K2 OZ-M Newbie

[Swissnic]

Hi Guys,

I just managed to buy a 99 OZ Frame!!!  ;o))))  So I thought I'd say Hi, and ask for any advice on the frame...  Any must-do mods etc etc

Cheers, Nic.

Here's the spec (look - no shimano!!!!!  ;o):

Frame:            K2 OZ-M Carbon F.Susp
Fork:            Noleen ELT Crosslink
Bottom Bracket:      Race Face X-Type Integrated
Cranks:            Race Face Evolve XC 175mm (22/32/44)
Front Derrailleur:      SRAM 9.0
Rear Derrailleur:      SRAM X.0
Shifters:            SRAM 9.0 Trigger Shifters
Chain:            ConneX Wippermann 920 Teflon Chain
Brakes:            Magura HS33 Hydrolic (Kool-stop pads)
Brake Levers:      Magura HS33
Front Hub:            ALEX Vectra T1
Rear Hub:            ALEX Vectra T1
Cassette:            SRAM PG990 11-32
Rims:            ALEX Vectra T1
Tires:            Panaracer FireXC Kevlar
Tubes:            Panaracer Greenlite Polyurethane Race Tuebs
Spokes:            ALEX Vectra T1
QR Skewers:      Hope Titanium QR Skewers
Headset:            Race Face Thermo SP
Handlebars:            Race Face Evolve XC Flat
Stem:            Race Face Evolve XC II 130mm
Grips:            Race Face Diabolus Lock-on Grips
Barends:            Titec Carbon 100 Bar Ends
Pedals:            Crank Brothers Eggbeater SL
Seat Post:            Thomson Elite 410mm setback
Computer:            Garmin eTrex Summit (GPS)
Water Cage:      BBB Carbon Water Bottle Cage
Water Bottle:      Race Face Clear 30oz Water Bottle

[Simon]

I think you've pretty much got it covered,very,very nice spec [smiley=nod.gif],
for the future you could look into disc brakes (yes they can be very successfully fitted to an Oz),
depends on your riding style but carbon  riser bars and a shorter stem eg 100/120mm are nice.
Simon.

[Swissnic]

I have a 130mm stem because this is a Medium frame and I'm 6'1"...  and I prefer flats to risers for purely aestitical reasons - so much cooler!  ;o)))  Also, I heard of problems of Barend clamps cracking carbon bars...

Discs are a difficult choice...  I bought the Rims and Magura Hydrolic rim brakes purely for this frame - as I thought discs wern't an option...  Wish i'd found this site earlier now!!!  ;o)))  Still - these are my first hydrolic brakes, so I guess I will see a big difference from standard V's...  The reviews say they're awesome...

Still waiting for stuff to arrive to finish the build - then I'll post some photos...

Cheers,

Nic.

[Dennis]

Nic,

I will echo Simon's comments, very nice and complete spec. I, too, have an Oz M (check my gallery) and love it! I started with a carbon crosslink also, but quickly went to a Fox fork. However, many Oz owners here stayed with the crosslink.

I respect, and agree with, your np shimaNO policy. I attempted to do the same thing. However, I found that the SRAM front der. didn't really work with the Oz frame. the mounting thing is not really high enough. however, I have a 46 tooth big ring so with your 44T ring, it may work. Please let me know how you make out, as I ended up going with an XTR front der., and hate the fact that there is one ShimaNO component on my beautiful Amerian-made ride.

I also agree with Simon that risers look better. However, over there in Swiss-land (the land of Michael Von "Winagain" Grueniggen) styles may be different. It's up to you. As for bar ends cracking carbon bars, I have a carbon flat bar on a Giant hardtail with bar ends and have had no structural issues. The bar and bar ends are both made by LP composites. the only thing to be careful of is to make sure that the insides of the bar end clamps are smooth, so they don't scratch the carbon bar. also, do not overtighen clamp screws. bar ends should be able to rotate when pressure is applied, just like brake levers and shifters.

I am sure your hydro rim brakes will be great, my v-brakes work real well, but like nearly everyone else, a disc upgrade is in the plans for the near future. Also,  you may want to look into Simon's sealed bearing swingarm conversion. I plan to do that real soon also.


anyway, go ahead and have fun building your Oz, you will love it just like all of us do. your spec list is great, the bike will be awsome! Have fun looking around the site for ideas for modifications. It seems we are having as much fun modifying our Oz's as riding them! just shows what a great platform the Oz frame is.

[smiley=groucho.gif]

[Matno]

I have a 130mm stem because this is a Medium frame and I'm 6'1"...  and I prefer flats to risers for purely aestitical reasons - so much cooler!  ;o)))  Also, I heard of problems of Barend clamps cracking carbon bars...

Discs are a difficult choice...  I bought the Rims and Magura Hydrolic rim brakes purely for this frame...  The reviews say they're awesome...

