His first MTB ride since I last took him out in 2009!

Everything looks better at magic hour.

Package from YETI.

SRAM BB and OneUp bash guard and chain guide installed.

So awesome that YETI have a whole bunch of parts still available on their online store for the SB66. I was tempted to get the bearing kit and a derailleur hanger, but the main thing I needed was the ISCG05 mount. The Ergon saddle was on a clearance sale so I added that to the cart too.

OneUp Components ISCG05 V2. I bought this ages ago for my Norco Torrent (long sold), but it turned out that the Torrent only had 2 tabs so it’s been sitting in my parts bin ever since. Funny how the chain guide happens to be turquoise! #itwasmeanttobe

My fave grips. So gummy, so ergonomically right.

OneUp Components V2 Carbon 35mm rise.

Peaty’s Holeshot Fast Flow 42mm valves.

Race Face 28T from my parts bin (was meant to go on the Chisel when running with the 29″ setup).

Race Face Turbine SL, 35mm clamp, 50mm length. I think this stem looks sexy as! Only meant for XC, but hey I’m light so it should be fine.

HT Components ME03. My fave pedals.

SRAM DUB BSA 73mm.

Be with someone who makes you feel the way you do when you receive bike parts.

Slim pickings when it comes to 26″ tyres out there but I found these heavy bois, they’re chunky as and tubeless ready.

Aus. Post keep moving the goal posts. Frame was meant to get to me today, but tracking now says Friday or Monday. I’m very grateful that my LBS CCACHE has come to the party so everything else is on order too, will update as parts come in!

Finally took delivery of my ZEN Carbon Bike front wheel to match my rear wheel. No holes in the rim bed made for an easy tubeless setup. 184g lighter than the Roval Traverse rim it replaces.

Where did my gonads go?

I’ve never ridden down this massive and super steep rock roll at Manly Dam. Adam and I were out there today and I really wanted to do it. I scoped it out, found a line through it but in the end I chickened out.

When I was scoping it out a couple of riders came along. It turns out one was an instructor who was instructing an XC guy. They were repeating one small section of corners (was interesting to see). The instructor ended up asking if I wanted to see him do the rock roll and sure enough, he made it look SO easy.

His line through it was WAY better than the line I would have taken though so I’ll remember it for next time when I’m on my Amflow.

That’s just the thing about mountain biking, a lot of things look harder than they are but mountain biking is just as much a mental game of overcoming fear and trusting in your abilities.

Alex sent me through some pics. Frame, dropper, dropper lever and shock are packed and ready to be sent. Should arrive by end of play next week!

FOX Float X shock and FOX DOSS dropper post.

The Shock is the original FOX Float X that came tuned for the bike (custom tune ID CNSQ). Like my old 2007 Giant Reign the SB66 doesn’t have internal cable routing for the dropper, but unlike the Reign it does have external routing to have the cable run under the top tube then up to the top of the dropper. The old FOX DOSS dropper has 125mm of travel and it works in 2 steps, you press the black section of the lever to lower the post a little, or press the silver section of the lever to drop it all the way.

From factory, the bike had no proper chainstay /seat stay protection so Alex bought the SB66c rear triangle/downtube protector kit and put it on. The rear triangle sections fit perfectly.

However the downtube section was moulded for the carbon front triangle and doesn’t conform to the alloy BB. So Alex had to cut it to make it work. I think he did a GREAT job!

How the bike looked after Alex first built it.

How it looked before he broke down the build.

I’ve been chatting to Haylex/Alex and he’s been a wealth of information; everything from the backstory of why he bought the frame, some history of Jared Graves racing one in 2012, frame specifics and how he first built his up to how it ended.

He’s not sure about the state of the shock, or dropper as they’ve been sitting in a box for 10+ years so I’ll have to see if they work. If not I have the choice of either servicing them, or finding alternatives.

I’ve started to think about forks a little more, and groupsets too. I’ve seen a lot of newer turquoise Yeti’s with orange FOX forks and it’s a complimentary match, but I’ve turned off orange FOX forks ever since trying to make one work with my pink Specialized Chisel so I’m going to avoid orange. The idea of splattering purple anodised bits all over the bike is far from enticing too.

Kashima dropper posts and forks look good on any bike but since I don’t want to drill the frame I can’t get a dropper to work unless it’s a wireless dropper. That opens me up to a wireless groupset. Alex did mention that a massive 50T+ cassette would look pretty weird on a 26″ wheel and a long cage derailleur might almost be touching the ground. True, but it’s something I’ll just have to see for myself when the frame gets here.

I expect a lot of trial and error (it’s how I roll lol), and like creating an artwork, for it to look shit before it looks good. But intuitively I think I have to let that turquoise frame shine. IE: less is more.