GCinDC's Giant DH Comp

i recall the descriptive phrase from someone a while back, "fork shaped object" and that is looking pretty accurate right now :|

maybe you could just hang the zooms on the shed wall, you know, like those old, de-comisioned duck shooting guns they hang as decoration..

Quite frankly the zoom forks are not that bad. The early EVG bikes had those and I ran one for a looooong time with no issues.

Would I ride DH or freeride with them NO. Will they take city driving and light trail use most likely.

I myself ordered one and will be running it with an EEB frame I'm building for city riding etc.

I have a tig welder in case I need to finish that weld but by looking at it, it seems that it is not the load carrying part of it unless you intend to do some crazy DH and jumping all around by lifting the front.

PS. After reading about these it seems that seat is designed to work with the eeb frame headsets.

just posted them for sale here, fyi: New Zoom Forklike Object - $100

in other news, i'm loving the white bike. here before adding my fenders:


the suspension is nice. rides so smooth. the damping on the blue bike suspension must have been toast cause it was so bouncy... i've got the blue bike in dry dock for repairs now, and swapped out the rear suspension with a new fox RC shock. i also finally put the rebuilt dorado's on, and they're not bad, from initial testing:


the black one, for those paying attention, is just a frame hanging from the ceiling still, waiting for another day.

i've got new magura MT2's on the white bike, but am actually not too happy with them. there's way too much travel in the lever for the rear brake. grips find at the end of travel, but for example, if i pull the lever with two fingers, the lever hits my other fingers on the bar, so to really stop fast, i need to use all four fingers to get them out of the way.

do they just need more oil? not sure how to adjust them to shorten the travel... please advise.

i pulled down the hayes stroker ace brakes that seized up after a salty winter to see if i could clean them up. unbelievable horrible mess that salt caused...




i'm trying to decide if it's worth it to buy new pistons/seals. i actually don't even have a big enough allen wrench to remove the piston, and do i need a special tool to take these apart and replace them?

oh, and lastly, remember the hall that acted up? i thought it might have popped out of the slot. no, it was wedged in there fine, but had totally died. must have been a runt that couldn't handle a little heat, ~300F. replaced it and all good.

Try to open and clean these. They may work again without replacing pistons.
Personally I think that using cheap Shimano hydros is good idea - you could replace these after winter Just use metallic pads and big discs.

Ouch, that salt is nasty nasty stuff.
Can you make some sort of DIY shield out of that moldable poly stuff you were playing with previously ? You'll still a bit flicking up no doubt but if you can limit the bulk spraying of salt water that'd probably help. Or it might be easier/more effective to hose or squirt with clean water after every ride, if you can be bothered.

No advice on the rebuilds, I normally change bikes so often I dont have one long enough to worry about rebuilding brakes
It sounds like the others definitely need a bleed though.
These days I typically build my bikes with MT5s on the front and MT2s on the back. On my own bike last week I somehow managed to get air in the lines on the front when shortening them and they're crap, spongy and exactly as you describe. As they stand currently the rears pull up much harder with 2 finger braking and the fronts pull all the way to the grips and only stop casually. Give em a proper bleed and it'll be a night and day difference

I put a set of these on my most recent build and am digging them so far at 1,200 miles with 203mm rotors. For less than $100 front and rear I think they are pretty tough to beat if you are debating spending a ton of time and effort resurrecting those rusty ones. They were plug and play in 15 minutes. Only complaint is that the front line is a little tight with my large front forks. I saw in some of the reviews that they switched the sides for the brakes, but mine were not that way. I am fine either way since I am used to switching between my right lever being the front or rear brake between different bikes.

http://www.amazon.com/SHIMANO-BR-BL-M395-Hydraulic-Brake-Rotors/dp/B00BPJ0JG0?ie=UTF8&keywords=shimano%20m395&qid=1460521489&ref_=sr_1_2&sr=8-2

thought i'd pop on the gopro for the commute yesterday...
[youtube]3GzXh85aFRA[/youtube]

thought the hot biker would catch up, but i guess not. kinda a shame. shoulda hung behind her for a while instead. alas...

Great weather! Forks are holding up well. GoPro does not capture your WIDE view. How is motor heating on trip home?

dbaker said:

How is motor heating on trip home?

