Fork and brakes:

The sun showed up, so why not move this project outside!

I shortened the fork steerer, but I kept it quite long, in case I need to adjust bar height later on. Better to cut it once again if needed.

Before I mounted the fork, I routed the gear wire and rear brake hose through the frame. Not that difficult, but it was easier with the fork not there, so I could guide it right with my fingers.

I also decided to put "Moto-style" brake setup: Front on right, rear on left (as they do it in England), since that's the best setup for the routing of cables in the frame. I guess it will take some time to get used to, but I also have a motorcycle, and it - of course - have front brake on right hand, so why not on my MTB?

Now it starts to look like a bike! Fork shortened, cables routed and rear brake mounted:


Ok. The brake hose and gear cable housing was laying tight against the frame under the bottom bracket. But when the suspension moved, the cables were scraping against the frame. Not good.
So I put some hot glue (!) in the openings to give the cables/suspension room to move freely.

Looks great, doesn't it?
Maybe not...
But it's alright. Almost no one will look under my bike! 



Time to cut the brake hoses and route them to the right handles. There's a really great video over at GMBN of how to do that!

I used a small vise to hold the hose when mounting the barb and olive. Not that messy, but keep some paper or a rag nearby. It's not a great thing to get oil on your brakes...



Then I bled the brakes. Shimanos "funnel" makes it really easy. Just screw it on, put some oil in there and watch the bubbles come out as the oil replaces them. Neat.



Ok. Brakes mounted.
Now it's time for gears!

The frame looks fantastic! (If you ask me!) The color is just right. Great finish, I could never have done something similar with "rattle cans garage job".



Bottom bracket:
I decided to put some "carbon assembly paste" on the BB but - despite this picture - later put it in the frame instead, so it wouldn't come off during install.
For installation, I used a tool I bought on Ebay, but it's not that difficult do use a DIY tool (a couple of big washers and a long bolt and nut).

Video of me preparing it with paste, and using the tool to mount the right side bearing cup. Creeeeeeking noise! 
(Klick image:)


Crank:
Not to difficult: Just push it in, tighten "just enough" to preload the bearings. And use a good torque wrench to tighten the left crank to the axel.

Chainring:
I mounted the AbsoluteBlack Oval 34T, and it JUST cleared the chain stay! (Ca 5-6 mm). Great!





Great. Let's move on to the rear wheel, cassette and shock...

(deleted, will start own thread).

Quote from: MickeF on March 03, 2017, 05:22:23 AM

Can someone with the frame measure the distance "X", from bridge to seat post when the distance between shock eyelet is 165 mm?
X should be more then 38 mm...

About 43mm with a stock 163mm spacer installed, measured along seatstays just like on picture. Should be a couple mm more with a proper shock.

Then it shouldn't be a problem, even if the linkage shortens the distance some.
Thank's! for sharing!

Quote from: Charly42 on February 26, 2017, 08:11:03 AM

do you have same problem? maybe look that (with 0 bar on your rear shock).

I did not put the shock on yet due to missing mounting kits, so can't say for sure. What I can share though might sound both suspicous and reassuring. Without shock, the bridge comes to about 3cm of seattube easily. Then frame starts to resist further compression, but it's possible to make the bridge touch the seat tube, yes. It takes about 7.5kg on pocket scale attached to the rear axle, pulling in direction of shock. I will check everything again when mounts arrive. If problem persists, I'll think about shock spacer. Maybe an offset shock mount can help too?

Charly, while at it, can you ask guys from that thread about what width shock mount hardware they went with?

Dengfu states a shock "165/38", so isn't that 38mm the max travel for the bridge, before the shock bottoms out?

I was planning to order it since Octorber and now finally did it. Expect photos/weight in about month, build list can be found here.

Same here. Just ordered! Exciting times ahead...