My Santa Cruz Nomad Carbon build *UPDATE JUNE *Page 10

pioneer68

I see you quite like the colour green, and Met helmets . Never tried Formulas' The Ones, but have got some R1s', but TBH, I think I prefer Shimanos' XTR Trail brakes, which are amazing, maybe not as powerful, but great none the less.
Nice Cannondale Concept store BTW

Dick Scruttock

The FCS adjusters were easy to fit and you can feel the difference to the bits point.

waughie

Where did you order your rim decals from?

And its a lovely looking bike!

Xgreygoose

waughie wrote:

Where did you order your rim decals from?
And its a lovely looking bike!

Have a friend in France that does it for me. http://www.obosticker.com/

richg1979

sweeeeet bike.

pretty much the ultimate spec too appart from the forks?????

why go 150mm 32mm stantions?,
those fox forks are terribly flexy and the rest of the bike is uber stiff.
the nomad rides a lot better with a big 160mm fork too.

the kashima fox forks do look the dogs danglies but are way behind rockshox at the mo performance wise.

Dick Scruttock

richg1979 wrote:

sweeeeet bike.

pretty much the ultimate spec too appart from the forks?????

why go 150mm 32mm stantions?,
those fox forks are terribly flexy and the rest of the bike is uber stiff.
the nomad rides a lot better with a big 160mm fork too.

First post is worth a read

chick0

Well you have done it again John, you have made me feel sick with jealousy

Congrats on an awesome build mate, the attention to detail from top to bottom is superb as always.

I'm going to be looking forward to hearing your thoughts on the Fox forks, since your so familiar with Leftys (my FIT TALAS 140's took quite a while to break in by the way, more then 50 miles of pretty hard riding).

dc71

X, loving this build, what a great looking bike! Looks inspired by the JPS Lotus F1 livery in the 70's (yep, I'm old)..

Chick0 what part of SEA are you in? If either of you make it to Singapore PM me if you're interested in a rip through the rainforest. There's a good few more trails here than the official ones..

chick0

dc71 wrote:

X, loving this build, what a great looking bike! Looks inspired by the JPS Lotus F1 livery in the 70's (yep, I'm old)..

Chick0 what part of SEA are you in? If either of you make it to Singapore PM me if you're interested in a rip through the rainforest. There's a good few more trails here than the official ones..

Hey, thanks for your offer, but I'm currently back in Scotland right now, i will hopefully i will be in back in Asia in time for the Singapore GP, but im sill not sure yet I would also love to go for a blast around the rain forest, in fact i have no idea Singa even had trails.

PS, don't worry, black and gold together means JPS Lotus to me to

Xgreygoose

richg1979 wrote:

sweeeeet bike.
pretty much the ultimate spec too appart from the forks?????
why go 150mm 32mm stantions?,
those fox forks are terribly flexy and the rest of the bike is uber stiff.
the nomad rides a lot better with a big 160mm fork too.
the kashima fox forks do look the dogs danglies but are way behind rockshox at the mo performance wise.

As Rick mention do read the first post.

For sure I know, putting on 32 doesn't do the Nomad any justice but its enough for now.

I have little knowledge on Fox or Rockshox. I've been a Lefty fan for very long time . They are super stiff. And IMO the stiffest 110mm fork our there but lets not have big debate about it

I don't know if Rockshox are ahead on performance or is a better right now. I've heard different from alot of people (pro riders and locals) especially on the new 2012 range of fork/shocks. Saying that I can't judge on it cause I haven't really tested my Fox fork. I can say that I much prefer Fox's rear shock than Rockshox's. Anyway cheers for the heads up

Xgreygoose

chick0 wrote:

Well you have done it again John, you have made me feel sick with jealousy
Congrats on an awesome build mate, the attention to detail from top to bottom is superb as always.
I'm going to be looking forward to hearing your thoughts on the Fox forks, since your so familiar with Leftys (my FIT TALAS 140's took quite a while to break in by the way, more then 50 miles of pretty hard riding).

