I've joined a cult! The CULT!! Build Thread Alert!!!

[Chilli Rinse]

Cheers mate, I appreciate the offer.

I should warn you though, once I have something being sent over that one thing mysteriously morphs into three or four things!!

It's the best way to do it 

[Mikku]

My mate said "yes" to bringing the pads over, so I've just put in my order! If all goes to plan, I should get my hands on them mid-Sept, which gives me a few weeks to get the build going!

[Chilli Rinse]

Nice one, glad you're sorted. I think they will look great on the build

[Mikku]

I bloody well hope so or you're off my Christmas card list!

Assuming that they do look the part, then I'm thinking this plate could be the icing on the cake!

[Mikku]

Okay, so when I first picked up this frameset, I thought about doing a stealthy, all-black build. I then thought about adding a bit of gold, not only because I like the John Player Special look but also because I already have some gold parts I could use. However, I then started to use some of those gold parts on my GT, namely Promax cranks and brake lever, so a new idea came to mind:- go for silver instead of gold. Again, this was mainly due to having some suitable parts lying around and not wanting to spend any more money!

So below is a picture of the Shimano DXR cranks, a Shimano BB and that Kalloy post that I recently picked up. In addition, there's a DXR brake caliper hidden in a box somewhere, which should tie in things nicely, assuming I can find it. Everything else will be black, including the bars, stem, grips, lever, cable, seat post clap, rims, hubs, chainring and pedals. I have some time off work coming up, so the plan is to stop talking and start building next week. Updates and progress pics to follow.

[Mikku]

So I actually did some spanner work on the Cult yesterday. Well, just a little! Unfortunately, there's no pictorial evidence as for some unknown reason, I can't upload photos at the moment, so you'll just have to take my word for it.

I bought the frameset with an assortment of parts including an Odyssey headset. Or at least some Odyssey headset bearings. No worries as the Cult race forks have a built-in crown race and I had a Shadow Conspiracy dust/top cap to cover the upper bearings. I had a choice of black bars in my own box of spares, namely some used Supercross "Lil' Flatty" bars and some nearly new Elevn bars. Both are between a 7 and 8" rise and about 27" wide. The SX bars have a few battlescars, so I decided to put those on to begin with, coupled with a black Promax stem, then added some Vans grips and an Artek brake lever. However, when I went to mount the stem/bars, I ran into my first problem. The fork steerer tube is uncut and therefore quite long and I don't have enough headset spacers. I've therefore called a halt to proceedings while I order a set of carbon spacers online. They should be here by the weekend but I won't, as I'm having a short break in South Korea. The next update will therefore be next week, including some pictures. Hopefully!

[Mikku]

A bit more progress yesterday. Quite a bit actually, though still no pics to share due to empty paths!!

So my 4 carbon spacers arrived - one 20mm, one 10mm and two 5mm, and the 20mm fitted the best. With the headset locked into place, I put on the Rhyno Lite/Odyssey wheelset then the Kalloy seat post and an S&M spc. As a temporary measure until I can find something more suitable, I put on a white Tioga D-Spyder seat. I was intending to use my black version of the same seat but that's now seeing service on my GT. With a seat on, at least I could flip the bike over and install the Shimano BB and DXR cranks, along with the Sun Ringle ZuZu pedals. That's all the time I had, so that leaves the chainring, chain and brakes to do. I'm away again this weekend (at Fuji Speedway), so won't be able to do anything else until next week. However, I should be picking up the Cult padset!!

[Mikku]

The padset has landed! Now I just need to finish the bike. Actually, I guess I could put them on now but it doesn't feel right to do so before the build's done.

[Mikku]

Slowly but surely the Cult's getting done! I had a bit of a hold-up with the chainring when the unknown brand but new-looking matt black ring that I bought with the package didn't fit the DXR cranks. It should have done, with a 104mm BCD, but it just wouldn't sit flush. So I decided to see if the Profile Elite chainring from the Quamen would do the trick and thankfully it did, with the no-name chainring therefore finding a new home on the Quamen. With that hiccup overcome, I re-used the Izumi chain that came on the GT (I will replace this with a new chain down the line), which just leaves the brakes. As mentioned earlier, these have gone AWOL, so tomorrow morning I'm going to dig through of all my boxes to see if they turn up. As a back-up, I have a new BOX 3 caliper in black, which should do the trick.

