Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!

Still waiting for the damned powdercoaters to finish the big block. In the meantime I've taken to wearing my most inconspicuous kit and pootling around on ye olde rychtarski. Not a great look when you're limping home in bottom gear I suppose but I counted at least five people laughing and pointing their finger at me which has to count for something.

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Got one of these frames inbound. Going to build it up rigid with 2.8" tyres for starters. Retiring the GT 26er...

...And building this up for my wife with the GT parts. Also rigid with a salsa fork.

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really like this! (xcept the chain)

Pro tip for anyone encountering the not very standard standard of 141mm qr rear dropouts that the Marin frame above has: Get a 142mm rear hub with 12mm through axle, stick a 12mm->9mm adapter in and you've got a 142mm qr hub. Mavic makes these adapters (Edit: they don't fit!) and theres lots on ebay as well (these do fit). Shimano makes a 173mm long qr skewer which can be had for around £13.

I went for a 142x12mm XT hub as I can't bring myself to believe I'd get £100 worth of extra satisfaction from a hope or dt swiss hub. Front is a £9.99 el guapo from the PX sale. Rims wtb scraper which are super wide and get good reviews, also from PX. Spokes tbd, will measure things properly myself before getting them this time!

Is it 29"×2.8" or 27.5" or 26"? Fun bike, sticking with rigid fork?

Edit: and are you sure the 12 → 9mm adapter is long enough? Having visions of a 135mm adapter with 7mm of unsupported QR axle

Is a QR axle normally supported? wouldn't it just grind against the wheel as it span if so? The axle just holds the endcaps firmly in the dropouts.

Yup, seems legit.

It's going to be 27.5" to begin with.

Edit @Scrabble the Shimano hubs are still cup and cone so no endcaps.

Massive fuckers!

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Nice work. There were a lot of naysayers on some of the other threads but given it just needs an adapter seems like a great value frame!

They are nice arn't they. I removed all but the little WTB logo (top left of that pic) to make them a bit more stealthy. Came off easy peasy with a hairdryer.

Yeah the axle just compresses it on. But you could end up with the wheel not sitting straight if part of the hub is unsupported or something. Best avoided if possible I would say

stealthy

I might desticker them, I usually do with rims but these don't look too flashy so might also not bother.

Really good price from PX atm, £40. Bike24 has them at €150!

Yeah, mine were in a color co-ordinated lurid green so had to go.

Terrible pic, but mocking up the sunn & salsa to get an idea of geo & clearances.

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And the marin in the flesh.

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Big block back from paint, finally. Sorry for crappy phone pics.

Zing! Looks fantabulous.

f a n t a s t i c

Thanks. Had to finish this to make room for the marin & the big block in the cave, quite pleased with the result! Now to find out what the intended user thinks of it....

Bars are called 'humpert ladytown exclusive' btw. Had to get some for myself as well!

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Ebay 142mm axle fits like a glove. And the whole thing fits in the marin frame like a glove. Phew! Ordering a spare instantly.

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W.i.p.

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awwww yeeeee, can we get a close up on the paint?

edit I forgot we already got one. Can you just take it out for a mad ride and send us some more photos plus what you think.

Done. Shakedown commute in T minus 2 hours.

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Great work. Feel like a new bike after all that fettling?