So, final piece came today for my Specialized P2 DJ build. Been nice out all week, so I actually went for a rip around town on it. There's no comparison to my old frame...this one rides so much nicer. Much stiffer ride and a more overall "alive" feel to it.
Stoked that I was finally able to ride it after staring at it for 2 months in my room.
Specs:
~2012 Specialized P2 Chromoly steel frame ~2007 Marzocchi Bomber AM1 fork lowered to 90mm ~Animal Sealed Bearing Headset ~P seri
So I went out on my bike on Monday, since it was nice out and I wanted to get to McDonald's and see what pony toys they had this week...Getting home, I set it behind our house....which I then forgot about it...as I tend to sometimes. Had a snow Storm and found it like this..Half buried.
Finally got my new frame today.
It's a 2012 Specialized P.2 Chro-Mo DJ frame. It replaced another frame I was using as a hardtail bike, which is 12 years old now.... Didn't take long to build up...pics below are just mockup, as I've got some small things to do to it...I transferred the wheels, handlebars and fork over from my old frame..
Got this as it was local and in my budget of $250. Won't get any real riding time on it until spring...so, meantime I can sit and admire how pretty i
So, soon after learning one of my brakes on my mountain bike was a death trap....I ordered up some new ones. My old one, the lever on the handle bar was loose and the holes that the bolts thread into were stripped out..and because of the thin wall of the brake lever housing for said hole was so thin, it was impossible to re thread the hole without breaking the lever. I found it was broken while I was washing and cleaning it up....Any more riding use and the lever would've snapped off and probabl
The ending result of an evening bike ride with a couple friends...One friend went over the bars and landed face first into a mud puddle. it was gloriously executed...wish I caught in on camera. It was like seeing something out of a cartoon. We we're going about 55Mph down a grassy hill too, with it stopping in a gigantic mud puddle (as seen in the background of pics)
Bike started clean. (that's a different hill in the background, not the one we went down, ending in a mud puddle/swamp)
So, I was cleaning up the garage a bit today, and a bag of rags (cut up t-shirts) burst open...and I found one that was rather intriguing. I pulled it from the pile and behold, it was an old Goosebumps T-shirt. Brought back some memories of the TV show and books when I was a kid.
So then, I got the idea of re-upholstering an old saddle, I had for my bike. The current fabric/leather on it has been torn off and it's just kinda rubbish and a bit ghastly. So, I'm gonna finish taking it of
Yep, finally got to mount my new tires on other my bike today. Such a bitch too. The easy part was getting them on the rim, but getting the tire bead to seat properly into the bead of the rim, was hard. The tires being tubeless, they require a tighter fit to the rim. I'm not running tubeless..as it requires additional stuff to set up. But the option is there for me if I decide too, since I've got tubeless ready tires and rims.
I'm also going for my first actual trail ride tomorrow with a cou
Picked this beauty up the other day, brand new, neighbour was selling it for a friend. I got a free bike with it too.(Not the one in the stand). I paid $20 in total for the lot...Good stand. Lots of nice features to it. I googled the brand name, and retail of this stand is $150 USD. It's a lot nicer than my previous work stand. THis one is much more sturdier, convenient and easier to use.
There's no cheap plastic on this thing either, the handle and clamp are made out of steel, with the cla
Last upgrade came in, new tires..I've also got a name for her. "My Little Pona" Pona being a cross between the brand name "Kona" and "Pony"
The fork internals also blew up on me the other day, so just days after painting it, I now need a new fork...It looks fine, but it doesn't ride so well.
With that, she's done, for now.
Clear coat dried, so I started assembling it all today. Took longer than expected.
But, I installed the new headset bearings, chain and grips I got for it. Only thing I'm waiting on now is tires. Other than that' she's complete.
Pretty happy with how it all turned out. I'm seeing a couple imperfections, but this bike is gonna get thrashed around anyways.
Bit more progress was made today, I managed to clear coat the frame and hang it up to cure for the next day or so.
I also stripped the stickers off my fork and then taped off areas not to be painted, then primed them with grey primer, along with the pedals and seat collar.
I went with a Lilac purple fo the colour coat....It's a really light colour, so it's taken quite a few coats to get adequate coverage.
And the other parts I painted.
Took more time today to finish up the stripping process...99% done. I was gonna paint the rims Lilac purple, but my dad convinced me not to, because it wouldn't last...so I'm gonna paint the fork instead I think.
Here's a couple Mock Up pics I took...the bare aluminum was super shiny.
Still trying to figure out a name for her.
Here's a before pic, just for reference.
We're finally getting decent enough weather, I can finally do this.
Starting my DJ project. Firstly stripping all the 11 year old paint off. The chemical paint stripper I picked is called "Circa 1850" It's been my go to stripper for a few years. It's very effective it started bubbling the paint off within seconds of applying it. And Yes, I wore gloves.
