Haven't REALLY ridden in about 10 years when I was into mountain bikes and raced ABA in the cruiser class. Stopped right after I bought my sportbike lol. Engines are a beautiful thing
Anyhow, found a great deal on a Ironhorse Yakuza Aniki frame and the bug had bit me once again. Going from bicycles to motorcycles, you realize the bicycle hobby is CHEAP in comparison. Going from motorcycles to sports cars, you realize motorcycles are CHEAP in comparision. Then comparing sports cars to bicycles..... wow.... lol it's amazing what bike you can build for the price of a set of my previous Tein NSX coilovers.
Back to point, custom built myself a nice little bomber. I'm 5'7" but the size small Aniki frame still fit great because it sits so high up with the 6"+ of travel. Its got a Rock Shox Boxxer Race w/ sunline stem/top crown combo, Hayes 203mm hydraulic brakes, XT shifters, cassette, chain and deraileurs, Raceface cranks w/ X type BB, SDG saddle, Pig 1.5 headset, Atomlabs front wheel, Azonic rear wheel, 2.5 & 2.35 tires. Then other random little parts. Bike is still a tank at 39 lbs, but lighter than stock still.
The only downside is the goofy but functional X-Fusion Glyder rear shock w/ the puny 300 X 2.0 spring. It allows the rear 6" of travel but the frame is capable of 7"+ travel by using a longer stroke shock. Also the puny 300 spring would bottom out hard just when bunny hopping. I was going to upgrade the shock to gain the full 7"+ but decided to "KISS" and looked around for a stiffer spring. I originally calculated out ~600-650 lb spring and soon found a few online calculators that gave me numbers that ranged from 500-750 lb.
After checking online, a nice employee over at SF Performance Bike pointed me towards Roaring Mouse and Big Swinging (I just moved here in August). Big Swinging was nice shop but the guy didn't stock any springs or shocks, zilch. The next day or two, I stopped by Roaring Mouse. After introducing myself and my 4 year old daughter making sure everyone knew who she was, just 5 minutes into talking with the owner I mentioned I was looking for a rear spring. Low and behold, he had one spring in his box, a shiny 650 lb Fox spring, and it fit! He said, come back in a month or so after trying it out and pay for it or bring back the spring. My wording might be a bit off, but it was the most generous offer I've EVER heard from any bike shop owner in the bay. Roaring Mouse, I think I found my new bike shop.
Anyhow the 650 seems to work almost perfectly. Which means I gotta go back and pay the man lol. I've yet to REALLY try it on any rock trails though. I need to find one and work out all the kinks before I take it to the cabin to do Gondola runs in mammoth this summer.
My only two issues, deciding if I should do the brakes MC or bicycle style since I've always had a tendency to grab lots more brake with my right hand whether it was bicycle or MC. I almost pitched myself down a flight of stairs the first 3 feet because of it. But after reminding myself once of the MC style brake lever setup, I was ok. I'm ok either style with just one reminder and I'm probably better on a bicycle w/ bicycle brake lever arrangement but I wonder about that panic stop.........drop off... cliff..... What will instinct tell me to do.... Both bicycles and MC are ingrained in me deeply to manage both no problem but I've been off the bike 10 years......... which instinct will take over in an emergency?
Then 2nd problem.......clipless. My old school ~13 year old Shimano 737 clipless are still my #1 choice of pedal. It works flawlessly on my XC hardtail but then again my legs and movements on it are fluid, smooth, crisp and and precise. While on the bomber my legs are bowed out a whole lot more and that crisp, precision just isn't there. I tend to clip out when I set up for the decent, which never happened on the XC bike. Think I need more float? Maybe return to platform like I rode 15 years ago on my Robinson Cruiser that did it ALL, but also ate my shins? Platform clipless like my old DX clipless from 8 years ago are crap in comparison to skate shoes and regular platform. I should just buy a used set and try.
Sorry to bore ya all with my latest bike build lol. But it was an adventure to me! I HAVE to always have something to do or I'll go nuts. Think I'll build another. Or start on something new like a blown 67-72 chevy truck. Maybe a motorcycle.....
