My custom S180

Plummet

Plummet

Flash Git
Joined
Mar 16, 2023
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New Zealand
Ohhh, The bike has finally landing and built up to my spec.

Spec is as follows.
RH-2 mullet frame, set up in 180/180mm mode.
+5mm works component reach adjust headset.
Zeb ultimate
Bontrager rsl onepiece bar/stem
oneup 180 dropper
Xt link glide drive train (i kept the gx cranks)
XT brakes, 220,200 rotors
Enve foundation wheelset
Conti Kyrptotal upfront and dd DHR out back.
Suspension tech custom tuned coil with sprindex 450-500 coil.

I'm running two batteries 400wh and 600wh.
Weight including pedals is 21.8kg for the 400wh battery, 1kg heavier for the 600wh battery.
This is a bike park ready burly set up, And yes i've put the one piece bar/stem to the test in the past and it can handle the jandle!

Initial ride test is oh for awesome. The bike feels closer to my mtbs in feel. It's lively and playful but with the a solid amount of capability lurking in all that travel! Its just turned up in time for 6 months of winter mud.... Doh.
My plan is to ride it mostly in the 400wh battery mode like a mid power bike. Then when I want to do full send party laps with my full power E mates slap the 600wh and haul arse. Then on bike park days, start off with the 600wh, and swap out to the 400wh when the 600 is depleated for a 1000wh day without the extra weight of a super massive battery on board.

Now its time to ride it like i stole it.

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This is a great bike, not sure I would trust the handlebar for the type of riding the bike is built for. I don't think this is good enough for DH but I wonder but XC/Trail how it would feel.
 
whitymon said:
This is a great bike, not sure I would trust the handlebar for the type of riding the bike is built for. I don't think this is good enough for DH but I wonder but XC/Trail how it would feel.
Click to expand...
This is not this bar/stem's first rodeo. I had it on my slayer and it held up to the mayhem. I'm confident it is strong enough. I do have a carbon one up bar and stem loitering if I don't like it on this bike.
 
That's a nice ride! I just got my frameset this week, slowly starting to build it up. Seeing other builds is awesome - get's me giddy for mine.
 
HandsomeDanNZ said:
Pfft

It's not even dirty, bro.
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Hehehe. Got to take some virginal photo's before getting it dirty.
iJak said:
That's a nice ride! I just got my frameset this week, slowly starting to build it up. Seeing other builds is awesome - get's me giddy for mine.
Click to expand...
I fully expect you to post it here when your've built it up!
 
Plummet said:
Ohhh, The bike has finally landing and built up to my spec.

Spec is as follows.
RH-2 mullet frame, set up in 180/180mm mode.
+5mm works component reach adjust headset.
Zeb ultimate
Bontrager rsl onepiece bar/stem
oneup 180 dropper
Xt link glide drive train (i kept the gx cranks)
XT brakes, 220,200 rotors
Enve foundation wheelset
Conti Kyrptotal upfront and dd DHR out back.
Suspension tech custom tuned coil with sprindex 450-500 coil.

I'm running two batteries 400wh and 600wh.
Weight including pedals is 21.8kg for the 400wh battery, 1kg heavier for the 600wh battery.
This is a bike park ready burly set up, And yes i've put the one piece bar/stem to the test in the past and it can handle the jandle!

Initial ride test is oh for awesome. The bike feels closer to my mtbs in feel. It's lively and playful but with the a solid amount of capability lurking in all that travel! Its just turned up in time for 6 months of winter mud.... Doh.
My plan is to ride it mostly in the 400wh battery mode like a mid power bike. Then when I want to do full send party laps with my full power E mates slap the 600wh and haul arse. Then on bike park days, start off with the 600wh, and swap out to the 400wh when the 600 is depleated for a 1000wh day without the extra weight of a super massive battery on board.

Now its time to ride it like i stole it.

View attachment 158616View attachment 158620View attachment 158619View attachment 158617View attachment 158618
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Guessing you are colour blind?
 
OZ-E said:
Guessing you are colour blind?
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The red on green isn't my choice. I personally don't like It. But this is what was available. Im function over for form. The bikes stats almost perfectly suit my needs so I'll live with the colour dislike.
 
Plummet said:
Hehehe. Got to take some virginal photo's before getting it dirty.

I fully expect you to post it here when your've built it up!
Click to expand...
Here's a sneek peak. Waiting for my Lewis brakes to arrive (curiosity got the best of as I can install my Dominion A4s). Cause of the brake routing, I can't really proceed with anything further. In fact I need to remove the fork again for routing.
IMG_5278.jpeg
Also have a smashpot Boxxer 38, but that will be for later.
 
