Carbonda fm936 Thoughts

[adroitrider]

It depends on your intended use and trails. For Leadville/Breck Epic, of course I’d want lockout.  Iceman, Ore2Shore yes lockout.

But, I ride twitchy, bumpy,  never flat or smooth single track. Palos Chicago.

When I do lockout, it’s on gravel when I’m linking from home or a remote lot. In that case it’s fine for manual.

[carbonazza]

Only downside to that is that it's really expensive to switch to a remote system.

Yeah... that is a good point.

Everyone is taking a 165x42.5 ?
Do you know why Carbonda is putting a 165x40, and what difference it makes.
It is only my second full suspension bike build

[brex]

Mine has a little bit of bob, but not enough that I use the lockout. I had a fox rebuilt with a lockout so I would have it, but I just don't lock it out hardly ever any more. I could maybe see it in pure race situations when standard and hammering, but the lockout is only still there on mine because I haven't taken the time to remove it yet.

[zilcho]

Only downside to that is that it's really expensive to switch to a remote system.

Yeah... that is a good point.

Everyone is taking a 165x42.5 ?
Do you know why Carbonda is putting a 165x40, and what difference it makes.
It is only my second full suspension bike build

Carbonda is only advertising it as a 100/100 frame.  165x40 will give 100mm of rear travel.  I think a lot of us are copying the NS Synonym TR builds which are 120/120.  165x42.5 should give around 120mm of rear travel.

I've noticed a bit of bob when riding on the paved/gravel with the rear in mid or open, but after tuning a bit I really don't notice it on the trail.  I'm also coming from road/gravel and my last mountain bike was a 26" hardtail Gary Fisher so not sure how a full suspension is supposed to feel either. 

My build is done but waiting for new decals for fork and shock before finals pics.  Happy to answer any other questions.

[casual_build]

I recently sent payment for a FM936 SL medium. I am 178cm(5'10). I got mine painted this color: RAL 4010.

New to building bikes. So far I've grabbed this:
https://www.bonanza.com/listings/Fox-Performance-165-x-42-5-Shock-Giant-Anthem-27-5-Trunnion-Dps-Float/848805570
And a Fox 34 Factory 120mm FIT4 with remote.
So far I have spent ~2300USD. Hoping to keep the bike under 11kg, 10.5 target.

I only want to spend another 2000 on bike parts, and I want to use strong aluminum wheels.
I would love any part recomendations or tips or helpful links. I dont have a bike stand or tools or anything.

Will post pictures of build progress.

[carbonazza]

...RAL 4010...

Nice! Having a flashy bike makes your friends recognize you either when crossing them or even from afar.
And makes people come to you to talk about it

...I want to use strong aluminum wheels...

Why not buy carbon wheels ? AM wheels are as strong if not stronger than aluminium, and come with this light feeling you get each time you accelerate.
You can get very good wheels from 500 to 900USD depending on the hubs and spokes you choose.

[casual_build]

Why not buy carbon wheels ? AM wheels are as strong if not stronger than aluminium, and come with this light feeling you get each time you accelerate.
You can get very good wheels from 500 to 900USD depending on the hubs and spokes you choose.

I make a lot of mistakes riding and carbon rims seems a bit more delicate. I'm hoping to get a very long life from aluminum rims.

[wfl3]

Why not buy carbon wheels ? AM wheels are as strong if not stronger than aluminium, and come with this light feeling you get each time you accelerate.
You can get very good wheels from 500 to 900USD depending on the hubs and spokes you choose.

I make a lot of mistakes riding and carbon rims seems a bit more delicate. I'm hoping to get a very long life from aluminum rims.

In my experience, carbon rims of similar weight and widths are quite a bit more durable than their aluminum counterparts.  They are also a LOT stiffer laterally and increase steering precision IMO.  They also, stay truer longer in my experience.

