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Superfly Components

1K views 12 replies 9 participants last post by  40hills 
#1 ·
I just purchased an 08 Superfly and have some componant questions:

I am thinking of mounting a Thompson seatpost and stem I have laying around for looks and strength. Would the aluminum post offer an inferior ride to the carbon post?

Is it worth it to sell the racelite wheels and purchase a set of handbuilts?

Can the Fox fork be converted to 100mm and if so will it adversly affect the handling?
 
#2 ·
The Bonty stock seatpost is a carbon wrap over an Al tube; ride them both and make up Your mind.

The OEM Fox F29 80mm G2 fork cannot be easily changed to 100mm as the damper cartridge and the air piston rods are too short.

Race Lite wheels are DT 240 hubs & spokes and the rims are made in Wi; they are handbuilt.
 
#3 ·
banks said:
The Bonty stock seatpost is a carbon wrap over an Al tube; ride them both and make up Your mind.

The OEM Fox F29 80mm G2 fork cannot be easily changed to 100mm as the damper cartridge and the air piston rods are too short.

Race Lite wheels are DT 240 hubs & spokes and the rims are made in Wi; they are handbuilt.
True on the seatpost. Doesn't really ride any softer than a Thomson. I switched to a ti post for a little compliance. It's not a huge difference, but definitely noticeable on 2 hour and longer rides.

The OEM Fox fork actually can easily be converted to 100 mm. A bit of disassembly, and removal of the small black plastic spacer, and off you go. I've been riding mine in 100 mm mode since the third ride, and prefer the slightly more relaxed handling, not to mention the additional travel.

I also thought the Race X Lite Wheels had DT 240 hubs with the star drive mechanism. Sadly, not so. It's a slightly downmarket DT rear hub. Nothing wrong with it at all, but not well suited to high-torque, low rpm climbing on technical rocks, etc. Not exactly the bike's purpose, but I popped one of the freehubs screwing around this past winter, which is when I discovered it did not contain the justifiably highly-regarded star drive freehub.

Other than that, I've got 2 sets of those wheels, and have good service from both. Super easy to convert to tubeless, also, and the stock Bonty ACX TLR 2.2 tires work well in tubeless mode.
 
#4 ·
banks said:
The Bonty stock seatpost is a carbon wrap over an Al tube; ride them both and make up Your mind.

The OEM Fox F29 80mm G2 fork cannot be easily changed to 100mm as the damper cartridge and the air piston rods are too short.

Race Lite wheels are DT 240 hubs & spokes and the rims are made in Wi; they are handbuilt.
I am riding a Superfly 2008 as well with the following adaptations:

I switched my F29 to 100mm; 20min. work, I like lots of sag and it rides greats; there is somewhere thread with instruction how to do it, you will find instructions on the fox www page as well (you will have to search a little, look under OE forks)

I have 2 seatpost: 1 Thomson simply the best but a little as 27,2 a littlle heavy (I need more than the 330mm for the Masterpiece version); The Tune has more flex but is not as gentle to my carbon railed seat ... . In general take a superlight post if you wnat some additional comfort / flex and a heavier (like the Thomson) if you want a stiff post.

I have 2 wheelsets: i9 with 7.1 rims and the Race X lights. The Bontys are great, light and the DT Swiss hubs probably the most reliable on the market (I know, CK is great to but this is still my expeirence...); easy conversion to Tubeless. I doubt that you will find a much better wheelset on the market except for i9s. The i9s are superstiff but I should have taken wider rims to really justify them. I am using the more robust i9s everyday and the lighter Bontys for racing.
 
#5 ·
Wheels

bikenut316 said:
I just purchased an 08 Superfly and have some componant questions:

I am thinking of mounting a Thompson seatpost and stem I have laying around for looks and strength. Would the aluminum post offer an inferior ride to the carbon post?

Is it worth it to sell the racelite wheels and purchase a set of handbuilts?

Can the Fox fork be converted to 100mm and if so will it adversly affect the handling?
Allow me to elaborate. I have a wheelset made up of King hubs with Stans Arch rims on my Sultan that could be swithched to the Superfly. I could then sell the Racelites to fund a set of Stans Flow rims with Hope Pro 2 hubs for the Sultan. This will allow me to switch to a 20mm TA fork in the near future.
 
#9 ·
bikenut316 said:
Please explain to me the logic behind carbon wrapped aluminum componants eg. Bontrager seatposts. Is there the dampening qualities of carbon or rigidity of aluminum.
Explanation right from the Bontrager website..."With an Aluminum Core Construction underneath a carbon fiber sleeve, this version of the Race X Lite is designed to withstand extreme crush loads, making it perfectly suited for both mountain and road applications"
 
#10 ·
bikenut316 said:
Please explain to me the logic behind carbon wrapped aluminum componants eg. Bontrager seatposts. Is there the dampening qualities of carbon or rigidity of aluminum.
in addition to what none stated, carbon wrapped aluminum allows for very thin aluminum to be used along with thin cf, which allows the component to have the strength to flex a great deal without breaking.
 
#11 · (Edited)
Ok, so on mine I went with the stock seatpost (I like the SP Bonty head better than the Thompson I'm running on my Paragon), a Salsa Pro Moto carbon bar and since I run a Shimano drive train I went with a Stan's Arch / XTR center lock combination. I ended up using the stock race lites on my Paragon. As far as the wheel sets go, I like them both but i prefer the Stan's set. Ride the stock set for awhile and decide for yourself. On the fork travel, well I really like the way the bike handles as it is so I'm keeping mine at 80mm
 

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#12 ·
The stock single pivot seatpost is not acceptable for racing. It moved an enormous amount on a bump and required violent blows before I could continue. I torque with a Syntace. Thomson won't move. Easton EC90 an option. Trying a Thudbuster ST today. Looks vile but my back needs help. I think the Bontrager cranks are just OK at best. Like the XT for 09.
 
#13 ·
Bontrager ACC posts

monogod said:
in addition to what none stated, carbon wrapped aluminum allows for very thin aluminum to be used along with thin cf, which allows the component to have the strength to flex a great deal without breaking.
It's funny that these [forum] posts (not seat posts :D ) came up just hours before I searched for this info... I have the ACC RXL post and honestly it doesn't feel any different from the Thomson aluminum post I had on my old bike. I'm really wondering if there is actually ANY advantage to this construction... the post doesn't seem to be significantly lighter than a Thomson post or any "plusher" on hard hits. I'm tempted to try full carbon. :confused:
 
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