Hey chick0, how's it going? How's the bike, did you get those Ano rims?
Thanks. Yeah, I'm well happy. Kind of glad that the Jeykll didn't show up

Me too, would like to see how it feels to have two forks on the front. And 150mm of travel too. Think I will do at lease 100km before I will comment on the new 2012 Fox stuff.

dc71 wrote:

X, loving this build, what a great looking bike! Looks inspired by the JPS Lotus F1 livery in the 70's (yep, I'm old)..
Chick0 what part of SEA are you in? If either of you make it to Singapore PM me if you're interested in a rip through the rainforest. There's a good few more trails here than the official ones..

Amazing!!! I was thinking about that the other day ( I'm old too ) I had one of those F1 car by Corgi Toys (I think) long, long time ago.

chick0 wrote:

dc71 wrote:

X, loving this build, what a great looking bike! Looks inspired by the JPS Lotus F1 livery in the 70's (yep, I'm old)..
Chick0 what part of SEA are you in? If either of you make it to Singapore PM me if you're interested in a rip through the rainforest. There's a good few more trails here than the official ones..

Hey, thanks for your offer, but I'm currently back in Scotland right now, i will hopefully i will be in back in Asia in time for the Singapore GP, but im sill not sure yet
PS, don't worry, black and gold together means JPS Lotus to me to

I was at Singapore F1 the last 2 year. Wow!!! Amazing 8) Love the night race and the full on party all weekend.

richg1979

Rick Draper wrote:

richg1979 wrote:

sweeeeet bike.

pretty much the ultimate spec too appart from the forks?????

why go 150mm 32mm stantions?,
those fox forks are terribly flexy and the rest of the bike is uber stiff.
the nomad rides a lot better with a big 160mm fork too.

First post is worth a read

ermmm. yep sorry :oops:

weescott

Lovely build. How are you liking the Xking tyres? Have you crashed and broken that Garmin thingme on your bars yet?

chick0

Xgreygoose wrote:

chick0 wrote:

Well you have done it again John, you have made me feel sick with jealousy
Congrats on an awesome build mate, the attention to detail from top to bottom is superb as always.
I'm going to be looking forward to hearing your thoughts on the Fox forks, since your so familiar with Leftys (my FIT TALAS 140's took quite a while to break in by the way, more then 50 miles of pretty hard riding).

Hey chick0, how's it going? How's the bike, did you get those Ano rims?
Thanks. Yeah, I'm well happy. Kind of glad that the Jeykll didn't show up

Me too, would like to see how it feels to have two forks on the front. And 150mm of travel too. Think I will do at lease 100km before I will comment on the new 2012 Fox stuff.

dc71 wrote:

X, loving this build, what a great looking bike! Looks inspired by the JPS Lotus F1 livery in the 70's (yep, I'm old)..
Chick0 what part of SEA are you in? If either of you make it to Singapore PM me if you're interested in a rip through the rainforest. There's a good few more trails here than the official ones..

Amazing!!! I was thinking about that the other day ( I'm old too ) I had one of those F1 car by Corgi Toys (I think) long, long time ago.

chick0 wrote:

dc71 wrote:

X, loving this build, what a great looking bike! Looks inspired by the JPS Lotus F1 livery in the 70's (yep, I'm old)..
Chick0 what part of SEA are you in? If either of you make it to Singapore PM me if you're interested in a rip through the rainforest. There's a good few more trails here than the official ones..

Hey, thanks for your offer, but I'm currently back in Scotland right now, i will hopefully i will be in back in Asia in time for the Singapore GP, but im sill not sure yet
PS, don't worry, black and gold together means JPS Lotus to me to

I was at Singapore F1 the last 2 year. Wow!!! Amazing 8) Love the night race and the full on party all weekend.

Hey John,

I have still not built new rims for a couple reasons.

Firstly, I was planning on going for King Kong hubs, ZTR Crests Rims and Sapim CX-Ray Spokes. A riding buddy built up a similar wheelset, except he used Hope hubs.
After doing a good bit of back to back testing with my (beautifully rebuilt) SLR's, i came to the conclusion that their was very little in it, and i actually preferred the dynamic characteristics of my Mavics when riding hard on the limit.
I know the Tune hubs will save a good bit of weight over the Hope hubs, but i doubt that they would really change that much, except on the scales, as its the rims that you really feel when riding.
What do you think? I know you had SLRs before on your white Scalpel, and i think remember that you were never really a big fan?
I will build some custom wheels as some point, but for now im happy to batter my current hoops.

