What do you all think of these ideas?

[Dennis]

HI,

I recently purchased a Fox Talas RL, 8.25i2i on ebay, so my search is finally over. ($136.50)

Coupled with my Talas fork, I think I will have a great combo and a setup that will allow me to alter my Oz for any terrain.

I also purchased a set of wheels with HED carbon mountain rims on ebay. these wheels have shimano LX hubs, but  I really purchased the wheelset to get the rims.

plus, as you know, I got one of Simon's thru shafts, so now I can do the external sealed-bearing swingarm conversion.

What do you think of these additional proposed mods to the Oz?

1. carbon rimmed wheelset with king disc front hub and rohloff rear. no derailleurs. adds a bit of weight, but no derailleurs is a good thing, I believe. The other idea is to keep the mechs and use a King disc rear hub. I really wanted to go with the xentis carbon mtb wheels, but they are US $2500.00 a pair!, and I like the Rohloff idea.

2. FSA carbon mega-exo crankset, continues the external sealed bearing theme.

let me know what you guys think. I want my Oz to be as "high tech" as possible. I think this stuff, coupled with the Hopey dampener would make this bike quite tech, even thought the discs I will be using are Avid cables. perhaps hydro would be "higher" tech, but I like the cable discs.

[smiley=groucho.gif]

[Sprucey]

Hi Dennis,

the carbon wheels sound great and like all these things, half the fun is in the thinking, planning and executing the idea as much as riding the finished article.

I am becoming a great fan of internal gears, especially given the atrocious ground conditions we have had in the south of the UK over the last two weeks. Mud, mud and more mud and it is horribly sticky, blocking chainstays and completely caking up chain ring, rear mechs & cassettes making it impossible to turn the pedals!

But, te Rohloff is very expensive, however you buy it, and I think it woud be a waste on the back of the Oz.

The main reason is that you are adding unsprubg mass to the rear swing arm which will adversly affect rear suspension performnce.

If it were me (and I may well do this) - I would build a Rohloff into a nice hardtail with rack mounts. I would then use this bike as my winter mud bike and then use it in the summer as a road touring - go down to the pub type bike keeping the Oz for those nice dry knarly (and drier) XC/FR moments. use the carbon wheels with Cking hiubs on the Oz.

Mind you, a Rohloff on the rear of an Oz would be a hell of a looker and a great talking point!

Sprucey

By the way, the sealed bearing conversion is brilliant and has revolutionised my Oz - still going strong on the ally axle you have despite the British winter!

[Old Proflexer]

It's hard for me to visualize the finished product and how it'll handle and ride.

I say build it, send it to me and let me ride it and work out the kinks for you.  I do have extensive experience with the fox talas rear shock, hydraulic discs on a carbon and general moutain biking.  

I'll send it back when I'm done and would promise to perform an extensive testing regimin for you -
 

If it could arrive looking somewhat like this - it would be greatly appreciated



OP

[shovelon]

Dennis,

DO IT!!!!!

I have never seen HED carbons but they sound killer. Couple with a roloff hub would be very cool. The crank is 'too' cool.

The fox shock is quite a find, congrats. Nice match for your fork.

The cable disks in my opinion are the nats behind. I have hydro 180 mm but am planning on switching to cable 160 mm. The high tech comes in when I mount the Stan's coated aluminum rotors. Lite and fairly cheap in comparison.

After the bearing conversion, you will have a ride that you can' get off the shelf by any means. Remember when K2 offered the Oz in 1999 for $4100.

Terry

[will]

Dennis,

That's the snap! With an extra $1000, I'd build up a Rohloff hubbed wheel right now. Sure, you're adding some unsprung weight, but just think; No more bent derailleurs and only one shifter. Sweet!

It's taking a few more years than I expected, but there are at least three new transmission systems located at the crank.
Check out the Nicolai and Honda DH bikes.
If "they" get the weight and friction within reason, we will be derailleur free! I'd give it another 5 years to be a high end staple.

I really think you should let me do your test riding for a few years...

[Simon]

Like your idea's Dennis,should look unique,
I'm with sprucey on the Rohloff hub,great looking and merits removing a deraillier but it could add a lot of unsprung weight that could (but not necessarily) slightly spoil the ride,I'd like to see a pair of Chris King hubs they to are beautifully engineered,
I've always admired the FSA carbon cranks,they should look and perform great,
the carbon rims are a new one on me and I look forward to seeing them,
I'd like to see a pair of Hope mono mini disc's fitted,you could do this with the money saved if you don't go down the Rohloff route
anyway whatever you decide I'm confident it will be quite a looker with performance to match[smiley=nod.gif]
Simon.

[colinv]

All of it sounds really good, but maybe not the rims, if they are the Hed ones supplied with the Proflex Beast they are not a very good wheel set up, these are the only Hed ones I've used (apart from my road bike ones).  Good luck with the project and post some pics when done

[Dennis]

colinv,

these are the old HED mountain carbon rims. What were the ones that came with the Proflex Beast?

where they alu. rims? the ones I am getting are alu. rims with a carbon "fairing" bonded to it. looks cool, not sure about performance.

please tell me what you know about these rims.

thx.
[smiley=groucho.gif]

OP, thanks for a big guffaw. Your post was quite humorous.

[Matno]

Well, I don't want to rain on your party, but I'd have to side with the guys who mentioned the "unsprung" weight of the Rohloff. As much as I would LOVE to have one myself, I noticed a difference in suspension performance just by switching to lighter wheels/tires. The extra "leverage" of more unsprung weight was marked.

As for the alternative you mentioned. I'm a huge fan of all things Chris King (been looking for a deal on a 1" headset for my road bike...) HOWEVER, the one thing I could never do is put a King rear hub on my mountain bike. When I'm riding, I'm happiest when my bike is tuned to perfection and utterly silent. That would NEVER happen with a King hub. (Unless it's on your road bike and you never stop pedaling at full power - not much of an option off-road...)

Now, I think I should also add that whatever mods you make, I should be the one to test them out for you, seeing as how I only live across the bridge from you. (I even did a rotation in January on Long Island). Speaking of which, we really ought to get together SOMETIME in the next few months. I may not be around these parts after June (I find out on the 17th where I'll be living for the next 5 years...)

[kiwi]

dennis i am going to be much more forth right than every else,,all those ideads are absolute rot..you have lost the plot,package the whole lot up and send it tmo me...I dont care how it comes......

[rapiddescent]

looks fabulous.  We've had a lot of mud here as well.  

Now.  caution.  I tested one of the Rohloff hubs a while back and there *will* be a slight difference in the suspension reactiveness on the oz.  You should consider reducing the damping a bit and think about lightening the spring.  

This is because the unspring mass of the rear wheel will increase leading to lower small bump sensitivity.

callum
rd scotland

[Dennis]

Matno,

as soon as it warms it up a bit and I stop skiing on the weekends, lets go for a ride!!

[smiley=groucho.gif]

[Matno]

We should definitely try to hook up at least once. I may only be in NY until June, so sometime before then. Then again, I'll be in Utah in April, so maybe May would be our best bet.

Hopefully I'll have some time to get in shape before then. Just had a new baby (daughter #3) yesterday!