New Winter Project

[phatfreeheeler]

After going back and forth on the idea all summer and watching friends riding up at Deer Valley having fun and chargin hard I finally broke down. I have gotten much braver this summer and am starting to worry for the longevity of my beloved Ellsworth ID if I try anything too big and have to toss the bike away. I put a nice dent in the chainstay in the first couple months of it's life this year. I'm keeping that as my standard trail rig. According to my speedo I almost hit 40 mph Saturday on the Crest. It was really, really fun, but now I need more bike and armor

Well here is a pic of my new winter project...

2004 Specialized Big Hit

Any thoughts on a build. I only weigh 150 lbs so I'd like to keep it fairly light. My goals are sub 40 lbs with 170mm travel in the front and 190mm in the rear. I want to use it for shuttled rides but also for shore type stunts a bit and I'm a bit worried I don't have the strength to ever manual a bigger bike. Not that I have the talent either If you're not aware, it uses a 24" rear wheel and it can be adjusted so the head angle is steep for shore style freeride and slack for downhill. Also, I'd like to keep it cheap as I plan on thrashing on it by experimenting as much as possible. This is my learning bike. At 32 it's about time It has a 1-1/8 headset, but if I could find an inexpensive super long travel single crown that would be awesome. I'm so light I don't feel flexy forks as much. Anyways, just thought I'd share my new project for non-ski days. Not that there will be thaaat many

[house]

big travel single crown eh. Beyondbikes has 06 66s for about as cheap as youll probably find em for new anywhere. 493.99 for the rc (more adjustability) and 397.99 for the vf. thats about all i have to offer. have fun building.

[White Chocolate]

big travel single crown eh. Beyondbikes has 06 66s for about as cheap as youll probably find em for new anywhere. 493.99 for the rc (more adjustability) and 397.99 for the vf. thats about all i have to offer. have fun building.

there's a reason why they are so cheap (last i checked it was the 05's), and why there were significant changes after 1 season on the market. apparently no one enjoyed the affect of the ridiculous height of the fork, or what it did to kill your steering. don't cave in, either get a new one or find a fox 36.

[house]

there's a reason why they are so cheap (last i checked it was the 05's), and why there were significant changes after 1 season on the market. apparently no one enjoyed the affect of the ridiculous height of the fork, or what it did to kill your steering. don't cave in, either get a new one or find a fox 36.

hmm, touche. did not know that. might work for the dude's downhill ride though right? either way, just throwin that out there.

[Mr. Altagirl]

An 06 66 would kill it on that frame (Go-Ride has an 06 on the floor already, go talk to Chris and he will sell you on it). A Fox 36 would be sweet but since this will be your shuttle ride, go bigger (Marz 66), maybe even a Travis. You might find a few 05 DC Sherman's around for a great price as well that would work.

[marshalolson]

fox 36's are air right? 150mm right?

[bagtagley]

fox 36's are air right? 150mm right?

The 36 RC2 is Air, the 36 VAN is coil. Both are 150mm.

[phatfreeheeler]

Yeah 150 seems a bit short for this frame. If it was just a technical stunt bike, maybe, but I'll downhill some on it. A guy at work is thinking of getting rid of a Monster T (way overkill) but if it's real cheap I may go that route. Cheap will rule, until I build some skills. The 66 would be perfect, but I'm not sure I could swing it right now. Maybe later this winter or if I don't buy new park skis. It's hard to want to spread my winter budget into bike season. Maybe I should sell the 183 Sugar Daddy's that I didn't mount last year. I'm sure that would probably make the powder way deeper this year

[Darkside]

The 36 RC2 is Air, the 36 VAN is coil. Both are 150mm.

The 36 VAN is actually 160mm or roughly 6.3" of travel.

[phatfreeheeler]

Ok, it's a Junior T, not a monster. That will be a better match at 170mm. Not a single crown, but the price is right so if I can't find any reason not to I'll probably do it.

[Oarhead]

Since you are light I would recommend a Boxxer. Marz are better for heavier riders since we break boxxers. A sherman would be a nice match. I would avoid a Jr T, just step up and get a super if you are going that route - way better fork.

[phatfreeheeler]

Well, the Junior T was too good of a deal to pass up. Great condition used '03 for $200. I'll mate it with a PIG DH and be done with that.

Until next summer I'm going to go uber cheap since skiing is now my priority. I've got an old XT 9 speed cassette (11-32) & chain w/an 8 speed STX crankset (24/34). I need 9 speed shifters and deraileurs, but if I'm going nice I'd just get some X-9 stuff for my ID and move the old XT stuff to this bike.

I need to buy brakes so suggestions would be good. I'm thinking 8" rotors, but is that too close to the tire with 24" rear wheel and poor freeride skills.

A strong and really short stem would be good. I've got 24.5mm riser bars lying around. And I've got to use ODI lock-on's cuz they kick butt.

I'm kinda thinking of going with the some used wheels since they are just going to get pretzeled anyways. 24" aren't super common though. What ever I do, I really want to try and keep it sub 40 lbs. I can't really imagine riding a manual with anything bigger. Tires are another good question, too heavy and that can really ruin the freeride use (remember, just learning) and too light and it will be useless for dirt jumping and shuttled runs. I'm stoked to finally try the I-street jumps.