Dear god, and I thought I was fashion *****-ish with my bikes!

I can't imagine having all the stuff available to build it up, and not doing so in order to ride. Just because a few things don't match the colour scheme, or you're not sure about the shifting. Build it up with what you have/had, ride it, and sell the other stuff off later for new if you don't like it.

Thanks! :)


:lol: OK... We all have our likes and dislikes :)

It's not like I have "all that stuff available".... The front Derailleur does not fit, as I needed a Top Swing unit. The Rear Derailleur is a Rapid Rise, while nothing is wrong with it, it's just not what I had anticipated... So it really has nothing to do with fashion, and has everything to do with function. As it is, I can't ride it.


That said however , I still do sweat details, so I guess I'm guilty as charged :)

Just a difference in priorities. I'd have tossed the RR stuff on, and ridden the bike as a 1x9 until the right front mech showed up. Then either sell off the RR stuff if not to my liking, and get other stuff, or keep it in the parts bin as spares. That's not the fashion stuff I'm talking about anyhow.

I'm in no rush, and I already have spent more than I should on bicycle parts in the last year, so you are right, my method is a difference in priorities.

As to the fashion stuff, I'm sure your referring to my wanting matching braided cables and brake hoses, no different than wanting all that G-O-L-D :D

http://www.killermovies.com/images/m...golden_boy.jpg

Im sure i'll be in saskatoon for a weekend or two this summer, we should meet up and do the silverwood trails.

Sounds Good, Give me a shout! I want to go ride Buffalo Pound as well. From your's and Kris's discussions, it sounds like a nice place to ride.

It will be interesting how much MTB riding I get in, as my Club is primarily a road club. We ride 100 KMs on Saturdays and 50KM on Wednesdays. That doesn't leave a lot of time for MTB'ing, but I'll make the effort.

Ah but the difference there is that I built the bike up initially with what I had to hand. Most of the gold came later. The new one, all I did was swap parts from frame to frame. Only thing I had to order new was a front mech, seatpost shim, and seat collar; and they showed up nicely before the frame did! ;)

And for the most part so did I, I had nothing for this bike, and had to buy it all, so it may as well be close to what I want ;)

Building a custom bike should be about getting it close to your vision, what ever that may be. I would never disparage anyone for that.

Good choice sending the RR deraileur back. RR deraileurs don't shift well under heavy load. So, when your cranking it up a hill and need to shift to a larger cog, sometimes the spring tension isn't enough to move the chain over.

Hey TJ, well of all the weird-ness, my package did not go out.... My wife was not able to send it out so it's still in her truck. Thinking about it some more, I'm getting a bad feel on returning this to the seller. He seems like a nice guy and all, but I'm afarid it'll get lost, and I notice he does not have the units I require in stock, so it could be one of those Bird in hand is better than 2 bird s in the bush type transactions.

As such, I'm inclined to just buy another FD (Top Swing), and ebay the regular FD, or keep it as a spare for my next build ;) I'm also willing to try the Rapid Rise RD, just because I may as well, as others here have eluded to. It is only parts, and I am a bicycle parts junkie....

Funny how fate can make decisions for you...

Picture Added:

http://img54.imageshack.us/img54/7071/xtr9tt1.jpg

That is one sexy bike! I'm gettin' all flustered just looking at it!

T.J.

Thanks TJ :beer:

So I'm still on the fence regarding sending it back.. It's still baxed up ready to go, however I fired off an email to the seller asking him how soon he would have the required FD-M970 and RD-M971-SGS in stock.

the viper gets a big old bump. can you believe i boogy off to Ouray CO for a week to do some ice climbing and come back to see the bike dang near done.

wow man, she's lookin like a really beauty!

you should try mounting the shifters inside of the brake levers. then move the levers inwards so you only have your index fingers on them. you'll likely not need any more than that, but you'll want that index finger out on the end for better leverage. you'll also want to adjust the reach on the levers when you do this. you can keep them really close to the bars as they won't interfere with your nuckles.

re: cable trimming - i would recomend you leave enough to be able to turn the bars in a full 360, mostly becouse i know you'll be pulling wicked bar spins at the local dirtjumps, but also so they don't get damaged in the entirely unlikely event that you will ever crash.

Hey, Thanks Euroford! It would have been done except I got the wrong derailleurs. I contacted the fellow and he said he has the ones I require in stock...

I tried putting the Shifters between the brakes and the grips, however because of the master cyclinders, to have the brake levers at the angle I like, it put the shifters at a very steep angle (more than I liked), and then placed too much shifter lever in the grip area. The way it is now allows me to slide the shift levers inward so the triggers are just entering the grip area, and places my thumb lever in what feels pretty natural.

However I didn't try moving the Brake levers more inward to clear the shifters..... I'll experiment some more.

Thanks on the recommendation of the cables... Right now the hydro hoses are that length to allow a 360 rotation, however I was going to trim them.. Maybe I should just leave them for a bit until the rides sort it out?

man- nice job on all of the bikes. i'm glad you're around, 'cuz i get to use you as a reference to my girlfriend everytime i come home with a new project bike. i can always say at least i'm not as bad as you. keep up the projects, man. by the way, my girlfriend pretty much hates your guts by now, but much respek from me!

:lol: For sure, feel free to blame me anytime you come home with a new part, or bike :D


Thanks!

how come you didn't decide to go with a thin sleek 'on a diet' saddle instead? like a race saddle? it would totally compliment it..

maybe its just me... (hecka light, <125... so a cushioned saddle doesn't make a difference)

Because it's an off road bike, as such looks better with a burlier saddle designed for the off roads :D


Truthfully I have lots of racing saddles (Selle Italia SLR, Flite Titanium, Fizik's... etc), They all looked funny on the bike. I like the WTB saddle because it looks sleek enough, yet has the Kevlar reinforced corners, to prevent abrasion should I have a minor incident. Plus, it's an off road/road saddle :D

and because WTB V-series saddles are VERY comfortable

I have to concur, my Ass-0-meter is liking what it feels so far :D

I may try something different later on, but for now I wanted to try a WTB....

http://www.sasktelwebsite.net/fung1/wtbsaddle.jpg

I love my speed-V's shape so much I'm looking into ordering a shadow-V or a Silverado for my Cyclocross bike

(after my 2.5 hour ride on the stock Redline seat, my rear was screaming when I got home)

I'm not sure on the model Viper Z has but the WTB Rocket V saddle on the V10 weighs the same as my Selle Italia SLR XP (both at 210 g). Not the lightest out there but definitely not a heavy saddle.

http://www.blueskycycling.com/produc...e/29098_lg.jpg

I was considering a Sliverado as well.... But the plain top cover versus the lettered Silverado swayed my decision. Still I liked the Siverado as well.


Mine is the Rocket V Team Titanium, stated to be 210g


This is my Selle Italia SLR, much to light for MTB use I think. :D

http://img489.imageshack.us/img489/8...carbon43nn.jpg

http://img488.imageshack.us/img488/5...carbon27gk.jpg

http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/6...ionecb56pp.jpg

http://img522.imageshack.us/img522/5...ionecb67va.jpg

My Arione Carbon Braided, it's not that much lighter than the Titanium Railed Rocket V Team