Rockrider 5 XC 2009

JamesBrckmn

Original spec - cost £370, weight 28.5 lbs
Frame: 6061 18 inch 1.9kg
Forks: sr suntour XCR with preload and lockout
Brakes: avid Juicy 3s with 160mm avid g2 rotors
Shifters: Sram X5
Rear mech: sram X5
Front mech: Shimano C050
Headset: Cane creek
Tyres: Rubena charblyis sport 2.0
Wheels, stem, seatpost, handlebars, grips rockrider own brand
Everything else own brand or i don't know

Unupgraded pictures except pedals (newer pictures further down):




Upgades - cost £95, will weigh and post pics in a few days
Pedals: Wellgo LU 987U Flat Pedals £10
Front tyre: Maxxis Ardent 2.25 60a Kevlar Tyre Folding - £30
Rear tyre: Specialized The Captain Control 2Bliss Tyre 09 2.2 folding 60a shoulder 70a in the middle - £20
Handlebars: FSA Gravity Lite 31.8 680mm - £20 reduced from £70
Stem: BeOne 6061 Forged DH Stem 60mm 31.8mm 6deg rise - £15

EarlofBarnet

Sounds a bargain bike from what it cost you new. Some nice upgrades too. Plenty of potential.

JamesBrckmn

Thanks - your coiler looks like a great bike

jay12

nice bke for xc. so when are you getting the spesh?

JamesBrckmn

Probably 2012, hopefully before the end of the world. Unfortunetaly, i just have a small sunday paper round (£6 a week + £1.50 pocket money + £3.50 for cycling to school each week because i save my parents from paying £7 a week for the bus - getting paid for riding 8) so it will take a while to save up for the pitch.

JamesBrckmn

When do you think you'll finish your kinesis build jay?

jay12

JamesBrckmn wrote:

When do you think you'll finish your kinesis build jay?

hoping by the end of march. iwant to earlier but i'd rather get decent stuff

JamesBrckmn

sounds good. it looks really nice so far.

missmarple

Great bike, really a fantastic starter bike in many eye's - Decathlon have a fantastic range at the moment.

JamesBrckmn

Thanks missmarple.
Unfortunately, they don't sell this one anymore. It's a shame; it's a great bike

ramemtbers

nice starter bike. I do a paperround mate, know how it feels. you gotta just jkeep saving unfortunately.

JamesBrckmn

New forks coming tomorow! Rockshox recon race 09!
Got them for £152 off wiggle reduced from £380 - i now have forks worth more than the bike, and have spent £615 on this bike - a waste? i think not 8)

JamesBrckmn

Rockshox recon race, now fitted to my bike 8)
They are awesome. with my old suntours the most travel i ever got was 70mm, with these i got 90mm in one ride. luckily the lbs helped me set them up after they fitted them and let me use their pump, so i could set them up right - i set it to 28% sag which i like. They are so smooth, and nice - just need to make a mudguard to protect them and keep them clean now.

I'm not going to spend any more on this bike now, as i need to save up for a pitch or something, but any money i get from selling parts i've replaced i'll spend on a few small things, like mudguards, lock on grips and bar-ends
*runs and hides from fashion police*

JamesBrckmn

Tommorow: the ultimate test. A race against my friends petrol scooter, that can apparently go at 30mph. We're going to race down a hill, offroad, so i should win, hopefully!

JamesBrckmn

I won! not really suprising though. He beat me uphill, but he started before me, higher up the hill and had an engine, so i had to breath in the wierd blue smoke coming out the exhaust, and at the top it was smoking and took 10 mins to cool down.
Anyway i've now made a mudguard: http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtop ... t=12679519
And my friend gave me some rockrider bar ends the came on his bike, then i'm getting new grips (lizard skins charger), and then a shock pump, then maybe wellgo b54's

JamesBrckmn

Pictures of upgrades and mudguard: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jamespictu ... 402142622/
my favourite picture:

I know the string looks silly, so i'll be getting zipties soon

jadamson

sweet 1st bike mate, bet the recon's make a big difference!

Wappygixer

JamesBrckmn wrote:

Thanks mm.
Unfortunately, they don't sell this one anymore. It's a shame; it's a great bike

It is still being made but under a different name.
If I remember correctly its going to be called the 8.0?
I had an email earlier this week regarding the new line up for 2010 bikes

JamesBrckmn

The recons do make a big difference jadamson - they're amazing- so much better uphill and downhill.
I looked on the decathlon website, and couldn't see an 8.0, Wappygixer.

I am now thinking about making it single or double ring upfront, but I won't be upgrading anymore (except the grips- getting lizard skins chargers), as i'll be saving up for a new bike, possibly a pitch, or an orange 5 am or a cube frittz, but i'll keep this, and upgrade the frame to a scott scale or similar when i've got a AM bike in a few years, so i have a super fast XC bike and a big AM bike too.
Thank you for your comments

lawman

JamesBrckmn wrote:

The recons do make a big difference jadamson - they're amazing- so much better uphill and downhill.
I looked on the decathlon website, and couldn't see an 8.0, Wappygixer.