Click to expand...

so far so good, but when ambient is 90-100F, i expect the controller to start limiting power near the top of my hill, when the motor gets to ~320F...

in early July, i'll be commuting to crystal city, so a bit longer, and not sure the route yet, so that'll be interesting.

Its about time for some videos!

last commute to the old office, 4x
[youtube]WGEMpGBrhxU[/youtube]

Hate to say it but I just have to, if you are going to ride at those speeds you should start obeying traffic laws as any other vehicle. They will be scraping you off the road sooner or later if you keep that up. Besides that, this is why ebikes are going to be legislated against real soon.

It's your life Greg, live it as you please. Few recognize the subtle actions that you take to stak out of the riskiest traffic combinations and your sheer familiarity with the route. Your record speaks for itself.

The risk is up to you. We all have our own ways of endangering ourselves even if it is staying at home and sitting on the couch all day! I have wondered for a long time, have you been chased or even pulled over by the popo before? DC is about as dense as mine with poorly trained 'officials' trying to hand out shiny, chained bracelets and be the hero. Do you have a get out of jail free card of some sort or just really massive balls?

awesome/funny vid:
[youtube]wkMnk_eCDQU[/youtube]

So good just watche'd yesterday.

OptimusPrime said:

Hate to say it but I just have to, if you are going to ride at those speeds you should start obeying traffic laws as any other vehicle. They will be scraping you off the road sooner or later if you keep that up. Besides that, this is why ebikes are going to be legislated against real soon.

Click to expand...

Your new to this arent you? Greg is a very skilled and aware rider, if you had been on this forum long enough you would know this as he has been posting videos for at least 5 years, he rides how he likes its his life its up to him, they already legislate against ebikes? I think we should legislate against negativity.

That Walmart Huffy DH vid was fun.

knoxie said:

OptimusPrime said:

Hate to say it but I just have to, if you are going to ride at those speeds you should start obeying traffic laws as any other vehicle. They will be scraping you off the road sooner or later if you keep that up. Besides that, this is why ebikes are going to be legislated against real soon.

Click to expand...

Your new to this arent you? Greg is a very skilled and aware rider, if you had been on this forum long enough you would know this as he has been posting videos for at least 5 years, he rides how he likes its his life its up to him, they already legislate against ebikes? I think we should legislate against negativity.

Click to expand...

I have no doubt he is very skilled and aware. Problem is 9 out of ten of those cars he is dueling with are piloted by unskilled, unaware people. And what about the pedestrians he comes up on from behind on the damn sidewalk? They must love him. Flying in and out of traffic, running red lights, jumping up on the sidewalk, etc., aside from the safety concerns is just plain rude.

i agree that it's a dick move to pass pedestrians fast, and almost always slow down to normal bike speed, tweet my bell well in advance and say sorry when i pass. i have at times passed some peds fast, but didn't mean to and regret it. i can't stand it when they do it me when i'm walking. it's a dick move.

as for the rest, i don't try to piss cars off, and always am going for the open road.

i could worry about it more i suppose, but it's so damn fun to race around those dinosaurs.

as for red lights, if there's on traffic, frock 'em. that's the way everyone rides in DC, almost without exception. pedestrians too.

thanks for the having the back, knoxie. you are one solid dude.

wow, it's been awhile... decided to do a commute vid today, testing out the gimbal with a chesty mount - not my fav, but just to see how it works..
[youtube]WnNcW5NRLoo[/youtube]

mainly got the gimbal for upcoming spring break trip to utah national parks with the fam, but after researching for a while, i think i'll have to go back another time w/o the fam to MTB

Where do you work in DC? Farthest I've gotten is the capital Crescent trail just before dc line. I'm up in Bethesda and work in downtown Bethesda also. I can't imagine riding like that on the streets of dc. For starters the roads are awful. I feel like my car suspension is shot already and second drivers are the worst...bind lane changing...no turn signals...constantly getting merged into.

Your riding style reminds me of the dirt bike and atv gangs that ride around dc and Anacostia....lol

I'm amazed your bikes haven't been jacked in DC. Lol.

Wow.. GC film again. Two years... Make ride movies again, please. I'm your fan.
Best wishes, Mike.
P.S. This is a bell? On handlebar? This glittering, on the left hand?

haha. thanks! i might have a few more in me, in DC at least, where i feel like i've seen/done everything...

but out west, damn! i might have to move out there for a year and make biking vids! had a great spring break hiking in utah. would love to spend more time there and go nuts.

peace,

g