Last edited:
iJak said:
Here's a sneek peak. Waiting for my Lewis brakes to arrive (curiosity got the best of as I can install my Dominion A4s). Cause of the brake routing, I can't really proceed with anything further. In fact I need to remove the fork again for routing.View attachment 158738Also have a smashpot Boxxer 38, but that will be for later.
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Nice. What's the crank and chainring?

Also have fun with the cable routing. It's a bitch!
 
Plummet said:
Nice. What's the crank and chainring?

Also have fun with the cable routing. It's a bitch!
Click to expand...
chainring is SRAM's XX Eagle T-Type DM E-MTB Bosch
Crank: e*thirteen Helix Race e*spec alloy 155mm
Cable routing should be okay - I only have the rear brake hose to deal with. Rest is all wireless :D
 
Ok, first ride real impressions.

The bike manuals, nose wheelies, bunny hops, loads and pops way way better than the Pole and is a lot closer to my meat bikes. It has indeed delivered on significantly improving on the suck that was making me ride the pole less and my mtb's more. Hell one time I almost looped the bike out manualling it!...

Its still an e-bike and still not as good as the mtb's with those maneuvers. But its way better and bridge the gap enough to not bring my stoke down.

I am also super glad i didn't go mid power. I can ride this thing like a mid power on blue mode. I have that detuned to max 70nm and less assistance. Then when i want to to an extra squirt I ramp the power levels up for full power tomfoolery.

The only thing I dont like about the bike is the sub optimal dropper insertion......... It I could get a 210 in there at the same height it would be the perfect bike for me. Apparently AXS posts can drop deeper (because of the no cable routing). Maybe one day i'll try one of those. But they are eye wateringly expensive here in nz. In fairness its about the same as the pole seat height.

I've probably done an hour an a half of riding on the 400wh battery mostly in tour+ and emtb mode and am down to 37%

2nd real ride impressions

Had a solid 3 hour ride today with 600wh battery installed. I used tour+ and Emtb modes mostly and had 21% battery left when i got home. So that means i'll be able to get close on 4 hours ride time with 600wh. I Rode with some mates on trek rails with gen 3 and 4 motors and another mate with a pivot shuttle lt. Gen 5 seems a bit more powerful compared to the other bikes/motors and a bit better traction up the steep. I also seemed to be down a setting or two and going a similar speed to the others. Not sure if its a lighter bike, or more efficient motor or their motor/battery combo's are slightly warn and tired?

60km in the bike is already dialed. It fits like a freaken glove. I'm really enjoying the whole package. Its dialed and stable and playful. I did some bigger drops and chunk today and the handlebar held up find. I also rattled down some chunky stairs too. It was sweeeeeet. Rode up a whole bunch of stairs too and some steep offroad sections. I'll have to give the win (slightly) to the pole on uphill steep tech, The crestline front wheel starts floating wondering sooner and i had to ride the horn of the seat more than one the Crestline. But, i just don't care! the rest of he package is superior and the bike is feels better to pedal everywhere else compared to the pole.

That suspension tech rear shot is a slippery smooth beast right out of the box. I just works and i can forget about it and ride.
Good times.
 
Oh did a twin hike a bike tracks natural rooty tech goodness today today. On the mtbs they are about 50% ridable, 50% hike/push. On the E i can do about 85% ride 15% hike a bike.

It's 1000mtr vert and took 2 hours. I used the 400wh battery and had 17% left at the end running primarily in emtb mode. So that's 330wh used. Doing the same run on the Voima with 750wh I would use 50% 375 wh used. So i managed 45 wh more efficient on the Crestline..

Today had about 700mtr vert of technical steep climbing and it was slippery. The Crestline with Gen 5 motor cleaned some sections in the slippery that i was unable to do on the pole in the dry! So I will recant my statement that the Pole was a better climber. This Crestline kicked arse. I also pulled about 10 minutes gap on my mates which i have never ever managed before on the Pole. So i must have just cleared far more sections than them. (every time you dont make a section, you have to stop, get off and push until you can get back on).

What am I putting the better climbing down too? I think mostly the Gen 5 motor is a lot smoother with less wheel spin and secondary is that the bike is lighter and more positionable that the heavier more lumbering pole.

From a hike a bike perspective 3.5kg lighter bike made the lifting, pushing and carrying way more pleasurable.

On the down in the fast straight chunk the Voima probably has the slight edge. It probably felt more like a DH bike where the Crestline feels more super capable enduro bike. But as soon as you add corners steeps and tight jank the Crestline is far more enjoyable.

