Knolly Endorphin build – January 2009
Well, the Knolly Endorphin build is complete. Received 99% of the bits last week, and today the final couple of parts. Right off the bat, I want to thank Chad at Red Barn for the killer deal, and all around great customer service.
Check Red Barn out here: www.redbarnbicycles.com
The build:
Endorphin – Small / White / RP23
FOX TALAS 150 RCL w/ 15mm
Chris King Hubs (Fun Bolts Rear / 15mm front) – Silver
DT Swiss 4.2D Rims
Spokes (black) / Nipples (silver)
XTR Crankset FC-M970 175mm
Chris King BB – Silve
XTR Shadow Rear Derailleur RD-M972 Long Cage
XTR Cassette M970 11-34
XTR / DuraAce Chain
XTR Front Derailleur FD-M970 35mm clamp
XTR Trigger Shifters SL-M970
Chris King Headset 1 1/8″ – Silver
Chris King Headset Spacers “Kit” – Silver
Thomson Seatpost 31.6 – 330mm – Silver
Thomson Stem (31.8) X4 – 0 x 90mm – Silver
Hope X2 180mm Floating Disc w/ SS hose – Front
Hope X2 160mm Floating Disc w/ SS hose – Rear
Hope Grip Dr. Bar End Plugs – Black
Hope Seat Clamp – Bolt
Easton 31.8 Monkeylite XC (Carbon) Bar
ODI / Yeti (Black) Grips
WTB Laser V Saddle
29lbs 12oz
The Photographs:
Recent Updates
8.2.09
2007 Ventana El Saltamontes Replacement build – Fall 2007
Well, the old blue Salty lived a good life. Riding in Oregon, Utah, Colorado, Arizona, and of course all over California. I can’t even guess how many miles or smiles. I discovered an almost microscopic crack (3/8″) in the seat tube just above the junction with the top tube. I take pretty good care of all of my rides, and “wrench” everything except for wheels myself. While wiping down the frame, the Saturday before an early Sunday morning ride (the CORBA ride in SoCal – Malibu), I spotted the crack. Strangely, I was as excited as I was saddened. I’d have to get a new frame!
I contacted Ventana and spoke with Teresa that Monday. I decided to go with the “custom” color, and to go with the HD rear triangle. They were able to help me out with the “owners appreciation program”. Teresa is the best, and to my surprise said that they should be able to ship by mid week!
Later that day the phone rang, and the caller ID said, “Gibson Design…”. I thought, oh no, what could be wrong… Nothing wrong at all. It was Sherwood himself. He wanted to double check with me the size frame we were going to do. He had me make a few measurements of the old frame, and then he agreed that the 20″ replacement sounded good.
We even chatted for a few minutes about bikes in general, and the purple components of the past!!!
Truly a pleasure to speak with him. Talk about customer service (nothing new here!).
And, sure enough, the frame arrived this past Friday. Built it up on Saturday morning, and had it out on the local trial for a shake down ride that afternoon.
Thanks again to Sherwood, Teresa, and everyone at Ventana. Thanks to Larry at Mountain High Cycles and to Jay for the decals. See ya on the trail!
The build:
Ventana El Salt 20″ – new
HD rear triangle w/ bearing kit – new
FOX TALAS 32 fork, recently rebuilt – existing
FOX Float RC shock (Pushed) – existing
Chris Kings laced to Mavic F219’s – existing
Hope QR’s – new
XTR M 960 crankset – existing
RaceFace BB – new
Dura Ace / XTR chain – new
XTR cassette – existing
XTR front and rear derailleurs – existing
Hope 203mm M4 (front) – existing
Hope 160mm M4 (rear) – new (Thank you Larry and Mtn. High Cycles!)
Goodridge hose kits – new
Chris King headset – existing
Thompson Stem – existing
Easton Carbon EC70 MonkeyLite bar – existing
Thompson seatpost – existing
WTB saddle – new
Custom Ventana decal – new (thank you JNcarpenter – mtbr.com)
Recent Updates
3.21.09
Service Fox TALAS fork – clean / drain / replace oil.
2007 Ventana El Terremoto Build – Spring 2007
I’d like to acknowledge and thank Larry at Mountain High Cyclery, and of course Sherwood and everyone at Ventana. The Terremoto isn’t my first Ventana, and won’t be my last. The amazing craftsmanship and engineering that goes into everything Ventana builds is always evident. The customer service that both Ventana and Mountain High Cyclery provide is something that, to me is harder and harder to find today. Between the absolutely top notch frames that Ventana builds, and the truly great service that both Ventana and Mountain High Cyclery provide, you can’t go wrong with these guys!