The second reason is that for about a year now i have been not riding that much ( although a lot more lately), as i was bitten by a tick, and got a virus, suspected to be lymes disease.

I did the Singapore F1 race 2008 and 2009, and your right, its an amazing weekend of spectacular street racing and even more spectacular partying, and the best part is you don't need to wake up until dinner time Nobody can do it like the Singaporeans these days

dc71

chick0 wrote:

I did the Singapore F1 race 2008 and 2009, and your right, its an amazing weekend of spectacular street racing and even more spectacular partying, and the best part is you don't need to wake up until dinner time Nobody can do it like the Singaporeans these days

Shhhh, don't tell everybody.. Been trying to keep that little fact all to ourselves but the S'pore govt won't stop trying to get yet more people to visit! Seriously though, F1 time is for sure the best time as the city is just buzzing..

Despite a seeming lack of spare land and trails, MTB is pretty big in sg now, probably about 10 distinct trails, amazing for an island only 60km end to end. The only issue is the tropical heat!

Xgreygoose

weescott wrote:

Lovely build. How are you liking the Xking tyres? Have you crashed and broken that Garmin thingme on your bars yet?

Ta very much. Xkings are great.
You know, I use to be a big Schwalbe fan but there found that the quality control was going down. Also annoyed is there weight, such a big difference. I have had +80g before on my Nobby Nic :x
I'm liking Continental alot these days. IMO they seems to be doing well. The Xkings are between Race Kings and Mountain Kings. I tent to ride to my trails which means I'm on cement/paved roads 35% of the time. They feel great, less draggy, surprisingly smooth and have good low rolling resistance on the road but still manage to have a ton of grip on the trails.


BTW liking your Intense. Very nice. Great frames. If I was to get an alloy frame it would be an Intense or an Orange.

My Garmin Edge800 is a tough little bastard. I've hit it afew times and even dropped it in a river and it still works great but of course it helps with the rubber case. I must for any Garmin owners

Xgreygoose

chick0 wrote:

Xgreygoose wrote:

chick0 wrote:

Hey John,

I have still not built new rims for a couple reasons.

Firstly, I was planning on going for King Kong hubs, ZTR Crests Rims and Sapim CX-Ray Spokes. A riding buddy built up a similar wheelset, except he used Hope hubs.
After doing a good bit of back to back testing with my (beautifully rebuilt) SLR's, i came to the conclusion that their was very little in it, and i actually preferred the dynamic characteristics of my Mavics when riding hard on the limit.
I know the Tune hubs will save a good bit of weight over the Hope hubs, but i doubt that they would really change that much, except on the scales, as its the rims that you really feel when riding.
What do you think? I know you had SLRs before on your white Scalpel, and i think remember that you were never really a big fan?
I will build some custom wheels as some point, but for now im happy to batter my current hoops.

The second reason is that for about a year now i have been not riding that much ( although a lot more lately), as i was bitten by a tick, and got a virus, suspected to be lymes disease.

I did the Singapore F1 race 2008 and 2009, and your right, its an amazing weekend of spectacular street racing and even more spectacular partying, and the best part is you don't need to wake up until dinner time Nobody can do it like the Singaporeans these days

Dam, sorry to hear about your encounter with a tick. Must have been a awful

SLR's are not a bad wheelset. I just never liked them mainly because I saw the rim bend when it hit a very small rock. Also it was getting the parts. Back then it was a very new wheelset and it was a nightmare getting the parts especially the rear hubs.
I think if you are not worried about weight then there is alot of good quality hubs on the market. Me, I would go for I9's or even Chris Kings. Remember custom wheels are only good if they are build by a good respectable wheel builder. I seen alot of custom wheels and because they are build bad they end up being sh!t especially when they try to build high-end ones.
To me factory build wheels are great too. IMHO I think Fulcrum do some great wheel from low end to high end. Now that I have "normal" fork with the Nomad I plan to buy a set.

