[Closed] First Post 🙂 My first DH Build

[i]Opinions please[/i]

I'm glad you managed to turn the garden through 90 degrees after taking that first picture.

[edit]

that 'saw as sprung prop to keep the washing machine door shut' is genius 🙂

bike looks tidy too!

took some doing...

Thats the missus's engineering skills to overcome the tumble dryer latch snapping off 😉

Your gears won't work without a cable 😉 Bike looks fun..

[img] [/img]

Not bad that, though I suspect you'll find those tyres are terrible, some High Roller II's will sort that out cheaply enough though.

It's very [i]yellow[/i], isn't it.

And you've committed the cardinal error of not lining the valves & logos on the tyres.

Looks like fun though.

have you checked the shock doesn't foul at full compression?

has the chainstay snapped yet?

Enjoy. Your front rotor is on wrong, so fix that first!

Watch you don't stand on the rake.

Sort out the levers too please 😉

Nice rig now get out and get it dirty !!!!

Cant imagine the rotor direction makes any difference but yeah well spotted 😉

Not tried it yet so not sure about the shock

Just changed the grips so the levers need sliding out, nothing is set yet anyway, needs a going over once this daft day tomorrow has passed, then its out to get dirty 🙂

[i]Cant imagine the rotor direction makes any difference[/i]

it does. I'd change it before bends.

And yeah you will be right about the tyres, im looking at replacements at the minute

Surprised
a) it's not snapped at the seat mast (loads did)
b) you haven't died using conti diesels as they have almost no grip

Can you explain why???

[img] [/img]

You can tell those tyres are shit by just looking at the tread pattern who could possibly think that was a good idea. ..

I see now about the rotor, with the type of riding ill be doing I doubt very much i would stress any of it that much, but yeh theres a few bits need sorting, thats why I am asking opinions 😉

^^^ i was on ebay and looked for something wide, read the reviews afterwards :-/ my bad

Position from grip is fine, it's high angle that's odd.

Does it not feel a bit unbalanced with that fork on the front? Quite a difference in travel.

Needs more logos and stickers imo

Like I said ive not been out on it yet, it could quite easily ride like a pig, I have another fox shock with loads more travel but i2i is too much and was worried about jacking up too much at the rear

I'm not sure that's a DH bike... I used to have one and I'm jey as can be 🙂

What length shock? 200mm works much better than the 190mm length they came with - raises the BB just the right amount IMO. Mine was a 57mm travel one too which gave some extra travel (50mm standard)

are michelin drip'r descent any good?

Worth seeing if you can find a set of flat crowns for the fork. The drop crowns made it ridiculously long, can only imagine that your bars (and bb height) are in the clouds!

if you stick a wanted ad up here or Pinkbike (probably more likely there) you should be about to get them for peanuts.

By downhill I mean its closer to that than a bike I would use for xc, new territory for me, this shock is 190 which isnt ideal with the front end its got on, i was going to flip the link though for a bit extra, the other shock I have is 240 which is waaay to big

Yeah it is very high up front :-/

Well those forks are probably a fair bit longer than the forks it was designed for so the shorter shock will probably be fine for you (since they'll raise the BB anyway) and will also mean slightly slacker angles.

Nice bike - a bit wallowy in mid travel for me - but probably fine for 'DH'.

I think that the term is 'enduro' now though and really it should be enduro-specific blue so I would suggest a new paintjob asap to avoid being laughed at...

😉

Ive got a bit of adjustment though up front by just lowering the crowns down the stanchions, think I can safely drop 15mm ish

The paint was done before I got it so it would be a shame to strip it now lol bear in mind this is a first attempt, if I enjoy any form of dh then the frame will be upgraded, apart from my wheels I am assuming most of my other components arent too shoddy??

They're fine - this is just STW-style bike commentary 🙂

I like the yellow BTW.

Don't go messing with the rear link, it'll just ride like a pig. You want to slacken off ideally to compensate for the huge fork, otherwise when you bottom out you'll be over the bars potentially.

Be careful dropping the crowns. Just because there seems space doesn't mean there is. You need to remove the spring and fully compress the fork to check clearance between the fork seal and crown on the tyre. Otherwise it could be a dangerous or expensive error.

Didn't this frame come with a 130mm fork so I assume that is the 170 888

pitchy - Member

Ive got a bit of adjustment though up front by just lowering the crowns down the stanchions, think I can safely drop 15mm ish

Still a very long axle-crown height i'm afraid. Even with the flat-crowns it's still a long fork compared to Boxxers, 40s, etc

No reason not to give it a go and have a laugh though, then switch the crowns if/when you find a set

fr0sty125 - Member

Didn't this frame come with a 130mm fork so I assume that is the 170 888

Even at 7" they were still longer than other 8" forks

Very long compared to the 130mm travel single-crown forks the frame is designed for...

