[il2mb]

Just got a '05 Flux frame with the RP3 and want to build it up. Never done this before so could use some advice from the experts here...


Which front fork works best on the Flux?

Component group? I like the XTR stuff and that is also what I'm used to. Been looking at what Sram has to offer as well. Any suggestions? Can the two be mixed?


Wheel set?



I'm really looking forward to riding this bike.



Thanks in advance.

 

[tscheezy]

"Best Fork" will get you as much agreement as "best ice cream flavor" or "cutest chick". That said, would highly recommend a Reba. Any flavor. The 115mm of travel compliments the Flux beautifully (I don't care for 100mm Foxes on that frame much), they are light, inexpensive, and the ride quality beats anything in the category by a mile.

Also personal, but I moved away from Shimano shifters and rear derailleurs a couple of years ago and have not had even the slightest desire to go back. Sram shifters are more precise, accurate, and less subject to housing flex bringing them out of adjustment. Shimano makes great cassettes, cranks, front derailleurs, but otherwise no thanks. All front derailleurs are compatible with all shifters so I do suggest you get a Shimano front der as the Srams do not have the greatest rep. Get some Sram X.9 triggers, X.9 rear der, and an XT front der.

Give us a price range for the wheels.

 

[il2mb]

"Best Fork" will get you as much agreement as "best ice cream flavor" or "cutest chick". That said, would highly recommend a Reba. Any flavor. The 115mm of travel compliments the Flux beautifully (I don't care for 100mm Foxes on that frame much), they are light, inexpensive, and the ride quality beats anything in the category by a mile.

Also personal, but I moved away from Shimano shifters and rear derailleurs a couple of years ago and have not had even the slightest desire to go back. Sram shifters are more precise, accurate, and less subject to housing flex bringing them out of adjustment. Shimano makes great cassettes, cranks, front derailleurs, but otherwise no thanks. All front derailleurs are compatible with all shifters so I do suggest you get a Shimano front der as the Srams do not have the greatest rep. Get some Sram X.9 triggers, X.9 rear der, and an XT front der.

Give us a price range for the wheels.

tscheezy,

Thanks for the feedback. I'll take a look at the Reba. How do you feel about the X.O shifters and rear derailleur? X.9 just as good? So I could match a Shimano XT crank, cassette, and front derailleur with a Sram rear derailleur and front and back shifters?

I would probably go to $600 - $700 on the wheels.

 

[tigerdog]

I would probably go to $600 - $700 on the wheels.

That's some serious dough. I bought a set of DT 4.1D, King ISO, DT SuperComps from Mike Garcia (www.oddsandendos.com) for a good deal less than that, although I missed the Chris King price hike by a couple of months.

You could go with Crossmax SLs in that range for a small weight saving, but I'm personally not crazy about the idea of proprietary spokes and stuff. It sounds like the Hadley hubs are really nice too. Talk to Mike Garcia or Larry at www.mtnhighcyclery and they'll see you right

 

[tscheezy]

I personally think the X.0 triggers are pretty outragously overpriced, but they are quite nice. I often argued the extra precision and durability that XTR offered over XT made it worth it, but I just can't bring myself to spend that kind of $$ on triggers. The X.9 work very well. There are lots of peopl here running the X.0s and love them. Hey, it's only money. As long as you are letting the kids go shoeless, slap a Reba Team on there. Yum.

"So I could match a Shimano XT crank, cassette, and front derailleur with a Sram rear derailleur and front and back shifters?" Yes, exactly. That would be my suggestion.

Tigerdog is right, $600-700 will buy you a hell of a nice set of wheels. If you shop around carefully (cough *Larry* cough), you could get some DT Swiss 240s disc hubs, DT butted spokes, alloy nips, and DT 4.1 rims built up for a nice price. I personally would stay away from "system" wheels (like the Mavic stuff with weird proprietary spokes, etc).

 

[SilverSpot]

I would agree with tscheezy re the Reba. Good fork, no worries. A real good fit for the flux.

Also would agree on the SRAM set up. I have X.9 RD, XTR FD and X.9 triggers. Excellent set-up, no problems, perfect shifting.

