Mountain Bike Reviews Forum banner

dirtbag's diggin' da-sultan

1K views 13 replies 10 participants last post by  Jayem 
#1 ·
I've been riding my '08 Sultan for about a year and a half now, mostly as an XC machine, but I absolutely fell in love with it this summer in Colorado as I felt like I really tapped its potential. Between my Highline and Sultan, my favorite ol' 6-Pack hasn't gotten a lot of attention so I decided to sell it (BLATANT PLUG HERE). This left me with the dilemma of the Sultan needing just a little more 'game' to step up into a regular SoMo machine. I've solved the problem and boy howdy am I digging the result. Three easy add-ons have absolutely transformed this bike.

1. '09 Reba U-Turn with 20mm Maxle Light. I can't believe how stiff this little fork is. Our post-turkey ride this year took us down three of the best DH trails on SoMo: 24th Street, Holbert, and National, and the '09 Reba blew me away. I was hoping, but not expecting it to be this good. The damping is really good too, sorta like a mini-Lyric.

2. Stans Flows on King hubs, but most important, built by Dave Thomas. In the year and a half on the Sultan, I've felt the limitation in the 29 inch platform is the flex in the wheels and the fork. I asked Dave to build them stiff, and boy are they :thumbsup: He did a trick move of lacing 3 cross/2 cross on both the front and the rear. I asked for a 3 cross/1 cross like he did for my Highline, but he said he recently broke a King flange so he doesn't do it anymore. You can build a lighter wheel, but it won't ride as well. They're about 2000 grams all said.

3. Spot 5.5 rockers. I love the 1/4" lower BB and the more compliant ride at the top of the travel. It took the bike from XC to Trail.
 

Attachments

See less See more
5
#5 ·
Nice! The raw frame looks so right.

January will be a year for me on the Sultan, I'm headed the opposite direction. Had PUSH rockers for a while and was headed towards the AM side - but got bit by the racing bug and have settled on a dedicated XC machine.

Went from PUSH rockers on my L bronze frame - to the stock setup on my XL and added the PUSH tune (which is fantastic - I can now 'tune' my RP23 the way I want). 110mm WB Fluid w/ TA had the same AtoC as my 100mm fork previously so I still have a good balance of travel/quick handling. Now, I'm just dropping a little more weight - sits right around 27.5 lbs as pictured.

 
#6 ·
Beauty Dirtbag

Are you running tubeless on your Flows. I ask because I have a set of Flows/Hadleys awaiting the arrival of my 09 Sultan. I wish to run them tubeless and was wondering if I need to run rimstrips with them or if they work like the Mavic UST Rims. Stans's 29er Rim strip seems like it is made for a narrower rim. Thanks for the pics and ride stoke.

dirtbag said:
I've been riding my '08 Sultan for about a year and a half now, mostly as an XC machine, but I absolutely fell in love with it this summer in Colorado as I felt like I really tapped its potential. Between my Highline and Sultan, my favorite ol' 6-Pack hasn't gotten a lot of attention so I decided to sell it (BLATANT PLUG HERE). This left me with the dilemma of the Sultan needing just a little more 'game' to step up into a regular SoMo machine. I've solved the problem and boy howdy am I digging the result. Three easy add-ons have absolutely transformed this bike.

1. '09 Reba U-Turn with 20mm Maxle Light. I can't believe how stiff this little fork is. Our post-turkey ride this year took us down three of the best DH trails on SoMo: 24th Street, Holbert, and National, and the '09 Reba blew me away. I was hoping, but not expecting it to be this good. The damping is really good too, sorta like a mini-Lyric.

2. Stans Flows on King hubs, but most important, built by Dave Thomas. In the year and a half on the Sultan, I've felt the limitation in the 29 inch platform is the flex in the wheels and the fork. I asked Dave to build them stiff, and boy are they :thumbsup: He did a trick move of lacing 3 cross/2 cross on both the front and the rear. I asked for a 3 cross/1 cross like he did for my Highline, but he said he recently broke a King flange so he doesn't do it anymore. You can build a lighter wheel, but it won't ride as well. They're about 2000 grams all said.

3. Spot 5.5 rockers. I love the 1/4" lower BB and the more compliant ride at the top of the travel. It took the bike from XC to Trail.
 
#7 ·
Alpenglow said:
Are you running tubeless on your Flows. I ask because I have a set of Flows/Hadleys awaiting the arrival of my 09 Sultan. I wish to run them tubeless and was wondering if I need to run rimstrips with them or if they work like the Mavic UST Rims. Stans's 29er Rim strip seems like it is made for a narrower rim. Thanks for the pics and ride stoke.
No rim strips needed. Just the yellow rim tape.
 
#8 ·
Thanks JNC

jncarpenter said:
No rim strips needed. Just the yellow rim tape.
I love the Virginia and Maryland Riding. I've been here since May and have ridden the Front Royal Area, Gambrill, Watershed and some other good spots. Currently only have a Highline, so once I get my Sultan Built up, I'll be riding a lot more of the All MTN and XC trails. Looking forward to hitting up Harrisonburg and Pisgah next spring.
 
#9 ·
jncarpenter said:
No rim strips needed. Just the yellow rim tape.
What JNC said, plus a few tips.

1. Watch Stan's video.
2. Pay attention and follow his directions. Don't be a dumbass like me and think it's caveman obvious.
3. Stan's sells 2 widths in the yellow tape. Flows take the wider tape. You'll need a couple of Stan's stems too.

The only problem I've had with Stan's rims is not following his directions which gave me leakage around the stem. I also had a problem with a lousy build where the builder neglected to use spoke prep so the nipples would loosen to the point of puncturing the tape. Had to completely rebuild the wheels and fire the builder (I won't name names but it wasn't Dave Thomas or Larry. They're both very good IMO).
 
#11 ·
cycljunkie said:
Richard, what travel setting are you typically running on the Reba? I think the a2c is the same as a Manitou Minute 120? Looks like a sweet rig!
With only three rides on it, I've been running it at 100 (approximately) for climbing and general trail, and knocking it up to 120 for descending. I took it down 24th street, Holbert, and National Friday and it handled them far better than I expected. That's mainly why I'm so stoked about it.
 
#14 ·
I like that little climb that is right after the waterfall (3rd picture). I can usually make that and climb out of there with no stopping or dabs from that point. I'm not superhuman enough to make the waterfall, but if you ram into that rock (where your front wheel is) with speed and pedal, you can made it up and over and keep going. Technical climbing is fun, I only rode Mormon up for the first time a few weeks back, usually I go full-deal national climb, and the technical climbing is fun.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top