Project armadillo!

Forum Moderator Joined: 18 Feb 2004 Posts: 7432

Right, a new non car related project!

In keeping with the American Chopper enthusiasm of Chris and JB, I figure its time to build myself a new bike, albeit pedal powered Smile

. I sold my last bike during my final year of uni as i was getting seriously skint and the type of riding i was doing was changing.

The old beast:

Orange Patriot LT
Marzocchi Z1 MCR QR20 fork
Hope C2 brakes

Built for downhill riding, the components were all burly mid-heavyweight stuff.

The new beast on the other hand will be built for whats now known as 'freeride' (a vague term) which I take to mean light and comfortable enough to ride all day or uphill, but strong enough to take a bit of abuse, drop offs or even light downhill.

First things first then, the frame.

The usual suspects:

Santa Cruz Chameleon (US)

Cove Stiffee FR (Canada)

Orange Ms Isle (UK) (I love Orange bikes)

All classic frames, but having a taste for the unusual, i went for the Planet X Armadillo. A british designed frame, its made of 6061-T6 alloy, hydraformed top and down tubes to create a huge headtube joint. Strong in all the right places but still not too heavy. With a 130mm travel fork and the right choice of components it will suit my purpose nicely. Not sure on the paint job to be honest, I am currently toying with the idea of getting it stripped and resprayed in matt black before i build it up... but then again sod it, i want to ride it not look at it Smile

Now i just need a few more bits to make a bike! Rolling Eyes

Spammer Joined: 27 Jul 2004 Posts: 5717

oh no

Site Subscriber Joined: 28 Jan 2005 Posts: 3547

niicceee

Spammer Joined: 27 Jul 2004 Posts: 5717

PROJECT ARMA DILDO Laughing

Site Subscriber Joined: 13 Oct 2004 Posts: 4722

how much did you sell the old one for?

i used to bike a lot..

but, just gave it up out of the blue

Site Subscriber Joined: 10 Jun 2004 Posts: 2317

Is this the way to armadillo? Wink

Forum Moderator Joined: 18 Feb 2004 Posts: 7432

I did consider calling this 'Project Armoured Dildo', but that's just puerile and in no way befitting a man of my wit Laughing

The patriot was sold for Â£1000

Forum Moderator Joined: 02 Mar 2004 Posts: 19978

have you have had any pointless arguments about late comings etc yet?

Forum Moderator Joined: 18 Feb 2004 Posts: 7432

More bits yay!

Fork:

Marzocchi Z1 freeride SL. I love Marzocchi forks, always used them. These are the air sprung version so nice and light.

2 air chambers, one positive one negative, have to adjust the pressure to suit

ECC has 5 positions of fork extension, so depending on terrian you can adjust how much travel. Pushing hard uphill for example, you will lock the fork out at the lowest setting so youre not wasting your energy just pumping it up and down.

This fork is also the very rare QR20 version, which has a 20mm axle through the front hub instead of the normal quick release, makes it very nice and stiff. Also shows the brake mount on the bottom of the leg.

Before i put the bike together ill probably strip them down replace all the bushes, seals, damping oil etc. although they seem pretty tight.

Forum Moderator Joined: 18 Feb 2004 Posts: 7432

Brakes:

Hope M4s. 4 pot hydraulics. Hope make the best mountain bike brakes in the world. Made in England, CNC machined from billet!

These are the older version of their M4, i prefer these ones because they look pimpier Razz

185mm disc for the front, 165mm for the rear.

It has always seemed to me that 'Hope' is a bit of an odd name choice for a company that makes brakes, but there you go. Rolling Eyes

Site Subscriber Joined: 13 Oct 2004 Posts: 4722

this all ebay or new or freinds or?!?

Forum Moderator Joined: 18 Feb 2004 Posts: 7432

Frame is brand new, fork and brakes are from people i know off my MSN list heheh

Site Subscriber Joined: 13 Oct 2004 Posts: 4722

what parts you have to buy left?

or you go the rest?

Forum Moderator Joined: 18 Feb 2004 Posts: 7432

got a few other bits that i already had.

Need to buy wheels, crankset, gears etc plus all the other bits and bobs to fit it al together.

Site Subscriber Joined: 28 Jan 2005 Posts: 3547

what bottom bracket are you going with?

Forum Moderator Joined: 18 Feb 2004 Posts: 7432

ill be getting hollowtech cranks, probably Hone. No bottom bracket as such, it has bearing cups which fit in the bottom bracket shell and the actual bearings are outside the shell. The spindle is attached permanently to the driveside crank arm, you put it through and attach the other arm with a pinch bolt.

Site Subscriber Joined: 28 Jan 2005 Posts: 3547

my v10 was always suffering from bottom bracket failure, it maynbe the amount of drop offs etc it was taking, but after about 6 comps it would be knocking and creaking etc etc

Forum Moderator Joined: 18 Feb 2004 Posts: 7432

yeah i had a Race Face ISIS setup on the patriot, that was always creaking, no matter how tight i did it all up.

Forum Moderator Joined: 18 Feb 2004 Posts: 7432

Wheels:

Hope bulbs on Mavic XM321 rims, laced with black double-butted spokes.

Disc rotor bolted on

Again, I like Hope stuff. Their bulb hubs are some of the very best in the world. Got them in a pimpy gold anodised colour Smile

Mavic XM321 disc specific rims (no sidewalls for rim brakes), a good trade off between weight and strength

got Nokian 2.3 tyres on there to begin with.

Yes, it is the same company that makes mobile phones.

Forum Moderator Joined: 02 Mar 2004 Posts: 19978

gold hubs? you pimp

You build the wheels yourself? I used to love that job Rolling Eyes

I was good at it though.

Forum Moderator Joined: 18 Feb 2004 Posts: 7432

Nah, didnâ€™t build them myself, the price of the components included a build too, so it was silly not to. I built a rear wheel before when I buggered the rim and had to replace it. Did that with nothing more than a wheel truing stand. Only problem with that is I find it very very hard to get the correct dishing on the wheel. My wheel needed the spokes retensioning all the bloody time too Rolling Eyes