I"ve only been riding mountain bikes for almost 2 years now and with me having a bad lower back the hardtail is killing me on 20+ mile rides. Today I went to the local bike shop and ordered a KHS XC604 frame with Rockshox MC3.3 rear shock. The swapping of parts from the Trek to the KHS will be seemless as everything will fit perfectly.... I'll post up some pics when it's complete.

Anyone else ride KHS frames and what do you think of them????

I've ridden the xc204 or whatever the one below it was called and it seemed just fine. It was a little soft in the back compared to what I normally ride but that's probably good news for your back.

My Rockshox Duke SL used for 2 months showed up yesterday ready to go on the new frame. My current duke is only a 80mm and the rear shock on the frame is a 100mm so a new fork was needed.. I"m going to tear the new fork down tonight and change out the oil to Amsoil syn. and get it ready to install.

Cool! I upgrade my 4300 to a kikapu, about 2 months after building the 4300.

I'm racing/riding the XC Team this year. As this is my first full suspension, I don't have a lot of comparison to make with other FSers (test ridden quite a few though) but I'm enjoying the bike so far. I think the only difference between mine and yours is a negligible weight difference (since it seems to have the same rear shock).

It doesn't seem to loose efficiency over the hardtail I had (b/c of the Horst link?). It sure does smooth out the trails though. The best thing I can say is I hardly notice it has the rear suspension. The only time I felt peddle bob was when I left the rear shock "locked" out and I was hammering. I thought something was strange as the ride was also rougher. When I got done with the trail, I looked down to see the lockout engaged.

I hope you enjoy it as much as I'm enjoying mine. It takes a little time to set up the air in the shock (and fork for me) but once dialed-in, it's nice...

Oh yeeeeeeeeah, it should be complete by this weekend. I put half of it together last night but it showed up with no headset by accident and I should get it today or tomorrow. I'll post completed pics when it's done.

HUmmmm looks nice you'r a lucky guy Rico

You must be tall. I think the large/extra large frames the reinforcement bar from the seat post to the top tube.

Looks good. Now we'll be waiting for the build pics.

I didn't know KHS had licensed the Horst link! Interesting...

All KHS fullys from the entry to the team now have the horst link!

I think they offer a heck of a deal throughout its range for a fully active rear.

nice, nice Rico

Rico, may I ask how much that cost you? And what size it is?


Thanks.

The size is a large, and the frame and shock run me about $600, that is with a racer discount from my local shop tha sponsors me. The shock is a temp though, I'm waiting for a rockshox MC 3:3 to come in so he thru the fox float RP3 on there to get me by.

The build is complete and I'll post some pics this afternoon. Going from a hard tail with 80mm fork to a 100mm fork and 100mm rear shock was a huge difference. I haven't gotten on the trails yet but just riding around the yard and street and dropping off of the driveway was amazing...

I really like the white on grey frame. Super sharp, Rico!!

... Brad

Plans changed, I'll actually be running a fox float RP23 shock instead of the rockshox.....

why is that

Mainly because the shop called me and I asked about it and he's like, what rockshox?? We got a fox float rp23 ordered for you. I'm like, well that'll work too I guess, so I told him to keep the fox ordered. I've never used either one and read good reviews on fox floats so that's what I'm goin wit... He also had better things to say about the fox than the rockshox so that helped convince me also.

Lighting sucked for the pic but here she is. The blue grips aren't doing it for me so I'm throwing on some black and grey ones.....

I can't believe how similar our stories are. I also have an LBS sponsor me and why I went with the team bike. Although, I won't post what I paid as I think it's understood as a "no-no". (Yes, that is the technical definition).

I was going from a C-dale hard tail that only had 60 mm of front travel. So, yeah, it's a little different but I'm sure you'll enjoy it. I haven't been on my hard tail all year. It's getting lonely and will need to get it out to the trail to keep her happy.

Well I'm not that sponsored,, LOL I'm just a beginner racer and he give's me a discount on items and probably doesn't mind me posting the cost. I know all about the full sponsorship thing from racing ATV's, this sponsorship is far from being that big although every little bit helps. Tomorrows the first big ride on it, I can't wait....

I think you really scored with the Fox RP23 over the RS. Nice build. How much does it weigh? How's the ride?

Next year, send that Fox off to PUSH Industries and have them work it over for your riding style and weight. It will perform even better.

Nice ride!

Hummm looks like a relaly nice ride...

You may admire it, love it, but don't let it stay in the living room.

Well yesterday I took it out for it's maiden voyage for a 2.5 hour ride in a hilly, rocky, rooty, switchback heaven trail and all I can say is WOW. This is my first FS and coming from a hardtail with a 80mm fork to this is a HUGE change. I set the sag to 20% in both front and back on Friday night and went over it front to back to double check every bolt since it was my first build. We hit the trails early saturday morning and I was looking like this 200 feet down the trail. It climbs like a billy goat and eats up the rough stuff with ease. I never even used the propedal lever on the fox float, I left it in the medium position and gave er hell on the hills. I"m more than happy with the decision on this frame and front fork, I think I"m actually going to go load it up in 30minutes and go riding again this morning. The wife might get pissed but hey, It's fathers day, I'm a father so I get to do what I want today, right**********

Wow. That looks awesome!!!

Thats nice, I'm pretty jealous. What was the total for the entire bike? (so jealous )