Mountain Cycle Shockwave 9.5 revamp

[synchronicity]

Going over my old Marzocchi 888 fork, I noticed rust at the bottom of the legs where the inserts for the axle pinch bolts go.
I removed them just in case, more as a preventative measure really, half expecting them to be crumbling piles of rust.

They seem to be in adequate condition. Replacing them anyway as they're already out now.

Oh yeah, and I got a pack of 10 cheapy alloy barrel adjuster bolts.

 

[coomber]

Late to this. Really great thread. Not sure I'm on board with changing bolts for weight saving (personal thing) but it's a grand job and enjoying each update

 

[synchronicity]

Extralite expander.

I hate those shitty steel star nuts.
Noting that Chris King star nuts look better than all the rest, I'm sick of Chris King too.
(I think CK headsets are an overspecced part, get something different!)

As for star nuts, they always go in wonky when you hit them.
Installing one should not require yet another dedicated tool.
Then how are you meant to get them out when you change steerer length or whatever?
You have to bang them all the way through, scratching the whole length of the inside of the steerer tube.

So they can all sod off!

I took a punt and got a 1 1/4" version and it fits perfectly (alloy steerer tubes are thinner than carbon these days).
Unfortunately I didn't get the nicely black/orange anodised one (or rather, indeed I ordered it, but it didn't arrive), but got this uglier version where I think they leave the silver uncoated.

 

[synchronicity]

The good news is that the steerer tube is cut to the exact length I wanted.
The bad news is that the existing VP headset is a bit crusty and I'll probably have to buy another one and redo the cut.

 

[coomber]

Whilst I agree on buying tools generally, a starnut setting tool is usually under a tenner andnl makes the job idiot proof

 

[synchronicity]

I'd rather buy a part that I can remove easier, and also one that doesn't require a tool.
I already have an 8mm hex key.

 

[synchronicity]

It had a weigh in today and it weighed in at pretty much 15.50kg (this is with everything minus one grip and no fork pinch bolts/nuts).
I'm rather pleased at that weight.
This is with the somewhat heavier steel ultegra cassette too.

I wasn't going to do this, but I have some massively discounted new old stock sram cranks on order...

I originally got these Holzfeller cranks as they were pretty cheap (and, well, I thought they sounded like German military equipment, which is strong and I thought by association reliable; clever truvativ marketing, boy did I get sucked in by it!).

I banged them on the first ride a couple of weeks ago, so decided to go to shorter cranks.
Perhaps too short, hopefully not, we shall see.

The howitzer bb, while again I think it has one of the coolest names imaginable for a downhill product, is an absolute pig at close to 365grams.
I think it's completely overkill for the way I ride, so I'm planning on downgrading to a simple lighter-weight GXP unit.

It would be nice to get this bike under 15kg.
That is my aim.

Then I'll be done with the modifications and hopefully ride it for many years to come.

 

[synchronicity]

Yes, this is silly really, I admit.
It's more about preventing further corrosion by putting using two metals that are closer together on the redox potential series (see image/table below). God I can't stand rust/corrosion!
7 grams lighter anyway...

Will offer these as replacement spare parts on ebay for Marzocchi 888 + 66 owners.

 

[synchronicity]

Here's a photo of my front axle setup. So the idea is you line up the axle flush the other side and tighten those cinch bolts, then apply quick release preload, then do up remaining pinch bolts this side.

As you can see it's a bit off center. That's because I just used some large M6 washer I had leftover. Also would like to glue in a bung type thing and save the QR axle having to go right through the whole length. That should save some weight. So anyway, I'm going to refine this idea a bit more and may offer a version for sale (after it's been test ridden).

 

[synchronicity]

And here's the rear axle setup. What I have done here is simply used a rockshox maxle lite boost (150mm overlock nut dimension, 182mm total length I believe) QR thru-axle. Then got a M12x1.5mm pitch I believe nut sepately (although it might be 1.75mm pitch, I did this a while back and can't remember now).

Also shown in photo #2 is how I got rear 220mm rotor to work with adapters.