my first custom build.

sarm34

1mancity2 wrote:

Looks really well, what length is your stem? looks long

Its a 100mm , i wont know weather its too long till i get to ride it

sarm34

Typical!!! bikes finished and i have MAN FLU....... But i did get off my death bed and take a few pics of the finished build








spec
Frame.... GT chucker was black sandblasted sprayed red and lacquered,
Forks... marzocci Dirt jumper2 100mm 20mm bolt thru
Shifters...Deore
Front mech.... XT
Rear mech.... XT
Seat post.... Kore T rail
Seat..... Kore T rail distance saddle
Bars...... DA Bomb apache riser 750mm
Grips.... The grip G-4 thin line white
Chain.... Shim hg93 9speed
Cassette.... Shim hg61 11-28
Headset..... FSA Orbit z no 9
Spacers...... Nukeproof headset spacers
Crank..... FSA gravitas maximus
Rims/spokes...... DTSwiss E540 with specialized hubs Red 20mm bolt thru front 15mm rear
Tyres.....Racing Ralphs
Brakes..... Skeletal white 185mm f/r
Pedals.... Gussett
Stem.... Raceface ride 100mm

jay12

looks very nice! but unless the top tube is too short, i would get a shorter stem. 50 or 60mm

tlw1

Looks fantastic

sarm34

feeling a bit better today so later on i will have a quick blast out on it, not far, just to see if the stems the right lenth, its seems ok when i sit on it, but i would like to get a white one at some point, might have to wait till my b/day for that though.
thx for the comments so far

sarm34

Had a blast out on the bike , stem lengths fine any shorter and it would feel like the bars is up to my knees, took a while to get right seat height, brakes are very good not too sharp or spongey, and with only having a 2 ring crank i dont seem to miss the 3rd big ring. The 750mm wide bars are great, any other bike ive had ive always felt i needed to put bar ends on to give me a little wider grip, although a different hand position , these bars fit perfect.

sarm34

Hi a little more of an update on my GT Chucker, the stem in the end was too long so I replaced it with a Nukeproof warhead stem 60mm, in yellow which I thought was a nice colour to add to the bike.


I then decided to add a little more yellow in the form of Nukeproof pedals and grips, overall im quite pleased with the outcome.

*AJ*

Get a nukeproof seat and seatpost to tie in the yellow theme and it'll look spot on!

gt-arrowhead

Looks amazing Very high spec too. Its given me a few ideas for my Chucker. Cheers

The Rookie

Looks great, but the rear brake hose really jars, can't you swivel the Banjo so it sits in line with the seat stay?

Reminds me that I must sort out the Chucker frame in the garage!

JBA

That's a great looking bike.

I agree with The Beginner though: sort out that rear brake hose. Not only does it look wrong it is asking to snag on a branch and get ripped out. Same with the front brake hose - route it inside the fork leg so it can't snag on anything.

sarm34

Get a nukeproof seat and seatpost to tie in the yellow theme and it'll look spot on!

I never really thought of that i will have to have a look at their seats and stems, i like the kore post and seat because its quite light

Looks great, but the rear brake hose really jars, can't you swivel the Banjo so it sits in line with the seat stay?

I never noticed that will get it sorted asap, with it being the first custom build ive done and a complete novice at that im still learning.

That's a great looking bike.

I agree with The Beginner though: sort out that rear brake hose. Not only does it look wrong it is asking to snack on a branch and get ripped out. Same with the front brake hose - route it inside the fork leg so it can't snack on anything

Good point, again i will look at that
thx for the advice guys.
Dont you find that chuckers get a bad rap because its a fave with the kids and its not a high end frame/name?
Althought the frames are bombproof and look the dogs as a hardtail, love riding mine, it fits and suits me perfectly, ive tried full sussers all different types and they just dont seem the same, its not the same with road bikes, ive a cube agree and before i bought that i tried lots of other makes and all seemed the same to me, only went for the cube because of the spec for the money. :P

gt-arrowhead

Out of interest, how tall are you? and how much did you spend on it roughly?

