CS-MB01 ordered... It has begun!!!!!!!

[gohloum]

Yes Alex,  Dealing with Peter was very good.  I happen to try and make my purchase during a typhoon, then Chinese holiday, and then Peter leaving to Las Vegas for Interbike.  Once he shipped, it took about 7 days.  They had to build my wheels as well, so that's why nothing was shipped before hand.

So I completed the build today.  For the moment I have a GX 1000 crank instead of the 1400. Mine was defective as we couldn't get the play out of it. SRAM will have a new one in my hands on Tuesday.  At least I will ride some trails this weekend.

OK, so considering it's been raining and its dark outside, I just rode around on my street to test gears and brakes and my first impressions are great! The bike feels solid to me, however, I am 160 lbs and on a 17" frame.   I will take it for a more thorough ride in the morning and put some miles on it.  Probably only black top and some dirt roads, but enough to see if I feel any unwanted flex or what not. 

I emailed with another guy who built one in Europe.  He's considerably larger than me and got the 21".  He said it flexed a little but he was happy with the purchase.  He also has 28 spoke wheels where mine are 32.

Hope Tech 3 X2 brakes... Whoa!  Where to even begin on these, they are amazing.  I used to own a Buell X1 motorcycle and these brakes in combination with the shock gave me flashbacks.  The modulation is incredibly controllable.  I've never felt more confident putting so much force on the front brake of a mountain bike before.  Granted I'm coming from V Brakes, but I've ridden a few Shimano brake builds.  Not even comparable.  I got mine from Merlin for only about $60 USD more than Deore XTs.  Even with the Snail brand (Hope copy) rotors, they are amazing.  I was able to cut the hose (stainless braided), route through the frame, refit the brass ends, and bleed all on my own with no help or manuals.  I did watch a video on bleeding V1 Hope brakes about 2 weeks ago, but that was it.  Simple to do provided you have the tools you need like good Shimano SIS cable housing cutters.  Super easy to adjust reach and bite as well.  kinda fun to find that comfy spot for quick finger response... Seriously, I can't say enough good things about them.  Even getting the calipers and rotors aligned was super easy.  From here on out, I will probably run Hope Tech brakes exclusively. 

So here is what's on the build:

Frame CS-MB01 - Carbonspeed (Peter @ xmcarbonspeed.com)
Wheels 29 with Novatec hubs - Carbonspeed
Bars - Carbon from Carbonspeed
Seat Post - Carbon from CarbonSpeed
Saddle: G-House all carbon (Selle SMP clone) $25 from Aliexpress (Thanks carbon_dude for the link, I love this thing!)
Fork - Fox 32 Factory SC (Step Cast) very light and got it under $875. Message me for supplier.
Brakes: Hope Tech 3 X2 - Merlin Cycles for about $260.00
Rotors: Hope copies by Snail from AliExpress ($25 for the pair)
Stem: Fun 80mm 7degree from Chain Reaction Cycles (about $25)
Grips: RaceFace Half Nelsons from Chain Reaction Cycles ($20)
Groupset: SRAM GX with 1400 crankset upgrade from r2-bike.com (about $350).
Pedals: I have from another bike.
Tires: Ground Controls 2.3 ($55)

Here is an initial pic, but I'll do more tomorrow outside with some closeups of various parts.  As for any cons,  the aft mount for the rear brake caliper is akward to get to due to the seat stay over it.  Had to use a single bent allen key to get it tightened up, but looking at the design, I don't see how this could have been avoided. 



Frame routing holes were big enough for the 5mm brake lines.  I was initially concerned about this.  The way I routed my cables was I took a wire from a coat hanger and fished some 40lb braided fishing line through my down tube routes.  I used this as a pull string and tied it to the brake line and the shifter cable.  There is ample room and a large opening with a bracket for the shift cables and a separate hole for brake under the BB.  I was able to use needle nose to assist with pulling through on the fishing line.  The trick is to route from head tube down to BB.  Don't try going the other way, you don't any real way to manipulate the brake line if it hangs on the edge of the carbon opening.  ( I found this out the hard way, LOL).

OK, enough for tonight. I'll put up a few more posts over the coming days with more pics for you guys and my thoughts on the ride.

[tripleDot]

Nice setup, I especially love the orange accent (I'm kind'a biased with that color).  I don't own this frame but my new road bike was built on a frame that uses the same vibration dampening system (also from Peter, you can check my rb at the Road Bike section).  And I would say that system have proven to be effective for me, especially on the rigid road fork.  It does a pretty good job in taking away vibrations that would usually hurt your wrists and elbows.

Also have to echo that Peter was pretty good and easy to deal with.

[Carbon_Dude]

The orange color is very nice!  Glad to see you got your bike completed.

[gohloum]

Took her for a 17 mile ride today, about 50% road 40% hard pack and 10% single track.  I am very surprised at the flick-ability of the bike.  Honestly, I had concerns going with a 29 originally.  I was pretty sold on a 27.5... At some point I said screw it, Florida is a lot of pedaling and I want speed.

Remember, I am coming from a 20 year old 26er, so it was an interesting ride.  However I actually found cornering to be more secure and better grip and I was able to actually take some of the corners at higher speed with less drift.  I assume that has to do with a larger contact patch, plus a 2.3 instead of 2.1 tires. The bike feels short, which I actually like. I'm not stretched out or overextended.   Might even move the spacers around and lower my bars a tad more. 

Next ride will be this weekend on some serious trails. Most likely Markham Park or Alafia.  Both rated #1 and #2 in the state of Florida.  After that, I'll have a real good update for you guys. :-)

More pics after the first ride.  Al little sand here and there, but that's it.

[Alex]

Your post´s an photos are very helpful, thank you very much, congratulations on your new "toy" I´m sure you will be enjoying it a lot, will be waiting on your future comments on the bike

[gohloum]

So me and the beast went to Markham Park and thrashed about for 17 miles of some pretty high-speed and insane trail busting.  Did all the black diamond stuff that was open.  Loads of rocks, jumps, drops with roots and misc obstacles. I even crashed.   I got a little banged up and am somewhat sore today, but the bike performed beyond expectation.  The crash was in the first 1 mile as I was more psyched out about some of the terrain on a new bike.  Once I got over that, no more hesitation and no more spills.  Jumps and lands like a dream.  Super light in the air and easier to whip around as a result. 

The trails were wet as we got a morning rain, but all things considered, I still pushed the bike really hard and I was with a group of guys that are pretty fast and had no problem hanging with them even though I was fairly unfamiliar with the terrain, given I've only been there a few times.

From here on out, I guess it will be updates on mods from here on out unless I have some sort of failure.... Probably some pics too.  My Fun orange pedals and Kore blue crank ring just came in.  Once I get everything mounted I'll snap a few more.

Regardless of my pain, I'm hitting CRP trails in the morning. There are some jumps and bmx/free ride things there, but mostly a big XC pedal trail with a lot of changing terrain.  https://www.leegov.com/parks/facility?fid=0253

Keep the shiny side up!

TJ

[boneshaker]

Great looking bike and thanks for the info... Cant wait until the new year and get my project going!

[gohloum]

So my replacement crank made it here.  Added a blue KORE chainring to finish things off.  Just weighed the bike too.  I'm at 20.7 lbs!  Almost sub 20. But I'm sub 21, so I'll take it!

[Cevan]

Did you weigh the frame and wheelset?

[gohloum]

Unfortunately, no.  I didn't weight it before it was assembled.  However, I did weigh it after going to tubeless and right now it sits at 20.3lbs.