Specialized FSR Extreme 1998

Greeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeen

I was lost back in 1998, as soon as a buddy from school got a Specialized FSR Elite - the red one - with a Votec double bridge fork and Magura HS 33 Johnny Ts. I never forgot this bike - he neither, he still rides it - and how this bike got beaten down the hills of our childhood.

Somehow, as I hadn't enough money to buy a FSR, I ended up buying a Centurion Backfire Aero SX hardtail instead. Nice bike, some guy found alike and stole it only one year later. Ten years break, moving to a city with no hills I rode race bikes.

Then I found this grasshopper for 25 bucks and it all came back:


First setup, the Marzocchi Bomber Z1 had been in my garage for more than 6 years, I always wanted to build up a bike with this still great fork.


More parts added to have a look at geometry:


The question of what parts to install was answered quite quickly: XTR, Race Face, Mavics, Easton cockpit - I wanted the best. It took me less than a month to get all parts together for a first ride



First rides were quite remarkable, this setup was very handy, with 12,7kg not too heavy, the Bomber Z1 is still a stunner, the rear shock is... not that good. And despite some design faults at Specialized (the front derailleur installment is a bad joke, a really bad joke. And the seat post can be lowered for 2cm, which is not that much if you want to RIDE this bike like it should be). The old Ritchey Vader tires also were not THAT good. So still things to improve...

New tires, 2.2 is max for this frame.


Look what I found in this ******* internet. A Bomber Z1 with 130mm in lime. What a perfect match. Sorry Z1 orange, this is fate!



(For the BETD I needed to turn a whole set of new bushings, was quite fun though!) (And as you can see, the 144mm position is not possible with the DT Swiss shock, it's too fat. The 125mm position is still nice, anways )

Something time-incorrect to fix the seat post design flaw...


We are getting near...


But 3 chain rings at the front is too much. A chain guide made of 3 cable straps and a hosepipe is cheap, lightweight, and useful.



Next steps: Change the good-looking but unbrakeable (sic!) X517 ceramic rims for some normal, silver () ones. And a Hügi hub would make a nice addition....


current specs:
Frame: Specialized FSR Extreme M
Fork: Marzocchi Bomber Z1 130mm
Linkage: BETD 144mm (at 125mm position)
Rear shock: DT Swiss 220
Brakes: XTR 950 V-Brakes w/ Koolstop red
Wheels: Mavic X517, Hügi 240, Conti Mountain King II 2.2
Bottom bracket: Stronglight-Innenlager, Raceface Turbine (34-22)
Chain guide: Hornbach
Pedals: NC17 Mag
Shifting: XTR RD950, FD960, XTR-Cassette, KMC chain, Shimano cables
Seat post: Specialized (undefined) or Kind Shock i900 if it gets tough
Saddle: Bontrager C20 Titan
Cockpit: Easton 70 bar, Easton 60 stem

12,5kg



I'm looking forward hearing your comments, remarks, critique, or anything else!
Tom

wow - the Lime Bombers was a lucky find - suit the bike well. are you planning to fit disc brake up front?

Ha, indeed that was a lucky find! If I searched for this fork, I probably would never have found it.

Nope, time-correct disc brakes with enough power and less weight are not that frequent. I guess, only a Magura Gustav M would be okay. But since I switched to normal rims with red Kool Stops, the braking performance is insance now. So no need with my 62kg to switch to discs

Looks brilliant. Great stuff.

Always one of my favorite FSR's

GlenPxC":d6jtd52x said:

Always one of my favorite FSR's

Click to expand...

Yeah me too. Gru what's the story with the BETD, only has two positions, mine has three? I missed the story of how you got it, was it second hand or did you pay the king's ransom to get a new one?

Thank you guys

BETD has different linkages, I can only guess that mine is one of the first and then they realised that more positions are possible w/out ruining the geometry.

Like the lime Z1 fork, I also got the BETD from a forum, from RB to be clear. Somebody sold it, I bought it, easy as that

The best thing with this bike is: You can really ride this like hell. No danger of rust, parts tough-as-nails, modern four joint back.

Great thread thank you for sharing

That's lovely...one of my favourite FSR's. I feel in love with these big time when they first came out but my paper round didn't pay enough to buy one!

Those forks just look so right on it. I have a pair on my other half's Chameleon but I dropped them to 100mm because they're a bit flexy.

I personally would slap a disc on the front. Something like a DH4 or E4 would be fine and more or less correct for the time. They offer plenty of power too. My E4's were some of the best discs I've ever had...and they had lightning bolt rotors!

Thank you for your kind responses



As I said, my weight is 62kg, so no need for braking power higher than red Kool Stops But I have to say, I thought about it when I still had the ceramic rims installed...