG button and paste your image location in the box that pops up. Bobs your uncle.

Thanks mate!

Trying to do it off an IPad so not to sure of this one will work either. I had a Five for years before this and rode it everywhere, Morzine, Garda, Whistler..... However I always wanted a little more travel. As it is my only bike I wanted to build it up light but strong and can add some dual ply etc when it needs it. I am sure it wouldn't suit everyone but it's working out ok for me.

Shifter, reverb lever etc were tweaked on first ride.

Wheels are immense by the way. This bike now carries massive speed on the flats like Llandegla now where it used to be a bit of a drag..... 😉