Well my DH racing season has pretty much come to an end here, so I figured that I would post my thoughts on the BCD Inedible that I raced this season. I would first off like to thank Alex Morgan for helping me out last minute with the frame when my prior sponsorship fell through. He went out of his way to make sure that things went well for me. Next thanks go out to the rest of my sponsors: NEMA clothing, SIC components, Romic shocks, Truvativ and Kenda.
I picked up my frame from Alex while driving across the country on my way to West Virginia with Team Swift. I left home with a backpack full of clothes/gear and a box full of the parts I would need to build my Inedible. When I fist saw the frame, I could definitely tell that a lot of love was put into the creation and finish of the frame. ex. machined Chris King top caps used for pivot retainers, BCD patch on the back of the top-tube...The build went fairly smooth. In all it took less than and hour and a half. Due to a miscommunication, I had forgotten to bring a 150mm thru-axle with me, but a quick trip to the hardware store and a piece of al;-thread later and the bike was finished. I didnt have my top crown for my Boxxer yet, as I was going to be picking up one from Romic at WV, so all I was able to do at Alexs place was pedal the bike around very quick, and it seemed to do that well. Back on the road we went and a couple days later we were at Snowshoe. After a quick cruise of the pits, I found out that my Romic shipment hadnt arrived yet with Monkey, so I went to Rock Shox and was able to buy a older crown for $10. I was now able to actually ride the bike around. I found out that I didnt really like the shock that was on the bike (9.5x3.0) the headangle was a bit to steep and BB a bit to high, so I put my (8.5x2.5) on and that seemed perfect. With this shock, the BB height was 13.75", head angle was between 64-65 degrees and travel was 7". This was the geometry I gave to Alex before he built the bike and it felt spot on.
The next day I had early morning practice. The top part of my run was pretty good, but I felt a bit slow as I had never ridden in wet, slippery conditions like those before. I had my first problem about 1/3 of the way down my run. I went into this g-out a bit fast and I hear a snap. I thought I broke my brand new bike and was pretty bummed, but I found out that the E-glass shock mount had broken. Alex told me to test this out by jumping off some stuff, but I was too amped to ride my bike that I went straight for the DH course. Alex gave me an extra steel shock mount rod so I was still good to go. A half hour push back up to the top and a quick fix and I was back on the mountain. After that first practice session was over, I was super happy with the way the bike performed. If fit me like a glove, which made sense since all Inedibles are custom made per rider. The rear end was just about the stiffest that I have felt, and I had owned and ridden most bikes that are on the market. I could rail corners that on other bikes I would be hopping all over the place. The bike though I had it setup with only 7" of rear travel also seemed almost bottomless due to the high pivot and rearward wheel path. Also I never felt brake jack with the frame. Maybe I dont use my brakes much. Mud clearance in the back was huge. While many people were stopping every run to wash off their bikes so that their suspension and wheels would move, I was on the mountain doing runs. The bike also pedaled great due to the pulley at the pivot, but I must admit that I am a coaster so I could care less about the pedaling ability of my bike. Fast forward to race my race run. The top section was going great until I got to that log launch thing that you had to pre jump. I was going super fast and even though I pre jumped a good 15-20 ft before the log, I managed to land at the bottom, flat and sideways. This was probably a good 10ft to flat and the frame held up. I had a crash on the bottom long drop thing and felt slow through the pedaling sections, but managed to win Semi-pro D by10 seconds. I couldnt feel happier with the bike.
The next week at Vermont, things started good. I got in a couple very fast runs and the bike was soaking everything up perfectly, but on the 3rd run, I went down very hard on the off camber rock section on the top of the course. When I got back up to my feet, I found out that my front tire had popped off the bead, my front break lever was broken, my frame was cracked, and my leg wasnt working properly. With the fall that I took and at the speed I was going, I am pretty sure just about any bike would have received some sort of structural damage. Todd Seplavy was kind enough to let me borrow his Medium SGS, but after a days practice with a hurt leg, things werent going to well. On Saturday Dave Weagle let me borrow his Iron Horse Sunday and it fit me much better than the SGS. I cant ride bike bikes. So with a bike that fit better and a leg that had an extra day to heal, I was back. I took a couple practice runs down the sport course (super fun course with high speed sections, and flowy tree sections at the bottom) and was pretty happy. I went on to win Semi-pro DH by 10 seconds.
A couple weeks later I was in Whistler and my repaired frame had arrived. Alex was able to beef up the cross section where the frame cracked in Vermont. I built the bike up and it was good to go. I proceeded to beat the hell out of the frame for the next 3 weeks while I was in whistler to see if it could crack again. I did some stupid stuff and it held up better than I did. I broke my collarbone. After I was healed up, I headed to Durango where the frame shined. It holds those super fast off-camber turns great and sucked those huge drops like there were nothing. I won this race, but only by a second and a half (I was out of shape due to being off the bike for 6 weeks, and the altitude and a sloppy run didnt help).
All in all I could be happier with my frame. Alex built it up light and it held up great. There are 3-4 year old Inedibles that have been beat to **** and are still going strong. I havent weighed the complete bike as that wasnt a concern of mine, but with DH tubes, steel springs, heavy parts and what not, it think it is low 40's. I would love to ride for a big team next year, but if things dont work out I know for sure what I will be riding next year, my Krolik Inedible.
If there is any specific info you want, just let me know.