Xgreygoose

A studio shot of my Nomad. Friend of mine has a studio and we were messing around. Also check out his first MTB (Santa Cruz TRc). I helped him build it. What do you guys think?

I think you can just make out the fishing wire on the saddle


His new Santa Cruz TRc. Lovely.


Family shot

tri-sexual

beautiful

weescott

Xgreygoose wrote:

Ta very much. Xkings are great.
You know, I use to be a big Schwalbe fan but there found that the quality control was going down. Also annoyed is there weight, such a big difference. I have had +80g before on my Nobby Nic :x
I'm liking Continental alot these days. IMO they seems to be doing well. The Xkings are between Race Kings and Mountain Kings. I tent to ride to my trails which means I'm on cement/paved roads 35% of the time. They feel great, less draggy, surprisingly smooth and have good low rolling resistance on the road but still manage to have a ton of grip on the trails.


BTW liking your Intense. Very nice. Great frames. If I was to get an alloy frame it would be an Intense or an Orange.

My Garmin Edge800 is a tough little bastard. I've hit it afew times and even dropped it in a river and it still works great but of course it helps with the rubber case. I must for any Garmin owners

Maybe I have just been lucky with my tyres. The Nobby Nics were pretty much spot on for weight. One of my racing ralph TRs were under weight. The Conti Rubber Queens are waaaay over there claimed weight. I prefer the Nobby Nics to the Mountain Kings though, heavier and slightly slower rolling but more grip. Have to have a compromise somewhere. I might try out the XKings for my Blur. The Racing Ralphs and Race Kings are a bit sketchy some times. I rode the Race Kings in the snow. That was fun! :shock:

I recon a Carbon Intense could be your next project. They are testing one just now. 8)

chick0

Xgreygoose wrote:

chick0 wrote:

Xgreygoose wrote:

chick0 wrote:

Hey John,

I have still not built new rims for a couple reasons.

Firstly, I was planning on going for King Kong hubs, ZTR Crests Rims and Sapim CX-Ray Spokes. A riding buddy built up a similar wheelset, except he used Hope hubs.
After doing a good bit of back to back testing with my (beautifully rebuilt) SLR's, i came to the conclusion that their was very little in it, and i actually preferred the dynamic characteristics of my Mavics when riding hard on the limit.
I know the Tune hubs will save a good bit of weight over the Hope hubs, but i doubt that they would really change that much, except on the scales, as its the rims that you really feel when riding.
What do you think? I know you had SLRs before on your white Scalpel, and i think remember that you were never really a big fan?
I will build some custom wheels as some point, but for now im happy to batter my current hoops.

The second reason is that for about a year now i have been not riding that much ( although a lot more lately), as i was bitten by a tick, and got a virus, suspected to be lymes disease.

I did the Singapore F1 race 2008 and 2009, and your right, its an amazing weekend of spectacular street racing and even more spectacular partying, and the best part is you don't need to wake up until dinner time Nobody can do it like the Singaporeans these days

Dam, sorry to hear about your encounter with a tick. Must have been a awful

SLR's are not a bad wheelset. I just never liked them mainly because I saw the rim bend when it hit a very small rock. Also it was getting the parts. Back then it was a very new wheelset and it was a nightmare getting the parts especially the rear hubs.
I think if you are not worried about weight then there is alot of good quality hubs on the market. Me, I would go for I9's or even Chris Kings. Remember custom wheels are only good if they are build by a good respectable wheel builder. I seen alot of custom wheels and because they are build bad they end up being sh!t especially when they try to build high-end ones.
To me factory build wheels are great too. IMHO I think Fulcrum do some great wheel from low end to high end. Now that I have "normal" fork with the Nomad I plan to buy a set.

Thanks mate. The last 14 months or so has been pretty brutal. I went from being very ill, to feeling shitty all the time, to just feeling shitty sometimes, and that pretty much where i am now. The moral of the story is, if you get bitten by a tick, go right away to your GP and get a course of meds, even if you don't feel anything right away, as its not worth risk..

I really agree with what your saying about the building of wheels.
I was never 100% happy with my SLR's when i got them, as they felt rather sloppy and inconsistent. I also noticed that spoke tension was not even through-out the wheels, and random spokes were always becoming loose or making noises.