Well, I'm going to go with the crowd and say I prefer the look of riser bars. However, mostly I prefer the feel of riser bars. I like the control that comes from the higher position, and I like the power and torque of the wider bars (you can yank harder on the bars when you're cranking up a hill and you have more control in technical situations). Of course you can also get flat bars that are wide and have more "sweep" like the risers (which makes your grip more comfortable), but then your bar ends point wide and look kind of goofy.

I've had a love-hate relationship with bar ends in the past. I like them for general XC riding where there are no obstacles/trees, but I've had several bad experiences with them snagging on trees in fast technical singletrack. Believe me, that will stop you faster than your Maguras!

Speaking of Maguras, you'll love them. Great stopping power. The only reason I upgraded to discs was because I ride in a lot of mud, and I couldn't stand the grinding sound of sandy mud scraping my rims all the time. (Plus I had a bad experience in some ice and snow, but most people don't do creek crossings in 10 degree weather while riding in 4 inches of snow. Trust me when I say that riding down a steep mountain after that is a BAD idea...) I don't think my Avid discs have any more stopping power than my XT rim brakes did in dry conditions.

Also, there are carbon bars made specifically for bar ends. The outermost inch or so is reinforced specifically for that purpose. Gonna have to disagree with Dennis about the bar ends twisting though. If they twist, they're not tight enough. That could be VERY dangerous. Shifters and brake levers is an entirely different matter...

Finally, your setup is pretty nice. Way too nice, in fact, for a Crosslink fork. Not that there's anything wrong with the fork itself, but suspension has come so far since that was cutting edge, and an Oz frame BEGS for more than 3 inches of travel. When the X-link came out, few forks had more than 3 inches of travel, and no lightweight forks did. Now you can get quite light forks with 4, 5, or even 6 inches of travel that are plenty stiff and offer fantastic ride quality. Not that you need 6 inches, but switching from 3 to 4 was probably the greatest improvement I ever made. Now they've got 5 inchers that ride just as well as my 4 incher without feeling to soggy...

[Swissnic]

Guys!



A BIG BIG thank you for all your input!  I spent hours on mtbr.com trying to work out all this stuff (and have fun every minute too!!!   ).



The stuff I didn't know about, i err'd on the side of caution - aluminium bars over carbon etc...  I come from a road-race / time-trial background (broke my heart selling my kestrel carbon tt bike), and since moving to Switzerland, I have only recently got into the mtb world!  With this is mind, I think the wider riser bars might feel wierd...  anyway, I will give my flats a go, and if I dont get on, its only $15 wasted...  not $75 for a carbon riser...  I did spend $$ where I thought it would be worth it though.  Re. Flats vs. Risers - my opinion is purely my own and very uneducated - I just think they're cool...  hey, but when I start doing some proper riding, then I will probably rapidly change my mind!!!

Re. bar-ends - never used 'em before, so we'll see if they feel good or not... Nice point about snagging - never even crossed my mind!!!!  

Seperate question - does/has anyone used  time-trial clip-on's on their bike?  I love riding in this position and was wondering do you ever have sections of flat where these would come in useful?  Just a thought...

Re. ShimaNO (v. funny!!!  [smiley=laughing.gif]), I very nearly went with a dura-ace titanium 11-25 cassette, but decided against it - might as well give SRAM a chance to prove itself before making any judgements.  Same goes for the front mech - but if I had waited a few more hours, I could have got a Gen-X model instead of the 9.0... [smiley=disbelief.gif]

I am thinking of changing my crank-rings though...  Top gear of 44 to 11 seems REALLY slow for a top gear...  I was thinking more like 30-40-50???  Anyone else tried something like this?

Forks and swing-arm sealed bearing is definately on the spending list for my next pay-cheque!!!  I also have a Suntour SR Magnesium Triple-crown fork with about 4" travel, but didn't think it was good enough to put on ("Heidi"   ) either...  I will be riding with a crowd of crazy swissies called Team Endorphin who seem to like their extreme XC (the Swiss Alps provide some scary trails!!!!) so I think 5" would be v.nice!!!  Can you recommend a decent fork (say around $250?) with a 5" travel which would suit my spec?

Thanks again guys - and Happy Easter!

Nic.

[Swissnic]

Dennis - just had a look at Blue Crush - beautiful!!!!

One question - doesnt it scare the hell out of you riding on Spinergy's?  They've had more Law suits against them than Bill Gates!!!

Thing is - I would love some - just scared of breaking my neck...

Cheers, Nic

[Simon]

Don't think there's enough room to fit 50t sprocket,I think 46t is probabaly the max,with going to 50t your heading in the realms of a D/H spec bike,you do want to go up as well as down [smiley=laughing.gif]
there plenty of MTB clipless pedals that you can choose from,most are very good eg shimano (but from your spec you wont want those),time ATAC,frog,and my favourite to date Crank Bros eggbeaters,
If you want to see my sealed bearing conversion and many other mods checkout my gallery (Simon) also look in the files section for full details.
Simon.

