Feature :: Dropmachine.com - Project Bike :: The Trailbike

Its fun building custom bikes. Its expensive, but often far more gratifying knowing you have build your bike up exactly as you wanted it done. Every single part (in my case, right down to the chainring bolts) is hand picked, and planned. Sure there may be some concessions to cost and availablility, but for the most part, you get exactly what you want. It costs more, but its worth it.

Of course, not everybody is going to agree with your parts selection. Some will hate your bike, some will secretly touch themselves while they think about it. In the end, its all personal.

Obviously, the first thing is to choose the frame. I decided on a Kona Coilair. I have owned quite a few Konas now, and I always just like how they fit. They aren't as fancy as some of the other frames out there, but they do the job, and give a decent ride. I wanted something with about 6 inches in back, and solid. Other choices included the Santa Cruz Nomad, Devinci Hectic, Giant Reign, Intense 6.6, Commencal Mini DH, and a few others. What got me was the new DOPE system from Kona. The DOPE is a floating brake system, which keeps your suspension active under braking, which keeps your wheel from chattering around every time you yank the brakes. This was an answer for one of my biggest complaints about the Kona suspension system, its lack of active suspension under braking. Rear shock is a DHX Air 5.0.

There are a bunch of 6 inch travel forks on the market, from every company you can think of. Fox has the 36 line, Marzocchi has the Z1 line, Manitou the Nixons, RockShox the Lyriks, and Magura the Wotan. All have thier good and bad points. In the end, I chose the Lyrik. I have been very impressed with what RockShox has been doing lately, and knew that the new Lyrik is a great bit of hardware. The Lyrik Solo air is 5 pounds, has high and low speed compression adjustment, rebound, the floodgate platform control, the Maxel 360 (I will never get tired saying how much I love Maxels), and the new Mission Control damping system. Really, unless the fork exploded on me and crippled me, I couldn't loose. Lyrik Solo Air it is.

SRAM for this one. 8 speed X7 shifters, X-0 Carbon rear deraileur. Done. I wanted the new X-9 shifters, but they don't come in 8 speed. I did go for an XTR 8 speed cassette though, since its the only high end 8 speed cassette I can find. Also a deore front deraileur, cause I love them.Its a system I know, and am very fond of. I just wish those damn 8 speed X-9s came out. Shimano of course also makes some excellent options here, including the XT lineup and the Hone series, which I am a big fan of.

WHEELS ::

I wanted something special here. Wheels are a critical component. Too heavy and you have a sluggish bike. Too light, and dependability becomes a problem. For me, I decided on Industry Nine hubs and spokes, laced to mavic 721 rims. The Industry Nine stuff has been stellar so far, with very few problems, and also allowed me to run a 12mm rear, which I prefer to QR. Other then the spokes loosening off a bit, I have no complains. Yeah they are expensive, but they are killer light, they engage near instantly, and they look so damn good. Industry nine FTW. The Mavic rims, well they are arguably the best rims for DH/ trail riding ever made, so thats an easy choice. Tires are Kenda Nevegals, 2.3 sticky rubber. Admittedly, this is a crazy high end wheelset. You don't need anything this nuts, I just wanted it.

CRANKS ::

RaceFace Atlas. I will freely admit to being a RaceFace fanboy. Simply put, they make good shit. Lifetime warranty, light enough to DH on (if you are smooth), light enough to trailride. They look awesome, they are stiff enough for my 210 pound self, and they aren't crazy expensive. I threw on some RaceFace team rims, 36/24, and a RaceFace bashguard. the 36/24 combo is better for me because I can still climb the steeper stuff with the 24, and the 36 provides enough top end to really motor along. Also considered Shimano's Hone cranks, Truvativ Holzfellers, and FSAs stuff.

I went with a Thomson Stem and Seatpost, cause I wanted to try it out. No doubt, the Thomson stuff is light, and according to Thomson, strong as hell. I never really got to test the strength part, but it felt good, and never made a peep. RaceFace Atlas bars are perfect for this project since they are reasonably wide at 27 inches. King Headset, well thats a given. Pedals were Crank Brothers 50/50 xx. This stuff is probably the biggest source of fluff on the bike. We'll get to that in a second though.

