Swoofty

Yeah it's all true what you've said. You can get 37x24 and 37x 22 bearings, but the GXP 'step' is farther from the BB so a 37x22 doesn't really help unless you're just using an isis axle. Racing line make/made some press fit Spanish to BB30 cups, but the interface walls are pretty thin and it's not 24mm. Hambini will make you some titanium Spanish to BSA cups that will fix you up, but the price is likely silly just to run gxp cranks. Otherwise you do just what I did with pressed 37x24 bearings and then 24mm and 22mm spacers to suit. I'd certainly rather my Czars had wider bearing spacing, but honestly I don't notice so much. It's even less noticeable with shorter crank arms. Good luck! PS- if you do press in 37x24x7 bearings, remember Spanish bearings are 9mm thick so you'll need to take up those extra 2mm between the bearings and the frame. I used a 2mm spoke bent into a circle. So far so good after 3 years.

Let us know how the BBB pads hold up to MTB use.

Looks a beaut! Goldrush.jp has an Alias 20.2, but it's probably a little late...

I have only used them for trials. On my Mojo 3 I still use Magura 9.P pads. I don't do any trials on the big bike and it's pretty much always dry conditions here in Southern California.

If you're using an MT5/7 caliper, the trickstuff 170s are great pads, but I still prefer the BBB BBS-371S pads over everything else. The BBBs last a little longer than the trickstuff, but it's the connected pads with the retaining pin hole that's the key. I use retaining screws to hold the pads and not the split pins the pads come with, but this setup basically eliminates any pad movement. The trialtechs are great pads too.

...

OK now the bike's finished. Rebuilt the wheels to Spanks and violet nipples throughout. Since it's destined to be my Germany bike, I decided it didn't need carbon wheels if it's going to sit in a cellar for 11 months out of the year. Spank Race 33s are really nice rims and I found an American Classic 15x100 hub for the front too. Now it's got the Holy Grail of wheelbuilding; 230mm spokes front and rear and left to right so I only need one size replacement spoke for the whole bike. Now I can use those carbon wheels for the next bike. Hmmmmm....

Yeah I freaked a little initially when I pulled that out, but the drive ring looks fine. The 'bits' were non metallic; some kind of fiber. No idea what or where that came from. Now it sounds nice and crisp again.

I decided to rebuild the wheels on this one so I can go to more appropriate nipples (mmmm... violet <3). In so doing I also decided to service my Profile hub. It hasn't been serviced since new in 2015 (originally on my Ozonys Iron, YIKES!) After a good cleaning, only one of the springs was a bit dodgy, but everything else looked fine. Pretty impressive hub, especially considering these haven't changed in 20 years or so.

Mine have held up well. I gave them the 3 month tune up and they haven't changed since. I stopped riding this bike not too long after that and went back to 24" (although I did ride it yesterday b/c I'm in recovery mode and it's the easiest riding of my trials bikes). I'm not in the proper financial situation to build up a pair of berds for the 24 yet. Adam your hub interface is definitely much more elegant. I can't wait until someone asks me to build them a 48h BMX wheel with these

Sidewalls will be your biggest problem. I use Ikons at the moment and I love 'em, but I'm not tubeless. To keep tires light, the manufacturers rob the sidewalls for weight savings. I love Holy Rollers on my 24" bikes, but the 26" version feels heavy and sluggish compared to the competition (Ikon, Crossmark, Magic Mary etc). The Holy Roller 26 does have a better sidewall than the competition, but nothing like a Der Kaiser which weighs a ton and rolls terribly. I haven't tried the Vittorias or the Specialized tires. 26" street trials is a very small market so I doubt we'll see anybody come out with the perfect tire for us.

Crank length is pretty much an endless debate. 99% of all the 'crank length' vids on youtube mostly concern roadies, but they're not far off. I rode 175mm for years buying into the fact that torque = force at a distance. Now I have bikes with 170mm arms and I don't notice any difference whatsoever in 'torque'. What you do notice is stiffness. 170mm, no matter the brand, feels stiffer. You also have less fitment issues with 170 not hitting the chainstay on smaller bikes. Not sure why Tarty wouldn't have 170 and smaller available unless it's still supply issues. Whenever trials riders start up the 'crank length' debate I just remind them that Charlie Rolls rides 165mm ;-)

Christmas Eve update - Got the fork late today, but managed to get it installed between the million other things I still have to do today. Only managed a driveway ride, but now it feels really nice. I built up the carbon hoops for it and now with carbon bars and fork it might be the most carbon 2001 Moab out there. Should get a real ride in tomorrow and then I gotta clean up the frame; and that rear brake hose.

