Astrix Solo

aguycalled80

Retro Guru
I was looking for a full suspension project last winter, like a Santa Cruz Heckler or a Rocky Element, but when this came up, I couldn't resist. It was listed in the Accessories section of eBay, and even with that mistake, the ten frames the seller had sold fast.



Astrix was out of Colorado, and I remember them getting on the 29er bandwagon early - I'm thinking 2003 or so. The seller was in Australia though, and had 50 Astrix frames of five different types, and the 110mm travel Solo was the one I wanted. I always figured that an elevated chainstay full suspension bike was relatively rare, but this is the fifth one I've owned!

Astrix's website is still up incredibly, untouched for ten years now. I don't know for sure what year this bike is, but it can't be any newer than 2008 I guess.



The Swinger shock is pretty customizable, and it came with the manual, so I should be able to tune it properly.

A couple months later an '09 Rocky Mountain Blizzard popped up for sale locally, and it was just what I needed for parts. RaceFace cranks, Marzocchi Corsa fork, XTR shifters in a 2x10 setup, and two sets of wheels. The set I kept was Chris King hubs on Stan's ZTR Arch rims.



The Blizzard was too big for me, but I knew someone at the shop I used to work at had been looking for a 21" for a few years. I traded him the frame with a Thomson post and stem for a bunch of Chromag gear - the bars, post, grips, and seat collar. Everyone was happy with this trade!



I grabbed a set of Deore disc brakes and some beefy Hans Dampfs, and here we are. The Marzocchi was a perfect match colour-wise, as were the wheels. It really looks like it came as a complete bike like this.

It's a pretty impressive trail bike so far. I forgot what a full suspension bike is like on the trails. The rear wheel really glides over roots. The front though doesn't plow through everything like my 27+ bike does. And I had a lot of pedal strikes, which seems pretty weird for a bike with a 12.7" BB height.

I would like a longer fork on it someday, and maybe an 8" rotor on the front, but otherwise, it's done.
 

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Re:

That's really nice, love the frame!
I'm soon to be rebuilding an '09 heckler for my youngest son as a 'play bike'. They're a good frame.
 
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