I recently purchased a coiler (first mtn bike) and am super stoked with it. I did a fair amount of shopping and for the bling it seemed to be one of the best deals on the market. I have a couple of questions that maybe someone out there might be able to answer:

1) Its a bit heavier than the published specs (37#) and I was hoping to shave a bit of weight off (just 'cause Im obsessive compulsive). I mostly ride trails, nothing super burly on the DH scheme of things, and was considering carbon bars...but am afraid of breaking them. Any experience out there with the range of use for carbon bars?

2) The bike has hayes hfx 9 disc brakes and im experiencing quite a bit of break fade on long downhills. Is it due to heat buildup on the disc? If so how difficult is it to convert to 8" discs? Could it be due to some other problem?

Input greatlly appreciated!

Cool bike! I have one myself, and i'm really happy with it.

If you have brake fade, re-bleed the brakes, orhave the shop do it. A lot of new bikes have a couple of bubbles in the brake lines, and that's enough to affect the performance.

Don't try and shave too much weight. The bike's built to be a heavier bike, enjoy it for what it is... But certain carbon bars will work. Easton's DH Carbon bar is tough, and so is FSA's Check those out.

I recently purchased a coiler (first mtn bike) and am super stoked with it. I did a fair amount of shopping and for the bling it seemed to be one of the best deals on the market. I have a couple of questions that maybe someone out there might be able to answer:

1) Its a bit heavier than the published specs (37#) and I was hoping to shave a bit of weight off (just 'cause Im obsessive compulsive). I mostly ride trails, nothing super burly on the DH scheme of things, and was considering carbon bars...but am afraid of breaking them. Any experience out there with the range of use for carbon bars?

2) The bike has hayes hfx 9 disc brakes and im experiencing quite a bit of break fade on long downhills. Is it due to heat buildup on the disc? If so how difficult is it to convert to 8" discs? Could it be due to some other problem?

Input greatlly appreciated!

I would look into some of the light weight aluminum bars like the protapers or easton's scandium bars before going carbon. The weight is nearly identical and they'll bend first, break second, unlike the carbon. I just picked up a Stinky myself and going from a 28 lb Bear to this 42 lb monster had my body hurting this morning, so I know where your coming from with the weight thing. I would look into changing the Tioga tires first if it were me, at least that's what I did on the Stinky and I dropped a little over 1 lb plus I got better tires for the conditions I ride in. Kona notoriously specs heavy duty components, so most anything you change out will drop some weight.

Has the break fade happened on every ride so far or just on the first? I noticed considerably more breaking power the second day of riding than the first.

Good luck with the new bike.

I'd advise going with those. Otherwise, you could run the Easton Carbon DH bars. I've had my Monkeylite's on my Bear and they've been great. One caveat though...I've never had a BIG crash on them that would make me worry about their structural integrity - but I have had many small crashes on them and they've been stellar.

EB

P.S. Gonewild, what tires did you go with? I know about going from a Bear to a Stinky. Just think....the climbs aren't as fun, but the descents more than make up for it. I still have my Bear, but it's been seeing less and less action lately....maybe I'm getting more fit or something. :)

The brake fade started from the get go and has gotten worse since Ive had the bike (15 rides or so) Im going to give the bleed a try and see how things work out....


Yeah the Tiogas are super heavy, they'll go when they wear out (the weather is getting better here so hopefully soon!)

Check to see if there's oil on the rotors/pads. My Stinky Primo came with a bit of oil/grease coming out of the hubs, and after first ride, it flung out onto rotors. Duh - shoulda' checked that, but new bike and all . . .

If this is the problem, this is how I fixed it:
1.) Remove pads, and heat with torch. They don't need to glow, just hot enough to smoke oil/grease off. Clearly, some stuff burned off of mine, then the smoke stopped.
2.) Clean rotors with isopropyl alcohol
3.) After the pads cool off enough to pick up, reassemble
4.) Now you have to ride. If the brakes were contaminated from the start, you now will begin your break-in period. If this was the problem, you will notice a dramatic difference, but not as good as when they're broken-in.

Mine did not break in for a few rides (FR, not DH). The rear took longer to break in - assuming because more braking comes from the front . . .

Good luck

P.S. Gonewild, what tires did you go with? I know about going from a Bear to a Stinky. Just think....the climbs aren't as fun, but the descents more than make up for it. I still have my Bear, but it's been seeing less and less action lately....maybe I'm getting more fit or something. :)

Swapped for the new Kenda 2.5 Blue Groove in the front and the Kenda 2.35 Nevegal in the back. Both are the kevlar bead and I couldn't say enough about them. We had about 12" of snow of Thurs and by the weekend, the temps were in the 60's. Some of the trails at higher elavation still had a few inches on the ground, but the rest were either a mix of mud, or when we hit the other side of some of our rides, it was almost dry. Those tires hooked up in everything. Yeah, the descents were alot more fun. The ole body, especially my lower back, had a few aches climbing, but it sure took less of a beating on the way down. It looks like another mid 60* weekend is on the way, can't wait to get out and try for another 40 or 50 miles.