Here are some photos of my personal steel APEX trail bike. This custom frame has slack geometry and a nice mixture of steel tubing and machined frame components - see details below:
TT/DT = Reynolds 853
ST/HT = Columbus Zona
Chainstays = Tange Prestige (superb steel MTB chainstays that are very rare these days!)
Seatstays = Nova Wishbone Style
BB Shell/Rear Disc Dropouts = Paragon Machine Works
Head Angle = 70 deg
Seat Angle = 72 deg
BB Height = 12.5" with 2.1" tires Chainstay = 16.77" level to ground Machined Head Tube = 5.25"
The build kit is fairly conservative with a 2007 Fox F100 fork, XT cranks, XT front/rear derailleurs, XT pods, XTR ti rear cassette and Crank Bros Twin Ti egg beaters. Easton EC70 carbon bars and post (Thomson post is temporary), Easton EA70 stem, WTB Pure V SLT saddle and ExiWolf 2.1" tires complete the package.
Special thanks to the Crazy F*ckin' German Tahn Von Rehmer at Willow Glen Bicycles for the light wheel build using Sapim CX-Ray bladed spokes, Hugi 240 rear hub, Paul disc front hub and Velocity Synergy rims. The current weight of this complete bike is 24.5 lbs with plans to upgrade to Hutchinson Air Lyte tubes and EC70 carbon post. Stay tuned for ride report #1 coming soon...
