The second anniversary of the 2023 Millennium Falcon MTB is fast approaching. That’s an odd thing for me. I don’t like when one of my MTB bikes is used for more than a year and a half, let alone two years. I don’t want to be riding antiquated machinery built on lost ideas. I want to be forward thinking or at least current in my practice. DEVELOPMENT is the game, so I keep re-designing and produce new bikes. Money and time is all that slows me down.
The Falcon is a VERY good mountain bike. There is little that is bad about it. It climbs well, it goes downhill well, it feels great when pedaling and on long rides. But isn’t that the problem? I don’t yet know what could be better. There are improvements that should be made but nobody knows what they are. The bike may be the best I’ve ridden but that doesn’t mean that it is the best it could be or is finished. What is to be done now is to push on the development principles that got me here. Keep pushing. Get it to the breaking point. I don’t want to feel comfortable in terms of development. I want to be scared. I want to bet it all on black.
This is the T-65 Starfighter….or as most know it, the X-Wing Fighter. This is a name for the general class of spacecraft. I’ve done two specific X-Wings in the past; Red Five and Pink Five. Those were particular ships, though.
The T-65 Starfighter is different than the Falcon. There isn’t anything revolutionary about it. It is a package of subtle refinements that (hopefully) add up to a big change.
- 1 degree steeper head tube, 68 degrees from 67 degrees.
- 2 degrees more handlebar sweep, 18 degree from 16 degree.
- 6mm longer front center, 858mm from 852mm.
- 1mm shorter rear center, 404mm from 405mm
- 5mm lower crank axis, 300mm from 305mm (due to a switch from 175mm to 170mm cranks)
- 0.5 degree steeper ESTA, 76 degrees from 75.5 degrees.
- Ovalized top tube from 1.125″ round
- New head tube
- Improved print models for chain and seat stay yokes and dropouts
Just like the last two road+ frames, this frame was constructed on the Samantha frame fixture. Since those frames were made I’ve done two big rounds (first and second) of improvements since the 2024 PVD Gulfstream G650 RD+. I also did more work on the calibration system. The results of the new were was immediately apparent in how straight and true the frame was at the end of construction. It was rewarding to see that. I have a few more improvements planned for the fixture but it’s a project very close to finished.
New work on the handlebar design and tooling was used on the Starfighter bars. Math and ideas move this forward. Sadly, all of this shows up in the back end of design and can’t be seen in the artifact. Changes in CAD are hard to see. Looking at the generations of designs and tooling for these since 2018, it is wild. Things have come so far and work so well now.
Notice that my bars have 12.5mm more leverage over a commodity cockpit. That’s 3% more at the same width.
This was a fun idea that sprang from trying to maximize the ‘reach around’ flow that came together so well on the Gulfstream. The ‘flying buttress’ yoke! The difference here is that the Gulfstream had a lot more room to work with. Something struck me with this support blade. I figure that it’d be nice to breathe a little 16th century tech into the designs.
Dropout details are always fun. It’s what’s hard to see on the inside that is the most important. Modeling for these involves several novel methods to build a high amount of detail and wall thickness. Most folk avoid doing this as it’s difficult work. This shows that nothing was skirted.
A few setup parts changes were made when putting the Starfighter together:
- Narrower HT AE05(EVO+) pedals from the Race Face Atlas
- 170mm cranks from 175mm
- 35mm wide Race Face ARC front rim from 25mm WTB KOM
- New PVD headset cover
I’m hoping that these setup changes open up a little bit more of the trail and relax the mode of riding. It’s hard to say if that will be so. Shorter cranks are trending and I need to move away from my old school tendencies. Being able to lower the crank shell is always a plus.
The narrower pedals are just smart and still provide ample platform. This is something that more folks should be looking at as this is what hangs up on rocks more than anything else. 20mm of width clearance matters.
The wider front rim is a bit stupid and will add weight but it could be fun for a bit to have a more beefcake front tire profile. 10mm is a big change. Like the all-road and clunker bikes, massive gains can be had on rigid bikes with rim and tire increases. This bike has a 160mm fork. Does it make sense to follow in that direction? We will see. Until then, the look has changed significantly.
