Friday 20 July 2012

Pompino Update ! FSA Carbon Pro Compact !

My Pompino sscx project had stalled a bit lately, but I'm determined to see the bike looking something like the picture I've got in my head and not let stuff get in the way and then for it to just fizzle out.  So this week I managed to buy a new crank, I wanted it to be carbon but a full carbon piece is just out of the question as I'm on a budget so the next best thing is a carbon wrap.



I managed to get an FSA Carbon Compact for £110. I'm not over the moon with it as I'm pretty sure it's a OEM product but for the money I can't really complain,  but I'm guessing that it will look pretty battered in no time as the carbon wrap layer is more like a thin layer of paint ! Eh oh....

All I need now to finish off the drive train is a SS chain ring, chain,chain guard.chain ring bolts and a freewheel sprocket. At the moment I'm running a 44 tooth front and a 20 tooth sprocket in the rear but as the new crank is a compact with a 110 bcd I'm going to fit a 39 tooth chain ring and a 18 tooth sprocket which will give me a slightly lower gear, I could fit a smaller chain ring but from reading different article's on gear ratio's I think 39 tooth is the best option. After spending a few hours searching the net it seems that there's not much of a choice for 39t 5 bolt 110 bcd SS chain rings, I would of liked to have used an aluminium Homebrewed Components ring from over in the US which are really nice looking rings but there seems to be a problem with delivery times as some people are having to wait 6 months or more, so I will probably use a steel Surly ring which will be very hard wearing.

I have found a great little company in the US that makes Chain guard/Bash rings of all shapes, size's and colours called BBG and they'r a steal at $20 including p&p.

I would love to have a White Industries ENO freewheel but for the time being it will have to be a bog standard Shimano piece finished off with a hollow pin/plate YBN lightweight BMX chain.

Next on the list after finishing the drive train is a Chris King headset, Easton ea90 90mm 0 rise stem in white and then the wheels which I talked about in last weeks Want it Wednesday article.

Slowly getting there !

2 comments:

  1. They look quite sweet. Can you explain why you need a bash ring. I don't run one on my mtb ss.

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  2. Hi Jez, thanks for your comments. I know you don't see many people using bash ring's on mtb's but there more common on cx bike especially sscx, not really sure why but I'm guessing it's probably because of all the running & jumping over the steeplechase obstacles you get in cross.

    I wish I could say that's why I'm thinking of fitting one but it's purely for poncey aesthetics reasons really as I'm a sucker for a bit of anodising. As I want to fit a red Chris king headset when I can I thought a red bash ring would look nice as the frame as a few red accent's. Also the outer chain ring tabs on the new crank are raw aluminium so it would cover them but it's not a done deal yet though, because if the chain line is ok with the ring on the outer tabs I might leave it like that, but as the bash ring only costs $20 I'll probably still get one as it's not the end of the world if I don't end up using it...

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