Vik's Sterling MTB

[vik]

I bought this Thorn Sterling frame last fall when a trip to Moab and a possible MTB tour in Costa Rica were on the go.  Then I hurt my foot and the Moab trip was not possible...finally I settled on some Surly Pugsley riding and sea kayaking in Baja rather than try a full-on bike tour with my gimpy foot.  With no mountain biking in sight I haven't paid much attention to it other than a few wistful glances as I pass it hanging in my office.

As I was working on my Nomad recently I realized my 40th birthday is coming up and a few friends and I have a 2 week road trip planned which includes a full moon party in the Mojave Desert and mountain biking stops in Sedona Arizona and Moab Utah on the way back.  Not that it takes 6 weeks to build up a MTB, but I haven't been particularly fast when it comes to working on my bikes of late and I need some time to test the bike out before I'd feel comfy taking it on a long trip.

So I have put my Nomad up on the rack in my office and threw the Sterling frame into my work stand for some priority attention. 

I have already installed:

- a Fox fork
- Shimano LX crank/BB
- TIME ATAC Control Z pedals
- front wheel Mavic XC717 & Deore hub w/ Schwalbe Fat Albert tire
- Salsa riser bar
- FSA stem
- Easton seat post


So what's left?:

- steal rear Rohloff wheel from my Surly Big Dummy and mount rear Schwalbe Fat Albert tire
- install Monkey Bone rear disc adapter
- install some riser bars
- buy and install a seat [not sure which brand/model]
- install Shimano SLX hydraulic brakes
- install Rohloff shifter & EX gear mech
- install SRAM chain & tension w/ EBB
- install Ergon grips
- install Old Man Mountain rear rack
- install a bike computer

The only item above that may be an issue is the hydraulic brakes.  I've never installed and bled them so this will be a learning experience and may take some time.

If all goes well I'll posting some Thorn MTB porn when I get back at the end of March!...

safe riding,

Vik
www.thelazyrando.com

[Cake]

Vik, I'm not normally prone to envy in any way, shape or form, but moon parties in the Mojave with some riding thrown in?  I do believe i am a shade greener than i was before i read your posting......

Enjoy!

[vik]

It's a tough life, but somebody has to live it...



*sigh*



...luckily there will be some biking to give me a break from all the hard work on the dance floor....



...sorry I couldn't resist...

You better not click on the link below!....

http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=VxXogW0_FmU

safe riding,

Vik
www.thelazyrando.com

[jags]

well said cake,the man is a tonic live life to the full.say vik why dont you video your next bike build.that would be something worth seeing.

[bobs]

We will have to try and get him banned from the website   

[jags]

say bob did you see the review in cyclingplus on the sherpa,i reckon with the gear i have it would have got ten out of ten.
your wright we should ban vik,but not for to long.

[bobs]

Not seen the latest test, the new Sherpa download on Thorn website is very good.

[vik]

We will have to try and get him banned from the website   

Hahaha...at least I'm posting in a thread about a Thorn bike of mine... ...you should have got me banned when I was posting about my Surly Pugsley!

safe riding,

Vik
www.thelazyrando.com

[jags]

we are all waiting to see the nomad built up and finished,so your safe until then.

[vik]

...back to our regularly scheduled programming...



I'm getting stoked by the Schwalbe Fat Albert 2.4" tires on my Sterling....3.7" Surly Endomorphs they are not, but I can feel some buff desert single track coming on...

safe riding,

Vik
www.thelazyrando.com

[bobs]

That may be so, but you are making us jealous with all your bikes and trips.

[Al Downie]

Vik! Dude! Fantastic! BUT... I see no Tubus Swing in your kitlist. Are you mad? Have you learned nothing?

If you haven't used Ergon grips before, have a look at Cane Creek Ergo bar-ends before you commit - I bought Ergons at the outset and couldn't really get to grips with them.

Right here, I was also going to advocate cable-actuated disk calipers too, but in fact you might find mounting the rack slightly easier with hydraulics. So ignore this whole sentence.

Good luck! Looking forward to seeing it in action on the blog soon!

[vik]

Vik! Dude! Fantastic! BUT... I see no Tubus Swing in your kitlist. Are you mad? Have you learned nothing?

If you haven't used Ergon grips before, have a look at Cane Creek Ergo bar-ends before you commit - I bought Ergons at the outset and couldn't really get to grips with them.

Right here, I was also going to advocate cable-actuated disk calipers too, but in fact you might find mounting the rack slightly easier with hydraulics. So ignore this whole sentence.

Good luck! Looking forward to seeing it in action on the blog soon!

Hola Al,

I've got a spare OMM front rack so I'd probably use that on the front if I need one...for the time being this will mostly be a mountain bike for trail riding so I don't even really need a rear rack.   I do like the Tubus Swing and will try one out the next time I'm in need of a front rack for a suspension fork bike.

I've got Ergon grips on several of my bikes so they are a winner for me.

I'm keen to try my first pair of hydraulic disc brakes so I can see what I think.   For the time being this bike will just be a trail bike and a bike shop won't be too far off.  The Old Man Mountain rack I'll be using on the rear works with any kind of disc brakes easily.

safe riding,

Vik
www.thelazyrando.com

[Al Downie]

I totally love those little curvy bits at the dropouts! Nice bit of confidence-inspiring engineering. Beautiful-looking bike!

[ians]

Hi Vik

always good to hear/see your reports from over the water.  We've had a bit of snow here - nothing like what you have, but enough to bring the country to a halt LOL.  My daughter's just finished a year at UBC - so she knows all about Canadian snow.

Having 2 Rohloff Thorns it would be churlish of me to admit to envy .......

I commute by bike most days and have been fortunate to have a choice of bikes.  Came off on the ice a couple of times with the Sport Tour so made the run through the snow with the Sterling - like being a kid again.

Am still fiddling around with the Sterling - have not made up my mind about sus forks yet so am using the steel ones (like those on the Nomad).  Gives it a retro look which I quite like.  Only problem is tyre size.  I'm running a cheap pair of Schwalbe Land Cruisers for now - not sure if I could fit a decent fat tyre in the those forks - any ideas?

And I still have a couple of spacers above the stem, so will need to get the hacksaw out soon.

best

Ian