TanTan FM10 29/27.5+

[emu26]

Haven't ordered yet, I'm waiting to see if I'll have a shock from a denied Felt warranty claim or if I'll need the shock to build up the boys bike again.

Yes, that is a pic from a seller.

[CzHuska]

I bought 29er wheels and a fox 34 27.5+ fork for the frame. I finalized my order on June 15th and am awaiting shipping.
Trying to figure out what rear shock to purchase now. Not sure if I go 185/55 or 200/57 for better tire clearance.

[northup]

I bought 29er wheels and a fox 34 27.5+ fork for the frame. I finalized my order on June 15th and am awaiting shipping.
Trying to figure out what rear shock to purchase now. Not sure if I go 185/55 or 200/57 for better tire clearance.

I've been waffling on the same question. I think I'm going to stick with 27.5+ wheels, and my fork can run 150m or 160mm, so I'm debating the 200/57 low flip chip with a 160mm fork (a bit more slack but slightly higher BB), or 185/55 high flip chip with a 150mm fork (for the geometry around which the bike was designed). I'm leaning 185/55 but I'm open to opinion/discussion.

[ryapad]

What about a 190? Or would that make it sit too low?

[northup]

I think at 190 you'd have to run the flip chip low to fit. With the 275ers, I think it'd end up with more pedal strike, though I can't wait to get my hands on my frame and play with the measurements, rather than theory-crafting in my basement.

Quick edit - you may be able to run the flip chip high with a 190, but that would probably limit your overall travel by about 20-30mm

[GuitsBoy]

Replacement parts shipped out this morning. 

Been frequenting the local dirt jumps with my son and friends trying to get a little skills building session on the new frame.  Finally getting it reliable and dialed in.  Frame is comfortably handling 2-3 ft jumps and drops to flat with 230+ ride weight.  Ghost shifting and clicking under load are completely gone after setting the rear pivot bearings in place, and carefully loc-titing the bolts.  The rear no longer feels vague or loose under load or over chop / roots.  I knew these issues would go away once i got everything to stay tight, so I didn't mention them before.

Next task is working on the suspension to maintain suppleness over chop, yet improve the efficiency.  On longer rides, going from my old 140/100 frame to 150/150 now, this bike feels much bigger and heavier to lug around.  Some extra care setting up the suspension should go a long way towards closing the gap.

[northup]

Good to hear it's dialing in well, and thanks for the updates, I'm dying for my frame to ship.

[GuitsBoy]

After doing everything I could to get my stretched manitou magnum to perform well, it developed some heavy stiction and wasn't reaching max extension.  After playing mad scientist in the garage, I finally managed to deform a bushing to the point the fork no longer slides smoothly.  I've ordered up a cheap replacement lowers for it, but decided to upgrade to a new manitou mezzer anyway.  A bit expensive, its a really nice fork and has a lot going for it.  The 37 mm stanchions are nice and stiff and hold up much better to my 230+ lb ride weight.  Its internally adjustable from 140 to 180 mm travel.  While it doesn't have quite as much clearance as the magnum, it will still let me run either 29x2.6 or 27.5x3 tires.  The fork also rides very high in its travel, and has a more appropriate 565mm axle to crown a 150 travel.  Pedal strikes have been greatly reduced for sure.  The seals still need to break in a bit more, but its already fairly supple.  Its very well damped and I experience ZERO pedal bob in the saddle, and only mild bob mashing out of the saddle.  I'm hoping some more tweaks will further reduce that.   Anyway, so far so good.

[Icyseanfitz]

really interested in the mezzer pro myself, just ordered a p9 and am debating between the mezzer, lyrik ultimate, or zeb ultimate. Had a mattoc pro 2 before and loved it.

[GuitsBoy]

really interested in the mezzer pro myself, just ordered a p9 and am debating between the mezzer, lyrik ultimate, or zeb ultimate. Had a mattoc pro 2 before and loved it.

