New enduro bike build

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JhnBssll

Guru
Location
Suffolk
My Stumpjumper is a lovely bike and I've loved riding it over the last five or six years but ever since cadging a ride on a friends bike with 'modern' geometry I've known it wouldn't be long until I was thinking about an upgrade :whistle: As it happens I have managed to hold out for a lot longer than I expected, but when Santa Cruz launched the updated Nomad 6 CC bikes and framesets on Tuesday my restraint crumbled :laugh: The Nomad has been around since 2005 and improved upon with each generation but one thing had remained constant; it's always had 27.5" wheels. Until now :ohmy: Well, technically it still has one 27.5" wheel but it now sports a 29er up front where the other used to be. Some of you may remember that I mulleted my Stumpjumper a while back to slacken the head angle and try and get closer to the modern geometry and whilst it's a bit marmite, for me it transformed the bike. How convenient then that the brand I've aspired to own since my teens have now brought out a version of the model I was already interested in with mullet specific geometry (or 'MX' as they call it) that I could swap my new wheels on to :shy:

A quick bit of research told me my brakes, drivetrain and wheels should all bolt on to the new frameset but I'd need a new cockpit and seatpost to get the fit right so nothing too spendy. Of course the frame and forks are not cheap, but that's where the cycle scheme comes in :laugh: I have ridden the Stumpjumper to work a few times so I don't even feel guilty about it 😄

Anyway, I spent a few hours yesterday looking at the various Santa Cruz dealer websites and spoke to a few on the phone. I quickly realised that despite these only being released on Tuesday I'd already left it a bit late and they were almost all gone :wacko: This morning I managed to put a deposit on what I'm told was the last frameset from the first batch of imports with the second batch not due til sometime in 2023 :blink: I think had I slept on it again I'd have been pretty disappointed :laugh:

Anyway, this is what I've ordered; a 2023 Santa Cruz Nomad 6 CC frameset with Fox DHX2 Factory coil shock and Fox 38 Factory forks. The frame colour is called Gypsum and looks grey/purple in some lights - I've gone for some paint protection too so they'll fit an invisiframe kit before they send it out to me. I preferred the other option, matte carbon, but with this being the only one available I didnt have much choice and I don't dislike it :laugh: As stated above, it's a mullet by design so 27.5" rear wheel and 29" front with 170mm suspension travel front and rear, compared with the Stumpjumpers already capable 135r/150f. I was quite interested to read that they now adjust the carbon layup in these frames for the different sizes to control the amount of flex; Small frames generally have lighter riders and shorter tubes so they make them flex more than the bigger sizes which have longer tubes and heavier pilots. Seems obvious but its not something I've come across before, at least in carbon construction.

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I'm pretty excited already and I don't even have an ETA yet, only that it will arrive sometime in the next few months. The forks should show up next week, along with a dropper post, stem and bars, but I can't really do much with them yet :laugh: Once I've got a confirmed arrival date for the frame I'll strip the Stumpjumper down and liberate the bits I need for this build before selling the frameset and recouping some of the cost of the new bits.
 
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JhnBssll

JhnBssll

Guru
Location
Suffolk
Bits have started arriving although there's no date for the frameset as yet.

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First job will be to remove the original fork decals, fit the Invisiframe protection kit then fit the new red decals over the top 😊

Further drivetrain research brought up a bit of a snag; seems with my original frameset being a 27.5+ the chainline is wider than standard which means the cranks have custom spacing. Realistically it's going to be a bodge to try and use them so I'll keep them with the frame they were intended to fit and will source some new ones.

Now this brought up an interesting point; If I'm sourcing new cranks too, why don't I just source a new drivetrain and keep the Stumpjumper relatively intact and only needing new wheels? It'll likely be easier to sell as a bike than a cannibalised part-bike and would now only need wheels and brakes... Something for me to ponder anyway :okay:

Choosing a new groupset was pretty easy, I've got Di2 on my other mountain bike so figured I'd give AXS a try and have started snooping eBay for good buys. So far I've nabbed a brand new Eagle X01AXS rear mech and an XX1 cassette in the Copper finish to try and match the Kashima coating of the fork stanchions.

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Next job is to find a matching chain and an AXS shifter while I research MTB cranks and decide which way to go there. No hurry, I've got a while until the frame arrives in the country :laugh:
 
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JhnBssll

JhnBssll

Guru
Location
Suffolk
Very Nice - I hope you've finished the kitchen, entrance hall, front garden, and, of course, the VAN ! :boxing:

I guess since I started the projects I can define what "finished" means, so yes, they are all finished :laugh: I suspect they will be even more finished at a later date too :shy: You did remind me to update my van thread though so thanks for that :laugh:
 
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JhnBssll

JhnBssll

Guru
Location
Suffolk
This evening I spent some time with a hair dryer slowly removing the original decals from the forks. It felt a bit odd defacing a brand new pair of forks, but since i wanted to fit the invisiframe kit I'd need to remove them regardless.

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With the decals and any remaining adhesive removed I cleaned them up and carefully applied the invisiframe protection kit. It went on pretty well, there are a few little bubbles here and there but overall I'm pleased with it. I left that to dry out for a bit and then on went the new red decals :okay:

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They're not exactly subtle :laugh:
 
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JhnBssll

JhnBssll

Guru
Location
Suffolk
Popped the bars and stem on the top of the steerer this morning so I can pretend to ride it round the house whilst making sound effects. MrsBssll is very pleased.

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The saddle has arrived today too, along with some headset bits.