So i took them to a local race team mechanic who i know had a good reputation for wheel building.
I was expecting him to just tension them up, but he suggested that he should completely strip down the rims and hubs, then rebuild them from scratch. He said that he does this with every new factory and most custom wheel-sets any of his riders race on.

I was absolutely blown away by the resulting difference. I could finally understand how it was possible for factory riders on SLR's being able win so many All Mountain events like the Mega-Avalanche on XC wheels.
I have put about 700 miles on them since their rebuild, and they are still tight and straight after what i can only describe as a 'relentless torrent of sicking black route abuse'

I have heard of Fulcrum wheels, but never come across them in real, i will check them out when its new wheel time

chick0

Xgreygoose wrote:

A studio shot of my Nomad. Friend of mine has a studio and we were messing around. Also check out his first MTB (Santa Cruz TRc). I helped him build it. What do you guys think?

I think you can just make out the fishing wire on the saddle


His new Santa Cruz TRc. Lovely.


Family shot

Amazing pics! Your Nomad looks like an alien bike from the future !

Simonhi

You've done it again John, a stunning ride indeed.

Even makes me think about getting something a little more bouncy :-)

Stay tuned for a new build coming, complete opposite of you latest offering. Steel, singlespeed, 29 er rims, drop bars and a few custom bits'n'pieces, a little bit of green ano here and there. It's mainly going to be used as a runaround and for my midweek 30miler. Should be built up next weekend, get ready for the low tech !!!

Hope you are well John, Enjoy the new ride.

Thewaylander

weescott wrote:

Xgreygoose wrote:

Ta very much. Xkings are great.
You know, I use to be a big Schwalbe fan but there found that the quality control was going down. Also annoyed is there weight, such a big difference. I have had +80g before on my Nobby Nic :x
I'm liking Continental alot these days. IMO they seems to be doing well. The Xkings are between Race Kings and Mountain Kings. I tent to ride to my trails which means I'm on cement/paved roads 35% of the time. They feel great, less draggy, surprisingly smooth and have good low rolling resistance on the road but still manage to have a ton of grip on the trails.


BTW liking your Intense. Very nice. Great frames. If I was to get an alloy frame it would be an Intense or an Orange.

My Garmin Edge800 is a tough little bastard. I've hit it afew times and even dropped it in a river and it still works great but of course it helps with the rubber case. I must for any Garmin owners

Maybe I have just been lucky with my tyres. The Nobby Nics were pretty much spot on for weight. One of my racing ralph TRs were under weight. The Conti Rubber Queens are waaaay over there claimed weight. I prefer the Nobby Nics to the Mountain Kings though, heavier and slightly slower rolling but more grip. Have to have a compromise somewhere. I might try out the XKings for my Blur. The Racing Ralphs and Race Kings are a bit sketchy some times. I rode the Race Kings in the snow. That was fun! :shock:

I recon a Carbon Intense could be your next project. They are testing one just now. 8)

Hmm think your choice of tyres is very XC considering its a real 6" aggressive trail bike wouldn't be loving many of these on fast aggressive sections

Xgreygoose

Thewaylander wrote:

weescott wrote:

Xgreygoose wrote:

Ta very much. Xkings are great.
You know, I use to be a big Schwalbe fan but there found that the quality control was going down. Also annoyed is there weight, such a big difference. I have had +80g before on my Nobby Nic :x
I'm liking Continental alot these days. IMO they seems to be doing well. The Xkings are between Race Kings and Mountain Kings. I tent to ride to my trails which means I'm on cement/paved roads 35% of the time. They feel great, less draggy, surprisingly smooth and have good low rolling resistance on the road but still manage to have a ton of grip on the trails.
BTW liking your Intense. Very nice. Great frames. If I was to get an alloy frame it would be an Intense or an Orange.
My Garmin Edge800 is a tough little bastard. I've hit it afew times and even dropped it in a river and it still works great but of course it helps with the rubber case. I must for any Garmin owners

