IP-256SL Build: Three times the fun.

[Andy]

I have the web saddle on all of my bikes.  Just love it.  Light, very comfy(I was amazed how comfy!) super cool looking(gets tons of comments)and less than $10 shipped.  Highly recommended!!!

[Arraider]

can i ask you a question... my 256sl and x0 cranks like yours i guess... did you used any washers mounting the crankset?

another thing on one side the bearing sits there and problem solved, on the other side (non drive side) the bearing moves outwards (it does not get out of the frame, but comes out of place) just by removing the arm, so i guess is not very tight there. I read you come up with something like that... now i have some noise coming from the BB. In your case how's it going? any suggestions?

[JohnnyNT]

Most people use loctite (just can't remember which number exactly at the moment) to secure the bearings.

[carbonazza]

Most people use loctite (just can't remember which number exactly at the moment) to secure the bearings.

It is the LOCTITE n° 641

@arraider, What kind of bottom bracket do you have (BB30? PF30? Other?)
I used initially the standard SRAM PF30, but switched to a bbinfinite.com one.
Which provides a far better alignment of the bearings.

[Arraider]

thanks will try loctite 641.. it's BB30, original SRAM bearings

[gocyco]

Just finished reading the whole thread. Very nice write up.
But I must have missed the comments/results on the Sept race you were preparing for early on.
Great looking bikes. Only thing I would change would be that white stem.

I cracked my LT023 back in Oct and I'm still trying to decide what frame to get. In the meantime I have a metal clamp around the seat tube where the crack goes 2/3 of the way around. Seems to ride OK except when railing into a corner. But for real technical riding I usually go with my fully.

[RS VR6]

And for those curious, here is the foam inside the downtube to stop the cable noise.  The foam is that stuff used to cover outdoor pipes.  I trimmed it a bit to fit.  There are two ~2.5" long pieces in the downtube.  One at the water bottle cage mounts and one at the top near the headset.  I positioned the missing section to be where the shifter cable is to prevent any interference and then pushed them into place with a small dowel.  They are reasonably snug in there and work well so far.

Vipassana,

I bought some of the same insulation...but I can't get it into the downtube. I tried slowly pushing and twisting the insulation...but after a few inches...it would stop going in. I've tried from the top and bottom of the headtube. Is there a better method of doing this? Its appears that it's only the shift housing that rattles and it's in the first few inches where the housing enters the frame.

Thanks!

[Vipassana]

Does your downtube look open and clear of obstructions?  I cut a small wedge out of the foam so that it could close down a bit more, did you do that same?  Also, my piece is only a few inches in length.

[RS VR6]

There are no obstructions to the downtube. Maybe I need to cut the insulation more. 

[byrt]

great bikes!! how are they doing?

[Vipassana]

Thank you.

The bikes are as follows:

• The Orange/Blue one (my bike) has about a year's worth of riding on it; several thousand miles at this point.  It is doing great.  I ride at ~160-165 lbs (175-180 with kit).  I no longer use my road bike, but rather this bike for all my riding.  I have crashed it pretty hard 2-3 times with little to no frame damage  (mostly my body  ).  The frame has taken two major rock strikes resulting in carbon damage, but not really any cracks that I can see.  One strike was on the tiny seat-stay, which makes me nervous, but it's holding up just fine.  I had a HORRID creaking noise which I was certain was the BB30.  After 5 or 6 BB rebuilds, with no change, I looked elsewhere and found out it was due to dry contact between the rear wheel axle and rear dropouts.  Grease fixed it instantly.
  
  The wheels were doing great until a spoke broke last weekend.  There was a break right in the middle of one of the spokes.  I have replacements coming ($3 each!) and should have it fixed tonight.  Everything else, including the $8 Chinese saddle has been awesome.
• The Silver/Red bike has had a similar use to my bike.  The owner rides at ~175-180 lbs (+10 lbs for kit). It has been crashed 3-4 times pretty hard as well.  It shows a slight crack in the paint on the segment that goes between the seat stays and the seat tube, but it is super small (almost not visible I guess) and doesn't appear to be growing or anything.  I really think it's some normal paint cracking from general flex of the frame.  This frame has very thick paint and clear on it of the automotive variety.
  
  The Novatec rear hub freewheel mechanism broke on a ride and has since been replaced with a DT Swiss.  It is CLEAR that the DT Swiss mechanism is far better than the out-dated pawl system on the Novatec hub.  Just get the DT Swiss from the start.
  
  This bike just completed the Cedar City Fire Road race of the Leadville series this past weekend.
• The Black/Black one has been ridden less than the other two, but still has maybe 1000 miles on it. The owner rides at ~155-160 lbs (+10 for kit).  This bike is doing fine as well though it has a creak that we suspect is coming from the rear wheel/dropouts, I just haven't taken the time to grease it yet.  No issues with the bike at all besides some cosmetic damage from crashes and bad bike racks).

I would not hesitate to buy this frame again.  If I needed a new bike tomorrow, I would do this build again.  Though I'm thinking of trying a CS-041 as well as soon as funds allow.

[byrt]

Thank you. I will be buying my last part (fork) this week so finally I will be able to assemble it.

[MTNRCKT]

Thanks for the update! What a kickass thread (and bikes)!

[MTB2223]

I had a HORRID creaking noise which I was certain was the BB30.  After 5 or 6 BB rebuilds, with no change, I looked elsewhere and found out it was due to dry contact between the rear wheel axle and rear dropouts.  Grease fixed it instantly.

Funny to read this. I had really the same issue. Made me mad. And now, after greasing the dropout, the bike is silent again.

The Novatec rear hub freewheel mechanism broke on a ride and has since been replaced with a DT Swiss.  It is CLEAR that the DT Swiss mechanism is far better than the out-dated pawl system on the Novatec hub.  Just get the DT Swiss from the start.

out-dated pawl system ? Do you had the 3 of 4 pawls system. I've got the 4-pawls system and I don't have any issues.

[Carbon_Dude]

The Novatec rear hub freewheel mechanism broke on a ride and has since been replaced with a DT Swiss.  It is CLEAR that the DT Swiss mechanism is far better than the out-dated pawl system on the Novatec hub.  Just get the DT Swiss from the start.

My thoughts exactly!  The star ratchet design used by DT Swiss (and others) is a better design by far.