1st Impressions – physical

With the bike arrived the first thing to do was strip it down, after hanging it on the scales of course (15.26kg). One pivot bolt was siezed from the get-go. All bolts were dry, except the shock bolts which were greased. The seat post clamp was a particular highlight, making a lovely creaking noise as I undid the dry, over tightened bolts. Basically, like most bikes, don’t expect it to be perfectly built. But thats fine, ‘cos I was stripping it anyway to fit the Invisiframe.

The paint seems fine. The cable routing seems sub-optimal, but I’ve never liked under the BB routing so I’m bias. The bolt on guides are only designed for 2 cables so if you add a Reverb Stealth (‘cos you should) you’ll need some new guides.

2016-09-22-18-16-37
Under BB cable routing.

The rear axle is an odd affair. Its Maxle threaded, but the “lever” end is a cheap DT Swiss copy that can only be adjusted with a hex key. 157mm Maxles don’t appear to be available and Paragon Machine Works don’t have a suitable options, so, take care.

The wheels come tubed, which I guess is to be expected. They odd thing though is that they come taped, though the taped used is a bit crap, so swap the tubes (370g each!) for a tubeless valve and some 1″ Gorilla tape and they go up tubeless. Obviously some jiz and glitter needs adding too. The spokes are straight gauge, hey-ho.

I swapped the brakes for the Zees I already had, and the GX drivetrain for XT, I just prefer Shimano. Nothing looks to be wrong with the Avid DB3s or the GX fitted, so if you are not fuzzy you’ll be fine. I put my carbon bar on as well ‘cos you might as well, right?

2016-09-22-18-16-51
Off-centre front wheel.
2016-09-22-18-16-25
A 29er wheel is a tight fit, but it does fit.

Most controversially I also swapped the wheels for 29ers. My hardtail takes a 157mm rear and the wheel fits, so what could possibly go wrong! I was wanting a full sus 29er really. Oddly my front 29er wheel is a 15×100, so with the Hope Boost/Torque adapters my wheel sits off centre, it’ll be fine…

All in all, 14.65kg and the Mondy looks pretty good I reckon!

crafty-header
Ready to ride.

Best get out and ride now.


Posted

in

by