Almost 3 hours later, this was the result...I'll be finishing it up tomorrow. I'm going to be leaving it as the raw aluminum and pu
New wheels installed. Disregard the flat tires and the potato pics of my basement. I'll upload new pics and stuff later when spring is here.
Haven't weighed it yet...but my guess is 29lbs.
Yes. My new wheels finally arrived today in the mail.
Pretty stoked. I just need to get some new tubes at my Bike Shop and install new brake pads. Aaaand wait for the snow to melt.
What I love about these hubs, is they're the best bang for the buck. $300 for both hubs, and they can be converted into any axle standard....since in the MTB world, there's like 12 different axle sizes. These hubs are basically future proof. I'll never have to buy another hub again. The rims, are also a bit
With spring around the corner...it's upgrade season. What better way than to get a new set of wheels for my bike? I've even got it some new brake rotors and pads. These will be the last upgrades for a little while, lol.
The wheels are being custom built over in the UK...So I don't exactly have them yet...I should have my complete wheelset by the time March rolls around.
The hubs themselves are CNC machined and hand built in the UK, by a company called Hope. They make all of their stuff
It's my bike I've built of spare parts...that I use for whatever, around town, going to the store, and even use it for my winter bike. She just got a pile of new parts as donations from my good bike.Which includes the entire drivetrain, bashguard...shifter, chain etc.
She might be ugly, but I still love her.
Come next year, I plan on painting her. Yellow most likely.
and out at the local locks.
I finished installing my new upgrades recently. Which included the entire drivetrain.I've also removed a bunch of unnecessary bits, like the bash guard and chain device.
I put her on the scale, she weighs in at 30.19lbs. I'm happy with that weight, though I know I can get it even lighter with some new wheels, but those cost a lot. Carbon Fiber is another upgrade option for some parts, but again...carbon components are expensive.Ultimately I'd like to trim her down to below 30lbs.
Up
Next stage of upgrades that is. Ordered the rest of my upgrades today and yesterday. Hopefully they'll arrive soonish. They are coming from the UK afterall, so I never know....Sometimes my orders have arrived in a week, other times bit more than a week.
I'm hoping these new upgrades drop off 1lb on my bike. As I'll be removing some rather heavy parts, that won't be used/needed after the new ones are fitted.
Few days ago,I bought a new fork for my mountain bike. A Rock Shox Revelation. I'm sure Maud Pie would approve of it.
Today, I managed to install it and weigh my bike.It's a whole 2lbs lighter. New weight is now 31.38Lbs.It's such a huge improvement over my last fork. This one is also air sprung. Meaning, I can adjust the air pressure inside it to make it softer or harder, as well as how it responds to what I'm riding over. Which all calculates to riding like I'm on a cloud.
Nearing t
Decided to lower the suspension on my DJ Bike.
I went from 130mm of travel to 80mm. Fairly simple thing to do. And completely reversible. I just made up some spacers from a set of old handlebars.Even though it's somewhat simple, it just takes time to do. I had to completely disassemble them.Which involved draining the shock fluid out, removing the spring, letting out the air...and removing the fork itself into the two main pieces.
Though, I really need a new stem.(the bit that hold onto
If you seen my previous blog..
http://http://mlpforums.com/blog/1149/entry-11830-paint-it-black/
Well this is the finished bit.
Assembled it, and put new fork oil in it...feels like new! Now I want to paint the frame itself. Even though I do like the earthy brown colour, and the stenciled logos. I was thinking of painting it yellow.
And mounted to the bike...
Decided to overhaul the forks on my new to me DJ bike with new hydraulic fluid. Seen I had some paint, and so it was decided that I was to repaint them as well.
My Dad sand blasted the lowers, down to the bare metal, I think they're magnesium. though they could be aluminum as well. Prepped and ready for primer after a light sanding. No cracks or or fractures could be found, which is good news.
Masked off important areas...stuffed some with newspaper.
~~Primer
Yea! It's finally here. New frame Day!
I traded off my old XC frame for this, new to me, DJ frame. It's a 2005 Kona Shred.
Still need to sort out a bearing issue, but it should be fine.
I also plan on re-upholstering the seat., the other side is totally exposed. I also plan on a much shorter stem.
Meet my bike's mascot, Moose man.
It's that time of year again....
I pulled my valiant mare out of winter storage, and I decided to give her a tune up today. This mare has been sitting for a good 4-5 months....I've already ridden her once this year. Which is when I found out the few problems she had. So I fixed them for the most part today.
I present to you, my second hobby.....mountain biking. Most of my riding is in forested areas.
For those interested...here's the specs.
Frame
