Frame Swap

pikeg123

As some of you may remember a few months back I build a bike from scratch starting with a frame on ebay.. Well I've done it again.. This time I've now converted to Full Sus..

Heres how the old build looked





Then I ordered this, again an ebay purchase

Kona Dawg Matic Frame, it came with a brand new FSA Headset, LX Front Mech and a set of Truvativ Firex cranks and a e-thirteen bash guard..



Delivered in great time too



After stripping the old bike, I got on to the new one..




Hit a slight snag with the rear brake, it turned out that my 203mm rotor was too big for the frame




So to fix this problem I downsized the rear rotor to 160mm to be safe, then kept the 203mm up front.. Heres a before and after of the rotors.. Shweeet





Anyway heres how it stands now.. Just one part left to get (which is the seat post).. Sadly my old one was too thick for this frame so once that comes its all systems go!








Seatpost should be here tomorrow.. Then the funs starts

BTW.. the old frame is for sale in the classifieds

orange_man

Nice build that Kona frame looks in great condition

Kiblams

Get them street tyres off and shove some knobbly goodness on it and thats a very cool looking bike, how is the weight of the frame?

The Northern Monkey

Kiblams wrote:

Get them street tyres off and shove some knobbly goodness on it and thats a very cool looking bike, how is the weight of the frame?

+1! I have cheap tyres for sale in the classifieds too

How much did you pay for the Kona if you don't mind my asking! looks immaculate!

pikeg123

Thanks for the comments guys, haha the street tyres are on at the moment yes, but I do have dirt tyres in the garage too.. I just swap them over when I need to..

The frame was a good buy I think, £170 for the lot.. Frame, cranks, headset and mech..

Anonymous

bargain.

looks brilliant. i realy liked the look of the donor bike too.

xtreem

Those old rotors look like they weight a ton. :shock:

pikeg123 wrote:

The frame was a good buy I think, free for the lot.. Frame, cranks, headset and mech..

That's better.

coomber

Are those Clarkes disc brakes?

pikeg123

They are Clarks yes.. Their the Clarks S2 brakes with new Clarks Lightweight rotors

j96_2

Sweet l prefer old rotors but meh looks awesome (Y)

coomber

Yeah thought they were Clarkes, they are brilliant disc brakes, love the feel of the levers on them.

Echo the above comments, looks a spankingly good bike fella.

pikeg123

All Finished..

Seat post finally came, its ready to rock..

j96_2

looks awesome (Y)

pikeg123

Heres a lil update on what I been doing, dirt tyres now fitted.. Looks a bit more meaty now..








Also today came my new stem.. Its a Spank - Spike in white.. very bling bling..

joshtp

that looks like it shouldnt look amazing.... but does


LOVE IT! a
and that stem is awsome!

pikeg123

Heres what I've been up to recently guys...

Since the last post I've made a few changes

As the 203mm disc was vibrating soo much the nice guys at Clarks sent me a whole new 180mm rotor for free :O fixed the problem perfectly..

Also I've Changed the older scratched and damaged cranks (bent chain rings).. Also the stickers have been removed from the rims for a cleaner look..

The Merida tyres have now gone thankfully.. Now fitted with some Conti Mountain King 2.4's..

Lastly, My new rear shock arrived today.. I replaced the Fox Float with a Marzocchi Rocco Coil shock.. Mainly because I want to do more harder stuff, jumping etc.. I doubt an air shock would hold up to much abuse.. So i'll keep it as a spare..

Heres how its looking now


Before the new shock


New Shock fitted

Stuy-b

new cranks = massive downgrade

pikeg123

Yeh I know what u mean, but for now they do the job..

The firex ones were terrible, both chain rings were worn out and the middle ring was bent.. For the price of two rings, I bought a whole new set of arms and rings.. I didn't see the point in spending hundreds on cranks if i'm honest..

Stuy-b

you'll see the point when the suntour snap

joshtp

but the suntour wont snap.. they may be heavy, but they are flipping strong!

joshtp

One point though... the coil shock is totally pointless..... the Fox Float is a very tough shock... more than capable enough for the stuff you'l be doing on that frame!

Just added a pile of weight and downgraded the damping... but hey, if you like it...

pikeg123

I hate to admit it.. but your right.. took it out for its first ride today and its dreadful :O lost around 2" of wheel travel too because of a huge bump stop on the shaft.. Also the rebound is just sloppy..

Thats now in the post back to CRC.. Floater back on the bike.. Much better.. That'll teach me for potching haha

pikeg123

Heres a long due update on what I've been doing..

Firstly, New Wheels.. those cheapy ebay things have now long gone.. Instead I have installed some Mavic Crossrides..

Also yesterday I fitted new brakes (calipers and levers).. Took the old Clarks brakes off and went for some classy Shimano ones..

And lastly, I have now swapped to SPD's.. Still getting used to them but so far so good..

Heres how it stands now

jay12

very nice. i'm liking the upgrades.


you should get a deore or slx chainset though

sheepsteeth

loks ace, those wheels are a top choice.

pikeg123

Cheers for the advice guys.. Like you said, the Suntour cranks worn out after very little use.. The non drive side arm started to wobble in all directions even though the bolt was as tight as it could go..

So thanks to ZERA886 on here I bought some quality cranks.. Truvativ Holzfeller, and put my bash ring on too.. what a vast improvement in quality, nice tight fit and no wobbles



I think the suntour are fit for the bin haha