Kinesis Pha5e - Custom build - Update and pictures!

thepha5e

This is my Kinesis Pha5e 14 inch frame which i've built up with a few parts from my Rockrider, a few new parts, and some second hand. It's built for aggressive xc/trail riding, but i ride a few small dirt jumps on it too. I know the frame looks really small, but i'm not exactly tall (5'4" - i'm 14) and i like the maneuverability of it. I'm getting some Rockshox sektors soon, the 110-150mm coil u-turn 15mm Maxle RL version, then maybe in a few months i'll upgrade to slx brakes, and a few months after that, i'll get slx or saint cranks, and in a year or two i hope to get a new frame (maybe a Santa Cruz Heckler).

Photos:

















and me riding it:


More photos here:
http://jbrckmn.pinkbike.com/album/My-Bike/

Spec:
Kinesis Pha5e 14 inch Battleship grey

Rockshox Recon Race Solo Air 100mm

Syncros DP25 rims on Superstar switch (10mm rear/QR front)

Superstar 10mm QR rear/stock rockrider 9mm qr front

Avid Juicy 3 brakes with 160mm G2 rotors

Sram X9 shifter and X9 short cage rear mech

Shimano XTR gear cable

Sram PG970 11-34 cassette/ sram PC971 chain

Shimano Deore M590 hollowtech 2 cranks with a middleburn 34t chainring and deore BB

Wellgo B-54 pedals

Superstar XCR chainguide (ordered but hasn't arrived yet)

Maxxis Minion DHF 2.35 60a folding/ Maxxis ardent rear 2.25 60a folding and conti tubes

Lizard skins charger lock on grips

Bikehut FR saddle and anon short seatpost for jumps/playing around/trail riding
or
Charge Spoon cro-mo saddle and E-17 empire pro 400mm post for XC/singletrack/road

FSA gravity light bars 680mm wide 20mm rise

Gravity 40mm stem

FSA the pig headset

Because of the steep down tube, the forks hit the frame when turned to 90 deg, so that's why there is duct tape there- to protect the frame in crashes/general use.
Because of the bottle cage mounts in the seat tube, the seatpost doesn't go down all the way, so that's why i have 2 seatposts, depending on what i'm using my bike for.

What do you think?

Anonymous

You should have put your cat flap lower down, then the cat wouldn't need a step to get to it.

thepha5e

But then it would be under the floor boards, silly :roll:

Anonymous

What about a cat tunnel?

thepha5e

Definitely.

thepha5e

Any ideas for upgrades/changes?
What do you think of my kinesis?

jay12

nice to see another pha5e. looks nice

i would change the brakes and get the model up the pig headset, the pigh dh pro. sealed cartridge bearings are so much better

thepha5e

i'll probably get brakes in the summer- maybe slx, and i'll get a new headset when i get new forks, probably the pig dh pro, as that has a larger lower stack height than the pig, so the forks hopefully won't hit the frame.

Anonymous

thepha5e wrote:

Any ideas for upgrades/changes?
What do you think of my kinesis?

It's not exactly unique, is it?
I don't know if you noticed this, but if you look carefully at one of the pictures, you can see 4 identically dressed people on identical bikes following you.
You must have caused quite a stir.

thepha5e

Yes, my clones do stalk me a lot, it's quite annoying sometimes
There's six of them actually!

Anonymous

Oh, I thought two of them were you, in one of those clever multi-exposure shots.

thepha5e

No, don't be silly, it's pretty obvious that they're clones :roll:

joshtp

is it though?


























nice bike

ilovedirt

haha, some comedy in this thread

nice little bike, looks pretty capable. The j 3's aren't a bad brake if you maintain them, give them a good bleed and new pads and they're like new, stick a bigger front rotor on there and you'll have plenty of power.

thepha5e

I'll leave the rotors as they are for now, as i'll probably get slx in the summer on 185/185 rotors, the j3s are ok, but they aren't that powerful and they're a bitch to change pads or adjust and the lever has about 1cm of play.