How much do  you weigh?  The mezzer seems to be better suited towards medium and heavier riders.  It may be overdamped for light weighs.  But then again, the mattoc might be a better option in that case anyway.  The mezzer really comes alive at speed through chop.  My initial thoughts is that its a little underwhelming at low speeds navigating tech compared to the mattoc/magnum, but really comes alive once speed comes up above 8 to 10 mph.  I may be able to dial in some better low speed characteristics as I dial in the IRT and compression.  But headed downhill over roots or chop, the thing feels incredible.

[Icyseanfitz]

I'm quite a heavy rider at around 105kg, so this trend of thicker stanchions is probably a great thing for me, problem with Manitou is the resale, had awful trouble selling on my last bike with the mattocs as all people want is RS or fox

[GuitsBoy]

So, more bad news with the frame.  Had another failure I noticed yesterday.  The very clever through bolt that allows mounting a standard shock instead of trunnion shock, well, it snapped in half, and bent.  Luckily I was able to hammer it out, and seems no damage to the frame or bearings.  I'm a heavy dude at 235+ lbs ride weight (105 kg ish?) but this happened at moderately tame riding, XC or light trail style stuff.  I heard a pop going over a log rollover and inspected the carbon, but didn't find any problems. I rode another hour without issue, then rode the streets home.  It wasnt until the next day I notice the bolt was a bit proud, and couldn't be screwed back together.

Anyway, I have a fairly simple and inexpensive fix in place right now.  A stainless steel 5/16 x 3 inch (or 3-1/2" cut down a bit) bolt fits snugly through the 8mm shock hardware, but is too loose in the 10mm frame bearings.  I found some loose chainring bolts from old style 104 BCD chainrings fit the 10mm bearing just fine, and have a shoulder to keep them located.  I simply needed to drill them out 5/16 to slide the bolt through.  Anyway, there's the tiniest little bit of play, but nothing I'm concerned about, so Ill continue riding this way until TanTan can come up with a suitable replacement.  And if they cant, Ill just come up with a more elegant version of this stainless bolt.  It works well enough.

So there you go.  Another ding.  I feel like they're using their customers as their QC department.  At least I got a really good deal, and tend to enjoy wrenching and tinkering on the bike.
 

[emu26]

So ideally this frame wants a trunnion mount rear shock to avoid this type of thing happening.

Thanks for keeping us informed.

[GuitsBoy]

So ideally this frame wants a trunnion mount rear shock to avoid this type of thing happening.

Thanks for keeping us informed.

Yeah, I would think a trunnion shock would pretty well eliminate the issue.

Using the hardware they provided, you had 8x22mm shock hardware sandwiched between two 16mm spacers.  That means youre supporting the middle 22mm over a span of 54mm with nothing but that thin 8mm alloy bolt.

Forgoing the hardware they provide, you can now use proper 8x54mm shock hardware (Though I did have to file it down some).  That means the 12.7mm OD x 8mm ID tube spans the whole 54mm length and adds strength.  I could probably get away with a regular sex bolt instead of that heavy stainless bolt.   A standard sex bolt would certainly look a lot more appropriate on the bike.   If anyone wanted to do this, all they would have to do is fabricate the chainring bolt adapters like I did, and alloy ones should be easy enough to drill out and grind down to proper thickness.  Ten minutes work.  Quite honestly, if I were to replace the hex bolt with a sex bolt for aesthetics alone, I would consider this a permanent fix.

Hopefully TanTan will come up with a better solution, preferably one that allows use of proper 8x54mm hardware for support.  I'm sure theyll be getting lots of complaints about this soon, if they havent already.  I cant be the only one to break this.

[CzHuska]

Good to hear it's dialing in well, and thanks for the updates, I'm dying for my frame to ship.

Well at least I have not bought a shock yet. My frame should have been shipped by now according to Tantan, but I haven't received confirmation. Was really hoping to at least use the bike in Lake Tahoe mid August for a trip.

Put a 94 rockhopper together with a cheap for fork and have been hitting the jump trails,  just so far away for the frame.