I've had a considerable amount of time in the saddle now (which by the way, is only a cheap OEM Norco seat, but damn its comfy.), and feel I know quite a bit about the bike. First, the DOPE system works. Its hard to explain here, but if you try it with and then without the floating brake, you will feel the difference immediately. Is it worth the pound or so weight penalty? I would say it depends on your riding style. For DH oriented guys, they will appreciate it. For guys that concentrate on the uphills and hate the downs, it will still be a benefit of course, but not as much as an aggressive braker. Myself, I like it a bunch, and other then compromising a bit of tire clearance with the arm, I am happy with it. its an expensive upgrade at $300 bucks, but man it feels nice to not chatter like nuts under high speed braking.

Going up is decent. The Kona's suspension system isn't that complicated, being a single pivot with a link driven shock, but it works. Traction is good, and you can motor up most anything. Since the Lyrik we had was the Solo air, there was no travel adjust feature. I always though travel adjust was a gimmick, but man, its got its uses. Any fully extended 6 inch fork makes climbing harder. You wheelie and the front wheel wanders around on steep climbs. I strongly reccomend getting a travel adjustable fork for climbing. It really does make a difference. Tuning the DHX air allows a very custom ride, especially when combined with the multiple shock mounts. This let me tune the bike to climb well with little bob (unless standing and hammering) while still being supple on the downhills.

The downhills are fun indeed. The Lyrik is a great fork for taking abuse, and a good match for the back of the Kona and its DHX air. Dial in your air pressure and compression, and let it rip. The DOPE system lets you brake like a complete hack into corners, and still make it out alive. While the DHX did a fairly good job, it also felt dead. It lacked the life that a good coilover has, and I will admit that I wasn't a fan. It also seemed to blow through its travel fairly easily, even with higher air pressures. This meant that we'd hit the firmest part of the travel with little effort, giving a bit of a harsh ride. I'd like to try out the RP3 and see if this can be cured.

Cornering was decent, but the Nevegals weren't a favorite. I found in the dry conditions i usually ride in, the rear Nevegal would let loose with little effort, resulting in some pretty sketchy moments. The front wasn't as bad, but it never gave that firm grip that inspires confidence in corners. The Coilar was reasonably stiff, and didn't give us huge flex issues in corners. The DOPE system had a little side to side movement, but never caused enough drag to annoy the rider.

Building a similar bike could have been done much cheaper. There were a number of products that definitely were more fluff then performance. The Thomson stuff, while brilliant in almost every way, is definitely overkill. Axoim $20 stems are just as stiff, but heavier, and not as pretty. They do get the job done though. Same with the seatpost. Yeah its strong as hell and light, but other posts are strong, not as light, and do the job. I think a better combo for the value is the SDG stuff. Hell, an Aemoba seatpost willl do the job at 1/5th the cost, albeit without the bling, lightness or durability. The King headset is overkill for sure, but like the Thomson stuff, its pimp. Nobody needs the precision built into a King headset. Of course, nobody needs a Bently either, but people buy them. This is definitely a part that is more want then need. FSA, RaceFace, and a few others make headsets that work well, but won't have the bling or durability of the King. the Industry Nine wheels are top performers and light as hell, but a set of XT hubs would have worked too. Again though, they aren't as light, don't engage as fast, don't make as lovely a sound, and definitely aren't as overly goddam cool.

In the end, I am happy with the bike. It does what I wanted it to do, and it does it fairly well. Its not the best climber I've ever tried, and its not the best decender. But it does both very well, and well enough to keep me happy.

	balfaboy - September 5, 2007 Jeff how many bikes do you have ???? Does it ever end?? Have you ever found a bike that is close to perfection???
	intense - September 5, 2007 Mmm....a lot that are close, but none that are spot on. Check that. My old 24 Pornking was the shit.
	Tricky - September 6, 2007 Your old 24 Porn King still is the shit! I love it!
	Atomatik - September 10, 2007 i got to ride it. i felt like jeffy was going to break my legs if i popped a tire...
	balfaboy - September 11, 2007 Right now I'm riding the almost perfect bike. It has one flaw. When I adjust the head angle to where I like it the rear tire hits frame when bottomed. Slow close to perfection!!!!

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