Originally Posted by Trasselkalle
Where did you guys start when deciding on parts? I suspect the fork is a sexy place to start with, but what about gears (internal anyone?) and wheels? Strength is a given when it comes to this type of bike, I guess, but the little devil inside me is crying "get a light bike - you've always loved light bikes". In other words - if I do build it myself, I'd want the bike to be as light as possible (without going to extremes neccessarily - I still want to DJ with it...).
For a dj'er I would build in this order
1 frame
2 wheels
3 fork (shock also if I were to do a fs)
4 groupo,(used that term since you are a converted rodie
) including brakes
5 bars, stem, seat post, head set
6 saddle
1&2 is where the bike will gain most of the weight. These are, imo, the parts that need to be the
strongest.
3 You can shed some weight here and get a heavy xc fork with stiffer springs (dont go w/air) rather then
a dj specific fork
4 If you will be running a single chain ring, I say get full SRAM XO or X.9. If you must you can go XTR.
For the brakes a good set of mechs (or just one on the rear) will save you some weight and still give
good power. You could even set it up as an SS and not worry about misshifts at an inopertune
time(these can be fun. espacially for those watching
) Cranks- depending on how big you plan to
go, a good set of xc/all mtn cranks will work, something along the lines of a RaceFace Atlas.
5 Stay away from carbon. Not a good idea on a dj
/ Headsets, to many to list, take your pick
6 just pick up a 10$ saddle since you wont be sitting on it to much. Or if you wanted to shave more
weight use your road saddle or some expensive one with Ti rails and such.
That is how I would go about it.