First i'll be getting new forks though, RS sektors, so that'll make it even more capable, so it's more of a hardcore hardtail for AM and aggresive trail/singletrack riding.

I've got a chain guide now, Superstar XCR single ring guide, fitted and aligned, it's working great, i'll put up some pictures, but we're going away to the lake district for a week, so i'll put the pictures up when i get back. I'm glad i've got the chainguide, because even just near me, it's fallen off several times in 10 minutes, so in the lake district i'll really need a chainguide.

We're going to Eskdale, anyone know any good trail centres/fun bridleway routes near there?

*AJ*

yeehaamcgee wrote:

You should have put your cat flap lower down, then the cat wouldn't need a step to get to it.

Just lol!!!!!


Nice bike mate!

stardude

how do you find the superstar hubs?

nice bike BTW

thepha5e

stardude- the switch hubs are great, spin really easily and smoothly, nice clicky sound from the back hub, fairly light, adaptors are easy to change for 20mm/qr etc. but the adaptors are expensive- £10 per pair, though you get a 2 free pairs included with the hubs.

Youngsie 96

thepha5e wrote:

We're going to Eskdale, anyone know any good trail centres/fun bridleway routes near there?

Whinlatter Forest looks pretty good and is about an hour away. I was supposed to go there when I was in the Lakes last week, but didn't get to because my back hurt :x

http://cyclewise.co.uk/index.php/whinla ... -bike-hire

thepha5e

thanks, but we got back today, and we didn't go to any trail centers but we had fun on local bridleways/natural riding

Youngsie 96

thepha5e wrote:

thanks, but we got back today, and we didn't go to any trail centers but we had fun on local bridleways/natural riding

Ah, should have looked at the dates. Glad you had a good time anyway.

thepha5e

Update:
My new Rockshox sektors (110-150mm coil u-turn 15mm maxle, in white) are getting fitted at the moment, and I now have new superstar excel grips in grey too

I'll post pics at the weekend when I pick it up from the lbs.

thepha5e

Got the Sektors and headset (pig dh pro) fitted this morning at the lbs, then i fitted my new grips too:





I'm gonna put a few spacers above the stem from below to lower the bars a bit, and I need to align the front brake too, but i'm gonna get a 180mm rotor on the front in a few days. [/img]

getonyourbike

I was just thinking that the front might need to go lower for better cornering grip. It's looking good, mate

thepha5e

Thanks, do you reckon it would be safe to have 2cm of spacers above the stem?

jay12

i run mine with 1 spacer undearneath the stem.

i would have gone with some black forks but whatever, they most probably perform better than mine! good choice on the headset btw

getonyourbike

Run it as low as you like, just experiment with it .A bigger front rotor is a good call as something as small as that just looks strange on a bike like that.

thepha5e

jay, you have a pig dh pro too then? one guy in the lbs said that this headset, unlike the cheaper pig, can seize up if you land a big jump or drop heavily, cos the bearings get crushed or something? has that happened to you?

I've lowered the stem now, and degreased then re-oiled my drivetrain. also attempted to re-align the front brake, and it's marginally better, and i put a bit of white spirit on both discs to give them a bit of extra bit, and clean them up a bit.

jay12

thepha5e wrote:

jay, you have a pig dh pro too then? one guy in the lbs said that this headset, unlike the cheaper pig, can seize up if you land a big jump or drop heavily, cos the bearings get crushed or something? has that happened to you?

bollox!!!
not only is the pig pro 10x better than the cheaper one, it very very strong with great bearings, as long as you clean and regrease them(which is very easy to do) they will last ages.

i have done roadgaps and other big jumps and it's totally fine, my mate runs it on his dmr exalt which he uses for fr/dh and also dirt jumps and he's run his for nearly 2 years with no problems

getonyourbike

white spirit is bad for pads, use isopropyl alcohol or specifc disc brake cleaner like Muc Off Disc Brake Cleaner

thepha5e

what about methalated spirits?

jay, good, that's encouraging. also i would have got this headset anyway, cos i needed one with a big lower stack height, so the forks don't hit the frame when you turn the bars to 90. they don't now, which is good.