[Chilli Rinse]

The padset has landed! Now I just need to finish the bike. Actually, I guess I could put them on now but it doesn't feel right to do so before the build's done.

You are a patient man, but it is the proper way 

[Mikku]

So I spent a couple of hours trawling through those boxes and finally found the Shimano caliper. I hasten to add that those two hours included having a look at things I had forgotten I had, so it wasn't a complete waste of time!

With the caliper fitted, I then ran into my next problem. I hadn't realised that the two cable tabs on the frame are designed so that the inner cable is exposed between them, with no outer cable. Is that to save weight or what? In any case, it was a pain in the arse because I didn't want to cut up the fancy Odyssey "Race Linear Slic Kable" that I was intending to use for this bike. I therefore had to find an alternative, which I was thankfully able to do quite easily and cheaply at my LBS, who had some of Odyssey's basic Slic Kables in stock. So with one of those bought, cut up and installed, the Cult was ready for its maiden shakedown ride.

After an initial scare when the handlebars pulled back 10 inches (loose stem bolts) and then another shock when a snake slithered out in front of me, the Cult performed well! I immediately noticed the longer tt (it's 21.5" tt, compared to the 21" on my GT) which makes it more difficult to lift and keep the front end up. In fact, it rides very similar to my Crupi which has the same length tt. Next step is to therefore put some more mileage on it, get the brakes dialled in and perhaps play around with the chain length. After that I'd like to see what it rides like on track.

Pics to follow as and when...

[Mikku]

A bit of an update. I swapped out the black, Tioga D-Spyder seat (that I had borrowed from my GT) for a Shadow Conspiracy seat that I picked up over here. Pics of the seat and the completed bike can be found here:-

https://bmxmuseum.com/bikes/cult/125300

I've also been riding it a bit more and am keen to see how it performs on track. I'll update this thread as and when that happens.

[Chilli Rinse]

She looks ace Mick 

[Midschoolfool]

Lovely.

I?d have gone black seat post though.

Then sat and said 'there's been a muddah ? in a Scottish accent.

[Mikku]

Thanks guys!

Yeah, I know what you mean about the seat post. It looks unbalanced at the moment, though won't look as bad once the post is lowered for the track. I may well pick up a black post down the line though. Another option would be to switch out the bars to balance up the silver but the only ones I have are shiny chrome. Will see how it rides on track before spending any more money.

[Chilli Rinse]

No pads? Did they not fit or just didn't look right once in place? I guess I'm definitely off of your Christmas card list now 

[Mikku]

Christmas is cancelled this year! I'm bloody working (it's a normal, working day over here), so no Christmas spirit for me or anybody else around me, bah humbug!!

The pads are still in the bag, for no other reason than laziness! That and not being able to post any photos on here!!

However, you've spurred me into action, so I shall rectify the situation over the weekend!

[Mikku]

Gave the Cult its track debut on Sunday with a practice session at Oizumi in Osaka. I took it along with my GT, so could compare how they felt. Unsurprisingly, it was more difficult to get and keep up the longer front end of the Cult. This was not helped by the fact that, as a temporary measure, I had built it with the only chain I had lying around, so the rear wheel was almost at the back of the dropouts. A quick check with the tape measure showed a 2cm difference of wheelbase between the two bikes. However, apart from highlighting my poor manualling skills, I didn't feel that the Cult was overly long on track. Not as light or agile as the GT for sure but it felt just as good if not better than the GT through the rhythm section. I wonder if the slighter longer wheelbase or additional weight was a factor there? Possibly a bit of both.

Overall, though, I was quite impressed by the Cult. I'm sure moving the rear wheel forward would make it even better, as would replacing the 43t chainwheel with a 44t, as I didn't like the 43:16 gearing for the track. I should be out racing this Sunday, so will use the GT for that but am seriously thinking about making those changes to the Cult to see how it feels then, if that pans out, I may well give the Cult a race debut during the next few months. Maybe baby!!