Project Dentist Build

Because its gonna be your first question, no im not a dentist. I work as a CNC Machinist in a small job shop. Ive been making my own parts since I went to the local trade center for tool and dies when I was 16. In june 2018 I had my beloved Intense SS2 stolen. I had machined custom dropouts to convert it to 27.5 in the back and was running a 29 up front. Thankfully for insurance I had a nice check to go get a new whip. I was on the pinkbike buy and sell from the day the intense was stolen. Hopefully to find my beloved ss2 but also keeping my eye out for a new bike. I came across a Zerode Taniwha for $4600. Almost exactly what my check from insurance was. I was pretty shock to find a not only complete Taniwha for under $5k but also one with a killer build. I9 wheels, DVO suspenion, MT7 raceline brakes and a renthal cockpit. A few weeks later it was mine and I was beyond stoked. The taniwha was a dream bike that I never thought I would really be able to call mine.


Its not that I wasn't happy with it but as soon as I paid for the bike I already started ordering parts for it. Don't get me wrong there was nothing wrong with the bike how it was. My first ride on it I was in love with it. Yes the twist shifter blows but the benefits of everything else far outweighs the negatives. I couldn't believe how it felt thru rough stuff. Im not here for a review on the Taniwha but if you get the chance to ride one, do it! it takes a few rides to get used to it and get in the groove of the feel of it and after that its smooth sailing. Nonetheless before the bike was in my hands I already had ordered a I9 29er front wheel and 29er lowers for the Diamond. A DVO Jade popped up on the buy and sell for cheap and needed a rebuild. Problem was it was 8.75 instead of 8.5. I went for it anyways. I machined up a agressive offset bushing that used a M6 bolt instead of a M8 bolt which helped me have a little more room for fun. After that it let me fit the longer shock in and gave me 170mm out back. This helped balance out the front that was now at 150mm travel with the 29er.


Ill be honest I was extremely happy with the bike at this point. I wanted to put dual crowns on over the winter and paint the frame and that was all that I had planned.

I picked up some Dorados for cheap and did a quick mockup.


I ended up deciding against the dorados and traded a buddy for a set of his Boxxers. Now I went into this knowing it wasnt going to work because they were for 26" wheels but I had an idea and I had no idea if it would work. I took the 29er lowers from my Diamond and grafted them to the boxxers. obviously the spread and offset would be different so I machined some custom crowns to let the fit together and I also lowered the travel to 180mm.



Now I had been shredding on it for awhile at this point and loving it but I started to get the itch to make some changes. Its been my goal for awhile to be able to one day make bike parts for a living so im always thinking of ideas for parts I could make and sell. I decided to make some rotors. If i was gonna make my own rotors I might as well go all out.


The dorados were back and 240mm rotors were with them. The dorados are for 26" wheels. I wanted that model becuase of the shorter ATC. I Machined a new bottom out spacer that reduces the travel to 170mm but keeps the same ATC so my wheel doesn't touch the crown at bottom out. At this point I was missing the one off crowns I had for the Boxxer hybrids and decided the dorados needed a set. But I had some new ideas for this new iteration. Not only would they reduce the offset but they would have a matching headset that would let me use Tapered needle bearings.



After I got those knocked out I set my sights on making some cranks for the Pinion. Its a part thats been on my mind to make for quite some time and no one else makes any aftermarket cranks for the pinion. Another productive night later and I had a set in my hands. Little rough but serves as a good prototype for testing. Then I can make a final set out of Titanium.



One other part I ordered before I even had the zerode was a set of Trickstuff Diretissima Levers. They are what gave me the idea for the name of this Project Dentist.


At the time of ordering I went with the green for the lever color to match the DVO stuff. It took 7 months before I had the levers in my hand. I ordered in June and they arrived in January. Up until last month (june 2019) I had still yet to use these levers. My original plan was to pair them to the Raceline MT7 calipers. after thinking about it for awhile I changed my mind. I didnt want the bright yellow calipers anymore so I put them up for sale and went on the hunt for something new. First thing I thought about was getting the matching calipers from trickstuff but the now 9 month wait quickly put them off the list. I thought about getting some Mt5 calipers or some hopes. The issue with the hopes is they use DOT fluid. I could figure out the o ring size and get mineral oil compatible o rings for them but that seemed like alot of work so I kept looking. I wanted to do something different. Thats when I thought about the Hope mono 6Ti calipers. Now THAT would be different. Again it would be a pain to swap out the o rings. Not even an hour later I got a comment on one of my pics here that said I need some crazy brakes like hope 6 pistons. I replied and said it would be awesome but idk. He told me he had a set and it could be mine for some beer money as he had no use for them. At this point I couln't resist. StUone7 you are the man.


Shoutout to hope for not only their amazing parts but some killer customer service. I found the part numbers for all the o rings I needed, sent an email to hope and quickly had a reply with the size of each o ring I needed. Then I headed on over to McMaster Carr to get some mineral oil friendly O rings. I also picked up a Hope V4 caliper for the rear.

I had one last trick up my sleave for this rebuild. Cerakote. Ill let the pictures do the rest of the talking.






Im beyond stoked on where this bike has gone and how it rides. I never expected it to go this far. The only question left is whats next?

I dont think the taniwha will see any further evolution as another project will be taking over. Ive been working on it for quit some time. High pivot, Gearbox enduro bike.



If you wanna follow along with the progress you can find me on instagram @BurnsBike