And the prize for longest 'hello' goes to...

[skoddy]

 "Don't buy a plastic bicycle at a swap-meet."  It sounds like sage advice that my grandfather never got around to offering.  But when the chance to own an OZ (if that name even fits this
frame--pthat's what he called it, anyways) presented itself, I jumped.  
 Much like a lot of you, I'd seen the write ups and articles when the frame was introduced, and
immediately wanted one.  And much like many of you, the price at the time of introduction was far beyond my means, or even comprehension.
   
 At the time of the bike swap in Seattle (Feb. of '06 I believe) I'd never actually even seen one of these K2 carbon/T-plastic frames outside of magazine.  I'd put them out of my head for the most part.
 I was finally in the market for a new bike, but was reluctantly resigned to making payments to some national scale shop in order to afford something that would hold up.  I attended the swap as a last-ditch attempt to find something decent at a reasonableprice, or a frame that I could build up via the cannibalization of the too-small (and purple:( ) GT hardtail I'd been riding for the past few years.
 
 The guy selling the built bike had a load of carbon swingarms, and a few un-built frames at his table, but only one built bike.  It had no stickers of any kind, yet looked to be un-used.  He
claimed that the frame was one of many that he aquired from K2, and that they had been sitting at the factory on Vashon Is.  for years, waiting as possible replacements from any warranty
claims--essentially making them 'new' frames.

 As I wandered around the rest of the tables at the swap, I kept seeing people stopping by the built OZ and eyeing it over, though most of them seemed to be a bit scared of it. Maybe I should have been scared as well, but  I couldn't take it anymore.  I went back, and began to make offers.  
 On about my tenth visit back to the seller, another guy stopped buy and was checking out the bike with me.  He offered what he knew about the frame, and also about this website and forum, of which he's a
member. Mr. 'Chilliconcarnage'--if you're out there--hello, and thanks!  

 I was a bit freaked to be buying this bike without knowing much of anytyhing about it, but your K2 brother c.concarnage suggested that there were plenty of people that loved the K2 carbon frames.   He let me know that you all existed here, and offered a great amount of support to eachother when it came to tech. questions and build ideas.  Not sure if he's still on this site, but seemed like a really great guy, and I can't thank him enough for passing on the link to this site.  

(to be continued)

[skoddy]

 In the end, I got the bike. I'm certain I didn't get a 'deal' per se, but I don't think I got ripped off either.  The important thing is that I got a bike I always wanted, and didn't pay 2k to huge chain bike shop for it.
 
 Heading in to my second season on the bike...(I live in the Seattle area, and the 'season' is quite short;)  I've gotten to know it a bit better.  I believe that the frame was new from a shelf at K2, but I'm also pretty sure whoever built it worked at a hardware store.  
 The fitment of the swingarm, for example, is such that the bolt heads protrude from the pivot cup...thing. There are washers preventing these bolts (which I'm assuming are much longer than stock) from entering the cup, and they are now bent, or...um.. 'cupped.' Yes, that's right...'cupped over
the cup thing.' Sorry about my adavnced technical vernacular;)
 
 The bikes I see on here have these bolts well out of view, recessed into the cup.I've downloaded the orignal parts list, and plan to find the right sized bolts.  If there is a certain property of these bolts that make them different than what I might find at a fastner shop, please let me know.
 
I severly bent the deraileur hanger last year.  I ordered the kit over the phone from some not-so-pleasant people at Iron horse, and from what I understood it was to come with a rebuild kit for the pivot. For the price, it should have come with a burger and fries-- but instead the package
arrived with only the hanger--no rebuild kit.  I was just happy to have found the hanger at all, and not looking forward to the prospect of dealing with those guys again, so I just took the hit and tried to forget about it. I learned about the Iron Horse source (of course of course) from this site-- thank you all.
 
After my first few rides this season, I broke my chain, and had to push/coast back to my truck. On a downhill section of a trail while quietly coasting over roots, I could hear an odd knocking noise.
 When I got back to the truck I gave the frame a good look over, and found that the drive-side rear
dropout had come loose from the swingarm.  I remembered reading about fixes on this site, so I didn't worry much.  I epoxied it back in that night, and it's held fine over some pretty rough rides since.  
 I did break the internally-routed plastic straw in the swingarm in the proccess of the repair, but I'll have to figure that out if the cable ever breaks. Again--thanks to having studied nearly every post on this forum regarding this bike, I was able to get it back on the trail.  Thank you.

 Much like many that I've read about here, my bike came with an NR-2 on the rear.  I didn't think much about my shock, or replacement options until last week when I lost all rebound dampening abilites on that shock.  After an innard-bouncing ride down my favorite singletrack, I took the shock off to check it out.  The weather here is such that I'm just now begining to be able to ride, so I was anxious to get back out.  
 I'd heard about all the Noleen problems here, so decided to just replace the shock with a more modern unit.  I took some measurments, and quickly bought the first thing I could afford.  
 Now that I read some more posts, I'm reailzing I had something different going on out back than most of you.  my bike had an NR-2 "type 9".  I measured it at 9 (!) inches eye-to-eye, and ended up buying an 8.75 Manitou coil Swinger to replace it, knowing that I'll at least have to do some swingarm mount trimming, as many of you have.  
 