I am now thinking about making it single or double ring upfront, but I won't be upgrading anymore (except the grips- getting lizard skins chargers), as i'll be saving up for a new bike, possibly a pitch, or an orange 5 am or a cube frittz, but i'll keep this, and upgrade the frame to a scott scale or similar when i've got a AM bike in a few years, so i have a super fast XC bike and a big AM bike too.
Thank you for your comments

looks like jay12 has a competiter for most ambitious teenager come on guys finish your current bikes before thinkin about the next one :P you might not even like riding a bike in a few years :P

jadamson

im 17 already got a carrera fury and a kona dawg deluxe but im selling that and getting a trance x3 with upgrades do i win?

lawman

nah i have a bling maxlight and a scott roadbike and work in my LBS therefore i win

JamesBrckmn

I had a great ride on it yesterday (for any locals it was around Hydons ball, Hascombe hill, Dunsfold (where the top gear test track is) and a bomb-hole in some woods where my friend had built a small kicker which was fun) and the recons are great. My friend who recently got a virtually unused second hand 08 orange crush was with me, and although it's £1000 new, the ride wasn't really much better than mine, and the tyres were worse, and it was worse for climbing and jumping too, so i'm really pleased with what i bought and the upgrades i've made. I just need to remeber to take loo paper next time :oops:

Also, i found the home-made mudguard doesn't work with really deep mud. To be fair, it was 1 foot deep clay, but it got clogged up, then one of the zipties snapped and it was rubbing, but luckily i had secateurs (spelling?) with me for trail maintenance, so i could cut it off. It works well for getting to school, but it doesns't really work with deep mud.

I spent half an hour in the pouring rain at about 0 degrees looking for half of my powerlink today in the grass in my garden, after i lost it when i took the chain off to clean it. I eventually found it using a rake, but by that time i couldn't feel my fingers, so couldn't pick it up!

I think there should be a most ambitious under 15's award lawman - but i think jay would win - he's building from scratch. And lawman i'm hoping to get a job in my lbs, and i might be able to go there for work experiance too. I would probably win the most f*cked up BSO challenge though - i had a raliegh flair, and i had been doing proper mtbing on it, i even front wheel landed a 3 ft drop on it, with the bike vertical, and after 18 months of having it i had destoyed the rear mech hangar (non replaceable and i had destoyed the thread), the forks wobbled in the stanchions, i single speeded it, then made it a fixie by using wire to tie the cassete and spokes together, but that broke so i smashed it up and took it to the dump.

JamesBrckmn

Ok, so more proogress on the bike- Lizard skins charger lock ons arriving soon, so then i can put on my bar ends too. After that, i'm thinking of upgrading the saddle (charge spoon-http://www.evanscycles.com/products/charge/spoon-saddle-ec008616?utm_source=froogle&utm_medium=froogle&utm_campaign=froogle) or new peddals (wellgo b-54: http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Mode ... delID=5199) but i really should be saving up for a new bike.

I know it seems weird, but i sort of can't wait for my tyres to wear out, so i can get some new ones, as i don't like the ardent upfront, as although it's supposed to be 2.25, it's thinner than the 2.2, but as i was expecting it to be wider, so i would use it upfront, i got it in a softer compound than the rear spesh the captain 2.2 (which is dual compound 70/60a) so i'm stuck between a thinner, softer compound tyre upfront, or a fatter, harder tyre upfront. :? what do you all think i should do?
I know what i want when they wear out though- i'll get two spesh captains control 2.2's- i know you normally have the fatter tyre upfront, but since it's a hardtail, this way i have fat tyre for comfort on the rear and a fat tyre for grip upfront!

JamesBrckmn

I have now decided my next bike will be a santa cruz nomad or heckler build, after seeing this nomad: http://www.bikeradar.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=12681569. i'll test ride one first, and start in a year or two.

jay12

JamesBrckmn wrote:

I have now decided my next bike will be a santa cruz nomad build, after seeing this nomad: http://www.bikeradar.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=12681569. i'll test ride one first, and start in a year or two.

unless you can find one really cheap on ebay then yes why not. but i would go for something cheaper

JamesBrckmn

I would want to spend a lot, as it would be my do it all bike, but when a pitch costs about as much as the frame of the nomad, i can see your point

JamesBrckmn

Charger lock ons have arrived- fitting them tomorow, and my bar ends.
Ordering fork pump soon, so i can play around with presuures a bit more.
Also, a friend has offered to buy the old suntours for £20, so i'll have some money for a new saddle or peddals.

JamesBrckmn

So, tried fitting the new grips, but the rings that go on the ends of each grip won't go on- any tips?

lawman

JamesBrckmn wrote:

I have now decided my next bike will be a santa cruz nomad or heckler build, after seeing this nomad: http://www.bikeradar.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=12681569. i'll test ride one first, and start in a year or two.

good luck with saving up for something like that :shock: looking easily upwards of three grand for a build, so either you have a really well paid job or very understanding and generous parents

jpstar

For the grips, sounds stupid but have you undone the screws that tighten the collars? Tried that once without loosening them :oops: