I have been trying to post this for some time now, but it has been a little hectic this year! Now that I am not spending all of my free time on the trails (wet, cold, and dark) I figured it was time to share my experience with this forum. I first started dreaming about building my own bike in 1992 when I worked in a bike shop that historically built frames (Proteus in College Park MD). It is project has been gnawing at me for almost 30 years!
The plan
What I learned
Day one I threw my leg over the bike and hoped I could get to the mailbox. So far, so good. Confidence builds. Aggressive backyard riding feels solid. First drop to flat doesn’t break my frame! Pushing harder and harder. About 4 months in and I am pushing this bike as hard as I would any other bike.
It has changed my riding for sure. My absolutely favorite experience is when another biker stops me to ask about my bike. My crew hates it!
The plan
- A simple fillet brazed steel 29er hardtail. All hand built with modern components and somewhat retro geometry. Designed for my local smooth, XC trails – Patapsco state park near Baltimore MD.
- Never stop making progress. This is a big one for me. If I start obsessing about a feature or fixture I run the risk of stalling the project and eventually abandoning it. This happened on a previous road bike build.
- Work at night and on weekends so as not to impact the family or career.
- For me it was all about the process. If I could get one ride in this would be a success.
What I learned
- I spent more time on the fixture, the design, and component selection that I ever thought I would. It really feels like a second bike of similar design would take me about 20% of the time.
- I did not consider tire clearance on the seat stays in the design. I ended up buying three pairs before I got a pair to work. Thanks to MattiHill and bikefabsupply.com for solving that problem.
- I was really stressed out about alignment. A simple check on the main triangle after tacking showed that it was really straight. I decided to stop worrying and I am very happy that I did. My BB is also shifted about .125” to the non-drive side. Initially I was stressed about this, but a couple of shims took care of this nicely.
- My chainstays are nearly too short! I can only fit a 2.25 in back. The clearance to the seat tube is minimal.
- My 32t front chain ring nearly hits the chainstays. I really should have spent more time working on the layout of the rear end!
- I used numerous parts bin components, and I have been gradually swapping them out as I get more comfortable with the fit. I was going cheap at first in case the frame did not pan out.
- Full XT 9100 12 speed group set. Single piston brakes. I am pretty happy with performance, but an equivalent SRAM group might have been better suited to my XC use.
- I initially bought Shimano wheels. There were few options for micro-spline hubs when I bought in. These wheels were far too wide/rowdy/heavy for my use. As a 50th birthday present to myself I bought a pair of Boyd cycles Trailblazer wheels (you can guess why). I love them.
- I started with 160/160 rotors. I immediately upgraded my front to 180. Not sure what I was thinking.
Day one I threw my leg over the bike and hoped I could get to the mailbox. So far, so good. Confidence builds. Aggressive backyard riding feels solid. First drop to flat doesn’t break my frame! Pushing harder and harder. About 4 months in and I am pushing this bike as hard as I would any other bike.
It has changed my riding for sure. My absolutely favorite experience is when another biker stops me to ask about my bike. My crew hates it!
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