It's kind of a mutt of a bike. It's a brand new, but old stock, 2007 BMC Trailfox O2 frame. It's got a bunch of new parts, but also several old parts from my old bike, a 1994 Specialized S-Works FSR:
Even though the bikes share a few parts, they're quite different. It's amazing how bicycle technology has improved over the last 15 years. The S-Works was the pinnacle of full-suspension technology of its time. The only thing that it had that still sort of measures up with today's bikes, is that it weighed 28lbs. That's what the new bike weighs too.
But the new bike has more of everything on it, and it still weighs what the old one did. Disc brakes, 5" of rear suspension travel (vs. 2 or so on the old bike), a shock with lockout and adjustable rebound, etc. And all of it on the BMC actually works. The FSR suspension didn't work all that well. It was better than a hardtail on rough stuff as you'd imagine but not by a huge margin and it really noticeably sucked up your leg power on climbs. And the old-school gearing (26/36/48t front cogs) didn't help either.
I've only put a couple hours on the new bike since I built it a few days ago, but it's already impressed me. The rains just set in here, and the trails are littered with slippery wet leaves and mud. The new bike climbs the slick muddy switchbacks with amazing composure, and I can really feel the difference in the way the rear suspension works. This bike doesn't feel like it's wasting 10% of my energy like the old one did.
Whether it's the better gearing (22/32/44teeth front), the improved efficiency, or just the effect of the "new bike smell" making me push more, I'm definitely much faster on this bike. There's a trail here near the house that I ride all the time -- I could reliably count on the loop (from my front door, down the mile to the trailhead, do the singletrack climb and descent, and back to the house) being 45 minutes. The first ride on the BMC reduced that to 35 minutes, so the new bike definitely works.
I'm also using disc brakes on a mountain bike for the first time. I'm quite pleased with the Avid BB7 mechanical brakes. Hydraulic brakes would've been nice, but I already had good levers and didn't want to spend the extra dough. These mechanical ones are super easy to adjust, there's no mess, and they work great. The rear suspension design on the BMC also allows the brakes to work even in rough stuff -- the suspension stays active under braking -- and this was quite noticeable on the slippery descent. The FSR's old cantilever rear brakes were terrible, and were essentially on or off, you were either sliding or nothing. These new ones are easy to modulate and actually slow the bike down. It's also amazingly cool to actually have brakes when it's wet out.
I was a tiny bit worried about the geometry of the frame in combination with my existing 100mm front fork (BMC recommends forks ranging from 110 to 140mm), but I'm quite happy with it after all. Since I've been riding for 20+ years, I'm used to the feel of the old super-steep angled XC bikes -- like my 1990 model Klein Rascal that I still occasionally ride -- so the 71 degree angle of the BMC with this fork feels great and works just like I'd expect. The bike fits great and it feels perfect to me as it's configured. If you're used to today's "all mountain" geometries, you would not like the way the bike's setup. The 2008 model of the Trailfox has a 69 degree head angle and would be much better for folks desiring a more relaxed ride. A 140mm front fork would also slacken things up, with a bit of a weight penalty.
The best part of this all was probably how cheap it all was. The new-old-stock frame was on sale for an absolutely ridiculous price at jensonusa.com, and by picking and choosing the cheapest clearance stuff -- and a few no-name items -- from Jenson and Pricepoint, I was able to put together a very nice bike with decent components for way less than I'd imagined was possible.
Here's what the build consisted of, first, the new parts:
- 2007 BMC Trailfox O2 frame -- this included a FSA ZS-3 zerostack integrated headset (with the cups already pressed into the frame which made it easier for me to assemble), and a RockShox Ario 2.2 shock. (jensonusa.com)
- Truvativ Stylo Crankset/bottom bracket (jenson)
- Shimano XTR Front derailleur (jenson)
- Maddux T2 Explorer 26" disc-only wheelset (pricepoint.com)
- Avid BB-7 mechanical disc brakes, 185mm front rotor, 160mm rear (pricepoint)
- Planet Bike cycling computer (pricepoint)
- Hutchinson Spider air-light tires 2.3" wide front, 1.8" rear (pricepoint)
- Tubes (presta, no-name, pricepoint)
- Sram cables, brake and derailleur (pricepoint)
- Sram chain
- Sette APX seatpost (pricepoint)
- Various specialty tools I didn't have and needed for the build (pricepoint)
And here's all the stuff I pulled off the old bike:
- Shimano XTR M900 rear derailleur
- Shimano XTR 8-speed casette
- Avid speed-dial SL7 brake levers (I had recently replaced my original levers with these, so they're almost new)
- Shimano XT 8-speed shifters -- these are circa 1999 or so, I replaced the FSR's original shifters with these then.
- Avenir handlebar
- Avenir bar ends
- Yeti grips (almost new, put these on when I got the new brake levers)
- Control Tech stem.
- Fox F100RLT fork (2005 model) -- a recent craigslist find I've been using on the FSR this summer.
- No-name seat
- No-name SPD-compatible pedals.
Since I didn't use the wheels from the FSR (they're rim-brake only) I plan on using them to upgrade the even older wheels on my Klein hardtail. I just need to buy a new casette, the Klein's got an old freewheel that won't work.
Other interesting things to note -- the frame weighs a tiny bit over 6 pounds, that includes the headset cups and the built-in seatpost clamp.
I didn't weigh the wheels before I mounted the discs and tires, but after the tires were mounted, there was a bit of a surprise -- the front wheel, with the larger (2.3" width) tire, and larger 185mm disc, weighed almost exactly the same as the rear wheel with the XTR cassette, 160mm disc, and 1.8" width tire. They were both approximately 4lbs 2oz. I'm happy with the overall weight of the bike -- 28lbs isn't bad, and it could be easily lightened just by swapping out some of the older heavy stuff. It'll be interesting to see what it weighs in the summer with my lighter summer tires.
I'm very happy and enjoying the ride. Now I need to spend some money on some better cold-weather riding gear -- I'm having so much fun I don't want to take my normal winter cycling break.
Here are some more pictures for details:
