Bass pro shops called and want their paint back.
Great job
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You can have my sparkly paint when you pry it from my cold, dead fingers. 
Also, thank you
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2 more days in the park. Doing bolt and crack checks every couple laps. Seems to be holding together, I put new oil seals and wipers in the fork before I went and it stopped dribbling. That fork takes 330 cc’s of oil in the damper side, and another 60 in the air side. Insane.
I’m getting more comfortable hanging it out more and more. It’s stupid fast. I know I’ve never gotten down that mountain that quickly before. The fork is really supple and somehow still supportive, I like the hell out of it. If I can lay off the brakes, the rear is insanely good. It is not a fan of really technical, brake dragging, hanging out the back door kind of stuff. The brake jack is a thing, it’s not a huge deal, I don’t go to the bike park to do low speed tech stuff and if I just ride better it will be less of an issue
Despite the long front/short back it doesn’t feel unbalanced. I actualy feel I’ve got better body position on this than the trail bike, even though this is 25mm shorter. I believe what I was feeling as too short (reach) might have actually been too short (stack) as I did’t have to make any big body position changes to change how I was weighting the bike. I also never had that “oh shit” feeling where I thought I was gonna get tossed out the front and also never felt the front lose grip or threaten to wash out, it just goes.
It’s so much easier to lay over in berms, hence faster, than the bigger wheeled bike. A few times the back tire, slipped is the wrong word, drifted(?) a little and a few times both tires did it but it never felt like it was out of control or come out from under me, just a little drift and on our way. It’s good.
It jumps really well, feels comfortable in the air and I’m getting more comfortable with it. I learned pretty quick that I really gotta commit and really drive those heels down into the lips, this thing is too damn big and heavy to passenger. That being said, it seems to reward big inputs (big for me, anyway) and never feels like i’m going to throw it off track or loop out or whatever. It’s good.
I think I actually got more compliments on the sunglasses than the bike 
Understandable.
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I’d go with either Winter Blackberry or Black Onyx, I reckon. Love your YT vids - always brightens my days when I see a new one 
Edit: Talk about missing the timeline on this thread! 
Might see if my powder coater can find that Winter Blackberry for my next build!
I did end up with the Black Onyx! I just added some prismatic color shifter because I’m a sucker for color shifty flake. That Winter Blackberry is very pretty too, I’m thinking Blueberry Jam for the next one…I’m also quite entranced with that color shifty brown Chocolate Factory. Too many fun colors.
Thanks, I’m currently working on the assembly/bike check one and then…I think I’m done. Of course, I say that after literally every video but I’m really tired of hearing myself talk and I don’t think I have much else useful to say.
I never wanted a youtube channel. I wanted to hang out with a buddy, fuck around and make videos, if a channel came of it, so be it. That, like every single thing I’ve ever done with friends, got fucked up and I end up holding the bag and doing every. single. thing. by. myself. I’m tired and I don’t know if it’s fun anymore. I wanted to try this “season” alone before I made any decisions, but being pretty much done with it, I’m not sure if I give a shit enough to do any more.
I’m sorry, what an awful way to reply to a compliment. It’s just been heavy on my mind recently. Rant over. Thanks again!
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The black looks awesome. Good choice for this build! You’ve always been clear that your YT vids aren’t for commercial gain or to build a big following so, if it’s not fun any more, don’t do it. They’ll be missed but you don’t owe anyone anything and I doubt any of your viewers want to make your life less enjoyable.
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Holy butts, this thing is good. Escaped the heat for a couple more park days. These were days 5 and 6 on this silly new bike and I’m starting to feel really comfortable on it. I think the phrase is “confidence inspiring” I don’t know, I don’t do marketing. I call it “fucking good”.
Jumps, you guys. Jumps. Jumps are scary. The best part of sneaking off for park laps 2 weeks in a row is I don’t feel like I have to ride everything on the damn mountain in a day. I can take my time, ride 2 days at 75% rather than pushing to ride everything I want because I “only have so much time”. So i end up sessioning my favorite blue jump line and occasionally branching out to different stuff, but I’m practicing. By the end of the day yesterday, I was clearing everything on that line. Never done that before, landing in landings, who knew? I even managed to get a little bar turn in on one of the step-ups, I got video if you don’t believe me.
I’m nothing if not repetitive, but this fork. Damn. I have limited experience on anything dual crown but this one seems like it does all the stuff. Super soft off the top but sits high in the mid stroke, doesn’t dive unnecessarily but still uses full travel on big hits. It rules. No crab hands at all.
Did have a slider bolt disappear somewhere. It was there at the morning bolt check and not in the afternoon. Quick trip to the true value hardware and we’re all set. Blue loctite FTW.
Glad I didn’t die. Other than that, no mechanical issues. Got to feel justified in a few of my decisions by way of other peoples broken derailuers and dropper posts. It was even, occasinally, in the right gear
I did have a pretty serious pedal strike on the first trail of day 2. Left pedal hit a rock (HIT a rock, hard) pushed the right pedal down and I jammed my right, big toe into a rock. It might have gotten smashed between the pedal and the rock, not sure. I didn’t come off the bike, but I swore a considerable amount. After that lap and another, I wrapped my foot up in extra socks and did another 4. That poor toe was a swolen, purple sausage by the end of the day. I don’t think it’s broken, but christ, it hurts. You want feet pics, you’ll have to susbcribe to my patreon 
However, I don’t think I’ve ever ridden better than I did after that, so I’m thinking, next time, maybe I’ll just smash one with a hammer before I ever get on the lift? See what happens?
Sorry for rambling! I have a lot of thoughts! I really like this bicycle, I already have ideas for improving it, so you guys might be stuck with me for awhile longer 
If you read this far, I’ll be really surprised. But thanks!
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This one goes pretty fast, but if you watch fast I won’t have to slow down for you to keep up.
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Thanks for sharing your build with us and especially thanks for your YouTube vidoes.
I’ve been working my way through them all from the beginning and they’re incredibly entertaining. It’s the best series I’ve watched on YouTube.
I’m glad you made this cool bike and documented it.
I’m not a painter, but I wonder if you could share some more info about painting with metal flake. The end result looks pretty sweet and I’m trying to convince @Arcycles that flake is the best thing ever.
What size tip and flake do you use and do you have issues with clogging?
I also saw in a video you using a can of primer or basecoat and I wonder how that works as I thought that type of paint needed to be catalyzed or something like that by mixing just prior to spraying.
Flattery will get you everywhere! Thank you, I really appreciate you watching.
It really is. I really enjoy watching the kids who unload the lift at the park tipping it side to side to watch it twinkle and change colors, it’s fun. I love it on a frame, it’s such a small area that it can be a totally bananas color or color combination and end up looking reasonable when it’s all put together.
I use a 1.8 tip and have shot everything up to .025" flake with it. If you were interested in a flake specific gun TROPICAL GLITZ FLAKE GUN — Tropical Glitz I’m considering scooping one of those at some point.
Clogging is a thing, espescially if you mix flake like you’re supposed to (LOTS!) I’ll usually toss a couple clean 3/8 nuts in the cup (the one on the gun) to act as agitators and shake the gun a lot. I also empty the gun back into the cup between coats and usually take the tip off and run a little thinner through it so it dosen’t settle into a solid block in the bottom of the cup. Ask how I learned that one. If you’re not gonna be moving around, put the flake back in the cup.
It works really well! Most primers and base coats don’t take a hardener (catalyst) they get thinned out with a reducer before being sprayed.
This is basically the same thing. It’s legit primer or base coat, pre-reduced and put into a can and pressurized. Most automotive based paint shops will do this same thing. I like it because I’m just getting the amount I need, most etch primer comes in gallons, and the reducer comes in gallons for a 1:1 mix, I don’t need that. Same with the base coat, I can get a 12 oz can, use it, toss it and then I’m not storing half empty (pessimist) paint cans everywhere. Also faster clean up since I’m not spraying the primer and base through my hvlp gun, less solvents, fewer paper towels. This was my first time using the Tropical Glitz aerosol base, I liked it a lot and will definitely use it again. They offer any of their paint in an aerosol can, they also make basecoats to match all of their flakes.
