New to Board - carbon fibre parts question

[4500_rider]

Hi - first of - great board, lots of helpful and interesting information about proflex/k2 knocking about.

I decided a couple months back to completely strip down my 4500 and replace all the components.  When buying new derailleurs I happened across a set of carbon fibre bar ends by X-Lite, a thought popped into my head - "lets see how much carbon fibre I can get on the bike" - its turned out to be a pretty expensive thought.

But I am nearly there, everything that can be cf on the bike is - forks, handlebar, seat pin, crankset, bar ends, spacers, saddle etc.  I am however missing two items to make it complete - a stem & a wheelset.

So my question's to you all is:

Where can I get a carbon fibre mtb stem in the UK?  Is there such a thing?

Wheelset - I have tried Spins in the past but was quite dissapointed with them and had to bin them 6 months after buying them.  A friend of mine has a set of carbon fibre Spengles - he is a helluva lot more of an aggressive rider than I and his set has lasted about 2 years - he wont however part with them and I cant find anyone that sells them.  Any ideas where I can get them?

I have heard rumours that there are such things as cf brake levers for mtb's - Again, any ideas?

And this one isnt related to cf but I am interested to hear your opinoins - disc brakes - should i bother with them on my 4500? - I personally dont notice any significant braking force with them over ordinary v-brakes and have always thought oil+additional working parts is just complicating matters and leaving a window open for more things to go wrong.  So, with the exception of rims not getting worn down is there any significant advantage to them?

Thats it i think - oh wait, one possibly very daft idea - the front shock on noleen x-links - could you replace it with a shock that has a lockout on it?

Thanks - will post pictures of my bike as soon as it is complete.

[kiwi]

why do we think that disc brakes are complex?We have had em on cars and motorbikes for years.I think that they are much less bother to maintain,and give more consistent performance and dont wear out your rims.

[tmaybee]

Check out this old thread:

http://idriders.com/cgi-bin/YaBB_K2/YaBB.pl?board=news;action=display;num=1066265363;start=0#0

Also, you can get carbon saddles.  Check out the "save some weight" forum on mtbr.com,  there are loads of carbon goodies that people have found.  The one guy, nino, just got hold of a 39g carbon saddle    .....39g  

Trevor

[Dennis]

hey 4500,
welcome to the board. I have a similar carbon fetish with my Oz, but I did replace my carbon xlink with a fox fork, much better performance, but less carbon, and am using a Moots ti stem, which is a work of art, though VERY expensive for a stem.
I have a set of carbon spinergy's on it and am using v-brakes.
I do, however, have a set of Aerospokes (http://www.aerospoke.com )which are 5-spoke composite wheels (not carbon, but not metal either). Anyway, I have disc hubs for them and will use them when I convert my Oz ("Blue Crush"-see my gallery for pix-link below) to disc brakes.

so, you could wait for my custom painted Spinergy's at the end of this season, or you could pick up a pair of Aerospokes. that could ease you carbon pain.or, if you want to spend mucho dinero on wheels you could get the fir ronda corsa cf wheels (disc only) here's a pic:



these wheels are only about 2500 USD as far as I can tell, but have carbon rims, spokes, and hubs.

have fun with your cf ride!!
[smiley=groucho.gif]

[Simon]

Hi 4500, glad to find another UK 4500 rider,
have a look at this stem,it may be suitable,
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/?Manu=ITM

Simon.

[Ionit]

Zzyzx usa have what look to be really good components. You should check them out.
Don't let let the name fool you it is not an American company anymore. It is German now. Corratec bought them out.
They make a stem that is both aluminum and Carbon fiber. I think they supply most of the European market.

http://www.corratec.com

http://www.zzyzx-usa.com

[Carbon_Angus]

You could possiblly use a CF roadie stem, if you are not too rough on your bike

[smiley=beer.gif]

The whole CF project is very $$$ and more show than go. But the CF frames are that anyway! hehehe

It was only a mention of them by a good "pardner" of mine being sold for $500 at ediscount that got me onto it.

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[Dennis]

The whole CF project is very $$$ and more show than go. But the CF frames are that anyway! hehehe

carbon angus, buddy, I have to disagree with you there. hope you were only kidding, but if not I have to tell you that after riding steel for over 10 years, there are things I can do and places I can go with my Oz that I could never do or go before.

having said that, I only got mine, like you, because ediscount was selling them for way less than retail.
my 3cents.

[smiley=groucho.gif]

[4500_rider]

Great - thanks for all the help - have just ordered the zzyzx carbon lite stem, one more piece to go.

[Sprucey]

Hi,

you have forgotten one very important weight saving area - the side plates of your rear mech and your chain rings!

Seriously, check these guys out:-

http://www.fibre-lyte.co.uk/

They do CF side plates for rear mechs  and I think they also do roadie CF chainrings!

FSA make carbon fibre saddles for about £200 GBP and I think Woodman (?) may fo CF brake levers blades?

CF setapost, headset spacers and seat clamps are all available although my CF seatclamp from 2 years ago failed very early on in the life of my Oz.

If you want the ultimate I guess you cold look atreplacing your knee tendons with CF? I'm sure it is done now?!!!!!

Good luck and regards,

Sprucey

[Dennis]

Sprucey,
those roadie CF chainrings look cool, but the problem with them is that you can't shift with them. wears the buggers right out!!
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