NS Snabb 130 - build

PB Forum :: 29ers
NS Snabb 130 - build
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flag girvins-vector
Posted: May 2, 2019 at 10:42 Quote
Hello

I have been on a journey to update from my 2012 Salsa Spearfish 29er trail bike to something with a little more travel and updated geometry.
This will be a build thread and some story how I ended up here…
flag girvins-vector
Posted: May 2, 2019 at 11:11 Quote
Here is the old Spearfish:

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flag girvins-vector
Posted: May 2, 2019 at 12:49 Quote
Originally I wanted a carbon bike for the weight. I wanted 130mm travel due to where I live and ride and obviously some updated geometry from the Spearfish.

This took me on a journey to visit many bike sites to compare geo and pricing. Oh, I also wanted a frame-only as I wanted to build this up for myself.

I should also mention that I have some industry connections that allow me access to some deals on stuff.
flag Wyattsdad
O+
Posted: May 5, 2019 at 2:50 Quote
I do love my snabb 130. Trail ride and race enduro. I have played with it a bit to get it more comfortable for a 200+lb rider.. rear shock sucks. I did run full volume spacer on that and went to 2018 160 Yari RC debonair front fork and the bike is an animal now! Took some dialing in and still wishing for rear shock, but gonna just get a 150 Snabb and that comes with better shock. Unfortunately the races have big drops and jumps that kill me on 130. Other than that it is glued! The longer fork was needed to slacken and lengthen a wee bit and pick up bb wee bit which was need for my type of riding.
flag girvins-vector
Posted: May 6, 2019 at 10:45 Quote
Thanks Wyattsdad

…continued on how I got to the Snabb.

And so I began comparing geometry numbers on a number of bikes I had access to at regular price and at “industry deal” price.

I spend months pouring over the numbers trying to ensure the bike would fit and what the cost would be.

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flag girvins-vector
Posted: May 6, 2019 at 11:08 Quote
This is where a big problem for me started to show up. Any way you slice it, there is going to be a cost of $3000 CDN to get a carbon frame. That is just for the frame/shock and not including any border fees.

This is just to get the frame to the US/CDN border at a brokerage company like SCC. I would still have to travel to the US and bring the frame over the border with me (still the cheapest way to get it across).

This problem continued to weigh on me as I was putting together my final build (on spreadsheet).

Originally, I wanted the Spot Mayhem in Large. After a friend helped with sizing I was settled on the XLarge but that $3k frame number stilled weighed on me.
flag girvins-vector
Posted: May 6, 2019 at 11:18 Quote
This is when I started thinking…why do I have to get a carbon frame?? There has got to be an alternative to carbon where I still get the updated geometry. Of course there will be a weight penalty but there has to be an aluminum frame out there (accessible in Canada).

I found that Commencal Canada has the Meta Trail 29 frame in their “la Carte” program for $1700 CDN. This is a really good price but I missed that the shock was not a part of the deal and soon pricing began to creep closer to that $3k number again. Frame $1700 plus DPX2 $700 = $2398 plus Ontario tax = $2710. This was close enough to $3k that I would just get what I wanted – the Mayhem – for the extra $300.

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flag girvins-vector
Posted: May 28, 2019 at 11:28 Quote
This is when I stumbled on a posting on PB in BuySell from LamaCycles for a 2018 NS Snabb 130 for $1700. I did a ton of research on the 2018 NS Snabb 130 and it turns out the geometry is the same as their 2019 Snabb 130 and it comes with a DPX2. The geometry is dead-on what I am looking for in a large bike.

This is a killer deal!! This is the Canadian distribution that sells NS bikes. So for $1700 you get the frame, shock rear axle and post collar and free shipping!!! Add the tax in Ontario and we are at $1921.00.

So I bought it. I spoke with Ben at LamaCycles and he was great. He even hooked me up with a Lama tee shirt.

The frame showed up in three days and it looks killer. It has this matte black anodized finish that looks so nice. The Large frame weighed in at 3543 grams with shock (7.81 lbs) which I think is respectable considering the Spot Mayhem is around 6.75 lbs (un-confirmed source from a forum).

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flag girvins-vector
Posted: May 28, 2019 at 11:48 Quote
And so the build begins.

I have a frame and a fork with all the other bits slowly coming together.

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Stay tuned
flag girvins-vector
Posted: May 28, 2019 at 11:51 Quote
I now have an XT crank that went through an ultrasonic cleaner and lost most of its paint on the arms themselves. Oddly enough, the spider kept the paint.

So I have sand blasted it and painted the arms black again. I wanted to anodize it but the mix of metals (aluminum arms and steel shaft) do not allow for this process.

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Hope the paint holds up...
flag yonsson
Posted: Jan 6, 2020 at 5:29 Quote
How did your build work out?
I just bought a 2019 frame in size L. From what I’ve read 2019 is longer at both ends and with a little slacker HA.
flag girvins-vector
Posted: May 27, 2020 at 20:11 Quote
The bike turned out great. I will have to post up a few pictures of the new set-up. I am really enjoying the bike.

It took me a while to set-up the bike. I purchased a 2019 Fox 36 150mm and I have since lowered the travel to 140mm. I also started with a 50mm stem and I have since moved to a 70mm stem. The front of the bike was just too light on the climbs and I have found I don't need that much travel. The bike climbs much better now.

I love the new geo and travel. The bike seems to just pick up speed in the downhill sections I ride so quickly.

A few things:
- I ran all my cables inside the frame. This was super clean but I am getting some rattling from them inside the frame on bumpy downhill sections. I will solve this but I am not sure how at this moment. I might run some rubber tubes around the cables inside the frame.
- I would run a seat post reamer down the seat tube to ensure there are no welds that will rub the post. I am getting some creaking noises from my post in the frame. I have not found a shop around here that has a 31.6 reamer yet but I will get this solved too.

Let me know how your build goes!!
flag girvins-vector
Posted: May 28, 2020 at 11:38 Quote
This will be some of the build pictures...

Box of goodies...
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