Mike's "New" Bike

Mike's "New" Bike

Cobia frame... and nothing else.

I picked up a new / unridden '08 Gary Fisher recently. OK, it was already dismantled and didn't include the wheels and front fork. All the better, 'cause I didn't want those parts anyway... nor any of the other parts either. So what I got was a frame to keep and a whole bunch of parts to auction off at eBay.

I wanted a light frame with a short chainstay length (the distance from the center of the cranks to the center of the rear wheel). This aluminum 21" XL frame is said to weigh less than 4 pounds and the chainstay length is 17.3". Hard to find a frame more fitting. It also has a nice long ETT (effective top tube length, basically the horizontal length from the seat post to the head tube) which suits my long torso nicely. Really, ETT is way more important in sizing a bike than the long-used seat tube size. But never mind that.

The other thing I wanted was a rigid front fork, making the whole bike a "rigid". I won an auction for an On One Carbon Fiber fork, but weeks later it was a no-show, so I chickened out and ordered a Salsa Cromoto Grande steel fork. And wouldn't you know it... right after I got the steel fork mounted, the carbon fiber fork shows up. I guess I'll have to try that one of these days too... So you're probably wondering why anyone in their right mind would forego shocks on a mountain bike, especially in this day and age where if one shock is good, two are way better. There's several reasons really. One, they're lighter - like about 2 pounds lighter - than a suspension fork. Two, they're cheaper... like about a fraction of a Fox 29er fork. Three, they're retro... are there any riders under 30 who've ever ridden a bike sans shocks? Geez, our old Stingrays didn't have shocks. What we didn't know didn't hurt us. Much.

Another awesome mod on this bike - a set of Race Face Turbine cranks. Yeah, pretty much the same as Kelly's. These are running on an ISIS bottom bracket, but otherwise they're the same compact cranks that allow you to easily mount up a 20 tooth granny gear, a great thing for old farts on tall tires. The gearing changes afforded by these cranks compensate for the tall 29" wheels versus the common shorter 26" wheels. Sweet stuff.

Race Face compact cranks... too bad they're no longer made. Hey, see how small that 20t granny gear is?!?! George you'd love that.

Other additions... X.9 rear derailleur and X.7 everywhere else. To those of you out there contemplating a front derailleur on your GF Cobia/Mamba/X-Caliber/Paragon/Rig, know this: the short chainstays make any front derailleur a tight squeeze. The stock FD is a simple Shimano Deore - top pull / low clamp. Not knowing any better (yet), I ordered a low clamp X.9... and it didn't fit. The tire was kissing the thing. Not good. So then I tried to order a high clamp X.9 (like the higher end models use) but ended up getting an X.7 instead since it's essentially the last-gen X.9. Except... except it has a different arm to accommodate top and bottom pull cables. And of course the bottom pull part of the arm was kissing the tire. Have hacksaw, will travel... the saw and some sandpaper made for a nice circumcision of the offending appendage. So now the bike sports a one-off derailleur. But it looks clean and it works fine.

Seat is a WTB Pure V Pro... does anyone else make seats? The post is a 350mm Bonty piece - nuthin' fancy. Seat clamp is a stock Bonty. Brake levers are the ubiquitous Avids... oh yeah, these would be stock on a normal Cobia. Headset = FSA ZS3. Grips are ODI Rogue lockers - not light but thick - good for absorbing vibes.

The rims are stockers from my 293... not wide, but fairly light, and they rarely need truing. Dare I say never so far. The bar is a Titec carbon fiber number with a barely detectable inch of rise which puts it about where my 293 bar is when the front fork is sagged (translation - when my fat arss is sitting on it). Stem is a simple Bonty Select from the 293. Brakes are new BB7s pinching 180mm rotors. Rear cassette is a SRAM PG-990; it's purtier than the Shimano XT but not as robust. Oh well.

Salsa Cromoto Grande fork. Tire-flung pebbles make a retro "ting ting" sound on the True Temper OX chrome-moly steel.

OK, that's a lot of wind about the bike. I did have fun building it, but what about the ride? First impressions were "this feels weird". But because your riding position doesn't change - no shocks to sag - it quickly felt like the math said it should - like my other bike, only firmer. And lighter and more flickable too. It's probably 4 pounds lighter... maybe more?

Now, I'm not gonna kid you... rocky descents are hairier without shocks to take the edge off. But if you stay loose and let the bike do its thing, it does pretty well downhill on the rough stuff. The real test will be French Creek's rocks... not that I would prefer to ride it there all the time, but I'm looking forward to trying it at least once!

Now where's that carbon fiber fork...