 I'm new to having any sort of suspension, and it was unwise to consult the board here, but I was anxious. At any rate-- that's the shock on it's way to my house, so I'm going to try and make it work. I've seen a similar coil Swinger as mounted on an OZ previously owned by 'Swissnic' (forget who has it now) of this site, and am hoping for similar results.  I just need to get ahold of the approriate bushings.
  I've measured the top as needed something around 6mm x 32, and the bottom as 8mm x 24.  
 The NR-2 that was on there was not fitted well--again appearing to be viticm of an over-zealous Home Depot employee.  There were a lot of washers involved, and the top 6mm bolt was quite bent. I'm hoping to do a better job.
 
 Another attribute of the NR-2 on there that I haven't seen around is that it The lower end of the shock has no 'eye' at all, but was instead threaded into a square aluminum block-shaped extension that had the 8mm holes to meet the swingarm end mount. Maybe just a parts bin fix from the guy trying
to sell the bike.
 (not done blabbing yet)

[skoddy]

 This bike has a ways to go before it can look as good as many of yours, but I love it.  It's got character, to say the least!  It needs some going over, and some upgrades, but that's just part of the fun for me.  I just wish my income matched that sentiment!  
 The finish of the frame itself is dull, (as opposed to shiny) almost as if it missed a proccess after being manufactured, and has the 'clouds' in places.  yeah...I'm kind of scared about all that, but more so about The small section that has begun to peel it's outermost layer. I know that can't be good.  Maybe someday someone can tell me how to cure this plastic cancer?
  The next upgrade, when able, is to replace the fork.  The bike came with a low-end Rock Shox fork (Pilot) which many of you I'm sure would find blashpemous.  If I ever get the Manitou mounted in back, the Pilot, I'm guessing will be far out-matched, if not outright dangerous to have on front.
 
 I'd love to post some pictures, but if I knew how to do that, I think I'd entertain you with a picture of the look on my face when I'm riding hard and something on the bike breaks loudly
(ie.chain, deraileuer.) because for that brief moment in time, when I hear that loud noise and think
'who the hell buys a plastic bike at a swap-meet!?'-- I'm certain my frame has snapped... and I see angels.

 At any rate--consider this a long overdue (and very long overall!) hello, and a heartfelt thank you to you all.  I've read every post on this site that I could find regarding this bike, and have become familiar with a lot of you and your bikes.  I just haven't had much time to say hello, and haven't had anything in the way of bike knowledge or know-how to share.  
I've learned an awful lot about this bike here, and I love the fact that you're all out there loving it as much as I do.

Thank you all!
=Scott=

ps.
One burning question: what ever happened with 'Dominic' and that gorgeous copy he made?  That thing makes my bike look like WWI surplus;)
 

[skoddy]

And I just figured out how to post pics thanks to another old post

[kiwi]

I am exhausted from reading your "hello"!.
I think you are ging to fit in well here!
Your shock sounds like it is meant for a "strut" proflex/k2.If the pivot bolt was of the correct diameter(as noted on the parts list) you may need to get a high tensile version of the same sized bolt.I havent heard any problems with the guys at K2/Iron Horse.There are some OZ/4500/5500 owners here who I am sure will be able to help you out.And I am sure you know by now there is nothing at all wrong with your plastic bike .

[shovelon]

Sounds like you are well on the way to "uncobbleing?" your Oz.

I hope the delaminating of the carbon and resin is not serious. I would not have a clue how to repair that other than re-layering or patching it.

But it is a looker isn't it? And wholly USA made.

The warehouse comment is true. K2 had many worries regarding the reliability of the frame, and warehouse a lot of replacements, but the worries were unfounded and very few were replaced. Then in 2001, K2 liquidated the warehouse, which gave me the opportunity to pick up a frame and fork.

I spoke with Todd, a guy that worked at K2 during that time, and he said that K2 actually took a loss on every carbon frame they built on Vashon Island. That is why they discontinued frame.

Overall reliabiliy is high in my opinion. When you have your issues sorted out, I think you will be very pleased.

Ride-on,
Terry

[skoddy]

Hi, guys!  Thanks for the hellos!  I've had the six-way Manitou coil Swinger on the Oz for awhile now, and have been riding quite a lot.  It's a been tough to try and dial in all the settings and whatnot, but it's a pretty substantial improvement from what was on there prior.
 
I've had time to get to know the bike a bit now, and when comparing it to pictures here, and diagrams elsewhere...I'm pretty sure whoever built this used something other than an Oz pivot assembly.  I have bolts on both sides of the pivot.  I'm thinking that since the bike was likely assembled from K2 liquidation bins...maybe it's a pivot from an Evo? From what I've seen, Evo's have bolts on both sides  
 Whatever is in there doesn't fit well, and there is s bit of play now that's it's been ridden considerably.  Hate to think that I'm going to have to tackle the job of putting in the right pivot, but the existing pivot insn't going to get any better.  
 Harrumph.

=Scott=
 

[IMO]

Did you have to remove some metal from the triangle of the lower mounting plate for full extended travel??
mine mounts on a hex cap bolt lower mount, with a pair of bushings whilst the top mont is a long steel bolt, with nylocs on it ( trying to locate a cap bolt for the top too ) ,with 4 bushings and a pair of washer/spacers. So there are 2 bushes in the frame, the 2 spacer washers, then 2 bushes through the top eye of the shock.  uhmmm i think