Lynksey Pro26 Build

Frame: I'm going for a standard frame with adjusted top tube length, can't decide on a finish though, Satin or Industrial Mill?

Fork: Rockshox Sid World Cup or Fox RLC FIT (unless you like playing with adjusting every single knob and dial there is, then go with Rockshox???

Bar: KCNC SC Bone - 31.8 x 600 get the 25.4mm version (lighter)
Stem: KCNC SC Wing - 31.8 x 110/ 120, Get Syntace F99+ti bolts w/ the 25.4 SCbone bar
Seatpost: Thompson Masterpiece - KCNC yoke kit and Titanium bolts. Makes for, as you all know I'm sure, a more secure saddle. No worrying about rails bending.

Crankset: Cannondale SiSL 2x9 (but it may cost more than the Lighting setup) then get some Mathias titanium chainrings
Rear Derailleur: Sram X.0 Gripshift - KCNC Jockey wheels, Usual aluminium bolts. Not going the Nobu Ti Spring route as they are apparently only a gram lighter and I can't see the point in a Fiberlyte back plate given the fact that RDs are such high risk components in terms of damage.
Front Derailleur: Shimano 7900 Dura Ace - Speen adaptor, Alu bolts. (XTR M952 or M953... your results may vary with the Speed Adapter, they have a new adapter that increases leverage to decrease shift effort. But only person who has seemed to try it is Nino. I ditched my old version Speen infavor of XTR M970 FD).

Chain: KMC X10SL.
Cassette: Recon Ti or XTR: Whats the final verdict, Recon's worth it ??? Recon is only worth it if you don't pay full retail on that thing. Wholesale cost is like 50% of MSRP (ebay pricing is around 220 USD I think, therefore whole sale should be around 120 to 140 USD). If you can't get it for cheaper than 220, get a XTR cassette. Recon cassettes appears to need breaking in. Perhaps the ramps and machining isn't as smooth as XTR or Sram. Also XTR and Recon cassettes come with aluminum lock rings. You will not be saving weight. Unless you don't like the color.
Housing: Aligator I-Link, or Mini if I can get hold of it. Or Shimano SP81 (white) or SP91 (black). The shimano derailleur housings are smoother than Alligator liner.
Cables: Powercordz - 1.2 mm diamatre. Don't bother. PITA to setup. You need to setup your drivetrain with steel cables first. Then go and take the steel cable out to setup with powercordz. Very finiky. Repeated repositioning and reclamping of cables = pinched outer casing = exposing inner fibres = failure of cable (snap). Steel is real in this case!

Rims: No Tubes Podium MMX.
Hubs: A2Z, the new XCRI units. Buy some nice hubs. Don't cheap out! Hubs are not easily replaceable, you need to rebuild the wheel to change out hubs and get new spokes. Re-using rims when rebuilding wheels is a crapshoot.
Spokes: Sapim CX Ray/ Dt Swiss Aerolite - Aluminium nipples regardless.
Skewers: KCNC.
Tyres: Continental Mountain Kings - 2.2, SuperSonic, love these tyres. Agreed
Tubes: No Tubes tape, valves and sealent. I hate seleant, but many seem to like it.

Brakes: Formula R1 Carbon, am tempted by the new Hope X2 Races. Gravity Bleeding = best ever! Forget the stupid syringes
Rotors: Scrub, if budget allows. Otherwise Alligator Cirrus's are decent second choice units. If I go for the Hopes I'll use their rotors given their weight is about on par with the Gators. Coefficient of friction between organic pads and aluminum surface is lower than that of organic pads and steel (Scrub rotors are Aluminum alloy... metal matrix aluminum originally developed by Alcan). Your braking power will decrease. Your call. I would only try it for rear. But cost is so high. I would rather spend money and get nicer hubs than spend it getting these brake rotors.
Rotor Bolts: Will pick up some titanium ones off of Pro Bolt if I go the Formula route. Go with Hope, no need to get additional hardware. Can cost you an extra 50 bucks in Ti bolts.

