Nukeproof Mega

*AJ*

As some of you may or may not know, up until recently I had two Orange bikes The MsIsle for commuting and the odd thrash around a BMX track if I feel like it... and the Patriot for downhill duties.

The patriot has the usual spec list; Boxxers, saint brakes and gears, Hope/mavic wheels etc etc and was very specific to Downhill riding.



Whilst I did really like this bike, it hadn't been used properly since August, which was when I did an uplift day at Cwmcarn. Since then a few mates have bought bikes and we are up at the local trail centre doing 10+ miles of single track... Not exactly ideal for the Patriot, so I've been using the MsIsle.
This resulted in the nice bike not being ridden at all, but the commuter/play bike being used 6 days a week, so I decided to swap the frame and fork for something a little less DH specific and something I could pedal uphill too, something I might actually get use out of more than a few times in the summer.

Enter the Nukeproof Mega build.

First step was stripping down the Patriot, the forks have sold, but the frame/shocks/chain device etc is all up for sale if anyone is interested give me a shout.

The first part of the puzzle arrived on Tuesday, a set of 160mm Rockshox Domain 318 in black with a tapered steerer.







Second part of the puzzle arrived early yesterday, A Hope 36T chainring, MRP G2 mini chain device, a seat post shim, and shifter cable and outer.



And then when I got home from work last night I had this waiting for me.



Ohhhhhh stealthy.



I wanted to check all the headset was present and working so put the bits together.



Then I got carried away as I had an hour to spare before I had to be anywhere.



Decided that I needed to test fit as much as I could so i could order anything I needed before the weekend as Im aiming to get out on it on Sunday. After an hour I had to give up, but its 90% complete



REALLY pleased with it so far, Had to order a few little bits from CRC today, including a shock pump as the shock is sagging about 70% into its travel when I'm sat on it.

I'll keep this thread update with my progress though, and get a few more detailed pics up once its finished.

pesky_jones

Nice work man. I liked the patriot but the mega looks...well...mega!

I'd chop that steerer down though, purely for aesthetics however!

rockmonkeysc

Nice build. If the Mega rides half as good as the Scalp it will be a great bike.

ilovedirt

Sweet, always really wanted one of these!

*AJ*

Thanks guys, really pleased with it so far! hoping that I get out on it Sunday....

The steerer does need chopping but im not keeping that stem on there, so I don't really want to cut anything until I've finalised set up etc. I have got some nice hope spacers on the way though to tidy it up until then.

Biggus86

The stem's a bit long ain't it haha. I'm liking the Mega's, was gonna buy one but nothing went to plan

*AJ*

Yeah the stem is 70mm, it was needed on the patriot as it had quite a short top tube, but this frame is quite a bit longer, so ill change it to a 50mm one when money allows, spent far too much this month though so it'll have to wait a bit.

Got the chain fitted, chain device aligned, gear cable fitted and gears tuned....
Just need to tidy up the stem/headset area, fit some new brake pads, and add some air to the rear shock.

Tom4

liking the black and gold

Biggus86

That gold on it looks flipping excellent!

*AJ*

Finished it off today, got the rear shock pumped up! It at about 250psi now! Just to get me at 20% sag, but it does feel good! Only had a quick blast around the street, off a few steps, but its a lot plusher than the patriot.

The front fork needs a stiffer spring in it, which I'll do in the next few weeks, along with a shorter stem and slightly wider bar, now I've decided on combo, but that's another £100.

The headset/stem looks better now I've put the gold hope spacers on with gold hed doctor.

It's very very wet here today so unsure I'm gonna get out on it this week now though! Will see! It's gonna be interesting to ride, its very different to the patriot... Long rear stays mean it takes more effort to get on the back wheel. All good fun though I guess!

rockmonkeysc

Looks nice but loose some (most) of the spacers under the stem and it will handle so much better. Grip when cornering and braking will be much better, you will have better control through the rough stuff and you will be more attractive to the opposite sex.

*AJ*

RockmonkeySC wrote:

Looks nice but loose some (most) of the spacers under the stem and it will handle so much better. Grip when cornering and braking will be much better, you will have better control through the rough stuff and you will be more attractive to the opposite sex.

Lol good point, I am however going to wait until I get a new stem until I cut the steerer, as this stem is fairly short in the clamping area. The new one will be taller, so I'm going to wait and make sure I don't go too short!

rockmonkeysc

Move some spacers above the stem.

Thewaylander

Also try it at about 30% sag, be suprised you wont blast through all teh travel it will gobble the downs way more

Lovely machine though. really like these bikes.

rockmonkeysc

Thewaylander wrote:

Also try it at about 30% sag, be suprised you wont blast through all teh travel it will gobble the downs way more

Lovely machine though. really like these bikes.

Good tip. The Nukeproof rear suspension really ramps up in the last third of the travel so you can run quite a soft set up and it won't bottom.

*AJ*

Thanks for the advice guys, I do like my suspension reasonably hard though to be fair, Ill make sure I take the pump out with me when I get out on it so I can have a play about with pressures.

The fork certainly needs a new spring, I believe the standard one is red (medium) so Im going to swap it for a black (extra firm) one which, with a little more rebound damping dialed in should give the a nice springy fork under my weight without topping out on the take offs (hopefully).

Really looking forward to getting out on this now!

