NSMB - 2013 - Enduro/Trail Bike Build thread

Picked up an 08 Enduro for a song and a dance. Dont have to ride the wife's medium Range anymore. Already changed out the shock to a DHX air. Fork next.

@ burke ryder:
I like your Spitfire very much!!! Looking at yours I have some little worries about my Decision to go with Black-Ano instead of RAW.

Hello from Scotland,

Just had my first proper ride on the new spitfire and it was seriously good fun!
My build is on the heavy side with freeride inner tube and heavy wheels, fox 36 coil forks, ccdbair etc I reckon it must be at least 34lb+, i ride 1x9 with a 34 front ring and am not that fit, I weigh 85kg.
When I built it I was worried by the weight but as soon as i started pedalling all those worries disappeared, I climbed my local trails with ease! I was also worried that the fox 36 would make everything feel dead and too easy as that is how it used to feel on my old bike, but again those worries soon disappeared as I started decending. It was so much fun to ride, it felt lively and light. In the air it was balanced, I was expecting the DBair to soak up the jumps but it had plenty of pop of all lips, roots.
I'm used to a low bb bike but I think the extra wheel base just helps add to the stability of the bike, there is lot of grip on the rear and it just rails berms and corners. I'm only using the 135x10 dropouts with 10mm bolt through and it feels plenty stiff. I also ride a dh bike with 150 rear end so know what that setup feels like, the back end of the spitfire definetly feels strong and planted. Finally I was concerned about the length of the top tube and the reach of the bike but with a 50mm stem it feels spot on. My last bike had top tube of 559mm with a 50mm stem, this is so much more comfy to ride. I know this sounds like I'm looking through rosé tinted glasses, but I have had so much fun on this bike today!

Picked up an 08 Enduro for a song and a dance. Dont have to ride the wife's medium Range anymore. Already changed out the shock to a DHX air. Fork next.

yep best 2 improvements one can make to that bike.

After seeing all these Spitfires on the past few pages I'm really wanting one now! Love it in the raw/polished.

Hello from Scotland,

Just had my first proper ride on the new spitfire and it was seriously good fun!
My build is on the heavy side with freeride inner tube and heavy wheels, fox 36 coil forks, ccdbair etc I reckon it must be at least 34lb+, i ride 1x9 with a 34 front ring and am not that fit, I weigh 85kg.
When I built it I was worried by the weight but as soon as i started pedalling all those worries disappeared, I climbed my local trails with ease! I was also worried that the fox 36 would make everything feel dead and too easy as that is how it used to feel on my old bike, but again those worries soon disappeared as I started decending. It was so much fun to ride, it felt lively and light. In the air it was balanced, I was expecting the DBair to soak up the jumps but it had plenty of pop of all lips, roots.
I'm used to a low bb bike but I think the extra wheel base just helps add to the stability of the bike, there is lot of grip on the rear and it just rails berms and corners. I'm only using the 135x10 dropouts with 10mm bolt through and it feels plenty stiff. I also ride a dh bike with 150 rear end so know what that setup feels like, the back end of the spitfire definetly feels strong and planted. Finally I was concerned about the length of the top tube and the reach of the bike but with a 50mm stem it feels spot on. My last bike had top tube of 559mm with a 50mm stem, this is so much more comfy to ride. I know this sounds like I'm looking through rosé tinted glasses, but I have had so much fun on this bike today!

Bump for Monkeyninja as his post was sitting in the mod queue.

much want for the new spitty. ride reports?

Pros:
- excellent suspension performance
- ideal aggressive trail bike geometry
- extremely stiff chassis

Cons:
- frame weight
- no water bottle mounts

Cons:
- frame weight
- no water bottle mounts

confirming two things that are a negative for me too…

Pros:
- excellent suspension performance
- ideal aggressive trail bike geometry
- extremely stiff chassis

Yes, would like to confirm this too. Maybe the little more Weight is contibuted to the stiff and durable Chassis.

Pros:
- excellent suspension performance
- ideal aggressive trail bike geometry
- extremely stiff chassis

Cons:
- frame weight
- no water bottle mounts

So is the horrible pedal feedback from the original frame, fixed?

I would say: A lot more than that …

So is the horrible pedal feedback from the original frame, fixed?

Apparently it's %40 less. I haven't done any climbing on rough trails yet. I hope it's better because I'm running a 22. My rune was indeed horrible.

So is the horrible pedal feedback from the original frame, fixed?

i never disliked this characteristic of the original rune. i guess i adjusted my climbing/pedaling style around the feedback, but on the other hand i felt like the chaingrowth in the vf4b suspension made the rune a very efficient pedaller - i could stand and crank up old buck with no platform and no bobbing - and quite capable climbing in tech, limited only by the motor

just hooning around my neighbourhood (i haven't had it out for a trail ride yet) the backend on my new spitfire seems a lot more active on climbs, bobbing gently a la fsr, esp. out of the saddle. i don't have the shock dialled in so maybe it won't be an issue, but i could see myself missing the rune's hardtail-like climbing efficiency

Apparently it's %40 less.

maybe there's a magic amount of chaingrowth that provides the benefits of keeping the suspension from compressing under pedaling while not making compressions tug uncomfortably on the pedals. norco seems to have managed it with their ART, which seems really efficient while still feeling pretty tame in terms of feedback. levy's review praised the rune's better-than-expected climbing performance, so perhaps keith has nailed it this time around

confirming two things that are a negative for me too…

machined, tig'd, and ti screwed my way out of one of those problems.