Wheelset? Forget the CKs. Go with DT Swiss 240s, 4.1d hoops and DT super comp spokes and save yourself some $$. The 240s don't have the high bling factor of the CKs, but they do have the reliability that you'll want. Stay away from the Crossmax unless you like to do monthly maintenance on the hubs.

Oh yeah... welcome to 'Chateau du Homer'!!

 

[tscheezy]

Whoah. There's an echo in here....

 

[tigerdog]

Wheelset? Forget the CKs. Go with DT Swiss 240s, 4.1d hoops and DT super comp spokes and save yourself some $$. The 240s don't have the high bling factor of the CKs, but they do have the reliability that you'll want. Stay away from the Crossmax unless you like to do monthly maintenance on the hubs.

Yeah, I think with the current CK prices, I'd agree. Hopes seem pretty nice too.

 

[cactuscorn]

allow me to pipe in again guys. with a few months of time on my flux before the snow hit, im a huge fan of adjustble travel forks on this bike. i run a '04 rlc talus and it really makes for a nice climbing geo when pulled down to about 3" (a tip i took from dt) and fun as hell at about 4 1/4 or so on nasty downs, otherwise im all over the 4" setting. personally i think anything more than 4" is too much for standard trail work but that could be a diff in ground type from cheese's stuff. now this fork might have some dive others dont like and its been well documented, but for my lightish 160lbs its dealable till i send it off to push for some love. i just ordered some new skis today (whattafriggindealigot!) so its gonna have to wait.... again.

wheels for a flux should be built xc race weenie light if ya ask me so id pass on the supercomps. currently i run xtr's, valiant osb's, alloy nips and comps but dream of 240's, stans olympics and comps, all in black of course. i too agree about the system wheels. too much cash and too much risk for the weight you save, if any.

drivetrain brands? pick one. for now i believe ones as good as another and i ride xt, xtr and x 9 depending on bike. but oh to have some xo! the cost is a bit scary though. the new 960 xtr f der is a real treat. nuthins ever worked as good or even been close so id suggest a upgrade from the xt part. the x gen works about as well as a xt but its a friggin brick.

toss some carbon at it, specially up top where it counts, and think super lite tires too. my larsons do well in most situations as long as its dry out. with money well spent, and lots of it, a sub 25lb bike is doable. i think mine is a tick over 26 last time i checked but the parts keep gettin changed. good luck and have fun with it all.

 

[miles e]

wheels for a flux should be built xc race weenie light if ya ask me so id pass on the supercomps. currently i run xtr's, valiant osb's, alloy nips and comps but dream of 240's, stans olympics and comps

The DT Super Comp spokes are significantly lighter than the regular DT Competition spokes. They're your best bet if you don't want to shell out for Sapim CX-Rays or DT Aerolites.

The question of SRAM/Shimano, Fox/Rock Shox, DT/King have all been covered pretty well elsewhere. Each option has its merits, so in the end it just comes down to personal preference (i.e. some like the "precision" of the SRAM shifters, I can't stand the ergonomics). If you can't estabilsh a preference of your own, then you may as well go with the cheaper of the two.

I'm very happy with the Shimano XT 750 components (not the lightest, but cheap and durable), Fox Float RLC (reduced to 100mm), and King/Sapim/Olympic wheelset on my Flux. I light build (~25 lbs.) really compliments the light frame, making the bike very agile and giving you that "rocketship" feel on singletrack, up or down.

 

[Rouleur321]

Kinda upset about the loss of adjustment on the 06 Reba line. Theres a deal on 05 Rebas on Price Point, the Team model in black with Poploc and UTurn for Four and Change. Quite a deal...gonna pick one up for my Flux.

The rest of my build's gonna be all X.9 with a 717/King combo with (probably) 2.25 Nevegals to handle the rocky-rocks here in NY/CT/NJ.

 

[JTBAZ]

There is alot of positive feedback on the Reba. How stiff is this fork? Any flex? I currently have a TALAS and it seems very stiff.

 

[miles e]

The rest of my build's gonna be all X.9 with a 717/King combo with (probably) 2.25 Nevegals to handle the rocky-rocks here in NY/CT/NJ.

The Nevegals come in 1.95, 2.1, 2.35, 2.5, & 2.7. If you're talking about the 2.35's, those are some pretty beefy (i.e. heavy & slow) tires for the Flux. Nothing wrong with that if you don't mind slowing your Flux down, but it would bother me.

