Nukeproof Mega TR build - 26'er!

dirkpitt74

Well thought I should start a build thread now that most of the bits have arrived!
Have been umming and arring over the last few months on what to do about a new steed - had toyed with the idea of a new Bird Aeris, but the faff of cyclescheme (and work....) and long lead in times due to popularity drained my enthusiasm somewhat.

I really enjoyed building my lads bike and thought I might give building a full bouncer a go.

I 'accidentally' bought some 140mm Fox 32's on ebay last year as I thought the price was wrong - these are around 12 months old and the guy had a BIN price of £100. So I pressed the button and waited for the 'sorry wrong price listed' email - I thought they'd be a good upgrade for the HT.
But what actually happened was these dropped through the door:



They need some new stickers as the guy who had them had decided to go stealth - but I've ordered some from SLIK graphics.

I'd looked at something similar to the Giant Trance frame that would take the 140 fork and thought about getting powder coated etc. and swapping the bits from my HT over on to it.

I missed out on a couple of frames on ebay and PB and whilst I was thinking what to do I kept looking at the Nukeproof Mega as it's a bike I've always liked and looked at possibly getting a new one.
Well, again on ebay just before Christmas a bargain popped up in the shape of a 12 month old 26'er Mega TR frame and shock. This was up for £450 but open to offers - so a couple of cheeky offers later (and a bit of a postage panic.....) this arrived:



It's a large frame, but sizes up only slightly bigger than my medium HT so should be spot on, had spoken to a guy on a course not so long back with a medium and he wished he'd gone to a large (medium is slightly smaller than my HT).

Have also managed by (emailing nearly every Nukeproof dealer in the UK!!!) to bag an elusive direct mount front derailleur bracket, as these were a 'bolt on option' during the production year of this frame.

So I have to decide for now to stick with 2 x 10 set up as this should suit most thing I want to do. Had considered 1 x 10 but not sure I'd cope too well with the hills - planning Peaks and Snowdon so thinking the granny will be useful!!

As I was in no rush to build it I decided to take my time and accumulate the parts I wanted. I had been tempted to just transfer most of the stuff from my HT and get it built, but decided I'd be better waiting and planning a decent spec.

Have picked up a few bargains over the last few months in the sales etc. including Superstar Carbon AM wheels for £240, SLX brakes for £80 and a few other bits.

I also decided to stay with the KS eTEN dropper post as I've been really impressed with the one I have on my HT but have gone for the internal version for the Mega.

Will be setting the wheels up tubeless (tubeless virgin!!) so watch this space for any comedy moments!

Here's the full build spec, just waiting for the last few bits to drop through the door and then I can build it!

Frame - 2014 26'er Nukeproof Mega TR 18.75"
Shock - Rockshox Monarch RT3 Debonair
Fork - 2014 Fox Float 32's 140 travel
Brakes - Shimano SLX
Rotors - Shimano XT 180f/160r
Crank - Shimano SLX 170 38.26t
Bottom Bracket - Shimano SLX
Cassette - Shimano SLX 10 sp 11-36t
Shifters - Shimano SLX I spec B (no display)
Front Mech - Shimano SLX direct mount dual pull
Rear Mech - Shimano SLX shadow
Chain - Shimano Deore
Bars - Nukeproof Sam Hill 760
Stem - Nukeproof Warhead 50mm
Headset - Hope
Wheels - Superstar AM carbon Switch-ultra
Tryes - On-One Chunky Monkey trial 2.4 f/Smorgasbord trail 2.25 r
Pedal - Superstar Nano X
Seat Post - KS eTEN integral 100mm drop
Saddle - Specialized Henge
Grips - Superstar lock-on Half Flange


Rough weight should be around 13kg's (according to google and excel.....)