Thewaylander

If you like it hard 20% sag on this bike. you will never use the travel then i'm not 100% sure the point of having but as always say horses for courses.

Any reason for choosing hte saint over a more trail weight set up of interest though i do like the saint stuff

*AJ*

Thewaylander wrote:

If you like it hard 20% sag on this bike. you will never use the travel then i'm not 100% sure the point of having but as always say horses for courses.

Any reason for choosing hte saint over a more trail weight set up of interest though i do like the saint stuff

Im not quite sure I understand what you've said there...

I have currently set the bike at 20% sag, which is mainly because I like a relatively hard setup, I much prefer to be able to get a feel for what the back end is doing than have it all soaked up by the shock, but I do like to have a bit of give when it comes to the heavier hits. (probably down to my back ground in BMX, trials and 4X)

Anyway the shock pump will come out with me when I do get to put it through its paces and if It is too hard I can dial it down a little bit with the pump.

As for the Saint stuff, I had it already on the Patriot, so it would have seemed silly to change it. Also, you only have to ride a set of saint cranks for a very short time to realise they are stiffer than the XT's etc. I love the saint stuff, I'm not a weight weeny at all so it doesn't really matter to me that it weighs a little more, the saint stuff is built to take a beating time and time again, which is why i love it, but its very much a personal taste

The rear mech for instance has a really strong spring in it, the result of this means the rear mech doesn't chatter anything like the XT version, but as a result the shifting is clunky and quite mechanical compared to the XT version that is silky smooth. I just prefer it that way.

Thewaylander

I wasn't criticizing on the saint stuff just wondered on the selection, it is good solid shiz wont get an argument there.

There is alot of ramp up on the frame so i would suggest more 30% and get a shock (if its not on yours)with high and load speed compression damping and tune it up a bit. but experiment, just on 20% i just don't think you will see much of travel in use at all

But it's only a suggestion at the end you knows what you likes

I do like the mega

rockmonkeysc

You might want to go a bit softer than you think on the fork spring. I had an x-firm when I was 17 stone and it was a bit firm for anything except big drops. The domain is a freeride fork so it takes some big hits to make it blow through it's travel. There are usually springs cheap on ebay.

*AJ*

RockmonkeySC wrote:

You might want to go a bit softer than you think on the fork spring. I had an x-firm when I was 17 stone and it was a bit firm for anything except big drops. The domain is a freeride fork so it takes some big hits to make it blow through it's travel. There are usually springs cheap on ebay.

Really? That's interesting as its not the first time I heard that!
I'm 16.5 stone, and rockshox table seems to say I need a black extra firm spring.
Ill hold off ordering one then until I have ridden it properly, if I get on with the standard red one but its not quite right ill just go for the firm.(blue I believe)

Cheers for that mate!

*AJ*

Well just back from a decent ride on the mega..... WOW! Went for a quick blast around the local blue route and after that I just wanted to keep going, so I did! And had a session in the bike park! This thing is exactly what I wanted! It rides the trails like an XC bike, the longer wheelbase took some getting used to, as its really hard to manual, but once I got it, I loved it!

In the bike park theres not much in the way of big hits, but a few rock gardens & small drops, it seemed to take everything in its stride, and felt very planted in the turns too!

The shock is great, the blue "gate" lever makes a lot of difference in all 3 settings and takes it from nice and floaty, to almost locked for the climbs, the lever is easily accessible from the riding position too!

I've got a shorter stem & wider bar on the way which will make all the difference as I felt like my weight was a little too far forward with the 70mm stem. The only other thing that really needs changing is the tyres, the 2.5 maxxis high rollers are just too big and heavy for trails.

But all in all, its a fantastic bike! Can't wait to get back out on it!

*AJ*

Got my new bars and stem fitted tonight, the stem is a 50mm Thomson X4 that I got from a member on here and the bars are Answer ProTaper DH which are 780mm wide am with a 12.5mm rise.

I also got a full original sticker set for the mega so I've put the original down tube sticker back on, and I replaced the shock bolts as they had started to go a bit rusty and didn't look the best!

gt-arrowhead

That Nukeproof and the Orange in your first post are 2 of the best looking bikes i have EVER seen, hands down...

*AJ*

Lol! Thanks mate! I'm very happy with the bike!

*AJ*

Trimmed the steerer today! Tidied up the spacers, stem, top cap area.....

gt-arrowhead

I would have had a bad accident by now with that bike, id be looking down at the handlebars and headset area for the whole time! Nice!

*AJ*

Few more bits...





All fitted, new discs and tyres. Looking very 'stealth' now!









I think its desperately in need of a gold hope seat clamp.

I also replaced the shock bolts as they were slightly corroded

sniper68

Nice 8)
Love my Mega,especially now it's got an X-Fusion Vengeance on it 8)

*AJ*

ibbo68 wrote:

Nice 8)
Love my Mega,especially now it's got an X-Fusion Vengeance on it 8)

Your mega looks nice mate, how you getting on with the seatpost? Im thinking it may be my next purchase.... Is yours a 5" or 6" version? Any issues?

sniper68

5",wouldn't be without it.I've had them on my bikes for the last 3 or 4 years.I have a 3" drop Giant switch on my Ragley which is OK but will be replaced with another KS 5" as soon as I can.I switched from lever to remote last year and it really is night and day 8)
Compliments the Mega perfectly