Ellsworth Specialist.....Building...

vala

It arrived today...



Needs a wipe over and then I think i'll clean out all the threads and have it prepped for rebuilding.
Plans for the bike are for it to be something that'll be a capable trail machine (hoping for a capable rider!) with the intention of once I get a lot fitter to tackle the mega! Should be interesting/fun on a hardtail!

First things I'll be ordering are headset, seat clamp and bottom bracket. Looking at Hope for all 3 products.
Anyone think there is a better/more suitable product for what I intend to be riding? All suggestions on parts are most welcome.

ilovedirt

There are certainly products as good as hope for a lot less money! I have a hope headset so can't say much and haven't tried many others, but there's not a lot you can do wrong with a headset... As for BB, get a shimano one, they're just as good and less than half the price.

vala

Thanks for the heads up.
I'm way out of touch with MTB gear so was just going off what I remembered back from the late 90's early 00's.
Another reason though I thought of opting to go with Hope was the accessibility of the spares.
I didn't mention this in my original post however I don't plan on purchasing anything new for this bike (well if I don't have to anyhow) so am hoping on eBay, various forums etc.
So basically whatever I pick up will be throughly cleaned and rebuilt before being popped onto the bike hence I thought of going with Hope as the spares list should help should I need to replace anything.

ilovedirt

Fair enough, shimano BBs are good, and the bearings can be changed, even though they say you can't. They last an age anyway.

cat_with_no_tail

Hold off buying a BB.

Almost all chainsets come with BBs, even when they're being sold 2nd hand. Wouls seem a shame to spend money on a BB, only to end up with a spare when you buy the chainset.

Unless ofcourse you already have a chainset with no BB. In which case... carry on!

vala

@ Cat with no Tail - thanks for that heads up mate!
I guess I'll now have to look into chainsets earlier then I thought.

Anyone have any opinion on Race Face ones? As I mentioned earlier I'm not too clued up on the current stuff so only going off what I remember back when I used to ride bikes constantly. And that was trials and I ended up with a Middleburn RS7 on my Pashley....

ilovedirt

raceface BB's aren't great, neither are their cranks, I don't like the bearing preload system, it's silly. Get a used shimano SLX crankset if you can, they're great value for money, tough, light etc etc, all you need.