[mandown]

I know it is a bit off topic to post hardtails in the DH forum, but I thought the DH-ers here might appreciate a 66.6* HA steel frame capable of handling a 6" fork. I just picked this frame up from On-One for a little over $300 shipped from the UK (http://www.on-one-shop.co.uk/acatalog/456_Summer_Season.html).

I took it to the shop to have it faced and chased, and the shop guys said the steel was super tough, so it took them a while to work on. They also said the BB was pretty rough and needed to be chased. Of course, they also said that all the shop employees were drooling over it

I got it home last night and built it up single-speed using parts from my old hardtail and the box-o-bits in the closet. I'm not sure if I'm going keep it that way. While I like the simplicity, I may add a 9spd to the rear as a compromise and to increase my riding options.

I wasn't sure about going for the 18" or the 20" frame, being 6'1". I went with the 18" since it had almost the same geometry as my Nicolai UFO ST. I was concerned that the TTT might not be long enough with the 18" @ 23.5" vs the 20" @ 24". I must say that my quick test ride on the street says this thing will be just fine. My quick test ride also says - Steel Feels Nice This is my first steel frame and I can already feel the magic and understand the love steel-geeks have for their frames. I can't wait to get this beast on the dirt.

And now for the pix -

Profile:

A bit o the front:

A shot of that HA:

I know the stem spacers are a bit much right now, and I will have things cut down, but I decided to leave the steer tube alone until I had a chance to fiddle with stem height and get it dialed.

 

[bullcrew]

Looks good Adam! I like... make for a great urban assault commuter bike from hollywood to university city! Do a little ripping around on brighton ave Beverly hills with some star chasing on the walk through rodeo Dr. down sm blvd and back into your work! Id rock it!

 

[mandown]

You got the idea. I'm gonna throw a rack on the back of it so I can drag my clothes to work and back without using a backpack (ewww, hot and sweaty).

 

[dhmike]

nice rig !

 

[Bullit21]

I know it is a bit off topic to post hardtails in the DH forum, but I thought the DH-ers here might appreciate a 66.6* HA steel frame capable of handling a 6" fork. I just picked this frame up from On-One for a little over $300 shipped from the UK (http://www.on-one-shop.co.uk/acatalog/456_Summer_Season.html).

I took it to the shop to have it faced and chased, and the shop guys said the steel was super tough, so it took them a while to work on. They also said the BB was pretty rough and needed to be chased. Of course, they also said that all the shop employees were drooling over it

I got it home last night and built it up single-speed using parts from my old hardtail and the box-o-bits in the closet. I'm not sure if I'm going keep it that way. While I like the simplicity, I may add a 9spd to the rear as a compromise and to increase my riding options.

I wasn't sure about going for the 18" or the 20" frame, being 6'1". I went with the 18" since it had almost the same geometry as my Nicolai UFO ST. I was concerned that the TTT might not be long enough with the 18" @ 23.5" vs the 20" @ 24". I must say that my quick test ride on the street says this thing will be just fine. My quick test ride also says - Steel Feels Nice This is my first steel frame and I can already feel the magic and understand the love steel-geeks have for their frames. I can't wait to get this beast on the dirt.

And now for the pix -

Profile:

A bit o the front:

A shot of that HA:

I know the stem spacers are a bit much right now, and I will have things cut down, but I decided to leave the steer tube alone until I had a chance to fiddle with stem height and get it dialed.

Great. There goes all of our shuttle runs. Nice rig by the way

 

[bullcrew]

You got the idea. I'm gonna throw a rack on the back of it so I can drag my clothes to work and back without using a backpack (ewww, hot and sweaty).

LMAO! Thats the ticket! Smog fresh scent!MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!
Not being an @$$ I miss it!

 

[rayhaan]

those are awesome bikes, I have had one for the last three years and it has taken all the abuse I can give it! It is quite possibly my favourite bike

 

[mandown]

Took it out for a 10 mile urban spin last night and it was good. The gearing on the single speed setup limited me to about 10-12 mph, which sucks. I think I'm going to 9spd it and hope for some more speed on the road. Any suggestions on a good light guide? I'm thinking of the DMR roller that mounts to the ISCG tabs. It looks simple and weighs in at 100g.

I chucked it on the bathroom scale last night and it came in at 33lbs. I can probably drop some weight quickly from the tires and the stem and bar combo. I've got a Thomson stem, but I need a 25.4 bar. I'm unsure of the tire choice at this time. Kinda thinking Larsen TT.

 

[banj]

I made modified an old race face guide into an "xc" guide by chopping the bottom half of the boomerang off for my do it all hardtail. It's worked well so far.

 

[mandown]

interesting. i think i have an extra DRS around. only problem is that i think it is an ISCG OLD vs. the frame's ISCG05 mounts.

 

[Abstrakt51]

That bike is money dude. I've been looking for a nice HT with similar geo. Did you happen to weigh the frame before buildup?

 

[MMcG]

How was the steering on your urban adventure? Was the front end floppy at all?

Kickass bike!

 

[banj]

interesting. i think i have an extra DRS around. only problem is that i think it is an ISCG OLD vs. the frame's ISCG05 mounts.

Mine was too. I cut the bottom hole off and just attached the top two. I'll try to get a pic of it tonight and post it up.

Like I said I haven't lost a chain yet. I've had it pop off the bottom of the ring a bit but never the top. Half a pedal revolution and it was back on.

I used to run two rings but found that I never used the granny. The only time I'd use the derailer was when the chain dropped to my granny. I thought it was pretty stupid to run a derailer just to pop the chain back on so I started to think about putting a chainguide on. Only thing was I didn't want the roller. So I came up with this.

