SXy Beast. 2007 40lb Dropship action, SX Trail

It's mid winter.

It's cold outside and the outlook is bleak.

Even sunning yourself by the pool can be "Dangerous" maybe rebuilding a 13 year old dropship will be exciting :)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TE28JF9Rz10

Other end of the spectrum to some forum builds.
Blown brakes, notchy headset, heavy rubber, coil sprung luxury old freeride geometry and been in storage for several years.
I think i raced this in 2013.
It didn't go well.
Fast....very fast....and when the back brake failed very very scary fast as we where raiding the World Cup track at Fort William at the time, but speed was limited as i had already cut the gear cable at the mech on rocks.

Arty frame shot.

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170mm low ratio rear end and stock a 160 Bomber 66 front end with an internal spacer swap to unleash 180mm of open bath coil sprung cushness :)

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Needs a full tear down (old pics above) still got granite sand from the Fort stuck to it from years ago.
Strip, clean, check bearings, check linkage, order heli-tape for frame.
Check shock and forks, turns out there is a tuning house not far away so service/rebuild is very doable.
Brakes are disposable but worth a crack at pulling apart and rebuilding and bleeding.
Aiming at pure Parklife uplift shuttle running dropship so single speed would be fine, would still need a rear mech for chain tension though so maybe some gears.

a rare pic of me actually racing a big bike, going by the handle bars being stock this must be 2007

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Single speed or fixed?

Wrong linkage system for fixed, so SS or geared.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWYKX2A08bY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l7hd9yaA8TI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bEn8_xGQABs

Shock out and swing arm linkage split. As a whole unit it moves freely but you can feel it's not perfect. Splitting it down is high lighting which bearings are dry and what's on it's way out. Only 12 to replace...
For now, flush out and repack and list sizes.

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Hmmmm

Had forgotten how much work can be involved in having dual suspension.

Tried to find a workshop manual for a 2007 SX trail without much luck. Did find a shop not so far away that still carries a complete Bearing kit plus all the spacers and spherical shock mounts for £90 may well get one next year as much for the extra spare spacers and mounts, the bearings i can buy as needed after that.

So far mapped out the bearings.
2x 6902-2RS main pivot, notchy, dried out. Flushed, repacked with fresh grease, serviceable.
4x 6802-VRS Linkage, variable grades of dried out. Also flushed/repacked and serviceable.
2x 6802-VRS Chain stay arm. Top end, connect to linkage and shock, felt smooth, serviced.
4x 6800-2RS Remember doing these years ago..... Totally dried out and stuck, bottom end of Chainstay arm. Had to flush and tease movement back with a dowel. Bit of work, letting solvent dry out then going to lube and rotate. These should come back with grease.

Shock seems fine after cleaning, expecting this to blow a seal when i flat land the bike off something :)
Should all be back together again tonight. Glad i checked the bearings, while the suspension would function the dry bearings would fail pretty quickly and the Alu fastners would get eaten by the steel bearing. At some point they need doing but after a good clean and regrease they will do for now.

Putting the linkage back together again took some time and is a 3 handed job as you try to hold a shock in place, wiggle an axle through and not dislodge any of the held in place by dab of grease spacers between bearings, which promptly fall out, roll under a cupboard and being greased pick up all the dirts so need cleaning before you try again.

Be easier next time :)

Stripped out the headset and stem and bars and all cleaned all good. Bit of brasso on the bars got rid of old tape residue and dried grease stains.
Fork was left smeared with oil so seals in good order, axle and bolts all cleaned and new Loctite applied.

Lobbed some wheels on for a crankless and brakeless scoot about off some kerbs to see if everything worked smoothly so far.

So far so good. if the shock seals have dried out it will start leaking now I have been bouncing around on it. Turns out J-Tech are nearby so can swing by and grab some fork oil and brake fluid.
If I do fork oil I might be able to increase travel at the same time. Stock setting for fork was 160mm but it can do 180mm with a spacer swap.

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Wrong model year but still Cult of SXy Beasts

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=63agpjUaCt0

Found the spares bag at last.
Now have the manual which actually has a list of bearings and exploded diagram of frame.
Got the original Hanger Banger and spare shock shuttles which would be impossible to find now, they alter BB height and geo slightly.
The Pepper pot bar ends :)

Sure the stock bike came in a smidge under 40lbs with meaty tyres, double heavy Truvativ chainset and 2x gearset. So rummaging through parts box and just going single ring and Shimano should drop some weight.
Having got used to bikes around the 10kg mark over last several years this is going to be a workout :)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FXVrgUY2j30

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And a bit more cleaning done.

The Truvativ Hussefelt boat anchor was the stock set up. Going to swap out with the old Shimano Hone. Ground down the chain ring tabs years ago for better fitment with a chain device and the Hone is way lighter.

As pictured.
Truvativ BB, cups/axle 380grams. Cranks+bolts 678grams = 1059grams.

Shimano Hone cranks+pedal washers 624grams, Race Face FR/DH bottom bracket with Enduro bearings and deep set cups 125grams =749grams

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Hone way better than the ISIS anchor.