Maybe I have just been lucky with my tyres. The Nobby Nics were pretty much spot on for weight. One of my racing ralph TRs were under weight. The Conti Rubber Queens are waaaay over there claimed weight. I prefer the Nobby Nics to the Mountain Kings though, heavier and slightly slower rolling but more grip. Have to have a compromise somewhere. I might try out the XKings for my Blur. The Racing Ralphs and Race Kings are a bit sketchy some times. I rode the Race Kings in the snow. That was fun! :shock:
I recon a Carbon Intense could be your next project. They are testing one just now. 8)

Hmm think your choice of tyres is very XC considering its a real 6" aggressive trail bike wouldn't be loving many of these on fast aggressive sections

I kind of agree too. I don't think I would use Racing Ralphs or Race Kings on my Nomad even on the rear. OK to use on my XC bikes (Flash, Scalpel)
And IMO Mountains King has far more grip, lighter and faster than Nobby Nic even "protection King" is better than the "snake skin". Its a much better tyre and even the new 2012 Mountains feels great but of course that just MO.
At end of the day it what you feel comfortable with. 8)

Xgreygoose

Simonhi wrote:

You've done it again John, a stunning ride indeed.
Even makes me think about getting something a little more bouncy :-)
Stay tuned for a new build coming, complete opposite of you latest offering. Steel, singlespeed, 29 er rims, drop bars and a few custom bits'n'pieces, a little bit of green ano here and there. It's mainly going to be used as a runaround and for my midweek 30miler. Should be built up next weekend, get ready for the low tech !!!

Hope you are well John, Enjoy the new ride.

Hey Simon, long time no here?
BTW how's the Lynskey doing? I see you are liking 29er's. I wouldn't mine one too but not really good for HK terrain. If I was going for 29er. It would be for sure a Air Niner carbon. Dam hot bike. I too would make it a single speed and I could easily make it a13lbs bike

BTW I have another build on the way. Its going to be a Lynskey!! But I asked them to custom an Lefty head on a Pro26 . Should get it it very,very soon!! I've always wanted a Titanium frame but wanted something original looking. Loving the "Helix" on the Lynskey frame as other Titanium brands kind of all look the same. I did ask Moots, Seven and Litspeed if they could help me but Lynskey was by far the easiest people to talk with. Great customer service.

bikingmadx

Have you ever looked at the Kent Eriksen frame with lefty - very nice

Simonhi

Xgreygoose wrote:

Hey Simon, long time no here?
BTW how's the Lynskey doing? I see you are liking 29er's. I wouldn't mine one too but not really good for HK terrain. If I was going for 29er. It would be for sure a Air Niner carbon. Dam hot bike. I too would make it a single speed and I could easily make it a13lbs bike

BTW I have another build on the way. Its going to be a Lynskey!! But I asked them to custom an Lefty head on a Pro26 . Should get it it very,very soon!! I've always wanted a Titanium frame but wanted something original looking. Loving the "Helix" on the Lynskey frame as other Titanium brands kind of all look the same. I did ask Moots, Seven and Litspeed if they could help me but Lynskey was by far the easiest people to talk with. Great customer service.

Hi John its going good thanks, still loving the Lynskey, it such a nice tight light package for an XL 29er, really loving the SRAM XX chainset such smooth shifts.

Did think about the Niner A9C but decided on going for something a little lower tech, So I'm going to base the next build around a Singular Gryphon with a rigid fork, should still be able to get near the 20lbs. If I find that it really works I might get a frame builder to make up a Ti version and go the whole hog with Enve / Extralight rims, MCFC carbon etc etc, should be good for 15 lbs but dunno how I'm gonna take to singlespeed yet.

Good to hear you are going for a Lynskey, I don't think you will be disappointed. I found the communication with Mike from Lyskey to be great and was very confident in dealing with them from across the pond. It certainly turns a few heads at the local trails as you dont see too many of them over here. The compliance on the frame makes for a really plush ride, I even (heaven forbid) find myself locking out the Lefty for all but the roughest of XC trails, the frame just gives a little and smooths out the bumps with soft run 29er wheels. What are you gonna build it up with ? I might guess at Enve rims, tune hubs, Carbon bars, stem and seat post, SRAM xx drivetrain ?

Good to hear from you again, and once again. Sweet SC Nomad, under 25 lbs for an AM is quite an achievement.