I'm fully stoked.
 
Glad you are loving it @Plummet
I'm curious about the new AXS dropper, I want to run the saddle as low as physically possible for some of the impossibly steep tech I ride, and according to flow MTB the AXS has a stack of 64mm Vs 30mm OneUp, so I'm not sure it will help with my particular use case (I run a very short dropper nearly fully slammed)?
The Gen5 has some subtle changes over the Gen4, but to me one of the big improvements is the take off from stationary is much more gradual. You know those super steep climbs where you dread lighting up the rear because now you are pushing an eBike up a vertical slope. With Gen4 I would use walk mode because I couldn't get started again due to wheelspin. With Gen5 I can actually find traction and get moving again. Haven't once needed walk mode in places I've previously struggled.
On my first Crestline I had 500Wh and 750Wh batteries to fit with your plan to have lighter weight for some rides. In the end I got rid of the 500Wh and replaced with 750Wh because the bike was still super fun and playful with either battery, and the difference in ride feel was minimal (not nearly as much as SC hype would have you believe...). Actually I preferred the weight balance with the 750Wh, but that was the old batteries which were different length. Curious can you tell a difference when you are riding the lighter battery?
 
RoJo said:
Glad you are loving it @Plummet
I'm curious about the new AXS dropper, I want to run the saddle as low as physically possible for some of the impossibly steep tech I ride, and according to flow MTB the AXS has a stack of 64mm Vs 30mm OneUp, so I'm not sure it will help with my particular use case (I run a very short dropper nearly fully slammed)?
The Gen5 has some subtle changes over the Gen4, but to me one of the big improvements is the take off from stationary is much more gradual. You know those super steep climbs where you dread lighting up the rear because now you are pushing an eBike up a vertical slope. With Gen4 I would use walk mode because I couldn't get started again due to wheelspin. With Gen5 I can actually find traction and get moving again. Haven't once needed walk mode in places I've previously struggled.
On my first Crestline I had 500Wh and 750Wh batteries to fit with your plan to have lighter weight for some rides. In the end I got rid of the 500Wh and replaced with 750Wh because the bike was still super fun and playful with either battery, and the difference in ride feel was minimal (not nearly as much as SC hype would have you believe...). Actually I preferred the weight balance with the 750Wh, but that was the old batteries which were different length. Curious can you tell a difference when you are riding the lighter battery?
Click to expand...
Well I haven't spent enough time on both batteries yet to make a difin1tive call. What i can say is the 3.5kg difference to the Pole is striking. I am not a guy that either enjoys or needs the extra weight of an e-bike. I prefer the handling on of my mtb's on the down compared to e's. Prior to the Crestline I was about 30% E 70% mtb.

I did really enjoy the bike with the 400wh today on the hike a bike rides. It made the whole experience more enjoyable. Particularly the pushing and the lifting over fences and styles.
 
Nice build! I'm also on a rh-2 and like Rob mentioned the stack on the axs dropper is quite big. Also running 180mm dropper. I can't even fit a 175mm axs dropper due to the 220mm insertion.
 
mrtrinh said:
Nice build! I'm also on a rh-2 and like Rob mentioned the stack on the axs dropper is quite big. Also running 180mm dropper. I can't even fit a 175mm axs dropper due to the 220mm insertion.
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Just got my RH-2 today and probably the last available one in the wild. We ran into the same issue…. Can you post a picture of your 180mm dropper. I presume this is the oneup v3 dropper?

Thanks!
 
That handlebar just looks out of place on this bike. Like an accident waiting to happen..

(Not my photo, just some I found floating on the web)
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Bman said:
Thanks for the shot! That looks like 170mm drop? Your saddle is 30mm higher than mine and I don't think I can even do a shimmed 180mm OneUp V3 down to 160-170 based on all my calc's. Kind of a bummer but not THAT big of a deal. The bike is SO good otherwise.
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Its 180 drop. This is slammed as far as it can go. I even rotated the lever at the bottom of the dropper to align with the cable hole for a few more mm of drop.

Yeah, I would like more drop also. I have 210 on my claymore and its awesome. But, 180 is workable for me, and most E's have the same challenge because the motor is in the way.
 
mrtrinh said:
Is that 50mm of insertion showing? Troydon says the max insertion is 220mm but I've seen people almost slam a 150mm axs which has an assertion of 248mm (including vent valve).
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46mm showing to the base of the collar, Giving me an insertion depth of 224mm.... There is not more depth. I am slammed as deep as the RH-2 can go. If you have seen deeper its probably a RH-3 frame size.
 
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