Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!

Disappointing, but this looks like a neat solution! The proportions of the bike look great, even with the massive tyres!

Thanks, I like where it’s going too.

Took the plunge and fitted the reverb c1 dropper today. Wasn’t too bad, first time using a hydraulic dropper and it took a bit of time to set up. I unscrewed the hose and threaded barb at the post end (the black thing unscrews from the red thing), routed the hose through the seat tube and reconnected things again. Needed a bleed afterwards, not sure if it could have been avoided somehow but just as well that I know how to now.

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Here’s a good video about the bleed procedure if anyone’s interested. A syringe with fluid at each end and you press them in turn to flush out any air.

https://youtu.be/SIYd1hz87Hw

Ok so Marino got back to me and have offered a decent partial refund as compensation for the missing cable guides. No hard feelings on my part. On the negative side I’m missing the cassette lockring, didn’t realise the microspline stuff goes down to 10t. I managed to track one down from a German web shop, it’s XTR and claims to be incompatible with my SLX cassette but looks identical in the pics so fingers crossed.

I’ve had it with bike ‘standards’. This week I’ve discovered I had bought the wrong type of brake mount adapter and then that my brake levers are (apparently) I-spec 2 but my shifter is I-spec EV. Different I-spec adapters are ofc available for a minor service charge but went with a new shifter with its own clamp instead to avoid further swearing at things. Cost the same as getting the wolf tooth adapter. FML.

Chain, shifter and grips away from rideable. Brake hoses need shortening & brakes need bleeding.

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Using this stuff as brake fluid after someone ( @pit ?) recommended it in the mtb thread. Have used it with my hydro road brakes for a while without issues.

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Also measured things up and sat on the saddle for the first time. The 175mm dropper appears to be spot on, lengthwise.

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Bike is done for now, rode it up and down the street and everything works. Initial impressions are the stem could be longer than 40mm actually. Weird with the super long frame that it still feels a bit short, maybe I need to go on a few proper rides before deciding.

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Here’s how the stick on cable guides turned out.

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Looks fully sick!

This is amazing. I want one.

Nice!

Stem is for handling, not comfort while sat down ;). I went from 50 to 35 and it feels much better when out of the seat.

Weird with the super long frame that it still feels a bit short

With a steep seat tube and a slack head tube, the saddle and bars can end up quite close together when actually set up

Aw shucks. Thanks.

@pit @PhilDAS yup, will keep things as they are for a bit and see how I get on.

What happened with that Finnish ti frame of yours btw?

It was going to take 6-9 months to fabricate so I ordered the Squatch instead as it was in stock.

Aha, not a bad option either!

Actually the XL squatch is very similar to my frame.

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This turned out really nice!

All these long low slack hardtails are almost identical.

This turned out really nice!

This.

Having a hard time convincing myself not to drop Marino an email

Imagine the head tube you could have on it!

You tease, I suspect a positive or zero drop between bars and [raised] saddle will remain a dream even with a custom frame