[coba]

Finally completed my 2011 Lynskey Ridgeline - Lefty project. I went with the Ridgeline instead of the Pro 29 Lefty because I wanted smooth tubes and 100mm of travel. The Pro 29 as well as most other Lefty 29er's are built around the Cannondale Lefty 29er fork at 90mm of travel (or 29er conversion kit which converts to 90mm travel). To get it to 100mm is more complicated than it sounds while keeping the 510mm axle to crown the Ridgeline is designed around. Jake at Project 321 is great to deal with and will get you the fork and make all the custom changes to the fork you need. This is a large Lynskey, so I went with stock geometry with a custom head tube length of 124mm for a small up charge. Still worked out way cheaper than a custom build. Don Irwin at Lynskey can help you with this modification. I went with the Cane Creek 110 ZS Headset installed from Lynskey with a stack height of 12mm. Basically you need to make the head tube, and headset fit between 138mm. I didn't realize that the stack height advertised by CC didn't include the lower crown race. So it made things tighter than I planned, but still works. As you can see from the head tube picture, there are a few mm's of reveal of the floating sleeve at the top of the upper crown (black plastic below first spacer). It makes for a snug fit with the tapered top cap of the HS up inside the white upper crown. You may not want to cut it this close. Maybe 122mm HT would have been better. Wheels were built by P321 with P321 hubs on some custom anodized Crest rims.

Final revelation. I installed the new Swisstop #26 disc pads on both my Elixir CR's and XX brakes and the difference is nothing short of a miracle. No more noise or turkey gobble and the modulation is great.

Hope this helps.

 

[angstboater]

nicely done, the build looks great. i've got a lefty on my sheep that was on my titus before, one of the best switches i've made.

 

[Sunburst576]

Very nice and a clean look. What was the upcharge for the lefty headtube? I would love the headtube you have and a BB30 shell as well.

 

[coba]

The stock Ridgeline doesn't come with BB30, The custom HT is only $200, but it is not a lefty HT. It is the stock 44mm standard cut to fit a Lefty using the P321 conversion kit. A lefty HT is bigger to fit the Cannondale Lefty headset. Not sure what Lynskey would charge for the BB30.

 

[ROY Squared]

What is the rear tire on there... and how is the tire clearance?

On the headtube what was the reason for the custom length? Did you need to go shorter in order to fit a lefty?

Nice looking ride.

 

[coba]

The rear is a Maxxis Ikon 2.2. I have it forward, but can probably take out a link. I was going to put on a larger front ring so I left a little room on the chain. The 2011 stock large Ridgeline comes with a 5.25" HT. The Lefty comes in 2 crown sizes, the smaller spread being 138mm, so I needed a shorter HT to fit it with the headset. The larger spread Lefty would have worked with a lot of spacers, but would have put the stem way too high for my bike fit. If you are an XL, you might go with the larger crown fork, and if you are a medium, the head tube is 4.25 so no custom ht is needed (but about 3/8" of spacers between the headset and upper crown). If you get the medium, there are semi internal headsets with a larger stack height that will fill some of the gap. I added a couple of pics of the rear wheel.

 

[ROY Squared]

how much room do you have with that tire, just wondering how big of a tire might fit back there? Thanks!

 

[coba]

It will take some 2.4's. I don;t think it is much different than last years Ridgeline. There have been plenty of posts about what tire will fit back there. The Pro has the plate style stays this year that can take a much bigger tire.

 

[ROY Squared]

Thanks.

Lynskey told me a 2.2 is tight back there so I've been holding off on a frame. If that is not the case (I may not get one with sliders). That would be great news.

Man, I think I just missed the big sale though.

 

[Drbbt]

Love the sliders!

 

[Green Giant]

Where did you get that mango lefty front hub? Is it a stock item, or available at project 321?

 

[coba]

The hubs are Project321 (I9 internals). Not a stock color, but Jake had 1 set in mango and I thought I would take a shot. I like them with the Ti. He said he was going to make more in that color. Spacers and top cap are Parts of Passion from Fairwheel Bikes.

 

[silverfox3]

nicely done Coda! I am planning to build a SEVEN 29er and you posting has given me some good insights, thank you. I have talk to Jake on the phone and he seems great. couple questions for you since you have such a short head tube...
how tall are you and how much do you weigh?
reason: I would like 100mm of travel, but being 6'2" and geared up around 188lbs. my concern is can I get away with the short head tube...thanks

 

[coba]

Silverfox, I am 6ft and and have a long in seam. From the center of the crank to the top of my saddle measured at the center of my seat post clamp is 79.5 cm or 31.25 inch. The top crown of the lefty adds about 13 mm to the stack height which is a fair amount. From the bottom of the head tube to the top of the Lefty crown is about 150 mm (6 inch). With 20mm spacer ENVE stem +6 and ENVE low rise bar, the grips are about 1.5 inch below the saddle. If you want a more aggressive position, you may need a flat bar. A couple more spacers if you need a little more height. Hope this helps. Jake does a great job, and I haven't had any issues in a year with the fork. Hubs are solid too.

 

[silverfox3]

Coba...thank you for the response and again a great looking ride!

 

[Asbury]

That is a beautiful bike, wow! Curious about the noise on the 321 rear hub, is it similar to King's or quieter?

 

[Loonytik]

What's she weigh?