Cheers,

Si :-)

Xgreygoose

bikingmadx wrote:

Have you ever looked at the Kent Eriksen frame with lefty - very nice

Nice bike/frame but not a fan of ti/carbon mix together . I think where they join the carbon and ti together is weak. And i bet is has abit of unwanted flex. Too concept looking for me. Plus looks like the other titanium finish that you can get from Moots, Seven and Litespeed. I love the Lynskey because you can choose the finish on there frames. http://www.lynskeyperformance.com/b/pag ... tanium.php

Simonhi wrote:

Xgreygoose wrote:

Hey Simon, long time no here?
BTW how's the Lynskey doing? I see you are liking 29er's. I wouldn't mine one too but not really good for HK terrain. If I was going for 29er. It would be for sure a Air Niner carbon. Dam hot bike. I too would make it a single speed and I could easily make it a13lbs bike
BTW I have another build on the way. Its going to be a Lynskey!! But I asked them to custom an Lefty head on a Pro26 . Should get it it very,very soon!! I've always wanted a Titanium frame but wanted something original looking. Loving the "Helix" on the Lynskey frame as other Titanium brands kind of all look the same. I did ask Moots, Seven and Litspeed if they could help me but Lynskey was by far the easiest people to talk with. Great customer service.

Hi John its going good thanks, still loving the Lynskey, it such a nice tight light package for an XL 29er, really loving the SRAM XX chainset such smooth shifts.
Did think about the Niner A9C but decided on going for something a little lower tech, So I'm going to base the next build around a Singular Gryphon with a rigid fork, should still be able to get near the 20lbs. If I find that it really works I might get a frame builder to make up a Ti version and go the whole hog with Enve / Extralight rims, MCFC carbon etc etc, should be good for 15 lbs but dunno how I'm gonna take to singlespeed yet.
Good to hear you are going for a Lynskey, I don't think you will be disappointed. I found the communication with Mike from Lyskey to be great and was very confident in dealing with them from across the pond. It certainly turns a few heads at the local trails as you dont see too many of them over here. The compliance on the frame makes for a really plush ride, I even (heaven forbid) find myself locking out the Lefty for all but the roughest of XC trails, the frame just gives a little and smooths out the bumps with soft run 29er wheels. What are you gonna build it up with ? I might guess at Enve rims, tune hubs, Carbon bars, stem and seat post, SRAM xx drivetrain ?
Good to hear from you again, and once again. Sweet SC Nomad, under 25 lbs for an AM is quite an achievement.
Cheers,
Si :-)

15lbs would be pretty tough for a Ti frame even a single speed unless it a XS frame

Glad you like your Lynskey. I've already tried the frame and its great. So, so different than a carbon frame. Much more power going uphill due to the stiffness. One main reason why I want to build one, for climbing. Also maybe able to get it semi light (under 18lbs for a large frame) and put it against my Flash on flat terrain. Only down side to a Titanium frame (because of its stiffer) IMO lacks comfort and control on very rough terrain over a carbon frame (Flash) especially going downhill. But Ti frames life span will out last any other frames. Another reason why I want one.

Surprisingly I'm on a tight budget with the Lynskey. Plan/try to use what parts I have at home. Only really buying the frame. Trying to save my penny's/cents.....for a...wait for it a....Road bike this winter I already have a full list on what I'm getting....can't wait. Think I will have to sell the car this time to get the road bike

Simonhi

Xgreygoose wrote:

Trying to save my penny's/cents.....for a...wait for it a....Road bike this winter I already have a full list on what I'm getting....can't wait. Think I will have to sell the car this time to get the road bike

Road bike ??? Cervelo SQ6 Project California ??? I keep looking at a road bike too but figured that there are far too many idiot drivers to avoid that I would struggle to enjoy myself, I know that there are some nice quiet B-roads near to where I live but when I put the bike on the car to go riding it aloways to head into the countryside which is so much nicer than tarmac road full of pot holes just ready to cruch a carbon rim.

Whatever you go with i'm sure it wil be a showstopper. I keep considering getting a cheaper car as I seem to enjoy driving less and less these days.