This was mine. yours looks better.
[img] [/img]

If im completely honest the build has been asthetics in mind, ive never riden down hill or ever needed the components ive cobbled together, but ive enjoyed building it, and its trial and error, as long as I can get the basics sorted then I can continue upgrading as I go along 🙂

Cheap set of second hand pikes or similar would be better for actually riding I reckon...

Ive got some old boxxers and some manitou x verts but they seem very dated, even though these 888's arent spanking they appear to be a lot more stable, although I think the height is gona be a problem.

Dropping the crowns is safe if I stay in the guide lines, theres a min / max so I could use them.

I doubt either that i will bottom anything out as I wont be attempting any big drops or owt

nemesis - Member

Cheap set of second hand pikes or similar would be better for actually riding I reckon...

True, but where's the fun in that?

Surprised nobody's suggested that the head tube's going to get torn off yet....

We're just waiting for the follow up pic 🙂

cheers lol

again like I said the riding Im gona be doing shouldnt be harsh enough to break it........hopefully

I actually quite like the look of that, and I'm not normally one for yellow 🙂

However I fear,as others have said, you're going to run into a couple of major problems

1. That shock will likely clatter into the frame under full compression, check it BEFORE you ride!
2. It's gonna ride 'a bit funny' with such a long fork
3. If you try any real DH on it you'll soon find yourself with a pile of nicely powder coated scrap aluminium.

Don't get me wrong I love those old Enduros, and they are great XC trail bikes, and with a fresh shock they are very good, even by today's standards! 2 of my firends still have them, one is the burlier and lower/shorter travel SX version, one is a standard Enduro.

But a DH bike it aint, and putting a longer shock and big forks on it will not turn it into one.

1. I had a DHX on mine as pictured and it didn't clash. Admittedly my shock was 10mm longer but I don't reckon that'd change that. I do notice though that the OP's shock is the opposite way around to mine.

Garden looks lovely. Welcome 😉

one thing i would say, ride that round the XC loops and it will get you a bit fitter.
dont worry about the rear shock it wont compress into the frame on a xc ride.

Think I found a pic of your hardtail mate...

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No-one else has said it,but Sherwood pines on double crown forks and a coil shock? That'll be fun.

I was sick in my mouth.

Cheer up you frame breaking grumps, it's christmas!
Yellow rocks big dogs cocks.

Looks wise I quite like it. The thing I find confusing is this... If you have put forks on with 40mm more travel than there should be and you have no intention of doing the type of riding that will bottom them out/brake the frame/ involve any drops, then why bother?? How much did the build set you back?

Can I ask why? The fork is wrong for the frame, the tyres are wrong for real world use.....but its a pretty colour... Have a Happy Christmas all the same 😀

Before spending any more money on it go on an uplift day, but bin the tyres.
Should be good for some fun.
after a while if you enjoy upgrade the frame, should be loads on pinkbike.

To all the keyboard warriors that these typical forum places harbour, I have built this without a clue about how it's going to ride and admitted that it was built around how I liked the look! It's a known fact as I already know that it's gona ride like a pig and if I push it I might break it, with the money I've spent I could have easily bought myself something pretty good but as I said I've enjoyed messing around with putting it together, it will only get used a couple of times dh and will be xc so yeah your right in saying what's the point, but guess what ..... it's my choice and I'm more than happy because it's a lot better than any of the bikes I've had before so I don't really care 🙂
I've ordered a pair of Michelin wild grip'r so the others won't be the reason for me breaking my arms.
I will admit however I didn't think about the shock fouling, it doesn't fit the other way around so it's a suck it and see, to be honest I doubt il bottom it out though.
Anyway merry f@cking Christmas folks!!
Keep an eye out for my broken bike pictures 😉

Out of curiosity what frame would work well with what I have already? I'd spend up to around 400, I still have aFox van r 240 iti with a lot more travel than the rc4

For 400 you could pick up a giant glory, commencal supreme, specialized demo8, or various other choices that would all work with a 240 (241) shock and those forks and give you a proper dh machine.

Take the spring off' refit the shock and sit (gently!!!) on the bike to compress the shock, that way you will see in a less 'breaky' way of you have enough clearance for the shock.
Also download the manual for the shock from the fox website and pay attention to setup epspecially the air pressure and settings in the boost valve (that sticky outy bit on the top) as you will break the innards if presure inside it drops too low.
As above, 888's are really tall for their travel compared to other dual crown forks, but also they are just excellent forks considering their age and how cheap they are to buy now: those look like 2004/5/6 rc's which have delightfully long service intervals and easy to set up / hard to set up really badly. So yes flat crowns should be on your wantlist.
Oh and any simple single ring dh chainguide lke the superstar plasma ones (or the same guide woth someone else's name on it) will be good too.

And yes brake rotor direction is important -heavy braking the wrong way round will make it want to comress in on itself resulting in picture in first page.
Oh and hello/welcome/happy christmas! 😀