Headset: Mortop HS65.
Seatopst Collar: Mortop SPC273.
Headset Spaces: KCNC Hollow.
Pedals: Crankbrother Eggbeater 4Ti.
Saddle: Selle Italia SLR Fibra or maybe a Carbonio, if funds allow.
Grips: ESI Chunkys.
Bottle Cages King Ti with nylon screws.
Chainstay Protector: Ordinary black cork bar tape with some trusty 3M insulation tape. Superlight and cheap as chips.
Frame Protection Will make use of Aligator rubber shields and BBB clear frame patches.

Ok then so that's the proposed build. I don't have any weights to hand, I don't beleive in claimed weights. I'll weigh the parts as they arrive. A quick guess puts the final weight at around 8.5 Kgs/ 18.7 lbs. Not screamingly light but hardly a brick either. Your thoughts are appreciated.

Next question. Colour scheme??? I'm thinking Red - Hubs, headset, seatpost collar, housing, jokey wheels, headset spacers, spoke nipples.. Too much, too little, Help. But then blue's sweet as well and there's nothing wrong with black either. This is becoming real difficult. [/QUOTE]

Color scheme...

Hubs, seatpost collar, skewers should match headset color. Anodizined aluminum bolts should match as well.
Stem should match seatpost color
Saddle and handlebar grip should match
Fork legs needs to match frame logos (ie red fork legs for Lynskey headbadge. or White fork legs for white logos).

Bike should have 3 main colors, none of which is dominating the other. Meaning too much red, or too much gold... etc...

Lastly... if you want your bike to stand out... Go purple anodized. This will increase your build difficulty (sourcing of parts) 100 fold!!! would look super sweet.

Revised

Cheers! said:

Frame: I'm going for a standard frame with adjusted top tube length, can't decide on a finish though, Satin or Industrial Mill?

Fork: Rockshox Sid World Cup or Fox RLC FIT (unless you like playing with adjusting every single knob and dial there is, then go with Rockshox???

Bar: KCNC SC Bone - 31.8 x 600 get the 25.4mm version (lighter)
Stem: KCNC SC Wing - 31.8 x 110/ 120, Get Syntace F99+ti bolts w/ the 25.4 SCbone bar
Seatpost: Thompson Masterpiece - KCNC yoke kit and Titanium bolts. Makes for, as you all know I'm sure, a more secure saddle. No worrying about rails bending.

Crankset: Cannondale SiSL 2x9 (but it may cost more than the Lighting setup) then get some Mathias titanium chainrings
Rear Derailleur: Sram X.0 Gripshift - KCNC Jockey wheels, Usual aluminium bolts. Not going the Nobu Ti Spring route as they are apparently only a gram lighter and I can't see the point in a Fiberlyte back plate given the fact that RDs are such high risk components in terms of damage.
Front Derailleur: Shimano 7900 Dura Ace - Speen adaptor, Alu bolts. (XTR M952 or M953... your results may vary with the Speed Adapter, they have a new adapter that increases leverage to decrease shift effort. But only person who has seemed to try it is Nino. I ditched my old version Speen infavor of XTR M970 FD).

Chain: KMC X10SL.
Cassette: Recon Ti or XTR: Whats the final verdict, Recon's worth it ??? Recon is only worth it if you don't pay full retail on that thing. Wholesale cost is like 50% of MSRP (ebay pricing is around 220 USD I think, therefore whole sale should be around 120 to 140 USD). If you can't get it for cheaper than 220, get a XTR cassette. Recon cassettes appears to need breaking in. Perhaps the ramps and machining isn't as smooth as XTR or Sram. Also XTR and Recon cassettes come with aluminum lock rings. You will not be saving weight. Unless you don't like the color.
Housing: Aligator I-Link, or Mini if I can get hold of it. Or Shimano SP81 (white) or SP91 (black). The shimano derailleur housings are smoother than Alligator liner.
Cables: Powercordz - 1.2 mm diamatre. Don't bother. PITA to setup. You need to setup your drivetrain with steel cables first. Then go and take the steel cable out to setup with powercordz. Very finiky. Repeated repositioning and reclamping of cables = pinched outer casing = exposing inner fibres = failure of cable (snap). Steel is real in this case!

