Viper F40 Easton Elite (early 2000s)

Fatal Swan

Senior Retro Guru
Feedback
View
A long overdue outing for my ongoing project of a few years. Frame is a Viper F40 as sold by WHS in the early 2000s, Easton Elite Ultralite aluminium. My first one of these was stolen in my student years. I phoned the shop up a few years later and they just happened to have one of the same model left in the back in my size, and they gave it to me for £90.

As it's currently set up it's a shade under 22lb without obsessing over weight - a good pound plus is wasted on the Psycho tyres, and bar ends are fitted etc. (Second pictures shows an earlier incarnation too.) I've been swapping parts around on it for a while, shaving a bit of weight here and there, but I'm not really sure where to go with it next. Suggestions for improvement welcome! :)

Current spec is:

Viper F40 Easton 7005 Elite Ultralite frame
1997 Rock Shox Indy SL
Hope Fatso Hope & Ti Glide in red on Mavic X517/X238
Tioga Psycho K Butterscotch front and rear (prev. Red Fire XC Pros)
Shimano XT M752 chainset 4 x Red KCNC bolts
Shimano XT ES71 BB
FSA Team Issue 9 speed MTB chain
Shimano XT M750 cassette
Shimano XTR M950 V-brakes with Ritchey pads in red
Shimano XT M760 Dual control STI
Shimano XTR M960 Rapid Rise rear mech
Shimano XT M750 front mech
Shimano XT M770 SPDs
LP Composites Carbon 26.8 seatpost
WTB Shadow V PSL Ltd Edn saddle
Syntace F99 Stem
Easton CT2 flat bar
Cane Creek S2 headset
J&L Titanium allen skewers, (15g and 17g) in red
Ritchey WCS SL bar ends (naughty with the CT2)
Ritchey Truegrips WCS
Hope allen key bolt Seat clamp, red
 

Attachments

  • Viper F40 old.jpg
    Viper F40 old.jpg
    272.5 KB · Views: 1,945
  • Viper F40.jpg
    Viper F40.jpg
    329.7 KB · Views: 1,941
Yep, I love this frame too, the rear triangle looks amazing and it accelerates and climbs brilliantly. My other one was the same model but had "stars and stripes" decals that looked better than the yellow and black ones.
 

Attachments

  • Old F40.jpg
    Old F40.jpg
    33.2 KB · Views: 1,865
Re: Viper F40 (early 2000s)

Fatal Swan":y4vloylk said:
As it's currently set up it's a shade under 22lb without obsessing over weight - a good pound plus is wasted on the Psycho tyres, and bar ends are fitted etc. (Second pictures shows an earlier incarnation too.) I've been swapping parts around on it for a while, shaving a bit of weight here and there, but I'm not really sure where to go with it next. Suggestions for improvement welcome! :)

Current spec is:

Viper F40 Easton 7005 Elite Ultralite frame
1997 Rock Shox Indy SL
You know what we're going to say! An Indy SL alongside Easton Ultralite, carbon and XTR? Light does not equal fast IMPE! A contemporary Pace (RC36 Pro Class II?) would suit it nicely.
 
Re: Viper F40 (early 2000s)

Anthony":237f66a7 said:
You know what we're going to say! An Indy SL alongside Easton Ultralite, carbon and XTR?
Fair point! :) Funny that I've never really thought of a serious upgrade to the forks - I'm strangely fond of my Indys and in 5 years I've never had to touch them maintenance-wise!
 
Back
Top