[Dennis]

Swissnic,

I actually love the Spinergy's, I just check 'em before each ride. I had a pair of Tubular Rev'X's on my calfee road bike (bought 'em used) and the rear one broke near the hub. I actually rode 30 miles on it before I realized it was broken. The rev-x-roks appear to be much stronger than the road version and so far, so good. I've ridden close to 1000 miles offroad on them so far. I am not too scared about them because the singletrack around here (that's about all there is) is real technical so speeds are way down.

as for your 50T chainring and aero bar idea, wait until you do some real offroad riding. its waaaay different than the road riding you have been doing. speeds are so much slower that I can't remember the last time I used the big ring on a mountain bike anyway. (I use the 53T big ring on my Calfee road bike all the time).

Matno,
what I meant about the bar ends was that they should be able to move a bit only when there is a real lot of force on them. I was just trying to get across the point that they should not be overtightend to the point that they stress the bars.

anyway nic, have fun building up your bike. let's see a pic or two when its done, ok?

[smiley=groucho.gif]

[Matno]

No way, no how. You'd be crazy to put aero bars on your mountain bike. I've seen it done, but only by a guy who rides on the road a lot (which is pointless and not very fun on a mountain bike anyway). Off road, even on a dirt road it would be dangerous. Plus, the reach to your bars is actually longer on the mountain bike. At least on mine, my reach to my bars is about the same as the reach to the hoods on my road bike. Putting aerobars that far forward would make them kind of far away for your elbows to rest comfortably. Plus, as a time trialer, I'm sure you realize that you lose a ton of your steering precision. Even a small rock on a flat section could cause you to lose control.

If your aerobars are like mine - with spring loaded pads - they would rattle too much anyway.

But hey, where you ride may be different. If you've got the bars, it couldn't hurt (or maybe it could!) to try them at least once. The trails I know in Switzerland are far too rocky and not nearly flat enough for aerobars.

As for the bigger rings, in mountain biking there is generally not enough long flats to warrant the bigger rings. If you could use them on the way up, you'd berich and famous, and on the way down, the riding is usually technical or steep enough to just coast. Again, it's all about personal preference.

[jimbo]

No way, no how. You'd be crazy to put aero bars on your mountain bike. I've seen it done, but only by a guy who rides on the road a lot (which is pointless and not very fun on a mountain bike anyway). Off road, even on a dirt road it would be dangerous. Plus, the reach to your bars is actually longer on the mountain bike. At least on mine, my reach to my bars is about the same as the reach to the hoods on my road bike. Putting aerobars that far forward would make them kind of far away for your elbows to rest comfortably. Plus, as a time trialer, I'm sure you realize that you lose a ton of your steering precision. Even a small rock on a flat section could cause you to lose control.

If your aerobars are like mine - with spring loaded pads - they would rattle too much anyway..

Yes, I generally agree aerobars don't make sense.  

Except in this one race we have locally.  It is a mountain bike TT.  10 miles is on a smooth paved road and 5 miles of off road.  Most of the contestants ride mtbs.  A few ride cyclocross bikes or hybrids.  I've never seen a pure TT or road bike finish the course.  Most of the experience riders use aerobars.  I've seen some use a drop bar add ons to the regular mtb bar.  The aerobars really help.  I've manage to pass guys who had passed me on the offroad section by cutting under the wind on smooth road portion.  My mistake in using the aerobars was using my mtb helmet with the visor.  My neck was straining from trying to see below the visor.  

[Swissnic]

Ok - I get the message - stick with the 22/32/44 and forget the clips-ons...

Simon - Yes, I wanna go uphil too!!! LOL  I agree about the pedals, no way Shimano - I bought the EggBeaters SL too...  They looked so wierd with great reviews - toytally me!  ;o))))  Be warned - I will be asking qu's on the sealed baring   - once everything's arrived!!!

So guys - forks...  I was checking out the team's website gallery and saw what they sometimes do: 6-7ft drops and downhill and uphill racing too...  Other than fitness (which is the first thing I really need to get), what forks should I go with?  Weight isn't so much of a problem - i way too fat to worry about grams!  I love triple-crowns and want something v.strong to take me smoothly down a 10ft drop maybe?  

[Simon]

Personally I'm sure the carbon frame can take the extra strain triple crown forks apply to the head tube area,however if I was you I'd look into getting one of the new generation long travel single crown forks that are becoming increasingly popular,checkout the top brands for options,eg Fox,Manitou,Marzocchi,Pace,Rockshox etc.
Simon.

[Sprucey]

I have fitted aluminium tube inserts into the inside of the ends of a set of carbon bars to stop bar ends crushing them - easy to do and weigh virtually nothing.

Oval made bars have them fitted already.

Sprucey

[Swissnic]

Simon - I've taken your advice onboard... [smiley=nod.gif]



I just bought a Marzocchi Marathon S 120mm Fork and a Manitou Swinger 4-Way Coil SPV Rear shock.  This should give me nearly 5" front and rear.



The first bits are arriving - its all very exciting!!!