The Frankenbike

Wes' first mountain bike is still going strong. He bought a Trek 6700 at Route 66 Bikes in 2002. Like everyone does with their first mountain bike, he started swapping parts not too long after he bought it. I'm sure the rear derailluer was one of the first things, and saddle. Bars and stem not to long after that.

By 2005, the summer after I graduated from Carolina, this is what it looked like (V2):




New bars, stem, saddle, fork, derailleurs, crank, BB....


All of that stuff eventually came off, on went a SS wheel with an ENO hub and Voila! - Version 3. It was Wes' second SS. One week before Wes raced the Ouachita Challenge for the first time, he thought it would be a good idea to swap the suspension fork for a rigid 26er fork. Hmmmm. I won't say who thought that was not a good idea, or who eventually agreed. Whatevs.



At some point that year, I think I gave my Redline SS to my sister, I got the Frankenbike, and Wes bought a Karate Monkey. It was light, fast, and fun. A good reprieve from the road bike at times. It was harsh!



Eventually, I wanted something a little less harsh on the front end, but didn't want a boingy fork, so we opted for a 26er carbon Pace fork (suspension corrected) with a Bontrager RXL wheel and a mechanical disk brake. Version 3 was fast, but Version 4 was a rocket ship. And LIGHT!



I could make this bike go pretty fast, but not for super long distances. Wes and I joke that the aluminum frame feels like you are hitting a rigid pole with an aluminum baseball bat. I eventually got another bike, and Wes another... And eventually we stopped riding it a whole lot. I would take it out when I wanted a little extra workout, or when I just felt like riding something connected to the trail a little more.

Version 5 is definitely connected to the trail.



Can't tell a difference between Versions 4-5? Look closer.



We fixed it! Wes is on vacay right now and my work schedule is very flexbile, so we are up for daily adventures. We've been talking about retiring the Frankenbike for awhile and it's not too far off. But this was a fun way to reinvent the bike for snow riding.

We put a 16 tooth cog on the rear, but I think you could run a 15 pretty comfortably. We went to Rock Bridge. I had to beg Wes to let me ride it. It took awhile, but eventually he gave in. Rocketship x2 on the uphills, not as much on the downhills. We are both getting used to cornering and riding the technical bits. It'll come. I pretty much had a s**t-eating grin on my face the whole time I rode it.

Yep. Pretty fun.