1998 Super V 600 Updgrades

[bluegill]

I bought this Super V on ebay back in 2004 for $400 including shipping to Arizona from a guy in Michigan who had brought it back to the US with him from Germany after finishing a tour of duty with the military. I used to be big into mountain biking with my first bike being a Nishiki Manitoba I bought while in college in Ohio about 1991 or '92. Then I was in Moab for Grad School Geology field camp over the summer of '94 and I bought a '92 Cannondale Delta V full suspension rental bike and had it shipped back to Ohio. The DV moved with me to AZ in early '96 and I picked up a Mountain Cycle San Andreas frame from a bike shop in Sedona (another rental bike) and I built it up into my dream bike. Eventually sold the DV to a local guy and just rode the San Andreas. Then the San Andreas was stolen from my apartment in '99, rental insurance didn't cover the $5K loss, and I got out of the scene for a while until I missed biking and picked up this 1998 Super V in 2004. I rarely ever ride, maybe just a few times per year.

Earlier this year I decided to upgrade everything I could on this bike to see if it would inspire me to get back into riding regularly. Need to get back into shape now that I have a 3 year old son and another new son being born.....in 15 hours, tomorrow morning at 0730 my wife and I check in for her scheduled C-section.

Anyway, I'll post up some photos and the breakdown of the components over the next few days.

First pics are the original bike as I received it. Pretty sure everything was stock except for maybe the Easton carbon fiber seat post, the EPXTRAS carbon fiber bars and of course the tires. I also have a bunch of different length and angle Headshok stems.

 

[bluegill]

Couple more original pics

 

[bluegill]

One more original pic - this is probably the last pic of it in it's original form doing baby-pulling duty. I had removed the red bar foam tape here - I put on the flared grips and then the bar tape because I was getting severely numb hands. I just wasn't riding enough to get my hands, wrists, arms, shoulders, etc. used to it.

 

[bluegill]

First modification was a set of RaceFace Next Forged 3X cranks I picked up on Craigslist for $50. I was always a fan of RaceFace and I had Turbines on my old San Andreas. These Next Forged were kind of gimmicky with the "carbon fiber" arms that were really just plastic. Then I got the 2005 Super Fatty fork on ebay, a new shorter stem (120mm vs 130mm) at a shallower angle (5 degrees vs. 20) and then planned on a new rear shock.

 

[bluegill]

Then after researching the new parts available, new trends, etc. I thought I'd get fancy and go with a 1X driveline and ditch the front derailleur. Tried it with the used RaceFace cranks and the middle 30T chainring and it technically worked...but I couldn't find a narrow-wide chainring above 32 teeth that would fit these old school 94mm BCD 5 bolt cranks. I wanted a 36 or 38T single ring. My rear cassette was also just an 8-speed 11-30T so gearing was a bit limited. I also had put on new Nukeproof Horizon Pro Pedals.

 

[bluegill]

Next step was to pick up a nice 2016 Fox Factory Float rear shock on Craigslist. I had to do a partial Uber V modification and drill new mounting holes and shave the tabs to fit this 6.5" shock in place of the stock 5.75" Fox Vanilla coil over shock. I say partial Uber V mod because I kept the stock rear Super V triangle instead of putting on a Jekyll triangle with the pushed-back shock mount. I knew I was going to keep the Headshok front suspension so no need to try for 5-6" of rear wheel travel. Check out the weight savings on the rear shock! I'll post up weight info and a full parts list later - of course I went full nerd and weighed every last thing.

 

[black lightning 1987]

Bike looks to be in fantastic shape. Good to know there's a more modern shock that can be made to work on the SV frames. Have you ridden it yet? Just wondering about setting it up.

 

[bluegill]

I've done a few trail rides and I've been tweaking the suspension air pressure front & rear. First time out pressure was way too low in front, have since increased pressure a bit higher than recommendations to stiffen front suspension a bit. I have rear sag set just right at 25% and travel is very good, definitely can feel the benefits of on-the-fly damping adjustments between open, medium, and firm. I have rebound set according to Fox's recommendations for the air pressure I am running.

Right now I am fine-tuning my stem and handlebar length. Just received my new 80mm/5 degree/31.8mm clamp diameter Headshock stem and I'm waiting for my new carbon bars to arrive. Current stem is 120mm/5 degrees with 25.4 clamp diameter. I also have 170mm/20 degree, 140mm/5degree, and two 130mm/20 degree stems, all in 25.4 clamp diameter. Current bars are carbon fiber 25.4 clamp X 640mm width. Too narrow and I think part of the reason for my hand/wrist discomfort. New bars are carbon fiber 31.8mm clamp X 740mm width. I'll try them out and cut them down as or if needed.

 

[bluegill]

After I decided to go with a 1X driveline I just decided to go all in and start with a frame-up rebuild.

