Frame Upgrading Guide Needed!

DanMayor

Hi and since I’m new here I’d like to say: Hello everyone!!
OK, so here’s my problem:
I’ve got a CUBE ACID and despite the fact that I love the bike, I'm no longer having as much fun as I would want to. So it has come the time to upgrade to a full sus “One For All” bike. Now, since I don’t have that much cash at the moment my idea is to first upgrade the frame and then go from there. To do this I would buy a new frame (possibly a Nukeproof Mega or a Commencal Meta 6) and fit all the existing gear from my CUBE onto it. Is this viable? What sort of compatibility/fitting/sizing issues might I run into? In case it's not a direct fit, what would I need to buy? Can I do this on my own or is this a DIY nightmare in the making?
I’m quite familiar with my bike and I’ve done all the maintenance in it so far. However, I’ve never attempted anything of this magnitude and that scares me a bit.
Everywhere you look you can find a guide on how to to install everything on a bike from forks to pedals and everything in between but I’ve searched around and I was surprised that I hadn’t found any proper “Frame Upgrading” guides. Can anyone help? Thanks!!

The Northern Monkey

for starters..
your forks aren't long enough.
your rear wheel won't fit either frame
brake cables possibly to be too short

DanMayor

Alright, good! Progress!

So, is the rear wheel too big or too small? Is there a way I can make it fit the frame? Or do I have to buy a whole new wheel?

As for the forks I’m quite aware they’re super small for such a frame but the bike will be at least “ridable” while I gather some extra cash for a new fork, right?

Thanks and keep ‘em coming!!

clamps81

I would have thought it's more axle/hub compatibility that will be an issue with wheels. As for the fork - way too short a fork will absolutely knacker the bikes geometry. I would say your best bet is to carefully consider what you need and then resign yourself to having a shiny new frame lying around the house for a few months while you save to get a suitable fork and (possibly)wheels for it and then port over your groupset and brakes.

Am in a similar situation as you to be honest.

nicklouse

DanMayor wrote:

but the bike will be at least “ridable”

not really.

nicklouse

TBH I would sell the Acid and buy a suitable bike as there is very little that is really reusable.

The Rookie

I agree, the value of what you could carryover is less than you could sell the Acid for!

Simon

DanMayor

@ The Beginner & nicklouse:
Seriously? I thought the kit on the CUBE was pretty good and worth keeping (except for the fork, of course)

The Northern Monkey wrote:

your rear wheel won't fit either frame

I would still like to know why that rear wheel won't fit and if there's a way I can make it fit without buying a whole new wheel.

tom_howard

DanMayor wrote:

@ The Beginner & nicklouse:
Seriously? I thought the kit on the CUBE was pretty good and worth keeping (except for the fork, of course)

The Northern Monkey wrote:

your rear wheel won't fit either frame

I would still like to know why that rear wheel won't fit and if there's a way I can make it fit without buying a whole new wheel.

Im assuming you have a quick release rear wheel that is a standard 135mm? well the frames you mention run either a bolted 150 mm rear axle, or a maxle. That is what wont fit.

regarding the parts, they are good parts, for what they are designed for, which is XC. the frames you want to put them on are more AM/DH focused. Assuming that is the style of riding you want to do, they wont stand up to what youll be throwing at them and they will die. If they dont, then you didnt need a new frame, meaning that either option is a waste of your hard earned.

DanMayor

Alright, makes sense. So I guess now I’ve got two options: buy a whole new full sus or buy a frame and go from there. But my question now is: if I decide to build up from a frame, which problems might I run into? And can I, with my limited mechanical experience, accomplish this? Is there a guide somewhere that could explain me step-by-step how to build up a bike? Maybe even detailing the different options of equipment and sizes?

nation

If you build up from a frame you will spend considerably more money than if you buy a complete bike off the shelf. The advantage is that you can spec exactly what you want, however, from the sounds of things (and I mean this in the nicest possible way) you don't sound like you really know exactly what you want.

Mechanically, bikes are pretty simple, so if you are in any way handy you can build a bike from scratch with the aid of something like the Park big blue book without going too far wrong. Do bear in mind that there are things you may need to do that will require you to either borrow or purchase an expensive and/or specific tool, or get a bike shop to do for you (I'm thinking specifically here of facing the BB shell, possibly facing the head tube depending on the type of headset you use, and seating the headset lower race on the fork, again, dependent on headset type). Standard advice is that if you aren't sure, ask someone who knows, and ideally get someone competent to check the bike over before you go tackling that rocky descent on the off-chance that you didn't tighten the stem faceplate securely enough or something.

In terms of compatibility, generally you will decide what you're aiming for before you start buying parts, things like whether you want to run QR axles or QR15/Maxle type through-axles; standard steerer, tapered steerer or DH-style triples; what sort of chainset/cassette arrangement you want to run; and so forth. Sometimes you'll decide this stuff and then have to change your mind depending on the frame you eventually choose. This kind of brings me back to my initial point that I'm not really sure you really know what you want well enough to be contemplating building from scratch.

If you do want to do it, look at what is available off-the-shelf in terms of the type of bike you want, and think carefully about what you would change if you were speccing the bike yourself. Read some reviews of them and focus on what the testers liked and what they didn't. You'll start to get a feel for what works well and what doesn't.

tom_howard

Whats your budget? Are you buying new or S/H?

DanMayor

Well, I don’t want to turn this into another ”Which Full Sus Bike” thread but I’m looking for a bike with at least 150mm travel capable of near-DH trails which can climb as well. The idea to build from a frame would only make sense, I guess, if I could fit all the existing gear from the ACID onto it. I still haven’t discarded the option to build a whole bike from a frame but after being elucidated about the costs and tools needed I may just wait a little longer, save more money and go for a full bike.

nicklouse

Nope. for what you are saying very little of the kit from the acid will not be suitable or fit.

wheels not suitable. fork not suitable. brakes new rotors and adapters.

what will fit? bar/stem/shifters and rear mech., saddle, cranks,cassette, brakes and that is just about it. as the rest depends on what you get as they may or may not fit.


sell the Acid and buy a new bike.