Thank you both!
Check out Ventana at:
Post Office Box 39
Rancho Cordova, California 95741
916.631.0544
Get in touch with Larry at Mountan High Cyclery at:
Mountain High Cyclery
5645 W. Hwy 34
Loveland, CO 80537
970.669.7960
The Build:
2007 Ventana El Terremoto
Semi Custom – 20.4”
Custom Paint – RAL 7009
DHX Air 5.0
’07 FOX 36 TALAS RC2
Hope Headset
DT Swiss EX 5.1d rims on heavy duty / SS Chris King Hubs / 20mm axel
RaceFace Atlas w/ FR – DH BB
Shimano FD-970 front / Sram X.O Med Cage rear derailleurs
Sram XO Trigger Shifters
Sram PG-990 (11-34) cassette
Sram PC-991 chain
Jagwire / One Bike Titanium cable housing
Hope Moto V2 discs – 203mm ventilated rotor – “Gun Smoke”
Thompson X4 31.8 / 1-1/8” x 100mm x 0 degrees stem
Easton Monkeylite XC (MX) 31.8 bar
Hope Space Dr. spacers
Hope Grip Dr.
Thompson / Gravity Dropper seat post
WTB Pure V SLT Saddle
The amazing RAL 7009 “Ghost Gray” with a light “SuperDust” topcoat. Exactly as I had hoped it would turn out.
Well, lets get started. The complete build kit.
Test fit the fork into the headset, add the spacers and mark.
Remember, measure twice and cut once!
De-burr the inside and outside of the cut.
Tighten everything down just enough to keep it together. We’ll come back with the torque wrench latter.
Using a brass brush, clean up the bottom bracket treads, and then apply a light coat of grease to the threads.
Test fit both the drive side, and non-drive side BB cups. Note that the drive side tightens backwards.
The only place I ran into any real trouble with the build was with the non-drive side BB cup install. The threads appeared to be fine on both the cup and the BB, but something seemed off here.
I ended up having to chase out the threads in the frame using my tap and cutting fluid.
Mount the tires.
Install the cassette.
Install the crankset and torque.
Install the front and rear derailleurs.
Mount and torque the front and rear rotors.
Mount the front and rear calipers.
Mount the HOPE brake levers and SRAM shift levers.
Run shift cables and hydraulic lines for the brakes. Shortened the rear hydraulic line for better routing and fit.
Tune shifting performance of derailleurs.
Adjust air pressures of DHX A and TALAS to FOX recommendations by way of sag measurements. Set rebound, pro pedal and high / low speed compression settings to mid points for initial test ride.
The following day, took the new machine out to my local trail for a test run. I must say that I am very impressed with not only the frame itself, but the components as well. The Sram XO shifting was flawless, the HOPE Moto brakes are amazing, and the suspension (still in the setup / learning stages here) seems like it’ll really sing. Again, I want to thank everyone at Ventana and Larry at Mountain High Cyclery for everything.
Recent Updates
5.7.07
Replace the RaceFace BB cups with the Diabolus DH BB.
9.6.07
Replace the e13 guard with the Blackspire Lite God ring. The e13 is overkill for my style of riding. I doubt I’ll be seriously bashing stuff with my ring, I’m too old for that.
Add a little bling to the Hope Moto’s. I originally wanted the smoke grey levers and reservoir caps. At the time of the build I could only get my hands on the levers.
4.17.08
Cane Creek Double Barrel installed. The Fox DHX-A (Air) was not cutting it for me. While I for sure don’t push the Terremoto to its limit, I could still feel that I was missing some performance. As others have reported, the DHX-A seemed to bottom out and suffer from mid-stroke mush when set to the correct sag and boost. The CCDB, while a little heavier, has glowing reviews. I’m excited to give it a try this weekend.
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5.8.08
Got the Ti spring on the CCDB. Now, the bling is complete!
7.17.08
Replaced the rear Hope Moto and its 203mm ventilated disk with a M4 and 183mm disk. Still maybe more than I need, but the Moto on the rear was a bit over-kill!
7.25.08
Oil bath change and Enduro dust and oil seal change.
3.20.09
New Fox 2009 TALAS Fork
