My N019 Build, NASA themed!

[paulieb]

Just want to say a big thankyou for this post. Bought a Chinese carbon frame with rigid forks. After alot of tooing and frowing i decided to go with some Bluto forks.

New forks turned up, fitted them and..... Bugger wouldnt turn.

I was pointed in this direction bought the spacer, waited 5 weeks thanks to UK customs and boom.... Out on the trails

Happy fat biker

[rvc]

Awesome! Thanks for the note Paul and happy fatbiking!!

[rvc]

Just a long term update on my N019 bike experience --in short,  the bike is still running great!

I've tweaked a few things over the years, namely around the stem length and drivetrain.

Stem length
It took a while for me to dial in the turn-in feel caused by the long fork+spacer induced rake. I adjusted the front & rear tire pressures and stem length, and I also went to a flat Ti bar. The only surprise really was the impact the rear tire pressure seems to make. Up or down a few Psi transforms the bike substantially. I expected this for the front tire pressure,  but the rear tire makes a notable difference as well. I suppose it is because the rear ride height changes, hence the head angle...

Drivetrain
The XT/XTR 10 speed setup gave way to the Di2-ification of the rest of my bike fleet, I now run a 1x10 Di2 setup with a 6770 Ultegra rear derailleur and an XTR shifter. It works just fine with the derailleur hanger extender and a 42t cassette big ring. With a 32t oval ring up front, there’s plenty of gear going up.

I’ve taken the bike almost 1000 miles and now live on the west coast, where single track is either up or down 15 degrees. Not much flat anymore, and I’ve been really impressed that, we’ll, the frame hasn’t snapped from the foolish descents I’ve taken on it. No I’m not hitting 10’ drops and ramps on it, but there have been dozens of “whoa” moments where I pondered my sanity and the structural integrity of the head tube.

My greatest annoyance with the bike is the fork axle and crankset — neither of which are the frame’s fault. The drive side BB screw just loves to back out 4mi in regardless of threadlocker. Since moving west, my MTB trail vehicle is now a Porsche Boxster which while cool as heck requires removing the front wheel 2x per ride. Pulling out the 15mm Bitex axle is a pain, and I may be switching to a Mendon Cyclery Lefty fat conversion this winter.

The bike is a huge collection of unique weird hacks and oddities, and I admit I enjoy the befuddled look of dudes on their cookie cutter Specializeds. Especially passing them uphill 

Here’s a short compilation video featuring this project bike and the Boxster bike rack rigging.
Cheers!



-Robert