The inter-coat and the clear need to be mixed. The intercoat at least, you can actually get 2 part clear in a spray can that mixes in the can. Never used it but it looks really cool.
I’ll, obviously, talk about paint all day. Let me know if you have any other questions or I can help in any other way 
The 3 B’s of good mountain bike videos, breakfast montage, bong rips and ball powdering 
Go watch this before it gets taken down for the music…
I’m trying a different style, so if you’ve watched my shit before and hated it, try this, you’ll probably hate it too.
If you didn’t hate it, I’d really appreciate a thumbs up. If you did, leave a thumbs down, YouTube doesn’t care, it’s all engagement…
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Super enjoyable bike check! “ lovingly swaddling….draped seductively…upside down awesomeness……those oh fuck moments”
Nice!
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I’m a wordsmith.
Changed a couple things, the Mary on the front was looking a little…shitty.
Swapped her for a T9 gravity casing Butcher. So far, Specialized tires have outperformed everything more expensive that I’ve tried, hope this one does too
That valve stem cap
It did seem like it was on the bottom out snubber on the shock more than I would have liked last time, so I swapped the spring for a 600lb (from 550) it was also sitting something like 62.2* at sag with a bb height of about 285mm, so I cranked the adjusters up until it was 63* at sag with a bb height of 305mm and holy shit, are we in business now. Also brought the cahinstay down to about 416mm 
Rides higher (duh) but doesn’t feel much less plush, if at all, seems like it compresses into lips less (double duh) and, strangely, seems to brake jack less. It’s still there but didn’t feel as obvious. Heavier spring resisting the brake force better? Magic? Don’t know. Don’t really
care. Most importantly, I had zero foot-rock interactions, 20mm of additional clearance is a shitload in reality.
I liked it then and I fucking love it now. Pictures…
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Side quest!
So, the 28t chainring just looks awesome, but paired with the 13t cog, this thing isn’t really geared the best for gravity fed action.
I usually pedal it to get into a trail and then I’m coasting. I’ve started setting little “no pedals” challenges for myself down different lines at the park, focusing on pumping and maintaining speed. I even got down our big jump line without pedaling anywhere, only messing up when I grabbed too much brake because I’m a scared little boy.
There’s plenty of places to add gear ratio to it, I could get a bigger chainring (nope, I like the Cult one) or change the size of one of the gears on the jack shaft to a 23t (from 18) Or we could choose to be stupid.
I pick stupid.
The cat told me I had to do it this way or there would be pain
I made another 3/4" aluminum pivot axle and just pulled all the drivetrain off. I’ll put it in a box and bring it with me to the park just in case this is insufferable.
I think It’s gonna be fun as hell. I’ve been inadvertently practicing for this all summer.
Gravity. Bike.
Let’s get stupid.
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I took these for the Virtual Velo USA deal. I’m just gonna put them here for no reason in particular.
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This build is so rad and that cheetah print saddle is just the perfect finishing touch. 11/10
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Congrats. Next is the made show!
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I figured I’d share my 2024 updates to this fine unit.
I enjoyed the shit out of this thing last year and found a few things to improve.
I reduced the rear travel to around 175mm, made it less progressive, about 15% where it was close to 30%. I ditched the heavy (and awesome) jack shaft arangement for a regular old high pivot with an idler. That allowed me to replace the big 4130 bmx axle that was running the jack shaft with an aluminum one, I also made the new linkage aluminum. I ditched the wheel barrow bearing for needle bearings and added a seat stay brace, it’s much stiffer now.
It rides really nicely, I feel I improved it. Just this last week I hit 100 bike park laps on this bike, personal frickin’ record.
I do have a new one planned, but I want to finish out the season riding this and the new trail bike back to back and see which suspension type I like more.
anyhoo…
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