Rims: No Tubes Podium MMX.
Hubs: A2Z, the new XCRI units. Buy some nice hubs. Don't cheap out! Hubs are not easily replaceable, you need to rebuild the wheel to change out hubs and get new spokes. Re-using rims when rebuilding wheels is a crapshoot.
Spokes: Sapim CX Ray/ Dt Swiss Aerolite - Aluminium nipples regardless.
Skewers: KCNC.
Tyres: Continental Mountain Kings - 2.2, SuperSonic, love these tyres. Agreed
Tubes: No Tubes tape, valves and sealent. I hate seleant, but many seem to like it.

Brakes: Formula R1 Carbon, am tempted by the new Hope X2 Races. Gravity Bleeding = best ever! Forget the stupid syringes
Rotors: Scrub, if budget allows. Otherwise Alligator Cirrus's are decent second choice units. If I go for the Hopes I'll use their rotors given their weight is about on par with the Gators. Coefficient of friction between organic pads and aluminum surface is lower than that of organic pads and steel (Scrub rotors are Aluminum alloy... metal matrix aluminum originally developed by Alcan). Your braking power will decrease. Your call. I would only try it for rear. But cost is so high. I would rather spend money and get nicer hubs than spend it getting these brake rotors.
Rotor Bolts: Will pick up some titanium ones off of Pro Bolt if I go the Formula route. Go with Hope, no need to get additional hardware. Can cost you an extra 50 bucks in Ti bolts.

Headset: Mortop HS65.
Seatopst Collar: Mortop SPC273.
Headset Spaces: KCNC Hollow.
Pedals: Crankbrother Eggbeater 4Ti.
Saddle: Selle Italia SLR Fibra or maybe a Carbonio, if funds allow.
Grips: ESI Chunkys.
Bottle Cages King Ti with nylon screws.
Chainstay Protector: Ordinary black cork bar tape with some trusty 3M insulation tape. Superlight and cheap as chips.
Frame Protection Will make use of Aligator rubber shields and BBB clear frame patches.

Ok then so that's the proposed build. I don't have any weights to hand, I don't beleive in claimed weights. I'll weigh the parts as they arrive. A quick guess puts the final weight at around 8.5 Kgs/ 18.7 lbs. Not screamingly light but hardly a brick either. Your thoughts are appreciated.

Next question. Colour scheme??? I'm thinking Red - Hubs, headset, seatpost collar, housing, jokey wheels, headset spacers, spoke nipples.. Too much, too little, Help. But then blue's sweet as well and there's nothing wrong with black either. This is becoming real difficult.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the help Cheers.

Alot of what you say makes perfect sense.

Personally I like the look of KCNC's stuff so I'll keep that as is. The fork issue for me is probably the biggest, I've always had RS units, never owned a Fox. Ridden a few though, I find the spring rate to be slightly more linear over the SID units I own which tend to "bunch up," as they reach the end of their stroke.

I beleive you have an RLC on your Kona? How does it perform from a maintanence point of view?

I've done a quick search on Ebay and see you can pick up Recon Ti cassettes for as little as $150, (new). I've never bought anything more expensive than an XT cassette so thanks for the advice regarding the lockring I was not aware of that particular fact.

You've definately sealed my brake dilema for me, going the Hope route. Added bonus, as you pointed out, is the Ti hardware included in the package.

Personally I never had any issues with Powercordz/ I link set up, but then I've never used them on an MTB. I'll take your advice and go the Yumeya route. Jagwire do about the lightest steel cables, as I recall, in the form of their Ripcord units, so I'll use those over the Cordz which'll save some doh.

I've heard similar stories regarding the rotors and admit, despite my engineering studies and subsequent understanding of the obvious problems, that I had chosen to well.. purposefully over look that fact given their discustingly light weight. I reckon it would've been a mistake buying them though so thanks for, "Showing me the light," as it were.

Wheels: I have another bike with an A2Z/ Dt Rev/ Olympic build that have seen quite alot of use and are still in pretty good nick, touch wood. That said, I strip and service them at least once a month so maybe thats their reason for faithfull service.

Given that I'll be saving some money on the rotors, cables etc I reckon I'll go the Tune route, hub wise. Princess at the front and a Prince at the back with a Ti free hub, apparently the alu free hubs are prone to disintergrating? The Dezibel is of course another option. Not sure of the price and release date though. Will research into that.

