Private Repress

@LEON Very nice mate! Lovely builds. I totally agree about the short forks and lower front end. I’ve only gone for the higher rise bars as I’m 6ft 2 and have problems with my lower back. it’s quite a comfortable geo for me with my weight fairly central, makes for a well balanced bike. I seemed to let the Zebdi slip under the radar when they were released, I had a giant trials team which I was besotted with and never really paid Planet X much attention. shame really because it’s such a sorted frame.

@Ross McArthur thanks mate, I’m delighted with how it’s worked out, and it’s been worth the wait. Gearing wise it wasn’t so much it was lacking in any particular place, I’ve just always seemed to ride a harder gear than most, but I tend to a lot of rolling manoeuvres ie. pedal hop up a wall as opposed to static stuff. Haven’t had much chance to settle on it yet, but hitting street tomorrow after work, so might switch back yet!

Thanks @LEON Yes chainstay length is bang on 393mm, looks to be about +5mm bb rise with the short forks I’m running (only just accommodates the tyre/rim choice!)

Also dropped the gearing down a notch from 22:17 to 22:16 - not sure if I can get the chain any shorter yet... something to check later

@Ross McArthur you request has been duly noted sir: I didn’t have time to get the back wheel built before going for a ride on Saturday. So much fun though, hit a new concrete skatepark, which became over ran with scooters so went for a street sesh. Managed to snake bite the rear going front to back on a wall. Didn’t mind though as I stripped the wheel down when I got home and built the hub up on the spank.

Yeah to be fair not many many frames of this period had durable disc mounts. I’m not doing anything major on it and like to think of myself as a smoothish rider so hopefully will hold out.

Here is the bike as it stands now: I’ll get the back wheel stripped down over the weekend and rebuilt on the spank. Had a quick mess about on the drive and it’s a lot of fun, may opt for a short stem in the future and possibly stick these tyres on my Ashton in lieu of some slicker skate park/street friendly alternatives. I absolutely love it though. Street sesh this Sunday for sure.

Thought I’d share some progress on my lockdown project. Started off with with a bit of a desire for a midskool 26 that I could do a bit of everything on. Had some modern parts spare and a few classic, not quite enough for a full build. Oh and I needed a frame. Managed to get the Zebdi on this forum, lovely condition and fitted the bill perfectly: I’d picked up a second hand hope XC on an onza rim as part of a bundle of bits I’d bought, along with some tensile cranks. made sense to bang them on with the other bits I had so ended up with this: the front wheel wasn’t a permanent choice, just borrowed from my Giant, the intention was to have discs front and back for noiseless trials. Never the less I liked the red hubs so spent what felt like a year trying to find a red front hope XC. Ended up getting one on eBay, took 3 weeks to come as it was from France! I decided I wanted to run a 22t up front as opposed to the 18 I had on the tensiles. Not a straightforward task! Could not believe how hard it was to source a spider and bash ring. took a chance on this threaded spider on eBay and found a black spire granny god NOS, happy days! sadly on arrival I realised the offset on the spider meant it wouldn’t fix to the tensile crank arm. Argh! so bit the bullet and got some second hand middleburns with a spider: next up I realised the rear wheel had a small crack where the rim is pinned. So figured I’d get two rims, build the front up front scratch and replace the rim on the rear. Didn’t want anything drilled so settled on DMR DeeVees. Placed the order, in May and they still hadn’t been dispatched this time yesterday, so cancelled that, spoke to Tarty bikes and settled on some spank spoons. They arrived today! so laced up the wheel whilst I was on a work conference call following @Ali C wheel building tutorial to the letter (great vid if you haven’t seen it!). Then banged the wheel in the jig this afternoon to straighten it up:

Yes it requires a 19inch rear rim

Yep, the little plastic inserts will fit in just fine

@John Shrewsbury yes a very high stress point, especially if running rim brakes. How’s that extension Jarvis treating you?

Ah that’s a proper crack! Mine went on the weld where the chain stay meets the seat tube:

I’m not suggesting second hand is perfect, you need to be careful but there are some bargains to be had - also need to consider what your budget permits. Great way for beginners to get started. I personally love recycling old bikes and giving them a new lease of life. Almost as much as I enjoy riding. Some current examples of mine: Ashton ET bought on eBay, not a mark on the frame A respray and a few choice parts added later, an absolute joy to ride: Zoot, was bought from gumtree with standard v brake build, I gradually upgraded some of the parts, but admittedly the frame has since cracked (being replaced with a Marino when it finally arrives) My lockdown project - Planet X Zebdi - bought the frame on this very forum! Still waiting on a few bits to finish it: And the most recent purchase, a mint Ashton Justice Resolve: all second hand, and all sourced at very reasonable prices. In fact you couldn’t buy a new inspired bike for what I’ve bought all of these bikes for.

I’ve got some MT30 brakes for sale if you are interested? Same power at the MT5s

The DMR I was looking at is still on mate: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/293598575569 A bit of a project but could work. If you want a smaller frame and lighter than the Identity then this is also on eBay... Base TA26 at £125 if that suits your budget https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/184310420081 @Ross McArthur has a beaut of a build on this same frame. Take the bash plate off and it looks ace. Small rear triangle will make it nice and light to hop around on.

DMR trailstar is a double disc option that can be used for just about anything - there’s a frame on eBay for £50 +£15 delivery

Ditto! Ordered before lock down

You could also buy a middleburn spider for those cranks and then fit a different bash guard of your choice... that’s what I did:

Couldn’t agree more regarding communication Adam, and aside from a great selection of parts and knowledge I think that’s what separates tarty bikes from the rest. I’ve actually help improve the communication with customer in the company I work for for based on the experience I’ve had buying from you (it’s a surveying business). I presented some of tarty bikes emails that come through at each part of the buying process to our board members. After which we rewrote and implemented more automated communications for when our customers buy our services and provide feedback to contribute to our NPS score. that said I went on your website yesterday having finally sourced hope XC hub I was after to order some spokes and realised it was down for maintenance. Doh! I can wait until tomorrow

Sorted the problem out... changed the crank set! Thanks for everyone’s help!

@isitafox Ah yes the Onza one, that’s what I’ve replaced (old one was knackered), although I might be tapping you up to see if you fancy selling it if I can’t bodge the spider I have haha

@isitafox out of curiosity what spider do you have on them? I’ve ran into some compatibility issues!

@isitafox Ah balls!

Thanks @LEON I’ve managed to find a 5 arm one on eBay, spanking new! also managed to source a second hand 5 arm spider to fit the tensile cranks, sprayed black it should look trick: looking forward to finishing this project! Now just need to source a red or black hope XC hub for the front

Hi guys, been looking for a simple plain looking bash ring, 4 bolt, BCD 94mm. Seems that the only ones available these days is by inspired (I’m not a big fan). Anyone know of any others on the market and where to get them from?