The Pink Panther Pink (RAL 4003, Heather Violet) powder color was primarily chosen as a throwback to the 2018 PVD Warbird MTB. That bike really was a revolution in mountain bike geometry. It was (and probably still is) the meanest hardtail in the world. I took risks. I proved things. The blazing pink color was pronouncement of dominance. It had better be a fucking sick bike if it’s going to be painted pink. Inside the Starfighter, I saw that also. Almost like it would be the utterly refined version of the Warbird. I wanted the Warbird seen in this bike. Obviously, I already have a sick kit to go with this color.
A few notes taken during construction and assembly of this frameset:
These should inform me when I’m designing the next bike. Nothing is perfect and everything needs improvement.
- For frames with 1.75″ down tubes, I should increase the seat tube length 5-10mm. Fitting the seat tube bottle is very snug and could use a little room. This is less of a problem with smaller down tubes.
- Slightly more extension of the seat tube above the top tube. From 35mm to 36-37mm?
- The tops of the chain stay yoke struts should have more of a radius than flat.
- The chain stay yoke cross bar should decrease in height. A smaller bar would make more sense.
- The chain stay strut should have wrapped around the tire more as seen from the top side. There was space there that should have been used.
- Larger fillets on the sharp edges of the chain stay yoke.
- Maybe an L-shape for the flying buttresses of the chain stay yoke.
- Open up the diameter of the dropout slot on the brake side from 19.0mm to 19.5mm. Adam Prosise needs a goddam pacifier.
- I’d like to make a nice blind heat sink for the seat tube. Something that is in place even when in the fixture.
Assembly:
I revisited the setup of the SRAM Transmission with my short 410.7mm (direct, 404mm horizontal) rear center. I last wrote about this in 2023 for the same reason I’m addressing it now. It looks like SRAM has opened up the manual for sub-425mm rear centers even thought they don’t approve. It still isn’t in the range that I need. But the calculator that I came up with still points to 114 as the appropriate length… or is it.
I’d be right at the edge if I extend the 34/415-421 selection down to fill 12 teeth like the adjacent selections. That means 114 links to 409mm. If I am to swap to a 32t ring at some point, I’d certainly be in the 112t link length range.
I did some investigation of pully positions for a variety of bikes with Transmission at my local shop. Both in the setup cog and the 10t cog. I think that 114 links may even be long. Tempting. I need to keep studying this.
The new PVD headset caps look very nice. It’s too bad that the powder coating is so thick at the top of the head tube as there are matching details that should have been seen to make this pop even more. One of the value propositions for this cap was the ease of setup compared to the Cane Creek parts. Just varying the CC/HSS2054 0.125mm shim spacer sets the height of the edge over the head tube without the limitation that the OEM caps have. It also looks great with either 35mm or 32mm spacer stacks.
Photos:
The photo shoot forced me into a corner. Several days of non-stop rain going on and forecast. I needed to figure something out or wilt on the vine. I figured that the large solar shades over the parking lot at Archie Williams High might mitigate some of the big rain drops. While the background is less than desirable and light poor, it did help to mist over the bike and create the fancy effect that others pay for. Anyway, I did my best given the moment.
Of course I forgot something in the first photo shoot…the data plates. Ugh. I’ll get a few photos of those on the bike in the next few days. I’m truly ashamed by this as it’s a very important detail that I take pride in. I also forgot to remove the decals from the rear rim. That makes the bike look trashy. Fixed after these photos.
Now the question, is it all an improvement?
2025-02-08, Sunny Saturday. China Camp
Windy and I got out to ride in the dirt, finally. Starting from the main, front side entrance and up Bay View. Then up and around, Nike site, and down and around the back side, and back. It was a pretty chill ride with nothing big or super fast. The ground was very wet with water flowing in places. Sloppy and slippery in the chunks. Still, we were out there for a few hours and I got to feel the bike.
This is just a quick list of observations:
- The new firmware on the derailleur is SOOO much better. I don’t think that my last update was more than 6 months ago but they finally seem to have made the system….usable. Just in time for the cable versions coming out. Yay.
