Dos Rocky Mountains

[lamontagne]

Well lets start with the fact that I really dig most of the bikes put out by Rocky Mountain. Except that funky ETS-X... I never liked that bike. Anyhow, I saved my pennies and when I returned home from Afghanistan in 2004, I bought a Slayer. It was everything I wanted and more. In '08 I bit the 29er bug and bought a Haro Mary SS to test the waters. Well lets just say I not only took a drink of the kool-aid, I drank the whole pitcher! Sadly about a year later some scumbag stole my Slayer as it was chained to my bike rack the night before an out of state camp/bike trip. Since then I have just been riding my the SS Mary. With the recent purchase of a new (to us) home, I am now in riding distance of work and have started commuting. You know, SS is great on dirt, but not so great on the street. It's just geared too low to maintain a decent speed. So....

I was browsing ebay one night (yes I know how dangerous that can be) and with a few short strokes of the keyboard, these two beauties were on my doorstep a few weeks later!

This one is mine, a never built 09 Hammer 29er. Sweet 725 Reynolds steel, eccentric BB, rack and fender mounts.




This one will be for my wife. RM Blizzard. Super sweet Reynolds 853 steel and I love the paint.

[lamontagne]

For the Hammer, I am looking at a 1X9 drivertrain. I would like to keep the Truvativ Stylo crankset and use a Sram X9 or X7 deraileur. For brakes, I am looking at going with a hydraulic, Avid Juicy dick brake set this time as the mechanical Avid BB7's left me wanting more a few times with the increased ineria of the big wheels. I will also reuse the On-One Mary bars and the stem too if its the right length with the new frame. The tires are less than 6 months old (2.3 WTB exiwolfs), so they will reused too.
I have been seriously thinking about color matching the bars and stem to the light blue of the frame. IF the seat post wasn't a carbon Easton, I would be considering that too.
That leaves the wheels and the fork, I have no idea what I want to use here. They just cant break the bank. Heck, i cant even decide if I want to stay rigid or not!!!

[weezerbot]

I really like the paint job on that second one!

[thecriscokid]

I like the blue one personaly
I just got mine back into commuter duty 2days ago. I did ride it for a season with a fox 120 fork and liked the geometry of that slacker headtube angle.

[IMG][/IMG]

[lamontagne]

(drooling)...Nice bike Crisco!

I've been looking alot at a Cannondale Lefty fork for this build. Does anyone have real world feedback running a Lefty with a 1 1/8" adapter converted for 29er use?
Also, I'm a borderline Clyde, at 220lbs. Would a Lefty even be a good choise?

[Flounder]

If you can work it out, I'd try to avoid using Avid hydraulic brakes. We warranty a set of Avid brakes almost every week or two. My personal experience with Avid brakes (save for the BB&7s) has been nothing short of hair pulling frustration. In fact, we just warrantied yet another set of Avid Elixer 3 brakes today.

The new Shimano SLX brakes are worth a look. They've produced what I would say is the best brake value we've seen in years. Ceramic pistons, cooling fins on the pads, one-way bleeding, very nice.

[thecriscokid]

If you can work it out, I'd try to avoid using Avid hydraulic brakes. We warranty a set of Avid brakes almost every week or two. My personal experience with Avid brakes (save for the BB&7s) has been nothing short of hair pulling frustration. In fact, we just warrantied yet another set of Avid Elixer 3 brakes today.

The new Shimano SLX brakes are worth a look. They've produced what I would say is the best brake value we've seen in years. Ceramic pistons, cooling fins on the pads, one-way bleeding, very nice.

Thanks lamontagne

X2 on the Avid's and same with the Lefty. I have been putting in a little PT work at my buddies shop and my good friend is the head wrench there. He has some serious skill tuning all makes of forks and has finally received a PILE of spare parts from Cannondale to repair all the Lefty's that he can. Still sending 1 or 2 back a week. Please don't run a Lefty. Sure Fox forks need seals somewhat often but that's just an excuse to change the oil IMHO, also very simple. Rock Shox have been pretty good all around. I have been lucky with the avid juicy 3's that came on that Rocky SS and I think its due to using 185 rotors? They still sound like there are squirrels fighting every time I honk on them. I would never depend on them on a suspension bike that gets up to higher speeds. Shimano brakes have been well received, easy set up, straight rotors. Older Hayes on the cheap?

[Von Petrol]

Lefty forks are great! I have put over 15,000 miles of trouble free riding on the Great Divide, Kokopelli's Trail, Death Valley and may more. The inner working of the Lefty is develop by companies like Fox, RockShox and Manitou. Best place for Lefty service is www.mendoncyclesmith.com, with shipping about a two week turn around. The Lefty fits perfectly in a FedEx tube for shipping.

[lamontagne]

IT'S ALIVE!!!!

I just finished building the Hammer 29er late yesterday. It's not completely how I want it yet, but it's ridable. I just installed my old single-speed gear on it for now. I still need to procure a 9 or 10 speed drivetrain for the rear and a new rear hub. and want a new saddle, I'm thinking Selle Anatomica Titanico.

I know, I know.....PICS!

[Funrover]

I like!