I might, at some point in the future go 1x10 with a wide range cassette as most of my mates seem to be doing this and it's pretty good all round and save a bit of weight in the process.

dirkpitt74

Cheers oxoman - will post some pics when I get cracking.
Wheels turned up this afternoon, just waiting on tyres, valves, rim tape, stans fluid and dropper post now.

rockmonkeysc

I used to have one of them. Great ride when properly sorted. That standard shock is absolutely awful though, extremely harsh. A shock upgrade makes a vast improvement.
Absolutely bombproof frame, responds very well to being ridden very hard. Jumps like a slopestyle bike!

dirkpitt74

The shock has apparently been services/tuned by J-Tech so will see what it's like.

rockmonkeysc

TF Tuned couldn't do anything useful with it and they're a lot better than J Tech for turning. They showed me the compression assembly and explained why it doesn't work well and why you can't tune it.

dirkpitt74

What did you swap the shock to?

dirkpitt74

Dropper and haribo arrived today from Tredz and Stans fluid from CRC.
Still waiting for tyres, valves and tape though

rockmonkeysc

DirkPitt74 wrote:

What did you swap the shock to?

Cane Creek Inline. The improvement was immense. It made the bike so much better on the rough stuff, loads more grip and better climbing.

dirkpitt74

Finally made a start on the build.
Didn't get a huge amount done as I was off sick yesterday whilst trying to do it and my brain wasn't quite in the zone.
Still, I got started on it!

Stickered my forks up:


Every one loves a bit of carbon:


And Hope bits:


Nukeproof stem & bars (Sam Hill edition):


Front brake mounted:


And front mech:


Need to sort out shortening brake hoses and running cables etc. couldn't find the I-spec mounting bits for my shifters, but eventually discovered them lurking in the bottom of the parts box as they'd fallen out of the bag the shifters were in.

Hoping to get a bit done each night and hopefully be finished for next week.

dirkpitt74

Almost done!
Just need to size chain and fit dropper post.
Waiting for a new remote as Captain Hamfist managed to overtighten and crack the clamp.




Got a couple of extra Hope bits arriving to as I'm quite liking the red!

dirkpitt74

Pretty much finished bar the dropper post - new remote arriving Monday.



Took it for a quick spin and all seems OK, brakes need bedding in properly. Doesn't feel much bigger than my HT.

Herdwick

Looks good and is even better that you spend some time building your bike, hope to get it out by monday!!!

mike hunts alpine

I know those forks only cost you £100 but you are going to realise how utterly shit the evolution CTD model is I had it and I can not describe the utter frustrating piece of crap it was. Other than those devil forks (you will see when you get them out on the trail) the bike is a sweet build, get it dirty and enjoy.

rockmonkeysc

mike hunts alpine wrote:

I know those forks only cost you £100 but you are going to realise how utterly shoot the evolution CTD model is I had it and I can not describe the utter frustrating piece of crap it was. Other than those devil forks (you will see when you get them out on the trail) the bike is a sweet build, get it dirty and enjoy.

I agree. I had a demo on a Giant Trance for a few days with the same fork. They are absolutely terrible. The damping is extremely crude, worse than Rockshox cheapest dampers. The flex in them is also pretty bad.
A Rockshox Today or Suntour Epicon would be a decent upgrade for a 32 CTD evo. A bike like this needs a well damped and stiff fork.

dirkpitt74

Thanks for the comments guys - will see how I get on with them.
Would like some Pikes but can't afford them so will use these for a while until I can save some cash.

Twelly

I have some 150mm Revs Im getting rid of soon. PM if you are interested (the ones on my BFe if you want to have a look)

rockmonkeysc

Marzocchi 350cr is a whole heap better and more suited to the bike than a 32 and they can be found really cheap.

Twelly

RockmonkeySC wrote:

Marzocchi 350cr is a whole heap better and more suited to the bike than a 32 and they can be found really cheap.

Agreed! Dont ruin my sales pitch though

rockmonkeysc

Revs are also an entire metric sh1t ton better than a Fox 32 CTD evo

Twelly

RockmonkeySC wrote:

Revs are also an entire metric sh1t ton better than a Fox 32 CTD evo

Thats more like it..

rockmonkeysc

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Twelly wrote:

RockmonkeySC wrote:

Revs are also an entire metric sh1t ton better than a Fox 32 CTD evo

Thats more like it..

I'll take a 14% sales commission.

dirkpitt74

Finished installing dropper post and tidying a few bits yesterday so thought I should take it for a ride.
Did the blue route and a couple of cheeky single tracks at Cannock to see how it went.