I was pleased with the 2.0 Blue Grooves on my Flux; great race tires but they held their on the nasty trails too. The aformentioned speed and agility of the Flux are what make it so special, and help it do things you wouldn't expect such a light bike to be capable of. Heavier tires would fight this tendency, so I would at least try some lighter tires (e.g. 2.1's) to make sure of what you're most happy with on the Flux.

 

[Mr Bling]

There is alot of positive feedback on the Reba. How stiff is this fork? Any flex? I currently have a TALAS and it seems very stiff.

really, your talas is stiff? Do you run fully extended or not? 125 or 130 version?
I'm only asking because I parting with mine because I felt it was a bit flexy (on a spot though).

 

[Rouleur321]

The Nevegals come in 1.95, 2.1, 2.35, 2.5, & 2.7. If you're talking about the 2.35's, those are some pretty beefy (i.e. heavy & slow) tires for the Flux. Nothing wrong with that if you don't mind slowing your Flux down, but it would bother me.

I was pleased with the 2.0 Blue Grooves on my Flux; great race tires but they held their on the nasty trails too. The aformentioned speed and agility of the Flux are what make it so special, and help it do things you wouldn't expect such a light bike to be capable of. Heavier tires would fight this tendency, so I would at least try some lighter tires (e.g. 2.1's) to make sure of what you're most happy with on the Flux.

Thats for pointing out my ignorance! As you can see, tires are the ONE area I havent given much thought to!

Good looking out, Miles!

 

[cutthroat]

Deja vu all over again -

The Reba Team has been great - stiff, light and very tuneable - definitely get the U-Turn but save the money and ditch the pop-loc - it just adds clutter to the bar and you can adjust the compression and travel on the fly as easily as grabbibng your water bottle. Dream build on the rest:
XT 760 cranks - slight weight penalty over the XTRs but simply bomb proof
XO rear derailleur, XTR front, X9 Shifters, XT 11-34 cassette, XTR chain, King headset of course, Thomson post and stem, Race Face Next carbon low rise bar, ODI grips.

Wheels, brakes, pedals and saddle are such personal preference items - you need to pick your own -

This is giving me the jones for another build project - Have fun.

 

[Rouleur321]

Deja vu all over again -

The Reba Team has been great - stiff, light and very tuneable - definitely get the U-Turn but save the money and ditch the pop-loc - it just adds clutter to the bar and you can adjust the compression and travel on the fly as easily as grabbibng your water bottle. Dream build on the rest:
XT 760 cranks - slight weight penalty over the XTRs but simply bomb proof
XO rear derailleur, XTR front, X9 Shifters, XT 11-34 cassette, XTR chain, King headset of course, Thomson post and stem, Race Face Next carbon low rise bar, ODI grips.

Wheels, brakes, pedals and saddle are such personal preference items - you need to pick your own -

This is giving me the jones for another build project - Have fun.

Can I get the fork WITH The Poploc and just not install it?

 

[MK_]

really, your talas is stiff? Do you run fully extended or not? 125 or 130 version?
I'm only asking because I parting with mine because I felt it was a bit flexy (on a spot though).

Foxes are very stiff at 4" extension, above than they start becoming noticably flexy. I had Vanilla 130 on my Spot for a total of two rides before I ditched it due to its flexy nature. The reason I ran it on my Spot was because I loved it on my Burner, but it is a very different fork at these varying extensions.

_MK

 

[cutthroat]

Can I get the fork WITH The Poploc and just not install it?

I'm pretty sure that's an option. The pop-loc is just a cable activated lever that feeds into a machined port on the top of the fork leg. You should be able to just disconnect it and use the knobs - better check that though. My Team came without the pop-loc and was $40 less than the PLA model.

 

[tscheezy]

No. If you get the poplock model, you are forced to use the bar mounted remote, otherwise the compression knob on the fork will just always snap back to "full-open" under pressure from an internal spring (which you cannot access through disassembly- the Motion Control unit is not meant to be taken apart). The damper in the fork is not spring loaded in the non-poplock version and so will stay put where you set it. It's kinda dumb, but once you get the poplock, if you want to remove the remote, you have to get a non-spring loaded damper cartridge too. I personally would skip the poplock if possible and just reach down for those instances when you want to change settings.