5000 is Ready to Rock!

[Mechanic395]

Well, hit the rocks, anyway... [smiley=laughing.gif]

I'd call this frankenbike, but someone already claimed that one, so It will remain nameless for now.  I finally got enough parts on the bike to take it out for a ride.  I wanted to snap these photos before I went out becasue I'm sure it will never be this clean again!  

Good thing too, because I did some last-minute wire-snipping and tuning, turned out of the driveway and started up the hill.  Realized immediately that I had had my seatpost out a few minutes earlier and stuck it back in about 2" too high.  Just about that time, I also noticed I was so excited about the ride that I forgot my helmet and gloves.  Turned around, got to the top of the driveway and tried to get off.  With feet clipped into the pedals and the huge seat height issue, fell over with the bike, tore my shorts half off on something pointy, ripped the cover on my new saddle, ruined the Avid disc adjustment knob, and scraped up my carbon handlebars.

After a lot of creative cursing, changed my shorts and took it out for spin.  What a sweet ride!  Smooth on the rough stuff, geared to climb walls, absorbs bumps, jumps curbs and stumps like a dream.  Far exceeds all my expectations.  Thanks for this forum guys!  All the advice and articles were a big help.

The only thing I noticed so far is that the rear shock makes "hydraulic" noises on the rebound.  Is that normal for the Stratos Helix?

Here's one photo, others in the gallery.    



As you can see, the front end isn't finished.  I want to put a set of good v-brakes, or even a disc, but couldn't bring myself to do any welding on a brand new set of forks until I've at least ridden it for awhile.  I finally just scavenged the v-brakes, wheel, and stem off my Mongoose just to get this thing rideable.   Also need to trim all the cables and tie all the loose stuff down.

I have a question, though, there's a plastic thing that came with my crosslink forks, what is it?  I hate it when I have extra parts after a repair...    

more pics

[Frankd3000]

WOW! Someone's got a TALL CrossLink on their bike, eh?! [smiley=laughing.gif]

Looks good, Mech! Congrats on getting it up and running again.... kinda. Ah, you know what I mean. Sorry to hear about the pre-ride woe. [smiley=redface.gif]

I couldn't tell you what the extra part is - i've never seen it before. [smiley=blankstare.gif] Maybe some sort of "just in case" protection cover?

Get it together and RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIDE! [smiley=nod.gif]

[Matno]

Looks great. I love your color scheme. Two suggestions: (well, actually three).

First, lose about 8" of the cable housing going to the rear derailleur. That's a huge loop that's just begging to rip your derailleur off on some stray tree branch.

Second, (this is mostly a style issue) your seatpost is bass ackwards. You HAVE to rotate that the right way (otherwise, it will bug me as much as someone - who shall remain nameless - who had their saddle tilted almost straight down...)

Third, depending on how much riding you're planning on, you're going to want to swap that saddle for something less padded. Super soft padding is nice for the occasional rider who does short, infrequent rides, but if you ride regularly and/or longer than 10 miles at a pop, you're backside will thank you for a frictionless, less-padded saddle. A bit counter-intuitive, but true nonetheless.

Oh, I almost forgot... My Helix Pro makes that sound too. Always has, and it hasn't affected performance one bit. You might be able to get rid of it by "burping" the shock (as per Stratos' website instructions), but I never bothered.

[kiwi]

hey there i edited you rpost,you seemed to hae the right tags for your pics,maybe two large pics is just too much.....i hd each pic working but never two,It would be "polite" to make your pics a bit smaller.welcome to the site tho and nice bike(we are a bit biased here tho)

[shovelon]

Hey Bill, nice job! I lilke the stealth look.

I know you want to take it out for a spin, but look out your window, your favorite trail Brown's Cyn. is on fire. Hwy patrol has DeSoto offramp closed until further notice.

So I guess you have heard that I had a spill a while ago. I am about ready for a good ride. How about riding the burn this weekend? I think I could take it slow.

Dude, you gonna leave that reflector on the wheel? HaHa!

Terry

[Mechanic395]

Thanks for all the advice.  Yep, there are a couple of spacers on that x-link!

My apologies on the picture size, I'm having problems deleting all of them and replacing them with smaller ones.

