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 ******** 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!!!

 

[FurthurOnTheFly]

I really like the paint job on that second one!

 

[thecriscokid]

I like the blue one personaly:sombrero:
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]

 

[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? :Wow1:
Also, I'm a borderline Clyde, at 220lbs. Would a Lefty even be a good choise?

 

[Christophe Noel]

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. :Wow1:

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

 

[Funrover]

I like!

 

[lamontagne]

What a busy 4 months its been!
What started with a simple frame swap has evolved into a full blown build for 2 bikes. Being as these are both Rocky's, it seemed only fitting to use RaceFace parts when possible.
The only thing still in use on the Hammer are the On-One Mary bars. Everything else has been replaced. Part of the build plan was to eliminate as many black parts as possible. I wanted to make blue the primary color with a little orange to tie in the graffics.

Here is the parts list now;
On-One Mary bars, custom painted to match the frame
RaceFace lock-on grips, Orange
Avid Elixir R brakes, 185 rotors
FSA 90mm, -6 degree stem, also painted to match
FSA headset, blue
King spacers, blue
Sram X9 10 speed shifter
Sram X9 10 speed deraileur, white
Jagwire cable, orange
Mowa cable clips, orange
Selle Anatomica Titanico saddle, brown
RaceFace Next carbon seatpost
Salsa clamp, blue
RaceFace Atlas cranks, 170mm, blue
Fox Fork 100mm
Stans Flow rims, X9 hubs
WTB Exiwolf tires, 2.3 wide (soon to be tubless)

 

[thecriscokid]

KEWL! I dig the color match bar and stem! I am about to pull my fenders off of my Hammer and put the Fox back on. I've been commuting a bunch on mine and kind of itching to change it up a bit. I should probably wipe all the coffee off too.

Nice Job on the build. Such a timeless bike with so many options

 

[lamontagne]

While the Hammer is almost done, the Blizzard is still a work in progress. The goal here was to build a smooth and comfortable bike for my wife, but something that can upgraded as her skills improve. Her birthday is next week and this is her present so I am scrambling now to get it rideable.

I have kept the color basic so far, focusing on white and silver to match the frame with the idea that she can personalize it later. The drivetrain is Sram 8X1 with a grip shifter, RaceFace Ride cranks, RaceFace seatpost, white Turvative handlebars and stem, a cheap fleabay rigid fork for now untill the funds are available for a decent 80mm fork, Avid BB-5's, WTB wheels, and some girly (and very comfortable) ergo grips.