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JhnBssll

JhnBssll

Guru
Location
Suffolk
I decided to go for the SRAM X01 DUB carbon cranks to match the groupset - The XX1 cassette and chain have also arrived in the copper colour and are very pretty :laugh:

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The cranks were available in a few colour options, I decided on 'Oxy' which have the SRAM Eagle emblem in red on the back which will go nicely with the rest of the red bits 😊

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I've also been playing with the bar setup to make space for my Karoo 2 GPS and Gemini Titan light setup. I went with a Nukeproof Horizon over-stem mount for the GPS and then designed and printed an adapter piece to replace the garmin insert and fit the Karoo 2:

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This didn't leave enough space for the front light which as standard fits centrally above the bars so again I did some work to design and print some new mounting hardware so the light now sits out front:

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This project is great fun, but I'm running low on things to do until the frame arrives now and no word of that as yet 😄 I've managed to resist emailing the shop so far this week, they're going to be fed up with me before long :laugh:
 
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JhnBssll

JhnBssll

Guru
Location
Suffolk
No word as yet on an arrival date for the frameset but hopefully collection day is fast approaching 😊 The dropper post arrived last week and I've just ordered brake adaptors and AXS batteries/charger so I think thats everything covered for the build!

I had originally ordered the forks through BikeTart's eBay shop but a few days later they cancelled the order and refunded me in full. I also ordered the lower headset race from them which arrived on time, but oddly a week later they cancelled that order too and refunded me in full :wacko: By this time I had already re-ordered and received the forks from another shop so imagine my confusion when a second pair of Fox 38 Factory's arrived on my doorstep :laugh: I managed to get through to a friendly chap at BikeTart on the phone to ask him why they kept sending me free stuff - he sounded a little confused, but once I'd explained the situation he was (perhaps unsurprisingly) very keen to have the forks back :laugh: He let me keep the refunded Hope headset bits as a goodwill gesture and has also sorted me a pair of the new Tech 4 brake levers at cost price to thank me for my honesty - apparently their system hadn't noticed they had over a grands worth of product unaccounted for. Seems pretty odd to me but there you go, I'm not complaining!

I picked up a nearly new Roval Traverse mullet wheelset before we went away too, so the Stumpjumper now has those fitted and is all cleaned and prepped for sale. As is always the case once I'd cleaned her up I didn't want to part with her but unfortunately needs must... Let me know if you're in the market for a very capable mountain bike, full details in the for sale section :becool:

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JhnBssll

JhnBssll

Guru
Location
Suffolk
Still waiting on an estimated delivery date for the frameset but I'm remaining much more patient than I might have been in the past. I've not emailed the shop since the 15th of this month and before then it was the 23rd of August that I'd last asked for an update... I guess what I'm getting at is that I probably deserve some kind of medal :tongue:

While I wait for that medal, here's a pic of my Bianchi hardtail which I discovered the new light mounts fit a treat if you flip it upsidedown :laugh: Honestly it couldn't fit better, by pure chance :laugh:

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If you look super closely you will also see another bit that I was test riding on the bars - a new bracket I made for my new action camera remote... It's a Drift Ghost XL Pro, nifty little gizmo, but the remote was slightly disappointing. It stated it was suitable for attaching to handlebars, but in reality it was a cheap rubber watch strap which would have fitted to the bars in the same way as any other watch, ie badly :laugh: I figured I could do better. Heres the remote with the strap removed:

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There are no fixings or anything so I had to come up with a mount that would hold the unit without obstructing the buttons or allowing it to rattle. This is what I came up with...

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And here it is printed and assembled on the bars, next to the remote for the lights...

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It's held on for a couple of rides so far with no signs of budging so I think it'll do the job nicely :okay:
 
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JhnBssll

JhnBssll

Guru
Location
Suffolk
The other little project I'm working on while I wait is the final bit of colour coordination for the Santa Cruz build. Fox forks and shocks come with anodised blue dials and levers; these will be the only bits on the bike that are blue, and that upsets me a bit :laugh: Since I already have all the other bits for the build, turning more stuff blue to match isn't that attractive an option. Instead I am exploring two options - one, getting the parts re-anodised red or two, getting the parts completely remade in red. To explore the second option I've already removed and reverse engineered the valve cap and this evening sent the file out to a supplier for a quote to get it machined, anodised red and laser etched 😄If it's horrendously expensive I will look in to home anodising kits but if not I will reverse engineer the other bits and get them quoted too :okay:

I even managed to find a free font that looks extremely similar to the original :laugh::okay:

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wafter

I like steel bikes and I cannot lie..
Location
Oxford
Nice work! I very much appreciate / identify with your picky OCD-manifest thoughtfulness and attention to detail :becool:
 
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JhnBssll

JhnBssll

Guru
Location
Suffolk
So the quote came back from the first supplier, they want over 400 quid to machine, anodise and laser etch that one cap, so it would be around £2k to get all 4 bits done :wacko: I'll put that little project on the back burner for now I think :laugh:

In other news my Hope Tech 4 brake levers and accessories have arrived so I've spent a bit of time tinkering with them over lunch today 😄

First job was to cut, grind and file both the left hand shifter mount adapter and dropper post lever mount to fit together, which has worked out quite nicely. Some more tweaks are needed but once I'm happy with them I'll repaint them black to cover my tracks. I've already fitted a red grip pad to the lever so it fits the colourscheme haha.

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Here's the AXS shifter fitted on the other side on the un-modified bracket...

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You may also have noticed that I've changed the grips... I popped the other pair on another bike in the meantime then discovered Revgrips and figured I'd give them a shot - there supposed to dampen hand/arm vibrations so seemed like the right build to try them on :okay: Here's the grip and lever from the front, where you can also see the extent of my lever customisation :laugh:

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I've got some more Santa Cruz goodies on the way - some carbon riser bars and a carbon bottle cage. The shop has been in touch in the last few days to say that they're expecting the frame in early November all being well, so maybe not too long to wait now! Fingers crossed!
 
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