Can I show you my Green Weenie?

JonF

Well-Known Member
What's stiff, sexy, and glides effortlessly between your thighs? The GREEN WEENIE of course! She's 17lbs of custom, ultralight, exotic carbon fiber, titanium and CNC milled alloy. This fully rigid XC bike suffers no fools though, you better know how to handle her or else you get tossed like a chump.

This started out as a experiment to build an ultra light XC-type tool (on a BUDGET) for my those quick, midweek, after-work rides. I really stress budget because i have no idea if i would even enjoy riding a compact, fully rigid bike and forget about test riding anything anywhere about now. There's a lesser known area popular around here with great flow and without any real gnar: Narrow flowy trails with punchy climbs good for a quick rip and this build seems ideal for that terrain.

Being a tall dude, most of the Chiner HT frames are either non-existent in XL or the geo is laughable. Recently i was browsing the LightCarbon.com site and found the LCM908 frame was actually thoughtfully sized with geo that is usable. 485 reach means I wont be too cramped and the lower stack and heat/seat angles are conservative XC numbers so she'll be quick through the trees.

The heart of this build is that Lightcarbon.com hardtail frame and their rigid carbon fork. I also strived to have every major component group carbon on this rig with a smattering of titanium and lightweight machined alloys rounding out the higher stress, don't want a trip to the dentist, items. With all the decent, usable carbon weight weenie parts out there on the AliX, combined with known reputable brands for reliability where it counts and a few boutique brands thrown in for some bling, a new project was borne!

This bike, as seen, clocks in at 17.5 lbs and, at the time, cost ~$2800 USD to build. It is *very* light, *extremely* fun and accelerates like a rocketship!

I decided to have a bit of fun with the build and make a VLog of it along the way. Check it out and give me a Like if you enjoyed it!



This bike dances beneath you with a lightness suggesting it's barely there and accelerates like a stinger missile and rockets uphill like a Pike's peak racer. High speed downhill runs are sketchier than a politician at election time and the ride beats you up like five rounds with Tyson but yet it's still amazingly satisfying to rip. But yet it still amazes me how hard you can push this machine despite having zero compliance out on the trail. of course time will tell how long I can leave it alone for adding some squish and a dropper. It has become a PR machine for me on these smooth local trails as i've been demolishing my own times when riding my Ripley.


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JonF

Well-Known Member
So it turns out I can totally get along with the rigid suspension aspect, but the dropper is way too ingrained in me to forgo. Many of the trails around here a short punchy ups and downs that you just can't avoid so I had to upgrade the seat post to a dropper. I chose the BikeYoke Divine SL which is sub 400 grams and only 80mm of travel but it seems that it is enough after a few rides with it. Still not enough to get super rowdy but gives me some room to breathe around the cockpit without banging my thighs on the seat whose sharp edges were tearing me up a bit.

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JonF

Well-Known Member
It also turns out that the comically small and lightweight carbon/titanium pedals weren't very reliable. It didn't take long before the pins began to tear out and although they were threaded, there's not much meat on there to really prevent it. Some of it could have been my weight, unlike the bike, i'm no lightweight at 225 ready to ride. Was hoping i could sharpen the pins for more grip but they'll have to go. Popped on some Zeray carbon/nylon jobbies that have been holding up much better.

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Compared to a pair of large-ish OneUps... Size is usable, but the pins are definitely not. Interesting pedal nonetheless. Wish i could reuse the titanium shaft in something else.

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Patrick

Overthinking the draft from the basement already
Staff member
fun watch! nice build.

thanks for the share - your workspace is too neat! (meaning i'm jealous!)

The valors are nice - could you go chinaCarbon lighter?
 

JonF

Well-Known Member
And despite being a bone jarring ride, she does like to fly! Its just so damn light, its easy to just scoop the bike up from under you and pop off whatever is in the trail. The landings are a little rough though...

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And skinny tires add a certain liveliness to the ride.

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JonF

Well-Known Member
fun watch! nice build.

thanks for the share - your workspace is too neat! (meaning i'm jealous!)

The valors are nice - could you go chinaCarbon lighter?
Thanks! Was fun to build/film and edit as well. My first amateur attempt at doing anything like this.

I grabbed the Valors used from Dave T here on the forum. A decent lower cost option for the build, the set weighs just under 1400g and has like 50t engagement with the upgraded Stan's freehub. Downside is the i21mm width makes event the 2.2 tires very light-bulby. I'd like to try some 2.35's but i think it would be worse. Weighting my options for some chiner hoops but its probably going to be a grip of loot to drop 100-200 grams. I think version 2 of this bike with full squish may warrant that. Did i see an XL Epic for sale???
 

Patrick

Overthinking the draft from the basement already
Staff member
Thanks! Was fun to build/film and edit as well. My first amateur attempt at doing anything like this.

I grabbed the Valors used from Dave T here on the forum. A decent lower cost option for the build, the set weighs just under 1400g and has like 50t engagement with the upgraded Stan's freehub. Downside is the i21mm width makes event the 2.2 tires very light-bulby. I'd like to try some 2.35's but i think it would be worse. Weighting my options for some chiner hoops but its probably going to be a grip of loot to drop 100-200 grams. I think version 2 of this bike with full squish may warrant that. Did i see an XL Epic for sale???

for comparison, my fatbike weighs 10lbs more ;)
carbonminimum.

i'm upset you didn't say "click" but instead used a real torque wrench!
(or one of those preset thingies.)
 

JonF

Well-Known Member
for comparison, my fatbike weighs 10lbs more ;)
carbonminimum.

i'm upset you didn't say "click" but instead used a real torque wrench!
(or one of those preset thingies.)
I guess that makes this a skinny bike? 😋

The torque values and all these tiny fasteners are so low, your petrified you'll split something wide open if you use the old school Gudentite method. 🤕
 

clarkenstein

JORBA Board Member/Chapter Leader
JORBA.ORG
Wood be curious to see lap time differences of you riding this and something with a little more suspension and weight.
 

JonF

Well-Known Member
Wood be curious to see lap time differences of you riding this and something with a little more suspension and weight.
It's purely anecdotal, unscientific and totally subjective, but I've been crushing my own local PR's on pedal-ey trails and climbs that I previously set on my full squish Ibis Ripley.

The bike is so damn light, both in overall weight and rolling mass, it lunges forward authoritatively with every pedal stroke and damn near disappears under you on the climbs. That's gotta count for something, right? Lol
 

JonF

Well-Known Member
But tell everyone to come look at your little green weenie and that's just begging to have people point and stare... Maybe giggle too. 🤭
Whoa, whoa, whoa, oh no she din't! Someone done dropped the 'L' word up in here! It's not the size of the fork, it's the motion of the floation... Or some such. 😜
 
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