TanTan FM10 29/27.5+

[GuitsBoy]

Shes all built up, but still needs dialing in.  Maybe a shakedown run tomorrow.  Most of the parts are obviously well used from my last frame.  The Manitou Magnum was stretched from 140 to 153mm travel.  Drivetrain is all new except for the crankset and a worn out absoluteblack oval that desperately needs replacement.   Have a Wheels-Mfg thread together BB to keep from developing any creaks.  Wheels are nextie i45 carbon hoops on sram 900 hubs.  Brakes are simano zee with 203/180 hope rotors.  All around solid bike.  Ive been riding a big split in travel (140/100) for so long, this feels really weird to me right now.   Let me know if you guys want any detailed / close up pics of any specific areas, and Ill snap a few tomorrow. 

[emu26]

Damn that was quick, and it looks great.
I wouldn't worry about how close the 200 is, as soon as you put any weight on it, the brace moves away from the seat post. How close is the rubber to the other side of the seat tube when the shock is bottomed out?

[GuitsBoy]

Thanks. The tire has a good inch, or maybe 7/8 if I really jammed it into the bottom out bumper. But I'm running 27.5 plus tires, it would be a half inch closer with 29ers.  The only reason I worry about the spacing at 200mm is rebound over jumps or drops. I sure don't want it to make contact. I just hope that too out bumper doesn't have much give.

[GuitsBoy]

DANGER DANGER DANGER!!!!!

If you have a 200mm shock, Hold off on riding this frame until this gets straightened out.   The nose of the shock rubs the seat stay arch at 3/4 to full compression.  Its broken through the paint and starting to show fibers.  And this was just from test rides.   Emailing them to see what they say.  Probably not a great idea to ride this frame as it is, at least not hard.  Well, crap.  This sucks.

[emu26]

Damn that is not good. Hopefully they'll get a solution sorted for you reasonably quickly.  Makes you question how they could not be aware of this sort of thing during the "testing" process.

[arrkaye]

Ah man, that's terrible. Hope you can get it sorted.

Sounds 190 might be the sweet spot. Mind sharing some more pics from different angles?

[arrkaye]

I may be crazy, but looking at the flip chip, do you have it set to the larger position? From the picture TanTan sent me, it looked like the flip supported 200 or 210.

[emu26]

I may be crazy, but looking at the flip chip, do you have it set to the larger position? From the picture TanTan sent me, it looked like the flip supported 200 or 210.

Can you share that picture arrkaye?

[arrkaye]

Yes, ofc.

[GuitsBoy]

I may be crazy, but looking at the flip chip, do you have it set to the larger position? From the picture TanTan sent me, it looked like the flip supported 200 or 210.

I believe the pic of the 200/210 flip chip is from the FM08 frame, not the FM10. The FM10 flip chip is unlabeled.   The 200 is the max length shock that will fit, any longer and the seat stay arch will contact the seat tube.

[GuitsBoy]

Took a nice easy first ride this afternoon.  Only 8 miles or so, some mild trail with a few rollers and under 12 inch drops.  Bike did well.  While teh geometry feels very similar to my previous frame, the 150/150 split is going to take some getting used to.  Even though its balanced, it doesnt feel evenly matched front and rear.  Some of it is mental, and some may require some air pressure, rebound and compression adjustments.  Anyway, the shock contact hasn't caused a catastrophic failure yet, so thats nice.

[MX72]

I wonder if it would be a good idea to grind out a little space in the frame and/or grind down the end of the shock just a little give it a bit more clearance?  Not ideal but probably better than cracking it.

My frame is about to ship but now I am thinking about canceling the order last minute. Major disappointment.

[GuitsBoy]

If for whatever reason they don't plan to replace the seat stay, I would plan to Dremel out some clearance and then epoxy the fibers. But really, I shouldn't have to.

If you plan to run a 200mm shock, I would absolutely contact them about it before it ships. Hopefully I'm just one of the first off the assembly line, maybe they've already caught the issue.

I'm thinking they'll simply add a channel to the arch in the future. Still have no idea how they missed this, it seems a pretty obvious omission. Maybe they did all their testing with a 190 shock.

That said, the rest of the frame fit and finish is top notch. It feels solid. And I really love the clever mounting hardware that allows for both trunnion and standard shocks. So far It's a great frame with one glaring defect. I hope they fix it going forward.

But yeah, it does make you wonder about what kind of testing the frames went through, if any. My thinking is they put it on a stress test machine, but who knows how it mounts to the frame.

[arrkaye]

I also wonder if it's related to the shock itself. Maybe it was tested with a Rockshox and there's some sort of difference on the Manitou..

[emu26]

Thanks aarkaye for the pic, I think that is the typical type of mistake that their sales people make, send you wrong pics, wrong dimensions, no that won't fit but it does and vica versa.

I don't think a 190 will work.  I think that is another mistake on that listing. Seraph shows it is 185.  If you had a 190mm or 195mm shock you could make them work by milling your own "flip chip" with just the one hole.

As for the rubbing I think that is probably a shock they didn't test.  Fox are round at the end but flat across, the McCleod looks like it is curved to match the hardware but also curved from side to side.