As far as the seat, when I was testing the bike out, the new geometry of the bike made the cockpit feel too long, so I moved the saddle up and flipped the seatpost around.  After my full ride, the first thing I did was put everyithnig  back the correct way.  You can rest comfortably knowing everything is correct now!

For the saddle itself, I could use some advice on this because this is my fourth saddle (that's a total of about $220 worth of bass padding!) and I still haven't found  one that is lightweight and that has enough support for my weekly 20-mile ride.  I may post a separate topic because I'll bet others have this problem., too.  

Terry, I see the helicopters over the fire, but the smoke is headed the other way right now.  Definitely looking for a ride this w/e, maybe my house to Moonshine to Brown's Canyon, or up Rocky Peak and down through Devil's Cyn.  Finally found the Rim of the Valley trail!    

[Matno]

As far as the seat, when I was testing the bike out, the new geometry of the bike made the cockpit feel too long, so I moved the saddle up and flipped the seatpost around.  After my full ride, the first thing I did was put everyithnig  back the correct way.  You can rest comfortably knowing everything is correct now!

Phew! Thanks.  

For the saddle itself, I could use some advice on this because this is my fourth saddle (that's a total of about $220 worth of bass padding!) and I still haven't found  one that is lightweight and that has enough support for my weekly 20-mile ride.  I may post a separate topic because I'll bet others have this problem., too.

What have you tried in the past? I know everybody's rear is different, so suggestions can only be anecdotal, but I've had varying degrees of success with the following:

WTB Speed V - I've had one on all three MTBs for a while now. Like them a lot. They are a little wider than some, and not super light, but they seem to work well. On my main ride, I actually have a weird OEM version that is significantly lighter. Looks about the same but with less padding than the one on my wife's bike, but it weighs about 225g on my post office scale! And it's actually more comfy to me than the heavier version.

Serfas - I just swapped one of the three speed V's for a Serfas DD Arroyo I had lying around. It's about 1/2" narrower than the speed V, but has more padding. I actually used this one for a 370 mile, 3 day road ride about 3 years ago, and it was amazing. Didn't even break it in before that ride. Yes, my butt was sore, but not like you'd expect doing something as stupid as a ride that long on a brand new saddle! I got it because all of my buddies were riding the DD Vado, which is essentially the same but with a cutout in the middle. I tried it and liked it. However, now after several years of riding slightly wider saddles, the Serfas saddles feel a little narrow... Still very comfy though. Not super light at ~300g.

Koobi - I've had the Xenon on my road bike for 2-3 years now, and it is fantastic. Took a while to get used to as it's also a wide saddle and very flat. I had less padding than I had hoped, but now I wouldn't trade it for anything.

Selle Italia Flite- I used to have one on my MTB and it was great. There's a reason why this is the most popular saddle of all time. I sold it to try the Speed V, but I could just as happily go back. This one has the added advantage of being one of the coolest LOOKING saddles out there. I love the profile. Makes any bike look better. I recommend the gel.

Trico - haven't tried them, just noticed that you had one in your pic. I've heard universally poor reviews of them, but everyone is different.

Bottom line: (no pun intended) the most comfortable saddle is the one you ride on a regular basis. I really think that it's your butt that gets used to a saddle and not the other way around. I had a generic el cheapo saddle on my first hardtail that I rode to school every day. It was totally comfortable on rides up to 60 miles. Came back to it after not riding much for a couple of years, and it hurt like heck. No way would I ever go back. However, now that I've been riding, I could probably get used to it again.

The experts recommend 500 miles on any saddle before deciding whether you like it or not! If you ride 200 miles a week, that may not be a big deal, but if you only get in 1-2 short rides each week, that could take WAY too long. Try asking around (here or on MTBR) to see if anyone is willing to swap with you. There are plenty of people who are in the same boat!

[Mechanic395]

Excellent advice, Matno!  I like the idea of trying to find someone who will swap or "test drive".  It's way too expensive to just keep buying them and tossing them in a pile!

Here are some more of my particulars.  I'm especially interested to hear from other guys who are my build and who may have had the same saddle problems.  I"m 6'2" and weigh 195 lbs.  Nothing really unusual in my proportions.  

I started off about 20 months ago with the OEM MTB saddle that came with my Mongoose.  Heavyweight, lightly padded, but the 'goose had little suspension and I was taking a pounding so after two months of walking funny, I bought a heavyweight touring saddle.  It was wonderful for nearly a year until Terry introduced me to you guys and I started looking at weight as a factor.