 

[mandown]

banj, thanks for the info. i agree, the granny isn't getting much game time if i mount up a dual or triple front set up. i'm a bit unsure of my chainline though, since the BB i used is a 118, which puts the middle ring pretty far to the right. i do have my deity cranks (old style) i can drop on there to adjust the chainline, or i may pick up something lighter. for now, i can just adjust the rear cog so the line is nice.

abstrakt/randy - i didn't do the frame weigh-in. i'm gonna guess around 5lbs based on their other frame weights... and the decrease in weight from switching my parts over from the last frame (also changed to lighter cranks and headset and dropped about 2-3 lbs).

MMcG - i did feel a bit of flop at slow speeds; track standing was tough too. but im a fan of slack bikes, so i rarely found a situation where i tought it was a bad thing. it feels super natural (not supernatural) to me. i think that once i get a better gearing on it and pull faster speeds, i won't notice it at all.

 

[banj]

Okay here's the pics I promised. The guide doesn't line up perfectly but it does the job so far. I'd like to put a proper iscg 05 one on at some point. but for now this gets me going to test out the theory of running the guide sans roller.

 

[W4S]

33lbs? damn, i was going to get a summer season but I wanted something in the high 20's, 33's almost the same as my 6" bike.

 

[Rip]

Nice.

 

[mandown]

banj, thanks for the pix. how's that chromag? i was looking at that frame, but it was more cash than i wanted to drop for a bike to use for commuting.

W4S - look at my build though. the frame is about 5.5 lbs. for anything worth beating on, you aren't going to get below 4lbs. an XC race frame would be about 3lbs. heck, assume it is a 6lb frame vs a 3lb XC frame with the same build and you have a 33lb bike vs a 30lb bike. the balance is in my build spec, which is all franken parts.
Deity 31.8 stem - overkill
FSA 400 bar - overkill
Magura Louise w/ 8" front and rear - overkill
Tires front and rear are in the 900g range - overkill
Wheelset is atleast 2200g, if not 2400g - overkill
god only knows what tubes i have in there
RaceFace DH ISIS cranks/BB - anchors & flexy

the only light part on the frame is the thomson seatpost.

with the right build, i'd say it wouldn't be hard to shave 5lbs off. and you would drop some grams since you would need the smaller frame given your pixie-like stature.

 

[mandown]

OK, did some quick math using sicklines weights and a couple educated guesses.
FSA bar vs. ProTaper = 150g savings
Deity Stem vs. Thomson = 150g savings
My wheels vs. custom build (~2400g vs 2000g) = 400g savings
Current tires vs. some more XC-ish 700g rubber = 500g savings
my cranks vs some XT = 400g
Coil Pike vs. 32Van = 470g savings
this totals 2,074g in savings, or 4.5 lbs and you would still have a beat-worthy bike at sub 30. of course, i would need to add a derail and cassette into the mix, but i didn't consider the savings w/ lighter brakes or my boat-anchor pedals.

i'd say sub 30 is fully do-able. heck, if bullcrew can get his canfiled to 36lbs, i'd be a fool to think you couldn't get this frame that weighs 5lbs less to under 30lbs w/ a more XC parts mix.

edit - and just to play devil's advocate, my bathroom scale rounds off to the nearest 0.5lbs, so in a best case scenario, it could have been off from rounding by nearly a quarter pound when i weighed myself and when i weighed myself with the bike, yeilding another half pound of error (which could go for or against me or net to 0).

 

[banj]

I'm loving my chromag. It's my second one. I rode the first generation stylus for a couple of years and when they changed them up this year with lower bb, butted tube set and a few other lighter bits I got a new one.

I always liked my old one but felt the bb was a little high. The 08's bb is more in line with what I had in mind. Could still go a bit lower for my personal preference but I'm not complaining. The new tubeset feels really nice.

As for the weight discussion. My chromag weighs in at around 32lbs. I believe my frame weighs around 6 to 6.5 lbs. My goal was sub 30 as well but I'm pretty happy with my builds balance of cost/strength/weight. I be

 

[mandown]

Added the derail last night. The X.7 shifter/derail combo along with the cheap 8spd cassette added a few lbs to the rig. The bathroom scale test says 34.5

i'm considering these tires @ 625g, they should shave over a pound off my current build and look damn sweet

I have the pink ones, but they are twice the weight with super-heavy casing. I'm also considering the Maxxis Larsen TT @ 710g each or the Schwalbe Table Tob for 590 g each. The Schwalbe tires could drop 2lbs from my rig. Since I plan to do a fair amount of street and XC with this rig, I think I could survive on those.

 

[Slugman]

FYI - on my DOC I have this guide:http://www.ronniering.com/photo4.html

Tripple rings and never an issue up or down on SoMo

 

[TomBo]

Why run just the top half of the guide?

 

[banj]

I wanted to keep it as simple and light as possible. I've debated it but so far this has worked out for me. For me it's just a replacement for my derailer.

I used to run two rings but found that I never used the granny. The only time I'd use the derailer was when the chain dropped to my granny. I thought it was pretty stupid to run a derailer just to pop the chain back on so I started to think about putting a chainguide on. Only thing was I didn't want the roller. So I came up with this.

 

[mandown]

dang sluggy, that's a cool little ring at a great price. i decided to go 8spd rear and single front. i took it out for some urban wandering and it was pretty solid, though i did drop chain after a bunny hop up a curb. i decided that it probably would happen again and i dropped the coin on an e13 LS1 as i figured once i start to hooligan in the dirt, i'd rather have a few extra grams and a few less dollars than a few extra dollars and a few less teeth.

the price wasn't bad @ 55 american dollars.

still debating over tires. sluggy, you beat your rig up over some rough terrain. what's on your wheels?