RodneyH
New Member
I guess a little intro too. I grew up racing BMX, riding dirt bikes and racing DH. Racing in mid to late 90s on Specialized S-Works FSR Ground Control DH (think Shawn Palmer) on Marzocchi Bombers, Hayes disc brakes, etc.
Got out of riding a bit and focused on Race Karts, Surfing and dirt bikes again. About 6 months ago, brother who already had an intense eMTB just bought a new Levo and now has an “extra” ebike. We went out and I borrowed his bike and I was sold!!! Only problem is, didn’t have allocated funds for a $10-15k bike. In a weird twist of events, my 70+ yo mom gave me her, like new 2016 Xduro in a small. (I’m 5’10”). Randomly found an ad of someone looking to trade his 2017 Xduro in Large, so his kid could have a smaller bike. We traded and it was supposed to be in great condition. Not only was it NOT in great condition, it was actually an XL. At first i was pretty ticked to learn that, then I realized that the XL geometry is actually much more like a Medium by todays standards.
I used to work at a shop and so did my brother, so we both have a lot of extra parts kicking around and my mission was to make this bike a bit more modern and upgrade it a bit without spending a ton of money.
I ended up replacing almost everything but the frame, fork, BB, seatpost, headset.
I ended up getting the head tube angle to 64 degrees (from 67) along the way. Still waiting on a front chainring to work with my XTR 12 speed drive train and some new FOX decals as well. I’m sure it’s a piece of crap compared to most of the stuff your guys run, but just trying to “get in the game” of eMTB without killing the bank.
Here are the parts changed (many of these either I had or my brother had, or I got at significant discount, online).
Wheelset: 29/27.5 DTswiss E1900/H1900 (H1900 was much easier to find for better price than E1900). This really helped me change the head tube angle
Tires: Maxxis DHF/DHR II (tubeless)
Cranks: Lekkie Buzz Bars 160mm
Fork: extended Fox Float Performance from 120mm to 150mm
Brakes: Magura MT trail with 203mm f+r discs
Bars: Renthal Fatbar 760mm
Stem: Renthal 50mm
Shifter: XTR 12 spd
Derailleur: XTR 12 speed
Cassette: SLX 12 speed
Seat: Serfas Lola
Post: XLC
Some of the parts are probably a little higher spec than the frame, but I wasn’t about to already have an XTR kit kicking around to sell the stuff and go with XT or SLX. At some point, I’ll probably upgrade the frame, but until then, I’ll just ride it and have fun.
Got out of riding a bit and focused on Race Karts, Surfing and dirt bikes again. About 6 months ago, brother who already had an intense eMTB just bought a new Levo and now has an “extra” ebike. We went out and I borrowed his bike and I was sold!!! Only problem is, didn’t have allocated funds for a $10-15k bike. In a weird twist of events, my 70+ yo mom gave me her, like new 2016 Xduro in a small. (I’m 5’10”). Randomly found an ad of someone looking to trade his 2017 Xduro in Large, so his kid could have a smaller bike. We traded and it was supposed to be in great condition. Not only was it NOT in great condition, it was actually an XL. At first i was pretty ticked to learn that, then I realized that the XL geometry is actually much more like a Medium by todays standards.
I used to work at a shop and so did my brother, so we both have a lot of extra parts kicking around and my mission was to make this bike a bit more modern and upgrade it a bit without spending a ton of money.
I ended up replacing almost everything but the frame, fork, BB, seatpost, headset.
I ended up getting the head tube angle to 64 degrees (from 67) along the way. Still waiting on a front chainring to work with my XTR 12 speed drive train and some new FOX decals as well. I’m sure it’s a piece of crap compared to most of the stuff your guys run, but just trying to “get in the game” of eMTB without killing the bank.
Here are the parts changed (many of these either I had or my brother had, or I got at significant discount, online).
Wheelset: 29/27.5 DTswiss E1900/H1900 (H1900 was much easier to find for better price than E1900). This really helped me change the head tube angle
Tires: Maxxis DHF/DHR II (tubeless)
Cranks: Lekkie Buzz Bars 160mm
Fork: extended Fox Float Performance from 120mm to 150mm
Brakes: Magura MT trail with 203mm f+r discs
Bars: Renthal Fatbar 760mm
Stem: Renthal 50mm
Shifter: XTR 12 spd
Derailleur: XTR 12 speed
Cassette: SLX 12 speed
Seat: Serfas Lola
Post: XLC
Some of the parts are probably a little higher spec than the frame, but I wasn’t about to already have an XTR kit kicking around to sell the stuff and go with XT or SLX. At some point, I’ll probably upgrade the frame, but until then, I’ll just ride it and have fun.
