Quote from: Carbon_Dude on August 04, 2014, 07:00:04 AM
That's the great thing about XX1, it's very easy to change chain rings.

Shame about the price of them!

I think most people could ride happily with a 30, and it's definitely what I would recommend to most people (hence my comment in this very thread).

Either way, with 1x10 I had enough gears to get up a hill which 95% of other competitors were walking, and which if you sat back on the saddle you would pop the front wheel because it was that steep.

But I agree it depends on your trails. If you need the 22x36 on a triple then you must be going up some crazy steep 25+% stuff which isn't the kind of climbing I enjoy. The fact that a lot of high end bikes are now coming with 1x11 setups leads me to believe that generally speaking most people can get away with running it. Also SRAM are now trickling it down to lower tier groupsets so clearly the demand for it is there.

This chart offers a good comparison actually,



Looks like 24x36 is the same ratio as 28x42. To be honest I was considering moving over to a 30t ring to get a bit better use of my cassette but with the rings being the price they are at the moment I'll stick to my 32 and just pedal harder.

I use an Edge 500

Quote from: Vipassana on July 30, 2014, 12:43:07 AM
This build turned out great.  I'm digging all these rigid forks popping up on these builds. 

As you get more seat time, please share your experiences/impressions with us.

I went rigid purely because it was cheaper than trying to get a high end 29er suspension fork for a good price (I ran SID's on my 26 and would want something of a similar weight/performance)

I took it up to the local trails this evening, it's such a fast bike, they're not the kind of trails you can rip through because they're pretty short and technical unlike the trail centres I frequent, but on the climbs it is so planted and absolutely flies, I am in love. Plus a few people have said it's the coolest bike they've ever seen so I'll take that!

Quote from: MTB2223 on August 01, 2014, 03:26:38 AM

Quote from: jonxmack on August 01, 2014, 02:33:41 AM
I run 1x10 with 32x36 as my lowest gear and I've never had to get off to push!

It depends on your trails of course. For me 1x10 isn't enough. Currently I'm riding 3x10 and going to my new build with 2x10. I use everything on my 3x10.

I did a race earlier in the year which had a pretty tricky climb about 3/4 through, Strava is telling me it was around 0.15 miles, avg grad of around 15%, so not the easiest thing I've ever had to deal with, but it was still ridable. Then again I much prefer going up to going down.

If you're 6'3" then definitely go for a 29er. A 256 with 30mm hookless would be awesome, throw some decent forks on it if you fancy it (or run rigid like a madman ) and you'll be laughing. 1x11 is more than enough, with a 30t front ring and 42 on the back you'll get over anything. I run 1x10 with 32x36 as my lowest gear and I've never had to get off to push!

Quote from: Jake on July 30, 2014, 04:30:15 AM
Dropper seatpost

IMO they're not worth it on an XC bike. I've ridden one piece of trail ever that could have done with a dropper post, and typically that was a few weeks after I sold it. Even then I survived just fine without it, I think they have their place but I imagine a lot of the time people don't even find themselves using them.

Do people really worry that much about torque specifications? For me my general ethos is do it up tight. I have a few areas which I torque, mainly stem bolts, but everything else just gets done up until it's tight, then that's it. I'm not enough of a ham fisted idiot to have ever broken anything except for one titanium stem bolt many years ago. My current skewers are bolt up and I've never checked the torque on them, ever, and I have to take the front wheel off my bike to get it in my car every time I take it anywhere.

So personally I think the extralite axle looks awesome. For someone like me who prefers bolt up to QR, it's perfect. The only thing i'm missing is a bike with thru axles if you're anal enough that you have to check torque ratings every time you do any work on your bike, how the hell do you survive if something breaks on the trail?

Quote from: adym on July 29, 2014, 06:57:15 PM
Still planning/buying (pay day tomorrow) but I can't decide on the rim. On the one hand I mostly ride XC and my race bike runs stans crest wheels. However I quite fancy the idea of a wider rim, although it comes with a 80g weight penalty, but a 3mm wider internal width. I feel the wider rim will be stronger, which is probably good for a rigid, as well as a 'bigger' tyre profile which might add to the comfort of running rigid too.

The rims in question are pacenti cl25 and tl28, these will be laced to Superstar tesla hubs, so I'm looking at a built weight of around 1670 - 1750g. The reason for this hub choice is so I can run a 9 and 10mm thru axle. I just like them, even though QR is lighter, and if I want to WW it, the QR adaptors from Superstar are very cheap.

I am going to run them tubeless and probably with 2.25 RoRo tires.

I run Crests with a Niner rigid fork and 2.25" RoRo on the front, 2.1" on the back with 18/21psi respectively. Can't say I've ever wished for a wider rim or more cushioning in the front end, it works so well as it is.

Quote from: Ray Zorbak on July 29, 2014, 10:34:52 PM
I don't see a QR lever on any of those axles. How would you ensure a tight fit of the axle?

With an allen key.

I paid £280 for them. They were second hand but the guy I got them from had bought them for a build but never used them. I can't really compare them to any other forks since I've not used any others, without a doubt the quality is high but I'm not sure it justifies the extra expense over the Chiner stuff. If I needed forks I wouldn't hesitate to buy some from Carbonal because the quality and finish on the frame is excellent.

Couple more photos anyway

Quote from: Ray Zorbak on July 25, 2014, 02:54:23 PM
I thought I heard that the IP-256 SL was the frame that was most like the 0-1.0

Then you should take a look at the geometry charts for the three frames. 69º.5 HA on the 256 vs 72º on the O-1.0 and 71º on the Orion, that's a huge difference immediately. As well as the front center length being 20mm longer on the 256 for my size, whereas the Orion is 1mm different.

Quote from: carbonazza on July 24, 2014, 02:27:33 PM
I'm impressed by the time it took you to decide for the frame, order it and build it.
Mine is still stuck at the customs... and far from built.

Is there any flex in the fork?
How are your hands/harm after an XC ride?
Or is there a special technique to ride with such fork.

Well when I started comparing geometries and lead times this came out on top, closest geo to the Open O-1.0 which was designed by Gerard Vroomen of Cervélo and Andy Kessler of BMC, and in stock ready to go!

There is plenty of flex in the Niner fork but since it's such a reputable brand I trust it's not going to snap underneath me, plus I only weigh 69kg on a heavy day! I do get cramp in my hands but that's because I hold my bars so tight, taking the edge off is all in the tyre setup. Schwalbe Rocket Ron 2.25 set up tubeless with 18psi gives a nice amount of bounce and you learn to suck the rest up in your arms.

Peter @ IPlay