My 'Megavalanche ready' Kona Minxy!

miss notax

Well, the Megavalanche is less than 2 weeks away and I have finally finished tweaking my Kona Minxy so she is ready for the adventure....

I bought her last autumn with the Mega in mind, and intended to keep her pretty standard. I failed

The only standard bits left are the frame, headset, cranks (both FSA) and chainset (Shimano), but the new and improved bits are far more exciting;

Fox Float 36 160mm forks
Formula K24 Oro brakes & 180 Ashima rotors
Stans Flow rims on Hope Pro 2 hubs
Superstar bars (they're purple 8) )
Blackspire Stinger chain device
Shimano XT shifters
Hope seatpost clamp
Gravity Dropper post
Specialized Ariel saddle

All in all a pretty sorted little bike (I think / hope ) Fingers crossed we both get to the bottom of the damn mountain in one peice!!

DCR00

v nice

excellent tyre choice

miss notax

Thanks

One set of tyres for snow / rock / dirt was tricky, but i'm hoping my old trusty minion / high roller will do the trick

paul.skibum

At last someone with a bike built with function over form in mind.

70\ʹspenguin

Ooh, ooh what are those rotors like with the Oro's? I read somewhere they were a bit crappy due to the small pads of the formula and this put me off getting some. I am assuming by the fact you have em, that there are no issues what so ever?

miss notax

70\'sPenguin wrote:

Ooh, ooh what are those rotors like with the Oro's? I read somewhere they were a bit crappy due to the small pads of the formula and this put me off getting some. I am assuming by the fact you have em, that there are no issues what so ever?

Really? I didn't know they were meant to be rubbish :shock:

I have found them absolutely fine - very good in fact, as I have the same set up (K24 Oro's and Ashima rotors) on my Orange 5. I've used the 5 in the Alps before and I only remember one 'who's fried rotors can we smell' incident, and the Kona on various downhill trails in the UK. That said, I'm not the fastest of riders and am quite light, so they probably haven't had a particularly hard life with me!

And paul.skibum - what are you saying about my beautiful bike eh??!

nicklouse

70\'sPenguin wrote:

Ooh, ooh what are those rotors like with the Oro's? I read somewhere they were a bit crappy due to the small pads of the formula and this put me off getting some. I am assuming by the fact you have em, that there are no issues what so ever?

some of the best brakes out there. still.

70\ʹspenguin

I cant remember where i read it. Mtbr perhaps? I was looking at the ashima rotors and then found a few posts from formula owners saying they had problems with pads catching and claiming poor performance due to the large gaps in the rotors? It put me off as i have the Oro 18's.

Glad to know they work fine!

nicklouse

ahh i was on about the brakes not the rotors. miss read your post really. formulas rotors are minimalistic enough. not a fan of rotors with big gaps despite what people say about friction and area.

Thewaylander

I'd ahve a go on that miss Notax, not a bad bit of gear

tyre choice is good for a play bike though may suggest if you get spare budget next time have a go at the Schwauble muddy marry's as you can get some really soft compounds, but get it in the freeride carcass and pinch proof 2.35 its bigger than my old 2.5" minnion/HR lighter and i can't bitch the buggers even when i accedently let them down to 15psi.

miss notax

Thanks

I don't know whether to swap my 'normal' Minion on the front for a supertacky one or not.... What's the verdict?

Thewaylander

Always always supper tacky up the front if you have the option, it holds on that much longer in damp conditions!

Darkstalker420

This thread made me smile. I was watching random MTB youtube vids yesterday and a "Megavalanche" one was one of them and well i think you are in for a treat....... Though the start looked like a bit of a "meat grinder" :shock:. Nice ride though have a good one.

Thanks.

miss notax

Right - panic bought a super-tacky Minion. Even if I decide not to use it, I guess I can always sell it to someone else in Alpe d'Huez at a massively inflated price

Thewaylander

Sounds sensible to me lol,

I always ride tacky type tyres up front, can shove your nose anywhere like a monkey then ad get some luck and hook the tyre up

mrmonkfinger

Tidy, very tidy.

standard shock?

miss notax

mrmonkfinger wrote:

Tidy, very tidy.

standard shock?

Thanks! Yep, Fox RP2. Seems to behave itself!!

1mancity2

Looks a good ride Miss Notax, good luck at the Mega.

styxd

It looks great, but I cant help thinking it may suit/fit you better if you flipped the stem the other way up and removed that stem spacer. Maybe even fit some flat bars?

Twelly

styxd wrote:

It looks great, but I cant help thinking it may suit/fit you better if you flipped the stem the other way up and removed that stem spacer. Maybe even fit some flat bars?

...Really?

styxd

Yeh really, the front end looks very high compared to the saddle.

Twelly

You do know what Megavalanche is right?

miss notax

Thanks for the comments - I know the bike might look a bit odd to some but i'm happy with the set-up. It feels 'right' which I think is the most important thing

Twelly

miss notax wrote:

Thanks for the comments - I know the bike might look a bit odd to some but i'm happy with the set-up. It feels 'right' which I think is the most important thing

I think it looks fine and I'm sure you have set it up as you want/need it to be.

I don't understand why styxd thinks you should be lowering the front of the bike when you are about to barrel down an alp

styxd

You do know what Megavalanche is right?

Yes, its a race down a long bit of singletrack down a hill in France, I dont know why that should make a difference to whether your bike fits you or not.

But, its just been said it feels right!

Twelly

Singletrack eh?

There is a very small amount of 'singletrack' in that video and I would not want a low, flat bar'd XC bike for that little snowy bit at the start..

miss notax

TwellySmat wrote:

Singletrack eh?

Arrrgh - anyone else feeling slightly hysterical now (or every time I watch that clip)??! No? just me then :oops:

styxd

Yes, Ive ridden it. Theres a glacier at the top, the rest was singletrack from what I can remember,.

Twelly

styxd wrote:

Yes, Ive ridden it. Theres a glacier at the top, the rest was singletrack from what I can remember,.

Ha fair enough. Surely though you would want a controlled, laid back position in order to get you down the glacier quickly and in one piece? There is also many steep rocky sections from the clips I have seen which would suggest a more DH set up would be best. This would override the need for a low front end for the easier pedally bits for me. But then you have ridden it, I haven't.

miss notax

TwellySmat has hit the proverbial nail on the head.

I'm more of an xc rider than a dh rider, so I would rather make the downs as easy as possible and take the hit on the flatter bits (which I know I can ride ok!). That said, I am still prepared to walk anything that looks too scary!

The Kona has been on a pretty serious diet to hopefully make it as pedally as a freeride bike can be. We took her to QE Park the other weekend and although she's still pretty weighty, she descends beautifully and climbs pretty well too (before I run out of puff)

I'm happy

Twelly

Likewise. I have had a go with a mates beefy full sus rig before but I ride solely XC and light technical stuff. I would like to build up a proper burly, bouncy DH bike in the future and then take it to some interesting places but that will be at least a couple of years away. Just love how they can float over steep rough stuff so quickly and just soak it all up.

I bet you tore down the trail at QE on that!