For better pics of the frame go here: http://bcdracing.com/frames/sanjay/sanjay.htm
A taste of what the frame has been put through: http://www.skunark.net/~shaun/index.php?dir=&file=whistler04.wmv
Thread about my frame before I picked it up: http://www.ridemonkey.com/forums/showthread.php?t=88165&highlight=sanjay
I picked up my frame from Alex while driving across the country on my way to West Virginia with Team Swift. I left home with a backpack full of clothes/gear and a box full of the parts I would need to build my Inedible. When I fist saw the frame, I could definitely tell that a lot of love was put into the creation and finish of the frame. ex. machined Chris King top caps used for pivot retainers, BCD patch on the back of the top-tube...The build went fairly smooth. In all it took less than and hour and a half. Due to a miscommunication, I had forgotten to bring a 150mm thru-axle with me, but a quick trip to the hardware store and a piece of al;-thread later and the bike was finished. I didnt have my top crown for my Boxxer yet, as I was going to be picking up one from Romic at WV, so all I was able to do at Alexs place was pedal the bike around very quick, and it seemed to do that well. Back on the road we went and a couple days later we were at Snowshoe. After a quick cruise of the pits, I found out that my Romic shipment hadnt arrived yet with Monkey, so I went to Rock Shox and was able to buy a older crown for $10. I was now able to actually ride the bike around. I found out that I didnt really like the shock that was on the bike (9.5x3.0) the headangle was a bit to steep and BB a bit to high, so I put my (8.5x2.5) on and that seemed perfect. With this shock, the BB height was 13.75", head angle was between 64-65 degrees and travel was 7". This was the geometry I gave to Alex before he built the bike and it felt spot on.
The next day I had early morning practice. The top part of my run was pretty good, but I felt a bit slow as I had never ridden in wet, slippery conditions like those before. I had my first problem about 1/3 of the way down my run. I went into this g-out a bit fast and I hear a snap. I thought I broke my brand new bike and was pretty bummed, but I found out that the E-glass shock mount had broken. Alex told me to test this out by jumping off some stuff, but I was too amped to ride my bike that I went straight for the DH course. Alex gave me an extra steel shock mount rod so I was still good to go. A half hour push back up to the top and a quick fix and I was back on the mountain. After that first practice session was over, I was super happy with the way the bike performed. If fit me like a glove, which made sense since all Inedibles are custom made per rider. The rear end was just about the stiffest that I have felt, and I had owned and ridden most bikes that are on the market. I could rail corners that on other bikes I would be hopping all over the place. The bike though I had it setup with only 7" of rear travel also seemed almost bottomless due to the high pivot and rearward wheel path. Also I never felt brake jack with the frame. Maybe I dont use my brakes much. Mud clearance in the back was huge. While many people were stopping every run to wash off their bikes so that their suspension and wheels would move, I was on the mountain doing runs. The bike also pedaled great due to the pulley at the pivot, but I must admit that I am a coaster so I could care less about the pedaling ability of my bike. Fast forward to race my race run. The top section was going great until I got to that log launch thing that you had to pre jump. I was going super fast and even though I pre jumped a good 15-20 ft before the log, I managed to land at the bottom, flat and sideways. This was probably a good 10ft to flat and the frame held up. I had a crash on the bottom long drop thing and felt slow through the pedaling sections, but managed to win Semi-pro D by10 seconds. I couldnt feel happier with the bike.
The next week at Vermont, things started good. I got in a couple very fast runs and the bike was soaking everything up perfectly, but on the 3rd run, I went down very hard on the off camber rock section on the top of the course. When I got back up to my feet, I found out that my front tire had popped off the bead, my front break lever was broken, my frame was cracked, and my leg wasnt working properly. With the fall that I took and at the speed I was going, I am pretty sure just about any bike would have received some sort of structural damage. Todd Seplavy was kind enough to let me borrow his Medium SGS, but after a days practice with a hurt leg, things werent going to well. On Saturday Dave Weagle let me borrow his Iron Horse Sunday and it fit me much better than the SGS. I cant ride bike bikes. So with a bike that fit better and a leg that had an extra day to heal, I was back. I took a couple practice runs down the sport course (super fun course with high speed sections, and flowy tree sections at the bottom) and was pretty happy. I went on to win Semi-pro DH by 10 seconds.
A couple weeks later I was in Whistler and my repaired frame had arrived. Alex was able to beef up the cross section where the frame cracked in Vermont. I built the bike up and it was good to go. I proceeded to beat the hell out of the frame for the next 3 weeks while I was in whistler to see if it could crack again. I did some stupid stuff and it held up better than I did. I broke my collarbone. After I was healed up, I headed to Durango where the frame shined. It holds those super fast off-camber turns great and sucked those huge drops like there were nothing. I won this race, but only by a second and a half (I was out of shape due to being off the bike for 6 weeks, and the altitude and a sloppy run didnt help).
All in all I could be happier with my frame. Alex built it up light and it held up great. There are 3-4 year old Inedibles that have been beat to **** and are still going strong. I havent weighed the complete bike as that wasnt a concern of mine, but with DH tubes, steel springs, heavy parts and what not, it think it is low 40's. I would love to ride for a big team next year, but if things dont work out I know for sure what I will be riding next year, my Krolik Inedible.
If there is any specific info you want, just let me know.
For better pics of the frame go here: http://bcdracing.com/frames/sanjay/sanjay.htm
A taste of what the frame has been put through: http://www.skunark.net/~shaun/index.php?dir=&file=whistler04.wmv
Thread about my frame before I picked it up: http://www.ridemonkey.com/forums/showthread.php?t=88165&highlight=sanjay
neaky:
