Tracey - 2015 Rebuild
DCR00
Posts: 2,160
Afternoon all
Well Mr Stinks has gone to a new home and the Spesh is shortly going to be replaced with this
Ive been struggling with the weight and general crapness of the forks on the Stinky, and TBH i think it was probably too much bike for the type of riding im doing. Even the DH riding at Antur and Stile Cop can probably be handled on a shorter travel bike, and in that respect i didnt feel that my riding was improving on the Stinky, since you could just plough it through whatever you wanted.
On top of that im starting to push the Spesh pretty hard now and its starting to feel a bit flexy and a bit too XC in terms of shape (which isnt surprising given that its an XC bike at heart)
So i wanted something that bridged the gap between the tank like nature of the Stinky, but with the trail bike likeness of the Spesh
Sold the Stinky for a pretty decent profit, so i threw my hat in on the Tracer. 2010 model, so 152mm at the back, but with the same adjustable geo and slack enough for the riding i do, combined with the stiffness and beefyness i'm not getting from the Spesh.
Has a pair of 36s TALAS and a Chris King HS too, so i think i got a good deal at £700
Just waiting for the frame to arrive
More to follow
Well Mr Stinks has gone to a new home and the Spesh is shortly going to be replaced with this
Ive been struggling with the weight and general crapness of the forks on the Stinky, and TBH i think it was probably too much bike for the type of riding im doing. Even the DH riding at Antur and Stile Cop can probably be handled on a shorter travel bike, and in that respect i didnt feel that my riding was improving on the Stinky, since you could just plough it through whatever you wanted.
On top of that im starting to push the Spesh pretty hard now and its starting to feel a bit flexy and a bit too XC in terms of shape (which isnt surprising given that its an XC bike at heart)
So i wanted something that bridged the gap between the tank like nature of the Stinky, but with the trail bike likeness of the Spesh
Sold the Stinky for a pretty decent profit, so i threw my hat in on the Tracer. 2010 model, so 152mm at the back, but with the same adjustable geo and slack enough for the riding i do, combined with the stiffness and beefyness i'm not getting from the Spesh.
Has a pair of 36s TALAS and a Chris King HS too, so i think i got a good deal at £700
Just waiting for the frame to arrive
More to follow
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Comments
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You got all that for £700?! :shock: you grabbed a right bargain there mate that's for sure!! Should be nice when it's built! It runs a 1.5 head tube as well IIRC, should give scope for going even slacker with a works headset!0
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I really want a Tracer. They are a lovely ride.Transition Patrol - viewtopic.php?f=10017&t=130702350
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Quick update
Tracey has been stripped and is having her slightly didgy paint job removed
The more eagle eyed of you will spot the Easton emblum
Im aware this will take frikking ages, but i dont care when the finish looks like that
Some goodies
and
Just some new decals and lower box link (current one dented) to come and im ready to rock0 -
Quick update
Main triangle has been stripped with the rear being around 70% done. Have started flattening out the scratches and polishing up the frame. Head tube is what I'm aiming for all over the frame.
Aiming to have the paint off the rear triangle by end of the weekend, so construction should start after that
To say I'm excited is an understatement0 -
You are going to paint it though surely? A bare frame will be a pig to keep looking decent?0
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What he said ^
I love the look of raw Alloy frames, looks kinda stealthy in an industrial way and understated. Prototypes often aren't painted and I have to say photos I saw of the new Kona Process and Cube stereo prototypes looked far far nicer than the production versions. Too many garish colours these days ruining otherwise great looking bikes.0 -
Looking good! I've stripped a couple of bikes before, it's hard work but really worth it!
Also, I'd get some crank skins for those saints if you want to keep them looking nice. They get tatty really quickly.
I'll post up a few photos of the bikes i've stripped before if you want? I don't want to hijack your thread without your say so
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DCR00 wrote:No paint to scratch. You get any marks on it, you just polish them out.
I like the raw look. Doesn't suit every frame, but i think it suits this just fine.
Rather you than me. Looking forward to seeing it completed.0 -
Ah nice one, those slik skins do the job
billy- polished frames are really easy to do, but it can be a bit of elbow grease to get it right in the first place - I didn't bother buffing mine to a mirror shine though, just ended up polishing it up with wire wool every so often, looked alright.
Anyway, I did a commencal meta 5 a while ago, went from this:
to this:
And more recently, I polished up an old Iron Horse Sunday, went from this:
To this:
I was pretty proud of the Sunday.0 -
The polished ali looks great. But having hand polished a set of large alloys for a classic car I know how much work is involved initially and to maintain the look.
You'd get a similar look with one of the lighter star silvers or the like (paint).0 -
Aye, though I didn't really want to be mucking about with paint, as I had to strip the Sunday in my bedroom, haha. That was a proper pain in the arse. I'm half tempted to have my Reign frame powder coated though, it's looking a little tatty.0
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one of the main drivers for not doing paint was the pain in the backside i went through with the Spesh
ideally i didn't want to be removing bearings/headsets, especially not the lower pivot bearings, hence why ive done it by hand and not had it shot blasted
I love that Sunday0 -
cheers mate, it's gone now. Like you, I found I was having more fun on the smaller bike and could ride it a lot more aggressively
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Tracey is finally done. Its been a proper labour of love, spending a few weeks stripping the paint off the frame and polishing it up. So a late night finish last Friday (12.45am) and she was finally done.
Haven't had time to do any fancy shots, so grabbed a quick shot last night at Delga
Spec
Frame - 2010 Intense Tracer VP
Forks - 2010 Fox 36 RC2 converted to float, with SKF seals and Drift titanium armour
Shock - 2012 RS Vivid coil R2C (TF Tuned)
Wheels - SS AM490
Front Tyre - Maxxis Minion 2.35 60a Maxxpro
Rear Tyre - Maxxis Ardent 2.25 60a Maxxpro
Headset - Chris King 1.5
Stem - Easton Havoc 65mm
Bars - Renthal Fat Bars (680mm)
Grips - ODI
Seatpost - Reverb
Seat - Fizik Gobi XM
BB - Hope SS
Crankset - Saint M810 with Raceface Narrow/Wide chainring, Shimano bashguard and Slik crank covers
Pedals - SS Nano Thru in Gunmetal
Rear Mech - XT 10 speed Med cage
Shifter - XT 10 Speed
Brakes - Deore M596
Cassette - SLX 10 Speed
I've built quite a few bikes now and you almost never get it 100% the first time. There is always something you want to tweak after the first ride, but not this time. 100% dialled in from the first pedal stroke. It feels like it was built for me. Feels way bigger than the Spesh, but in a good way. Reach is spot on at 65mm.
This bike kicks some serious ass. I've only ridden it twice (both times at Delga) and its so much faster than the Spesh, and the faster and harder you ride it, the more it comes alive. The forks are outstanding. I've been a Rockshox devotee for the last few years, but these 36s are brilliant. Similarly the Vivid is very good indeed. Whether its the compression damping or the VPP design, i get virtually no pedal bob, even when honking it up a steep hill.
Angles wise, im pretty happy, Its noticeably slacker at the front end, which i notice a wee bit on the climbs, but it makes a massive difference to how stable the bike feels when descending. The real test with be somewhere like Antur on whether some angle adjustment will be beneficial, but for trail riding i think its spot on as it is.
Its kind of depressing in a way that its so good, as i now have nothing to tinker with, but when i'm riding it, i dont really care
Cannock and Stipe Cop on Sat for some more shredding 0 -
Lurrvely0
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b.e.a.utifull0
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Prefered it in red 0
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So spent the day at Antur
Jesus this bike is good. I've ridden Antur on three different bikes now. The Spesh felt totally out of its depth (or maybe it was me), the Stinky was good, but not great and was hard work, but Tracey was just dialled in.
The test at Antur is beating the van back down, and i did it twice today. The speed this bike can carry is amazing.
There were stages when i felt the forks were being pushed pretty hard, but they coped fine. Rear shock is brilliant. Coil was def the way to go on this bike.
V happy 0 -
Morning all
been a while since i posted on here
I busted my wrist at Antur last year on my first ride on the Demo (which was promptly nicked a week later), so haven't been doing much bike wise since then
However wrist is now on the mend and I'm working it hard in the gym aiming for first ride end of Jan
In the meantime I've stripped Tracey down for a rebuild. Frame isn't quite done so no pics yet, but i have some goodies either on the way or sat in the garage waiting to be fitted.
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