Thanks a lot Dave, now I want a Black Market

[ogr13]

Can't wait to see it!

[sixstringsteve]

the fork definitely needs to be rebuilt, and it's a little heavy, but it should be a great little thrasher bike.

[sixstringsteve]

Time for an update. In 2008, RockShox sent a lot of forks out that had a defect with the rebound damper head seal. Some of the '08's had a replaceable damper head and some did not (press fit). Fortunately for me, my fork has the replaceable seal. So that's on order. The fork is currently hydrolocked, so it'll be a week or so before it's up and running.

The guy that sold me the bike was less than forthcoming about some of the details, but I'm still happy with the bike. The clear coat was cracked and flaking in more places than not. It had more than the "few little scratches from transporting" that he told me, and the frame had some small spots of surface rust on it. That just wasn't going to cut it, so I took my wire wheel to it and removed all the clear coat as well as the surface rust.

[sixstringsteve]

Then I decided that the seat tube stuck up too high for my tastes, so I removed almost an inch from it.

[sixstringsteve]

In hindsight, I should have been more patient and had a friend weld on some v-brake studs, but I'm not patient when it comes to my bikes. I just wanna ride this bike. I decided that I didn't want to keep it the raw color, and I was too impatient to get it powdercoated (and too indecisive on a color), so I decided to paint it myself. I wasn't sure what color I wanted, and after a few test sprays, I found something that I liked, and it matched the motif of the bike.

I sprayed about 8 coats of self-etching metal primer. It's by far the best metal primer I've used. It chemically bonds to the metal rather than just sticking to it. Very tough stuff. Then I hit it with some "key lime" painter's touch paint (rustoleum.) I love the painters touch line, I think it applies very evenly and it's nice and thick.


Here she is after about 6 coats of paint. The color is a lot more vibrant in person. It's the perfect blend between hilighter yellow and grass green.

[sixstringsteve]

I'll start building it up over the next few days. It came with 25/9 gearing, which is fine for a 20" but not fine for a 24". So I ordered an 11t rear cassette, and I need a new chain and front sprocket (I'll be sticking with the 25t up front). After I get my new fork seal I should be ready to roll. with a 22.25" TT, it's way longer than I care for. I'd like to find a short (35-45mm) stem to run on it so I can manual easier and so it'll feel a bit smaller. We'll see how it goes over the next week or so.

As it sits tonight:

[sixstringsteve]

Got it buttoned up today.

[dilleyboys]

Turned out very cool, nice job

[Todd Lee]

Looks real nice Steve!

[sixstringsteve]

Thanks. I'll bring it out to the track in the next few weeks so people can try it out. I'm waiting on my 30mm flatland stem and my fork seal, then it'll be done.

[sixstringsteve]

after a few issues with the fork, I took it to Laketown so they could send it in for warranty. Turns out that Rockshox is sending me a new fork as a warranty replacement. HUGE thanks to will @ Laketown for taking such great care of me. I should have just taken it to them right when I got the bike.

[joker75]

Dave, your bike's magical powers have gotten even stronger. I haven't even taken you up on the offer to take it for a spin and I already had to pick up a dirt jumper. I haven't gotten any decent picks yet but, have had a few chances to play around on it. I spent some time packing down the pump track the other day, then Kota and I went to the Draper bike park yesterday to hit the trails. I think I might need some tires that are better suited for the trails, as the ones I have look more like a street tire than a dirt/trail tire.

Kota convinced me that I could make the first jump on the advanced trail, and after more than a few tries and more than a few good cases, I got pretty dang close to clearing it on my last attempt. My back tire barley cased the top of the jump just enough to slow me down some for the next two jumps.

And finally, a question for those of you with big bikes. How the heck do you keep from finding your behind on the tire when you are manualing, or trying to tuck the back end to clear a jump. That is a very unnerving feeling having your back tire smack you in the butt when you are trying to clear, or manual an obstacle at speed.

[skicruz78]

Congrats on the new bike!

Skicruz

[ogr13]

Welcome to the big wheel club!
As for the back tire... practice, practice, practice...
As for tires, look at the Kenda Small Block 8, they wear fast but work great & don't weigh too much.

[joker75]

Thanks Dave. Kota has 24" small block 8 tires on his Specialized p. grom, and I thought that was what I remembered you and Dilley running on your 26" bikes. They will probably be the ones I go with when I get around to throwing a new set on. The ones I have on now actually did better than I thought they would at the Draper park, but I'm sure a tire with some meat to it would have handled even better. Can't wait to get a group back up to the trails and have some more fun.