UK trail bike. The story of an XCT5.

My favourite build thread on here by some margin, thanks for sharing!

What a Fab bike, great skills, super pictures and just look at the result ...

Enjoy!!

Long time, no update. I have been enjoying the summer, it's a scorcher!

Keep forgetting to take pics while I am out, mostly because one of my riding buddies has discovered Strava, so is trying so hard to beat me on certain sections. We hardly ever stop now, unless someone crashes!

Anyway, this evening I took a short ride out on my own, just before sunset as it is the only time of day worth riding in, as I find it impossible to get up early....



Happy with that, and taken with the iphone.

Summer has long gone. The nights are long, and the days are cold. When I finish work, I just wanna go home, and be in the warm. We moved premises at work late last summer, and the new unit is smaller, and very cold. There is little to make me want to stay and work on the bikes, so I have done very little with them this winter.

The last time the Foes was used was boxing day, a friend used it to join in the big ride we do. He liked the ride, I knew he would.





Thats him dressed as a reindeer, me as a tiger......

Last weekend I started to service the bike ready for the summer:-

With the bike washed, the she came apart easily. Each part was then cleaned properly, everything except the frame and forks which will see extra maintenance. With the forks stripped, I noticed that the spring shaft I made was starting to wear very slightly, not something I could capture in a photograph. But I could see that the oil was slightly contaminated.



I had decided to try the forks at 140mm this year, so I have made another shaft, 10mm longer. I am toying with the idea of getting it ti-nitrided which should stop the oil contamination. I have a friend who can get this done for me as he runs a motorcycle suspension shop. Turnaround would be a few weeks, and I'm not sure I can leave the bike in a state of disassembly for that long.



Apart from that, the forks are perfect inside and out. Ready to be reassembled.

The shock also is serviced, no problem whatsoever. looking grubby:-



I did notice that there were alot of bubbles in the oil when I popped the screw out of the piston. Perhaps this is a sign of my not quite bleeding it effectively, or air is getting past the seal on the IFP, or the shock is taking in air past an external seal? Either way the oil is very clean, after a years use.



Stripped, cleaned, checked and ready to reassemble:-



I spent extra time to ensure I got as much air out as possible.

The little clip that holds the bottom spring perch on looks to be made from mild steel welding rod, and was starting to rust. So I made a new one from stainless welding rod.



And back together.



More later in the week as I reassemble the bike.

i wish i had the time, patience and ability

I wish I had more time, patience and ability.

Did a little more today, I have polished the frame. Looks pretty good.





I have also re-done the chainstay protector. This was originally an experiment as I didn't have a sock that fitted well.
The self adhesive neoprene didn't stay put back in the summer, so I just wrapped it in pvc tape. The protection it afforded was brilliant.



I did the whole of the top, and a little bit towards the front on the bottom.



All clean and ready to go back together tomorrow:-

Good stuff.

I've used inner tube as a chainstay protector give as long as I can remember. Those neoprene things are a pain and when they get wet they stay wet for ages and then get stinky.

A couple of friends of mine use inner tubes, and while it works perfectly it always seems to look untidy. I wouldn't normally have done this, but had to back in the summer, and it worked really well on this bike. The crank arms are very close to the chainstay, so a normal chain sock catches the inside of the crank arm and it moves around on the chainstay.

I have added another ring to the dropper guide, as when the cable was muddy or gritty, it would bind slightly and not run smoothly in the guide. This third ring helps keep this part of the hose straight, and should prove more reliable.



The rest of the build was easy, as I know everything fits up perfectly. I fitted a new hose to the Reverb, and had the option to run the hose about an inch longer, which helps with routing.



All set for the nice weather to return......

I like the tube because it deals with chain slap really well. I try and get the twists as equal as possible so it doesn't look too messy.

That cable guide is a work of art! Where does the cable loop out when the pits is down?

cheers. see the pic of the bike built up above? Just above the 'F' on the Foes logo on the down tube you can see the hose, it just drops down a couple of inches.

That's a nice place for it, away from the frame and out of the way. I found the hose on my SX used to get too close to my rear tyre.