I had a 2006 Enduro which was amazing. It was one of the first genuinely capable bikes that could tackle more aggressive riding whilst still be used to ride on longer rides. I think it was the trailblazer for all the brilliant "enduro" bikes we have today.

But once I saw Darren Berrecloth on that blue and pink bike in that very video you posted above I wish I'd bought the sx.

I'm sure you'll have a blast on this.

I got in on the first MacAvalanche (the scots megavalanche)

Some of us had a similar fantasy of a rolling start out the back of a Chinnock hovering at the summit of Glencoe while a certain tune by Wagner blared out over loudspeakers.
That never happened :( much disapoint when all we got was a luxury heli with leather seats.

Bit of late night freeride :)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1CR0QmCaMTs

... or chainless?

I'm absolutely here for this build though! Mid-thousands freeride bikes are so much fun. I still miss my Kona Coiler. 26" 4 lyf also.

Coilers where ace..... Heavy goodness, I came into racing at peak of Free-ride and coil sprung plushness :)

Commuting hell right now, been waiting 50 mins in the rain for a 20min schedule bus. Wifi-ing on the bus :) off to find oils for dropship

I have a Coiler frame with coil shock in my loft. Fairly good condition as it was far too much bike for me. Imagine some bearings need replacing. Probably 15" ish. Free to a good home. Possibly wheels and fork too.

@Nahguavkire

Any excuse to post my old Coiler. Great fun, but ultimately too much bike for my low levels of courage

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Look at that head angle! How times have changed....

I nearly bought a CoilAir but got a Reign instead and put a Fox Van on it.

I also raced Megavalanche on a borrowed white SX

If it’s not to late, a few fork breakdown pics would be ace - new to self-servicing and kinda digging naked fork porn...ahem

Looking forward to seeing this built!

The only downside for male riders and Konas of that time was the linkage arms. The Coiler had fairly short arms and ok tyre clearance in the top yoke.
The Stinky and Stab had longer arms.

Imagine your getting rad, bit of a drop off, weight back over the rear wheel, but as compression kicks in the back tyre catches your shorts........ they get pulled into the yoke with the tyre, inside your shorts are delicate dangly bits...... they get pulled in too, it's really funny for everyone but the rider getting his nuts sucked into a tight gap at speed.

It could be worse....... it was..... :) if you ran the seat post low and the saddle right back it was possible for the top of the linkage to hit the saddle rails, quite a few people got a pinch injury from that :)
It could get worse..... as the linkage arms where so long they had a problem of bending on heavy landings and servere bottom outs.
On a positive note the bearings are easy to pop out and replace.
Orange had a similar issue where the tyre would catch the seat post clamp on full compression or buzz the saddle.
You could tell who was riding hard in the woods/races if you heard a saddle get buzzed :)

@yetidamo A better picture of the stock BB, not an isis unit but a Truvativ Howitser Team.

Bigger external cups and bearings than shimano, let down by the bearings low quality and non marked size. Slight play in these but free spinning I would have to drift them out somehow and take one into a bearing specialist for correct replacement. Like shimano the cups are throw away and not user serviceable.

Brief history of bottom bracket.
Sealed cartridge square taper. As mountain biking grew, people rode harder and square tapers got snapped.
Shimano Octolink. An 8 spline interface using a larger diameter spindle than square taper. Downside is bearing size is smaller to accept the larger diameter spindle in the same space as a cartridge BB. Stronger but weaker bearings.

ISIS was an open platform patent free design to tackle Shimano patents on Octolink. This failed for the same issue of weaker bearings compounded by many attempts to make them but using low end bearings or poor Q/C also the race for the lightest BB didn't help matters.
By the time SKF had entered the game with a high quality BB the format was dead as Shimano had moved on.....

External Bearing cups. Game changer by Shimano, lets intergrate the spindle into the crank set, we can have a larger diameter spindle and lighter, and by moving the bearings into external cups you can run larger bearings and get round all the problems of the dimensions of a cartridge BB.
Plagued by Q/C and crap bearings and Shimanos plastic Top Hat inserts which others got round.

Never had issue with square taper. Burst an Octolink bearing and bent the chainset with it.
Isis would fail or bend the spindle to quick. I ruined one within hours of use.
Shimano and Raceface external bearings didn't last long but Shimanos where cheap. Both brands used same cup dimensions so aftermarket bearing kits soon appeared. The race face cups had a deeper insertion, tie that up with the Enduro Bearings and a really strong set up that lasted seasons of use and not ruined after a race weekend.

The Truvativ is kinda an inbetween lash up. It should be really strong (it is) let down by overweight to competition and poor bearings and you could only use it with Truvativ cranks which you had to be mad to buy aftermarket...… The Holzfella cranks are nice and the stems and bars.... but the steel spline BB would quickly chew out the crank interface if you didn't keep checking the crank bolts, then your crank would shake loose and fall off mid race run :)

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External Bearing cups. Game changer by Magic Motorcycle