I am not sure if this sounds completely insane or not to you. I was just looking at the price difference between a Carbon Fork and a decent suspension fork and realized that Carbon forks are Cheaper, MUCH lighter and supposedly have a bit of shock absobtion of their own right.
Obviously, this would not be meant for serious trail riding. This would be more oriented toward suburban-sprawl trekking on roads, sidewalks and the occasional 'shortcut'. So, most importantly..Is it Technically possible? Will MTB wheels fit on a Carbon fork? I plan on useing disc brakes as well. How does that figure in?
Also, what length chain should be used for a 52t road Crank and a 12t 8 speed cog? And as far as front deraileurs go, any recomendations?
What I'v picked so far:
- Leader LD 516H Mountain Frame
- Sette ZRO Carbon Road Fork w/ Alloy Steer Tube
- Sette F/X Carbon Handlebar
- Sette Venn Mountain Stem
- Dia-Compe Aheadset SAS
- Shimano XT Disc Wheelset w/ Sun Rhyno Lite Rim
- Nashbar Sealed Cartridge Bottom Bracket
- SRAM 4.0 Long Cage ESP Rear Derailleur(cheap, yes..but it should get the job done..)
- SRAM 4.0 ESP Twist Shifter Rear – 8 speed
- Nashbar 8 Speed ATB Cassettes(12x32)
- Shimano Sora Double Crankset(52x39)
- Nashbar Mechanical Disc Brake Set
This comes out to about 570$ and weights about..18-20lbs.(dunno wheel weight, assuming about 4lbs each to get 18lb weight.) My friend has a seatpost I like and I have a seat I like soo won't worry about that. I still haven't decided on a front derailer/shifter yet..I won't worry about that right away since I rarely go into lower gears anyway..Florida is awfully flat, afterall.
I am a technically oriented guy, so building my own bike dosen't daunt me, especially since I have a couple friends who are excellent bike techs...LoL Its just I rarely get to see them to ask these dumb questions. As far as money gos, I am going to spend around 600$ all together. Any little bits I may be missing I can pick up locally..