Great so the build, revised, will look something like this then:

Frame: Lynskey Pro26 in Industrial Mill finish. Slightly extended top tube length.

Fork: Rockshox Sid World Cup or Fox RLC FIT, Edging towards to Fox.
Bar: KCNC SC Bone - 31.8/ 25.4 x 600, A bit undecided here
Stem: KCNC SC Wing - 31.8 x 110/ 120, may go for the 25.4 but I'll keep to the KCNC. I like uniformity. Thompson post with a KCNC bar and stem, makes more sense to me.
Seatpost: Thompson Masterpiece - KCNC yoke kit and Titanium bolts.

Crankset: Cannondale SiSL 2x9, will fiddle with rings. But as you suggested get the Dale unit.
Rear Derailleur: Sram X.0 Gripshift - KCNC Jockey wheels, Usual aluminium bolts.
Front Derailleur: Shimano 7900 Dura Ace - Speen adaptor, Alu bolts. Speen adaptor has never been an issue for me, although the Gripshifters may be the answer??
Chain: KMC X10SL.
Cassette: Recon Ti Housing: Shimano SP81
Cables: Jagqire Ripcord

Rims: No Tubes Podium MMX.
Hubs: Tune Prince and Princess/ Dezibel???
Spokes: Dt Swiss Aerolite - Aluminium nipples.
Skewers:Tune.
Tyres: Continental Mountain Kings - 2.2, SuperSonic.
Tubes: No Tubes tape, valves and sealent. Sealent doesn't worry me too much.
Brakes: Hope X2 Races.
Rotors: Hope
Rotor Bolts: Hope

Headset: Mortop HS65.
Seatopst Collar: Mortop SPC273.
Headset Spaces: KCNC Hollow.
Pedals: Crankbrother Eggbeater 4Ti.
Saddle: Selle Italia SLR Fibra or maybe a Carbonio, if funds allow.
Grips: ESI Chunkys.
Bottle Cages: King Ti with nylon screws.
Chainstay Protector: Ordinary black cork bar tape with some trusty 3M insulation tape. Superlight and cheap as chips.
Frame Protection: BBB clear frame patches.

Color scheme...

Right, I have this idea about going Blue. As you suggested blue Hubs, skewers, seatpost collar, headset. Maybe keep the bolts silver so as not to over do it?

I also have this idea about building the wheels with hubs in colour X (blue for the sake of the arguement). Then run white Dt Aerolites with the leading spoke in Colour X, ( I can get it powder coated). The Nipples out to be in colour X as well. Something similar to the Crossmax SLR, Giant have their top end MTB rigs equipped with a blue version.

Fork will be white and blue, If I get the Fox, so white and blue decals for the frame.

Saddle and handlebar grips to be black/ blue or white.
I'll have to research this blue idea though, many companies tend to only use very bright blues. Ie KCNC.

"Lastly... if you want your bike to stand out... Go purple anodized. This will increase your build difficulty (sourcing of parts) 100 fold!!! would look super sweet." Sorry not my thing

Don't go with KCNC Jockey wheels, they're rubbish. A lot of people use it only once then throwing them away after a couple of months (bearings wear out too quickly). Also, as I remember corectly, Nino said they're loud (as all alu jockey wheels I presume). Go with Deriln ones instead.

As for fork, if you like RS stay with it as you may not like how Fox works. It has more linear characteristic than RS. For me SID WS is a top noch.

I've read a lot of good opinions on Scrubs so don't throw them out of your list after only one negative post. They (reportedly) scream when they're wet or hot, but breaking power is almoust as good as others. I would definitely buy them If my budget allowed that (but first on the list is the new crankset).

Crankset... yes, very tough decision. After many days of constant reading (thanks Nino for patience in answering my questions) Lightning seems the best option. You can look at this comparison of 18 (!) carbon cranksets at fairwheelbikes forum.

Hope is great but you can also look at Avid XX (530$ for both front and rear) as it's as light as Formula (only rotors are heavier) but cheaper and has additional pad adjustment.

Thanks for the feedback.