Been 100% on carbon on the MTB for well over a decade now and I've managed to break only one superlight XC 29er rim (305 grams) - that rim strike would have ruined an aluminum rim too (high speed, extremely low tire pressure).  I ride lots of rocky stuff here on the east coast and my rims def get a beating and scarred up. 

I was leery at first as well, just start with a heavier duty rim to gain confidence in them - something in the 425-450 range for XC will be plenty tough.  If I was limited to one carbon item on a bike it would be rims 1st for me.   

[casual_build]

Here are the wheels I am considering:

Carbon - https://www.lightbicycle.com/Hand-built-All-Mountain-Cross-country-carbon-29er-MTB-wheelset-30mm-wide-tubeless-compatible.html
AL - https://www.lamacycles.com/en/ns-bikes-octane-one/wheels-wheelsets/29-wheelsets/ns-wheelset-enigma-lite-29

I was going to go with the hunts new xc rim but they aren't in stock until the end of October.

Really stuck on how to save weight on a budget with the brakes and groupset.

Any recommendations for light weight groupset/brakes

Why not buy carbon wheels ? AM wheels are as strong if not stronger than aluminium, and come with this light feeling you get each time you accelerate.
You can get very good wheels from 500 to 900USD depending on the hubs and spokes you choose.

I make a lot of mistakes riding and carbon rims seems a bit more delicate. I'm hoping to get a very long life from aluminum rims.

In my experience, carbon rims of similar weight and widths are quite a bit more durable than their aluminum counterparts.  They are also a LOT stiffer laterally and increase steering precision IMO.  They also, stay truer longer in my experience.

Been 100% on carbon on the MTB for well over a decade now and I've managed to break only one superlight XC 29er rim (305 grams) - that rim strike would have ruined an aluminum rim too (high speed, extremely low tire pressure).  I ride lots of rocky stuff here on the east coast and my rims def get a beating and scarred up. 

I was leery at first as well, just start with a heavier duty rim to gain confidence in them - something in the 425-450 range for XC will be plenty tough.  If I was limited to one carbon item on a bike it would be rims 1st for me.   

[Tand]

165x42.5 should give around 120mm of rear travel.

How did you calculate this?
The average suspension ratio should be 2.5 for this frame (100mm wheel travel with 40mm shock as stated by Carbonda)
So with a with 165x42.5 it would be 106.25 mm travel...? Am I missing something?

[adbl]

165x42.5 should give around 120mm of rear travel.

How did you calculate this?
The average suspension ratio should be 2.5 for this frame (100mm wheel travel with 40mm shock as stated by Carbonda)
So with a with 165x42.5 it would be 106.25 mm travel...? Am I missing something?

I believe that calculation was based on linear thinking. When you look at the travel of the rear triangle it is dependent upon the shock stroke, leverage ratio, and the rear axle path. Depending on the suspension design, the initial rearward axle path will have a great effect on final travel. The only way to get an accurate travel number is to model the frame in a CAD program. And that measurement is a vertical wheel travel number. That's why the axle path is so important.

[Zdrenka89]

is to model the frame in a CAD program.

One day im going to do that.... But dont hold your breath

[adbl]

is to model the frame in a CAD program.

One day im going to do that.... But dont hold your breath

[zilcho]

165x42.5 should give around 120mm of rear travel.

How did you calculate this?
The average suspension ratio should be 2.5 for this frame (100mm wheel travel with 40mm shock as stated by Carbonda)
So with a with 165x42.5 it would be 106.25 mm travel...? Am I missing something?

I did not calculate this myself but am going off of what NS claims and other members in the forum.
https://nsbikes.com/synonym-tr1,429,pl.html
NS use a custom rear triangle from Carbonda but the linkage points are in the same location and it has the same chain stay length.

[lRaphl]

NS Bikes also use a 37.5mm stroke shock for their race version with 100mm of travel. Carbonda state 100mm with a 40mm stroke.

https://nsbikes.com/synonym-rc-1,427,pl.html