Bought a little 300 gram Italian (I'd have to look up the brand and model) gel with a big cutout in the middle.  It was comfortable after the first couple of weekends, but found that when I used it on long level stretches, my legs would start to tingle and it seemed to be cutting off blood flow in my legs!  That's when I put the Trico on (it was a gift [smiley=disbelief.gif] that was sitting on the shelf in my garage).  It's one of their mid-range models and is very comfortable, but I've never ridden it more than 30 miles in one week.  Far too heavy to use permanently, so don't mind if you make fun of it!   [smiley=nod.gif]

Reading Matno's suggestions and looking at a couple of those seats on the Intenet, backend width doesn't seem to be an issue for me, but I'm wondering if the "nose" is where my particular problem is.    

[Matno]

I'm wondering if the "nose" is where my particular problem is.

The WTB saddles have a "comfort zone" in addition to the "love channel" groove toward the rear of the saddle. It's basically a cutout in the hard shell of the saddle right under the nose area (where you push down if you lean forward) that has a soft gel insert. The extra cush there is definitely noticeable. I like it, but it may not be the solution for everyone.

Depending on how far forward you sit, a "drop-nose" saddle might help. (The WTB saddles do that a bit). Selle Italia makes a ProLink that curves down noticeably in the front. (According to the reviews, that's definitely a love it or hate it saddle).

My Koobi has the center cutout groove that extends all the way to the tip of the nose. I don't know if that makes much of a difference to me (I don't really have a problem with non-cutout saddles), but I like it a lot - even when I put aerobars on the bike and lean WAY forward. Koobi also makes some softer models. Their classic SI model is almost universally loved by those I've talked to. I think that's their softest model. (BTW, all Koobi saddles are actually made by Selle Italia, as are some other brands...)

[Carbon_Angus]

Nice bike! Glad you made it work for your type of riding and style. Someday you may swap out the x~link though.  Looks good though.

You need to resize the picture before loading it up to the forum. use a 640x480 size. That works best, you probaly could got one size bigger if you wanted. irfanview.com has a cool free program that may help you do that.

Matno is referring to me! ...and I finally did take his prudent advise. BTW Matt 11 deer on my ride today, two bucks and 9 does. Sorry gang on my road bike!

[smiley=beer.gif]

[Matno]

BTW Matt 11 deer on my ride today, two bucks and 9 does. Sorry gang on my road bike! [smiley=beer.gif]

I recently saw my very first deer on a local ride here in the Bronx! Couldn't believe it. I've been all over those woods and never seen so much as a footprint of a deer, or even deer poop. (Lots of turkeys though). We were on the road, but on mountain bikes (I was riding with my Boy Scouts) and a nice 6 point whitetail buck in beautiful velvet ran across the parkway no more than 20 feet in front of us. Almost made me feel like I was back "home" in the Rockies...

[jeffhop]

i would recommend the saddle i use to anyone, its a bodyfit intake race, i have one on  all my bikes, 2 friends of mine have also bought them after riding my bikes, best bit is theyre cheap and relatively light at 265 grms ( take out the plastic intake part first though before riding as its much better). ive tried flites,slr xp, wtb, xlite sst and various other selle italia but the worst of the lot in my opinion was the spesh body geom pro! it was awfull, it was literally a pain in the backside.

[Matno]

Oh yeah. I forgot to mention that two of the worst saddles I've ever tried were Specialized Body Geometries. OUCH. Talk about comfort for 2-3 minutes and then... Yikes! How could a saddle that "scientific" be that uncomfortable. Maybe that's why I crashed back in July (the bike I borrowed had one on it...)

[bmwcarver]

That extra part was meant to go on the top tube of the bike frame to protect it from dents if the steering was turned too tight.  The upper link would hit the top tube on some setups, not yours though!  They used to come with the new Pro-Flex bikes that had the Vector series of forks already installed, I think most shops pitched them cause they look pretty funky on the frame.  They mounted right behind the headtube on the top tube.  

Can't believe I remember that part from back when I worked at the bike shop, 'course I think I actually might have one lying around in my old parts too.

[Dennis]

that bike really looks cool, I like the matte black look, no reflections.

how's this for a name: "black hole". light goes in, doesn't come back out.

[smiley=groucho.gif]