Build: Dialledbikes Alpine 853-- Part 2

Started the build, mmmm something just seems to be missing.


Oops! Steel frame--- totally forgot about corrosion proofing. Alright, out with the fork and apply the usual............

...that bashguard just grows on me. Who says cheap can't be cool. Heavy but the looks of it absolutely rocks.

Bar change...Round 10!.
...crank "up" time
Brakes neeeeeeeeeeeext.
                     Easy enuf.

Strange, but the seat clamp actually was the thing that took awhile up till now. Didn't want to rip up the nice thick paintwork which probably was the cause of the clamp refusing to slide down easy. 15 mins, finally figure out a way----- slick lube and one good dose of surgical palm slam finally did the sucker in.

pretty nice combo but still, the colors are just so "un-me"
















to be continued....


Fast forward...many rides and binges later, back to the build...

The part I still have reservation over as to whether it will really work after months of back and forth email and resulting in the manufacturer redesigning a whole new axle just for my hub. pretty cool huh. Not every day I can claim to have the one and only hub of its kind in the world.

"Ok spin, spin damn it. Don't back pedal when I let go of the crank! "
Whew...nice, a bit stiff but everything is just new inside.

SLX compo isn't really my cuppa but for once the bulgy looky fits on this bike better....ok justifying my cheapness again...its 30 bucks off an XT mid cage.

Little silver bits to match up the rest of the parts.

If someone still hasn't got it by now...
All the shiny black silver and green, thats military parade colors. Frame color is that of my former unit's head dress.

Hmmm... let's see if there is an inconspicuous spot to stick a tiny silver airborne wing.

And the saddle? Guess its finally time to break out my  stash of bargain saddles. This one is special, heavy as hell but one of those items I gotten on my first ever online spree.

Matches the 853 decal pretty well eh!

 1 x front dee and a pair of Point One Podiums by tomorrow...and this sucker is ready to roll


4:42 am this morning...
Yup 2010 Podiums up , few touch up here and there, temp switch to 65mm stem till the 90mm Nukeproof arrives next week... all ready to roll out on Sun morn


 ...in between

There are always occasion to visit the LBS and catch up with friends there...
Can't pass up the used brakes which I snapped up for a song but there is usually a price to pay...they came with rounded philip head screws.

I really didnt care for grinding off especially when what it held down is a piece of flimsy plastic cap which would hardly be replaceable around here.

Who would I trust for such a job... yea there is a ridiculous ton of LBS on this small island but there's only 1 bike "Doctor" I'll go to for such jobs.... 

 "Screw" the philip heads-- Hex bolts

What's more... with 2 good friends wrenching around the place (one covered in yellow paint that day and Bear pictured here forever familiar with his mumbling hillbilly tone...), my choice of shops to hang out has just gotten narrower :D














1st Ride... definitely felt a little short and low just like I was trashing around a bit the night before. Put it side by side with a On-One 456 custom 14" small-- and the 16" Alpine TT is shorter! The 160mm Van I tried on it before when Jeremy built it up definitely felt much more "right" than the noodly 140mm PIKE on it right now.

Tire Time 4

I really didn't want to start off this 4th writeup tire testing series with a limp and mauled up left wrist. Doesn't help that I'm a Southern Paw too. Ouch. So lets start with the verdict (and hear my bitching scream in caps)

NO MORE FARKING Rubber Queens for me (2.4).

2 Sundays, 2 washouts from the front. One at speed railing a berm in super dry condition. Makeup of the berm can only be described as hard-hard pack with some sandy runoff from usage. Today after the rain, it was an endo for no apparent reason after clearing a rocky double black down line with ass over rear tire . Pressure was a "relatively hard" 25psi (used to run it from 19 psi to the low 20s but been gradually upping the pressure as the tire tend to push rather than roll when at low pressure).

Though the fork has been softened by a couple of psi last night but it wasn't bottomed out at the moment of the endo.The reason could only be a front sliding washout on the slick plate-like rock at the bottom causing the bike to "t-bone" itself in a front pivoting move, catapulting the whole backend despite being weighted all the way rearwards. This is really a first for me, endo with weight back and not even feathering the brakes at all.

Had noted previously the side knobs on the RQ doesn't stick out anymore more than the sidewall. Plus I always had the nagging thoughts that the side knobs on the RQ aren't really up to the job with their relatively sparse alternating designs. Apart from having big volume making it suitable for low pressure riding, it was this reason as I wanted the tire to look for more conformity with the terrain on hard turning and banking.

Anyway at the end of the ride, was discussing with long time no see, Mr Wreck-It-All... conclusion of washing was due to the more prominent protruding sidewall which catches the terrain in a steep turn before the knobs does. He's having the same problem with the 2.4 Nobby Nic on the rear. Knob pattern aside, I realize that both the NN and RQ does indeed spot a very similar profile. High and protruding sidewall, slightly rounded instead of squarish. The side knobs in terms of size is anything but aggressive. Although having slanting knobs may give the impression that the knobs will catch more. However its too sparse...still can't quite figure out for now.

At the same time, I realized that he was using a 2.5 Prowler MX up front...verdict was that it gripped like a leech.
Something I attested to with a similar but smaller 2.3 Prowler XT for rear duty. Still maintain that at first look, this series of tires from WTB looks anything but grippy. Truth is that the secret lies with the staggered pair of transition and side knobs that will flare open when it catches onto something, effectively opening up the knobs surface area for more grip. My only rant then of the Prowler XT was that the actual size is smaller than a true 2.3. But here, the 2.5 MX sure looks good both volume and profile wise. Not heavy accounting that it is a wire bead rubber but just a tad heavy in terms of being on the bike, skewing off the weight distribution on my setup (stated weight of tire @ 952gm)..... Besides, if it lasts on Mr Wreck-It-all's bike, I reckon that's probably more than enough for me.

The other contender for a front would be the much ranted Maxxis DHF....I'm still trying to make sense of all the different models available. Got a feeling, I would still go with a WTB though.

Comparison

The rubber Queen 2.4. Side knobs with a look that I was never too comfortable with. Also notice that it is lacking any proper transition knobs. On hind sight, now even the spacing between the center knobs looks too wide, just like many of the Continental tires. A further look says the sets of 3 side knobs curving inwards makes for even more side wall exposure to the terrain--no good for traction.











The more squarish 2.4 Ardent on the rear.
Note the knob profiles on both. Carcass wise, the RQ is still marginally larger but the side knobs are definitely way over the side on the Ardent. See next two pics for comparison.



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Both tires with pic taken from the side. Cam angle not really similar enough to make an effective comparison but still should suffice to see the difference (ie how much knobs are protruding vs the sidewall)

Used Prowler XT (unmounted in pic). Note the side pairing transition and side knobs.











Ok...done with tires.....let's digress

Another one of those Franken-DIY on Wreck-It_All's bike.
This time its a crapped out hydraulic Joplin that's been transformed into a "mechanical" version, similar to a Gravity Dropper!

Lever-- from old vee brake

Spring mechanism

Unbelievable! Seen loads of his problem-solver mods and now this.

My only comment will be to round out the edges on that wadever-u-call-it-spring-thingie.