Things I like:
-170 cranks feel spot on
-Climbs better than I thought it would
-Less cramped than my HT
-Builds up speed quickly
-Gearing 11-36 and 38/26
-Brakes have bedded in nicely over 11 muddy miles
-Nano X pedals - grippy a f**k!

Things I don't like
-Fox forks - bit clunky
-Could have gotten away with a 125 dropper

Things I need to tweek:
-Brake lever & dropper lever position
-Tyre pressures
-Shock pressure
-Swap spacer to lift stem up slightly

Really liking the bike - enjoyed building it and think it should be fun to ride.
Off over The Dog on Thursday evening with a few guys from work.

ilovedirt

RockmonkeySC wrote:

Revs are also an entire metric sh1t ton better than a Fox 32 CTD evo

You do love to rain on people's parade's don't you?
The guy is happy with his bike, leave him to it. Rev's aren't much/any better really, depending which damper you have. And for £100 for his 32s he got a bargain.

OP - enjoy the bike, it looks great. I miss my old mega TR, so much so that i've been eyeing up some second hand TR 275 frames!

dirkpitt74

Final weight of bike is 14.25kg's/31.4lbs (Ialso weighed it last night and it came out pretty much spot on).

Slightly heavier than I wanted but have realised that my inner tubes are best part of 0.5kg's!
Will give tubeless another go in the near future.

rockmonkeysc

ilovedirt wrote:

RockmonkeySC wrote:

Revs are also an entire metric sh1t ton better than a Fox 32 CTD evo

You do love to rain on people's parade's don't you?
The guy is happy with his bike, leave him to it. Rev's aren't much/any better really, depending which damper you have. And for £100 for his 32s he got a bargain.

OP - enjoy the bike, it looks great. I miss my old mega TR, so much so that i've been eyeing up some second hand TR 275 frames!

He even said his Fox fork feels clunky. The Mega TR frame is really good but a poor performing fork will ruin the ride.
Even them most basic Revelation is a lot better than a Fox CTD evo which is probably the worst modern fork from a premium brand. A Rockshox Tora has better damping.

dirkpitt74

Thanks for all the comments guys.
Will have to live with the forks for a while until I can afford something else.
I've given them a dose of silicone spray to see if it livens them up a bit, and I might drop the pressure a tad and see how that goes.

mike hunts alpine

DirkPitt74 wrote:

Thanks for all the comments guys.
Will have to live with the forks for a while until I can afford something else.
I've given them a dose of silicone spray to see if it livens them up a bit, and I might drop the pressure a tad and see how that goes.

Dont use the silicone spray, top dog at mojo chris porter did an interview in a magazine and he said it actually dries out the seals long term. so i wouldnt recomend it, one thing i would recommend doing is buying some float fluid and applying that to your stanchions and cycling the fork a few times then removing any excess every few rides. i found it improved sensitivity slightly with mine also storing the bike upside down or turning it upside down for 30 mins before the ride this keeps the seals lubricated. Its a difficult one to set up as well as 20% sag has no small bump sensitivity and 30% was too divey i settled on 25% but it still wasn't perfect. one thing to also check is that your fork wasn't subject to the warranty recall like mine was as lowers had become detached from the uppers pop you serial number in the fox website and check that may be one of the reasons you got them so cheap.

ilovedirt

RockmonkeySC wrote:

Even them most basic Revelation is a lot better than a Fox CTD evo which is probably the worst modern fork from a premium brand. A Rockshox Tora has better damping.

Erm...

rockmonkeysc

ilovedirt wrote:

RockmonkeySC wrote:

Even them most basic Revelation is a lot better than a Fox CTD evo which is probably the worst modern fork from a premium brand. A Rockshox Tora has better damping.

Erm...

The CTD evo was less consistent than the Rockshox TK damper which was basic but provided some control.

dirkpitt74

Good ride last night in truly rubbish conditions.
Bike performed well and the clunky-ness seems to have gone from the forks.
Will stick with them for a while and see how I get on.

Interesting to hear the comments about silicone spray - I was under the impression that it was OK to use.

swod1

On the mega frame how do you get the black cable guides off the frame, the ones on the rear part for brake hose and gear cable?

I've bought a used mega frame and cant work out how they come off to clean up the frame.

Also did you change any of the pivot bearings?