full fat bfe - now mega TR

fizik · January 2014

After riding various full suspension bikes kona, yeti, orange 5 I decided that I was getting very lazy in the way that I was tackling the trails, and after seeing 26 aint dead my mind was made up. Off I went and bought a BFe frame in large and built it up with my old components.

Running it with 160mm 36 Float RC2's, stans arch ex, reverb, oldschool mono minis and an assortment of other parts. Haters going to hate for having such a long fork, but if I wanted 140mm I may as well have bought a soul frame. I find this setup really works, and I can still climb pretty quick, with surprisingly little front end lift or wander. If I ever did want to do the occasional xc event I would likely fit my old 32 120mm forks but that would be once in a blue moon. On the downs it flies, have to throw it into the corners and get your lean on to get the most out of it but it feels so much more alive than the 5. Tight singletrack is also no problem. I still need to learn to hop and skip my way through really rocky sections but thats the idea of going back to hardtail that I can build up my skills again. Garburn, Gatesgarth and Nan Bield left me feeling quite beaten up but I made it down in reasonable time. One thing that I have now got used to is that the bottom bracket is high, but this really doesn't affect the handling at all, only becoming apparent when trying to remount after washing out on a steep slippery climb. Overall I love it, plan is to go 10spd wide narrow but for now she is running just fine. I have also been very impressed with the Arches, I am 90kg and they have held up just fine smashing through rock gardens in the lakes, and crashing into trees at golf course inners.

Overall weight came out at 13kg on my scales, not light but not exactly heavy either, the 36's are surprisingly light for their girth 8)

pesky_jones · January 2014

So nice well done

mrlee · January 2014

Very nice indeed. Another member of the Cotic family

welcome

arran77 · January 2014

Another smart looking BFe there 8)

I'll get a thread started for mine soon which I've just finished building up

@lexD · January 2014

I like it! Looks ready to take on anything 8)

allthegearnoidea · January 2014

nice looking build fella, you'll start to get the Floaty over the rough feeling soon enough, Very different from the lazyness getting away with it on a full suss riding, but when you get it right its Such an Awesome feeling!! Even more so when your beating big bouncers on the Downhills by quite a margin! ;-)

fizik · February 2014

cheers allthegear, not sure that will ever be me, doubt id keep up with a big bike on a proper dh run, but do my best. Certainly alot of situations this bike feels dead pinned, and feels very solid without being harsh. Still climbs well too!

fizik · April 2014

So after a good few months riding the BFe, whilst there was nothing wrong with it (its a great handling frame) my back just couldn't cope on longer rides. Weekends of riding rocky terrain with my mates who all have full sussers just seemed like more of a punishment than enjoyment by the end, getting legs totally battered on the downs leaving little left for the climbs. Alot of this is down to me and that I am not the best or strongest rider, but I am a one bike person, and given the choice I don't want to live with a hardtail as an only bike. I also completed the SES rd 2 at inners on the BFe, and I think I am pretty hooked on the idea of more enduro racing but without the hardtail, so after reading alot of good reviews on here and mbr and vital mtb, I picked up a 2k13 mega tr frame off CRC. I ummed and arred over a titus el guapo, but none in stock and also the mega am, but I figured 155/160mm travel was too much for an only bike.

Using most of my old parts spec is

XL mega tr frame in yellow - lots of heli tape as I have heard the yellow paint isnt the strongest!
XT cranks with non nw blackspire chainring
blackspire direct mount top guide
SLX medium cage clutch mech
zee shifter
sram 1030 cassette with hope t-rex 40t sprocket - initial impressions are good, but getting the weird two ring downshift if backpedalling or pushing the bike around backwards, not really an issue as I dont tend to back pedal when in granny gears.
2010-2011 36 FIT RC2 forks
Kore 35mm stem
Protaper 720 bars
Oldskool mono minis 203/160
stans flow rear on hope pro2 evo converted to 142mmx12, arch ex front on pro 2 evo
maxxis advantage/ardent
non stealth 125mm reverb almost fully inserted! close!

First impressions are that the frame is long, fairly low and slack with the 36's, with sag is much lower than the bfe. It also feels very planted and rides like it was more than 130mm on the downs. My old 36's really seem to do the frame justice, giving it a solid front end and whilst they are in such good nick and in good order I dont see the need to upgrade them - they are fairly light for what they are and are easy to service.

Whole bike I would estimate is around 30lb, not as light as my old 5, but it rides much nicer. She also pedals really well, better than my yeti as-r and set up with 30% sag seems about right.

Had a few scary moments knocking the headset in using a block of wood, hammer and a vice, but all is well now. I cant wait for full a day out on her. 35mm stem also seems just about right too, lots of control through the rock gardens today, feels pretty unflappable as a whole. Plans are wider bars at some point, perhaps try a narrow wide, but given alot of my friends are now losing their chains as the nw ring and chain wear, I may not bother. Rebuilt the hope master cylinders whilst I was at it, considering these brakes were pretty much free, they are alright!

Dawesy92 · April 2014

Looks a really nice build that does mate. Lets see some nice muddy pics... :-)

ilovedirt · April 2014

Tidy

paulneenan76 · April 2014

I really like the Cotic and this Nukeproof is right up there for me - like it a lot.

full fat bfe - now mega TR

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