Pity about the Mortop headsets, I was hoping they would survive a while. What other options are available in terms of matching headsets and seatopst collars that is. I'm a sucker for uniformity.
I've seen Cane Creek AER units fail so I'm not even going to consider those, I like my teeth in my mouth

Lightning cranksets just don't do it for me, I have nothing against them. They seem to be really good both in terms of performance and value. I wish Middleburn would hurry up with their new external BB units. They would instantly solve my problem.. For the time being I'm going the Dale route, I don't want to waste the rings so I'll run the standard 29/44 setup until their toast. I'll then go the Experimental Prototype route.

Gotta agree with Cheers on the brakes I'm afraid. Tested a pair of Hopes and they were awesome, loved the lever feel. The weight of the X2 Race is allmost identical to the R1. That said I may give the Scrubs a look in at later date, they're pretty pricey and at this stage I'd rather invest in the wheels.

This fork issue is really starting to get to me. Maybe I just pick one, blind folded....

In any case, thanks for replies. Really is nice to get realistic perspective on whats what how it/ they stand up in real world conditions.

the types of riders:

Fox = 15 min setup and go ride. Never really play with the settings too much
SID = must have the fork optimized for each section of single track. Loves to turn dials.

Both are great. I too have ridden the new SIDs. I have not ridden the new 2010 Fox, I have a 2009. The thing with teh SID. You have to love turning dials, and you have to know somewhat what you are doing. Else it is wasted effort and you could be de-optimizing the fork rather than optimizing it for the trail.

Hope is the way to go. End of story. I have the Juicy Ultimates. Most unreliable brakes I've ever had the pleasure of using and servicing. Stupid syringes. Lever body that flexes like crazy. Finiky... The seals/boots do a poor job sealing the lever body from dust and dirt. Eventually the levers/master cylinders get gunk inside where they are greased and the levers don't like to work smootly anymore. Then it's rebuild time.

Did I mention it is $$$$ for stupid little orings from Avid? some orings, plastic piston. New rubber boots costs near 50 canadian dollars per lever!! Two fully rebuild both levers costed me 100 bucks + tax. Also if you ride your bike lots you will notice when you do your yearly brake fluid change that the brake fluid is black, and upon closer inspection there are bits of orings floating in the fluid.

Lastly,

For hubs, you should consider:

-Chris King rear hub (heavy yes, engagement fast), extralite front or Am Classic Front
-Tune Dezibel rear, Tune Price front (un-proven rear hub. Uses Magnets, cool factor is there)
-Hope Pro 2. Good value. Not so light. VERY VERY LOUD!
-DTswiss 240s front and rear. Although the rear hub has its flanges close together (narrow). Which means poor bracing angle, poor lateral stiffness. Poor tension balance between non drive side and drive side spokes. Good = quick engagement with their new star rachet upgrade. Good reliability.

or you just go bling and get Industry9. Personally I don't like them for their performance and price. But I do like them for the look.

Bottom line: Front hubs rarely fail. No matter how weenie they are. Rear Hubs are important.

Personally I think the wheelset of a bike should be atleast 66% the cost of your frameset.

Oh and there are no better spokes than Sapim CX-rays. Unless you want ultra light, then it's Pillar PST 1422 aerobladed Ti spokes. Stiffness is not where near Sapim Cx-ray spokes. They are hard to build with. But the wheelset is rideable at fast speeds. i'm willing to bet 50% of the weight weenies who post in this forum couldn't tell you the difference if you asked them to ride two wheelsets back to back. One with Ti spokes, One with steel spokes.

Okay everything is finalised or on order.

Bholwell - Thanks for the advice, stuck to what I know and went for a 2010 SID WC.

I then got an awesome deal on a Tune Bobo headset so I picked that up for the equivilant of $30. Being a sucker for uniformity I then forked out for a Tune Wurger Skyline seatpost collar.

Brakes are Hope X2 Race.

Hub wise I'm going for Tune's Price front hub and Dezbel rear one and matching QR's. I'm going to use one of my other wheelsets until the Dezibels are available. Rims will be Race 7000, slightly lighter than the Podum models. Spokes will be CX Ray.

Thanks for all your help. Will put a pictorial together when I receive all the parts.