- I just put a new ring and chain onto the drivetrain but it feels much better than it did before. Smoother and slicker. Maybe my first chain was too early in the process and later chains are better. I don’t know but it felt good today.
- The new WTB Volt Wide Chromoly saddle felt very hard, or my ass is soft. Either way, I wasn’t getting the comfort that I’m used to. Will do more research on this.
- Narrower pedals may be a little trickier for real MTB but I’m also a little rusty right now and conditions were harsh and slippery. We will see how this goes when the trail is bigger.
- The 18 degree sweep of the bars is very noticeable. What a feel! I really need to think some more about it. The old 16 degree was in a vague transitionary zone for ergonomics. The 18 degree is over to the other side. But where am I now? What is this? I want to get a few more rides in on a better day. It’s cool. There are good things about it. More later.
- The front end feel is so, so, so light. Not bad light. Just, there isn’t any heavy feel at all. I’m almost confused but that could be that first rides like this there is a lot of over thinking while in dank. That makes a mess of things. I’m saying that I love it. I just need to get some more data on the edge case for how this reacts.
- The bike felt like a new bike. Obviously, it is. But all of the small changes have this bike feeling quite different. Like the differences between a fast smuggling ship and a combat fighter. I guess that that nail is hit on the head.
- Saddle location is good. No issue so far.
- The crank length change was basically un-noticeable. So the lower height of the bike comes with little cost.
- Heal clearance could still be better. The dropout component is good, it’s the bent tube section that is interacting. To change this, I’d need to move the bend farther from the cranks and connect to the dropouts at a higher angle. I don’t like that. Increasing the straight stay segment makes the stays look week and lame. But shouldn’t I fix the issue. This is an existential question.
2025-02-09. What a day! Up Tam, Northside, 999esses, and junction.
Much better. The bar sweep felt much more natural today. Like it was home. It takes a night of sleep and some time to get used to new things.
A round of sitting and spinning to get up the hill. I’m still old, fat, and slow but the bike is quite good. Nice riding position. Efficient and dancy. While the lower bb shouldn’t have any effect when seated, it has a glued down feel.
Passed/got passed by Rachael Lloyd and her crew of groms, so that was nice. Start into Northside and the bike is so solid and planted. It’s eating the trial. Every tight stream crossing or rock garden is flow. Every time I thought that there would be an issue, it came through without regard.
Then I go down 999esses. Wow! I was not expecting this. While I figure that this would be where the bar sweep would start being more of a problem, it simply wasn’t. It was actually better. Granted, this is basic black-diamond, tight, natural singletrack. No giant hucks or drops. It was planted and felt so good. I let go of the brakes a few times in the chutes and it was all good.
At the bottom, I go around Lake Lagunitas to hit the rock staircase by the ranger house. That is a reference feature that can tell you some about hanging up. I charge it, and I bop down seemingly faster than ever. Most probably due to the increased front center and rim width. The steeper head angle and reduced trail (96mm from 103mm) wasn’t an issue. The wheels are also 5mm farther apart from the Falcon, 1262 from 1257. Maybe that’s a thing.
A distracting thing about today was that the bike felt so dialed in it’s assembly. No noise at all, just solid and functioning. Perfect glassy shifts and no noise in the system. It felt like what those world cup folk get. The problem, though, was to not have that skew the interpretation of the geometry. I tried…but the bike felt so good.
Today helped. The bike is working right. The only real issue was traction on the pedals. My feet were all over the place in the rough. It could be the pedals or just that they were wet and grimy during all the downhills. I’ll have to run a test on this.
Another note, I bumped into Matt McKibben after the ride at Split Rock Tap & Wheel. Weight came up. Of course, I had no idea. I generally don’t know. Since we were at the place where weight matters, we figured we’d find out. I was betting over 30. He said less. With 3/4 full water bottle, tube and tools, and a big front fender…35.4 lbs. You wouldn’t think it when riding but yup, this ain’t no toy bike. On the trail, it feels so much lighter.
More shakedown updates coming after the big rainstorms pass.