sarm34

im 5 foot eight and a half, how much have i spent?.... im up to about 1250ish quid so far, so not cheap for a chucker :oops:

gt-arrowhead

Your the same height as me so if you enjoy it then so should i I feel as if I will be "letting the frame down" with the kind of spec I have in mind if you know what I mean by that. Well it must be a good feeling knowing that you have probably one of the best chuckers out there. Mind you, I've seen pictures of some with huge boxxer forks and saint cranks and all.of that really top end DH stuff. Boxxer forks cost like 1k. That's a little over the top if you ask me. But yours looks just right! Mine will look let down once.o initially finish it. If that makes you feel any better xD

The Rookie

The Chuckers are a good frame, well worth a fairly serious upgrade as long as it creates a cohesive bike (not sure Boxers or saints are sensible!), very similar in concept to the Scott Voltage YZ frame that both daughters have had as XC bike using a variety of forks and components.

The older steel frames can work into quite a good budget hardcore HT for smaller riders.

sarm34

I think the boxxers look cool but they have got to be heavy, I would rather my bike be light enough for me to be able to throw around a bit, also i'd like a XT crank on it when funds allow

gt-arrowhead

I cant give my opinion on the Chucker since i havent actually ridden one yet. Haha. I havent even seen one complete. The only one ive seen was the one i bought, so really looking forward to seeing mine done. I think it will be great though since ive seen all positive comments about them.

The boxxers are probably the best looking forks ive seen. I like ridiculously long forks that make your bike stand a bit steep. I like triple clamps alot too. Just looks awesome, but it does look bloody heavy. Might not be for £1000 though haha.

I found the picture of the Chucker with Boxxer forks. Looks mental, and weird haha

PashleyRider

The trouble is it would handle awfully as it isn't designed for such a long fork... Such a weirdly specced bike, it has cable discs and totally overkill rims and tyres!

gt-arrowhead

I wouldnt know about the spec, cause i dont know if those rims are good or not lol! But it would definitely handle really badly. Just looks so badly out of proportion especially since it is quite a short bike. Or maybe he knows something that others dont. Haha

sarm34

As i restarted this thread again i have started to look at longer travel forks the longest i think i'd go would be 140mm i think anything else would handle badly, but if i did go for that length it would have to be white ones , but the boxxers do look badass , its my birthday today and ive had some money as pressies so im now eager to spend it now on something new and shiney

sarm34

Rerouted cables today is this any better?

The Rookie

Much......thanks!

gt-arrowhead

----

sarm34

New photos of some changes ive made , I have had the wheels stripped down, hubs coated nukeproof yellow and the rims blue, new graphics made for both and new white spokes.







and yes I know dulux tin :roll:

gt-arrowhead

Your Chucker makes mine look like it just came out of a skip :shock: Yours is what one would call "fresh"

Myster101

Great project but starting to hurt the eyes a bit with the colours. Certainly stands out though

Good job.

sarm34

Popped out to the shop on it yesterday and a group of lads outside said it was "sick" im 46 and not up to date with street talk , but sicks good apparantly

gt-arrowhead

Sick is good. At least they didnt try and rob you for it being "sick" which is what happened yesterday to me. Luckily Chucks is still with me.

What made you go for the blue rims? I wouldnt have done so personally but it is still quite nice.

sarm34

The rims were a bit tatty , and I wanted those yellow nuke proof hubs to match my stem , but was looking at nearly 300 quid and they don't come it 36 hole so it would have been new rims as well , got the idea for blue rims from a pair of trainers that I have which had this blue on them that just matched , so I had the hubs powder coated the same nuke proof yellow and the rims blue for 15 quid a pop, I had the decals made the same way nsbikes do their decals on there rims but as dtswiss which mine are, then I looked at my old spokes and some of them were going rusty, so I choose some halo white ones with black nipples , I'm really pleased with the outcome, and in real life the bike looks fantastic, ATM I can't afford a new bike, and having looked at the current crop , I'm not really enamelled with the colours of some of the bikes I.e. the matt blacks and the like , I like a bike with a bit of colour