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A new adventure/experiment: Custom Hardtail Frame!


gotdurt

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15 hours ago, AntonioGG said:

I get that from people in mountainous regions. "you mountain bike?  Where are the mountains?"

The true irony is there are some decent mountains in Texas but the trails are terrible there. I'm for creating a class of bicycles exclusive to the rockbike riding found in CTX. 

Something with high BB for the gardens and ledges, and good at flat turns. Throw in a half dozen bottle mounts for summer riding and it should be perfect.😁

Edited by ATXZJ
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It's kinda heavy. Nearly seven pounds with hardware, but that's about what my Karate Monkey, steel Hinzo, or a steel RSD Middlechild weighs. My Niner ROS9 was heavier. That means I can send it!

Starting with the 495mm rigid fork, probably going to swap to my 120mm Mazocchi Bomber soon. I designed the frame around this specific fork, so I'm going to see how it handles .

Compared to the KM, this bike:

*Shorter rear end. I could not fit a 34/21 gear on the KM with the chainstay this short, but the 420mm on this fits.

*Lower BB, but within reason

*Longer wheelbase, mostly from adding to the front end.

*Stem changed from 70mm to 50mm

*Larger diameter seatpost (30.9–31.6) with an extra 30mm of travel 150 – 180

*Considerably lower standover. Added bonus: no more smashing my brake levers into the top tube when I fall off.

The geo is very similar to many modern trail hardtails, but optimized for a 120mm 29er fork, whereas most modern bikes are designed around a taller fork.

Rear tire clearance: that's a pre-boost chainline with a 34t ring!

PXL_20230127_014932713.thumb.jpg.59aec20c3cc88afa0945485cbcac50e8.jpg

In the box were this shirt with reflective print and an extra axle and sliders.

IMG_20230126_220503_515.thumb.jpg.ee89421688523c5d1393a958a6e269d3.jpg

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1 hour ago, mack_turtle said:

In the box were this shirt with reflective print and an extra axle and sliders.

IMG_20230126_220503_515.thumb.jpg.ee89421688523c5d1393a958a6e269d3.jpg

Damn, I didn't get any extras. I did get a shirt though, but it's a medium so I just wear it to the gym 😆

In other news, I got a response on IG from Marino himself:
"Hola Elias ask about cable guides
Now complete that"

Not sure how to interpret that... either he got the photos they asked for and he's completing it, or he's telling me that I still need to do answer his questions about the cable guides 🤔

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59 minutes ago, gotdurt said:

"Hola Elias ask about cable guides
Now complete that"

Translation:  Hello Elias ask about cable guides.  Now complete that  j/k 🙂

My interpretation based on how Spanish speakers translate grammar to English is that he's now completed the cable guides.

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  • 3 weeks later...

I've finally had the chance to ride this bike two times. I'm not digging it for some reason. The weight is a negligible problem. Some people say they can feel "ride quality," but I think I'm numb to these differences. Maybe that's what I'm feeling. It just doesn't feel alive to me.

It's definitely over-built for my weight and riding style, which would be fine if I weighed an extra 50 pounds. Reminds me of riding BMX in the late '90s, when everyone was riding 20" bikes that weighed close to 40 pounds. I can't put my finger on it. It's all subjective in the end, but if I could identify something specific, I might be able to address it with physical conditioning, a change of components, or just conclude that the frame is not as well suited for me as I expected.

@gotdurt, do you have anything to share about the "ride feel" of your original Marino? I'm I full of shit? (Don't answer that! No, really, am I?)

Edited by mack_turtle
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45 minutes ago, AustinBike said:

Is two rides enough? 

I have found that my body settles in and I get the feel of a bike after 3-4 rides, at least. The more different the bike is the longer it takes.

This is fair. Truth be told, when I pulled it out of the box and discovered that it weighs nearly seven pounds, I started building a case against this bike subconsciously. When I ride it, I can't get that amount of dead weight out of my head. There's a possibility that it lacks that "steel is real" feel, but I don't have enough of a frame of reference to judge that. It works and it's not stopping me, but life is short. I'll give it a few more rides. The catch is that trying something different yet again is predicated on selling this frame, because the sale of one big item is what frees up the budget for the next.

Edited by mack_turtle
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51 minutes ago, mack_turtle said:

@gotdurt, do you have anything to share about the "ride feel" of your original Marino? I'm I full of shit? (Don't answer that! No, really, am I?)

The first thing I noticed switching straight from my aluminum Nukeproof Scout was that while overall it definitely felt more alive, the rear end felt really harsh, much like the scout. It still feels better than my On-One 456 did though, which had that over-built BMX feel. It definitely doesn't have the compliance or forgiveness that my old 90's frames have/had. I did notice that the stays are really beefy; when I went through the warranty process I did ask Marino if he had a lighter option for the stays, and his answer was basically "no"... although I don't recall what the specific reason was.

 

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2 hours ago, mack_turtle said:

This is fair. Truth be told, when I pulled it out of the box and discovered that it weighs nearly seven pounds, I started building a case against this bike subconsciously. When I ride it, I can't get that amount of dead weight out of my head. There's a possibility that it lacks that "steel is real" feel, but I don't have enough of a frame of reference to judge that. It works and it's not stopping me, but life is short. I'll give it a few more rides. The catch is that trying something different yet again is predicated on selling this frame, because the sale of one big item is what frees up the budget for the next.

A friend of mine was going to a race and stopped at a McDonald's to take a crap. When he came out of the bathroom he said to the guy he was with "I just upgraded to XTR."

So, there's that.

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Did the front end geometry change any, could be the cause? I’d suggest a bigger rear tire, for more compliance.  The rigid 27.5+ SS I’ve been riding as an experiment, I really like it. 3.0 tires seem to be enough suspension for my XC riding. The steering was kinda quick so I installed a wider bar and that seemed to help. But then I installed a lower offset carbon fork and now feels even better. Rails corners now were before seemed nervous. Fork trail geometry figure went from 100mm to 107mm.  

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