Secured the following parts:

Shimano XT BL-M8000 Disc Brake front & rear
SM-MA-R160P/S rear Disc Brake Adapter
SM-MA-F180P/S front Disc Brake Adapter
XTR SM-RT99 CenterLock Disc Rotor 180mm front
XTR SM-RT99 CenterLock Disc Rotor 160mm rear
XT CS-M8000 Cassette 11-speed 11-40T
XT RD-M8000 Rear Derailleur, 11-speed, medium 1x or 2x
XT SL-M8000 I-Spec II Trigger Shifter 11-speed
XT/Ultegra CN-HG701 11-Speed Chain Quick Link
XT BB-MT8000 68mm threaded bottom bracket
RaceFace Aeffect Cinch Crank Arms 175mm black 24mm spindle
Raceface small crank boots black
Race Face Narrow Wide Cinch Direct Mount Chainring, black 38T
Stan's MK3 ARCH front rim
Shimano XT M8000 front 100mm QR hub
32 DT Swiss Competition 2.0/1.8mm spokes, black
32 DT Swiss Anodized nipples, red
Stan's MK3 ARCH rear rim
Shimano XT M8000 rear 135mm QR hub
32 DT Swiss Competition 2.0/1.8mm spokes, black
32 DT Swiss Anodized nipples, red
Continental Race King ProTection 26x2.2 tires

Also picked up an inexpensive "carbon fiber" saddle on Aliexpress and I'm currently messing around with stem length and handlebar width, picked up a short 80mm/5 degree rise/31.8mm clamp diameter Headshok stem and I'm waiting for a Renthal Fatbar Lite Carbon Handlebar to arrive in the mail.

 

[bluegill]

here are some photos of the build:

 

[bluegill]

Also took the time to mill out the old cable routing tabs on the frame to accommodate the hydraulic brake lines.

 

[black lightning 1987]

Nice work. Let me know if you need a different stem. I bought a number of new ones from a bike shop in St. Louis. Had a friend there pick them up for me so they're still down in STL but I can have him check what's available.

 

[bluegill]

Thank you, that's very nice of you. I think I'm all set with Headshok stems, though...or at least I better be since I have six of the damn things now. Bars arrived yesterday and I had a chance to mount them up although I haven't had a chance to hit a trail yet. Felt great riding around the neighborhood.

 

[black lightning 1987]

Good to know. I have 5 Headshok frames so I may hit you up for a stem at some point. As I understand it there were only two head tube lengths, so most of the vertical adjustment was done with the stem.

 

[bluegill]

Got a trail ride in last weekend with new bars and stem (740mm wide bars vs. 640mm old bars and 80mm stem vs. 120mm old stem). First half was a few miles of chunky climbing, as usual. I immediately noticed that I was having a hard time keeping the front tire on the ground. Had to adjust for the shorter stem and shift my weight a bit forward. Rear tire was spinning out quite a bit, thought it was from my weight transfer but then when loading the bike in my truck I realized that I stupidly left the rear tire rock hard. I shot some air in it before I left and forgot to adjust it.

On the downhill second half of the trail though...it felt great. So much more planted on the bike without that sickening feeling that you're about to go over. I rode off some big rocks that I would have avoided before.

The increased width was great too but I found my hands kept squeezing back inward on the grips. I guess my shoulders will have to get used to the wider grip. Definitely felt more stable and my stance on the bike feels better. With the new stem & bars (40mm rise bars) I'm about 2-2.5cm higher now at the grips than before. Figured I could flip the stem to a 5 degree downward angle if the bars proved to be too much of a rise.

 

[bluegill]

Also worked on my spreadsheet of before & after weights. Biggest variable right now is my wheels - still running tubes after dealing with major tubeless hassles. Will have to re-approach the tubeless thing.

 

[black lightning 1987]

Could it be that the frame geometry is more suited to downhill than technical climbing? Pretty sure there were DH specific versions of the frame.

Didn't know 74 cm bars existed. Guess that if you are comfortable in the riding position the greater width helps with stability.

 

[petergt4]

Fantastic thread!

Curious to know about what the San Andreas was like to ride. As much as I love Cannondale, that was another favorite of mine, but never had a chance to ride one (that and the Crosstrac Sonoma).

 

[bluegill]

The San Andreas was a great bike. Incredibly rigid, especially compared to the 1992 Delta V that I was riding at the same time. I'll attach a photo I think you'll like, given your sweet SE1000 restoration project.

 

[petergt4]

The San Andreas was a great bike. Incredibly rigid, especially compared to the 1992 Delta V that I was riding at the same time. I'll attach a photo I think you'll like, given your sweet SE1000 restoration project.

View attachment 3004

Yes, that is a sweet photo and it looks like that San Andreas was well-spec'd (as well as your Delta V)!