Carver got back to me and they're hooking me up with the perfect rigid option for this bike. Which is a real relief because this project was in jeopardy otherwise. I've already gone back to disc in the rear and now I'll probably rebuild the wheels to the carbon hoops to make this the most ridiculous Moab ever.

So here's the weekend update. I changed all the usual stuff - taller stem, brake booster, single speed kit, extra light saddle etc. I tightened everything down and took it for a hard ride and it's definitely the fork that kills this whole project. There's no way to lock it out and with the adjuster full tight, it's still a noodle :-( Carver haven't gotten back to me about a rigid option and I really don't want to drop $200 - $300 for a fork that will really only suit this bike. I already have a kick ass 26" street bike so this one's never gonna rise too high. My wild hair is leaving me. I'll have to think hard about continuing this one. It was quite fun to ride and surprisingly light. I definitely noticed the long chainstays and that fork gotta go!

Yeah that's the silly part. I don't want to spend much on a fork because it won't change the overall value of the bike and I certainly won't be able to use the new fork elsewhere. Carver makes a few rigid forks that are suspension compensated that I would at least be able to turn around if this project fails. The first build will include the Manitou as locked out as possible. Ordered spokes for the wheels today ;-)

I got a bit of a wild hair yesterday and decided to see if my old Moab can trials a bit. The bike was given to me by a neighbor a few years back because her son had outgrown it. After that it was my son's first MTB until he outgrew it as well (and got a sweet Santa Cruz!). Then it became a dirt jumper of sorts for a bit. It went back to XC form for me to ride with my son while I was building up my Ibis. Now it's just been sitting in the garage unloved for months. For no reason in particular, while out riding on my Czar 26 yesterday, I thought it might be fun to throw some old trials parts at it and see what happens. The frame's got disc tabs, but for the first go round I'm going with V brakes to make it a proper 2001 trials-ish thing. Also, I've had this old Echo rim waiting for a project like this for about a decade. But, I also have 2 unused carbon 26" rims that might be interesting... Not sure what to do about the fork yet. The Manitou is dead, but replacing it seems silly and most of the rigid options are too long or too short. At any rate, it'll give me something to play with over the winter. I'm open to suggestions.

Sad news indeed. Best wishes for a speedy recovery.

OK here's the update. And... I haven't really changed anything :-( I put Holy Rollers on it, which I think look better and I like them better. No progress on decals either, but I did black all the red Clean crank parts. The bike's really grown on me though. It's super stiff with the square tubed rear end and oversized BB. If Echo ever comes back I hope they make a 26" Limited Edition version, that would be perfection.

Looks nice! Good to hear a comparison to the Hex. I wish it had a tapered headtube so you could run the better alloy forks and probably stiffen up the front as well. Maybe someday TMS will make a perfect bike. Let us know how you get on with it.

Very curious to know how you get on with it. I almost bought one back in June, but got another 24" instead. The geo looks spot on; very similar to a Czar 26. Looks good!

I save those for my BMX that ain't got no hose ;-) It's actually a miracle when I can land once around on any bike. :-(

Perfect example ;-) Elegant, like a fine shawl worn loosely, not like a visit from the bike dominatrix. Message me your address and I'll gladly send you some Magura olives and barbs and such. I'll update the Czar Neuron LE thread this weekend and if you ever find yourself in Los Angeles, CA give me a shout and you're welcome to ride it.

I can't even focus on the bar with the state of your rear brake hose.

I have two 24" street bikes at the moment. The other one is 3x/3x and I honestly can't tell the difference. I can do rolling 180s, but not 360s and I do a lot of front end moves, but no gaps to front. It is very possible that I'm not sensitive enough to notice a difference. The difference may be down to the 3x/radial hub being designed to be that way as opposed to a regular hub built radial non disc side. Extralite make some pretty incredible hubs. The 3x/3x wheel is also Extralite, but the J bend version hub and I've never built it radial. When's your birthday? I'll send you an Extralite hub ;-)