# Superlight M3 + setup questions



## bmxconvert (May 17, 2006)

*Superlight M3 *New Pics**

So after 11 weeks of waiting and racing the first 3 races of the season on 3 different bikes my M3 finally showed up. I'm psyched.

Ok so it's not really "superlight", but damn impressive for an 11lbs frame.

This is how my living room and bike room sat while I waited for the frame









































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Specs:
Intense M3 medium "works" finish
Manitou Swinger 6-way w/steel 400lb spring
Boxxer WC 
Sunline Direct Mount stem
Sunline V1 bars
Odi Ruffian Lock Ons
Avid Juicy Carbon brakes 8" front 6" rear
WTB LaserDisc FR wheelset
Shimano XT cassette
Sram X9 Short cage r, Derailleur
Sram X9 Shifter
Bontrager Race Xlite Pro saddle
Bontrager Race Xlite ACC seatpost (carbon with a sliver of aluminum for support)
Shimano Saint 170mm cranks
Race Face 36T DH ring
Sram PC-990 Hollowpin Chain
Welgo MG-1 pedals
Gamut guide
Michelin DH16 2.5 front tire
Michelin DH24 2.2 rear tire
Bontrager 26" standard tubes
Target weight: 40lbs, achieved weight: 38lbs

I got the bike together Wed. night and didn't have a chance to ride until this morning. This beast is a blast. I do have a little bit of concern with my setup though. The amount of sag I have is somewhat "correct" for my weight but I'm skeptical. The E2E of the shock is 240mm, when I'm on the bike in riding position the E2E is 223mm. Thats approximately 25.5% of the travel, the ideal sag is 30%, however I feel like I'm sagged too far as it is when I'm pedaling or cruising around, once I get going down the hill, I dont notice. Should I go ahead and drop it down to the full 30% sag?

I certainly feel that its not a supple as I would like. It's certainly plush on jumps and hits, but plowing rock gardens could be a bit smoother.

Any M3 owners with setup tips?

As for the weight it tips the scales at 38lbs even, however I didnt get an axle from Intense so I borrowed the stock steel axle from my Session10 which weighs in at 1.5lbs(stupid as ....). Once I get a hollow aluminum rear axle I'll be set. Next season I'll switch to the new FSA Gravity Light cranks to save about 200g, along with a Ti spring for the rear shock, road cassette, ceramic bottom bracket and possibly new tires(we'll see how the Michelins do. At 1400g they are a bit of a pig). That should save me about a pound, in addidtion to whatever I lose in the rear axle. 
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Update: 
I finally got some ride time on the bike. Not much, but SHEEEESH! I can't wait for the next race! You guys were correct, I was off on my weights. I've swapped out the rear axle, installed the bashring and chain/seatstay protector and the weight is now 39lbs(so says the shop scale, which has been accurate in the past).


























































-Kevin


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## thatdownhillkid (Mar 11, 2007)

damn
thats like 20 sets of tires in the corner


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## drakan (Dec 16, 2006)

Also, think about switching your Swinger x6 to a Revox intristic next year. 
But, that looks really nice. 
I do think you should run full sag. With friggin 9" of rear wheel travel, I doubt you're going to be bottoming out all the time.


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## ianjenn (Aug 1, 2004)

I sag about 40% of that bikes travel don't worry about it!!!


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## bmxconvert (May 17, 2006)

ianjenn said:


> I sag about 40% of that bikes travel don't worry about it!!!


The reason I ask is that it [the bike] feels... for the lack of better words akward. The rear is sagged, but the front is hardly settled into any of its travel. I've got the fork at about 120-130psi right now. I don't dare let anymore out until I can talk it over with the Sram tech's as thats about 10-20psi below what they recomend.

Part of the issue may be bar height and the ability to get over the front end. I went with the Sunline stem as its the lowest direct mount stem I could find and the bars are only 1" rise. Maybe a headset with a lower stack height could help get the front end lower.

-Kevin


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## Largextracheese (Feb 4, 2004)

*Nice*

I'd say get rid of the Swinger asap. They are junk. I've got the dhx5 on mine and it is really lively and plush. That Boxxer far outclasses the swinger so you are always gonna have that awkward feeling of imbalance. Put a DHX or a ROCO on it and you'll be set. I'd also make sure that you have the right spring on it. Try a 350 on there to see if it's rides better. Trust me, you will know when it feels right. It'll fly through the rough. Good luck!


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## ianjenn (Aug 1, 2004)

Try looking at CORTINA CYCLES custom valving that can be had for about $100 to $150 I think. It gets rid of the pedal platform so the shock actually works! I have a X6 Manitou and the bike rides super smooth but pedals ughgh not so good. I would run close to 4" of sag on that thing and try and ride the front a little more also!


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## Raptordude (Mar 30, 2004)

Swap out those rotors for the clean sweeps. Unless you enjoy the sound of killing turkeys as you ride.


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## nolson (Aug 3, 2006)

that bike looks pretty tits. check your math again on your sag, you only have about 14% sag.


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## RiDe66 (Aug 26, 2005)

nolson said:


> that bike looks pretty tits. check your math again on your sag, you only have about 14% sag.


Unless you have a shock that compress into its full lenght so even the bolts are compressed and the spring pop-out, he's correct with 25% .

Here's how to measure the SAG.

Initial eye to eye lenght [9,5 on M3 ] / When sat on eye to eye lenght [X] = SAG
SAG / Shock stroke [3,0 on M3] x 100% = Value of SAG in %.

I've raced a M3 the entire season with approx. 25% SAG. Sure it don't feel perfect but damn it was nice. However, I suggest you to swith for a DHX 5,0 [Propedal closed] to get a livelyer feel on the back end.


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## Rover Nick (Jul 13, 2006)

Nice bike

One question I have is if your going to the extent of using ceramic bearings, why not put ceramic ones in the hubs rather than the BB. It would be more expensive, but it will reduce rolling resistance more than in th BB


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## bmxconvert (May 17, 2006)

Rover Nick said:


> Nice bike
> 
> One question I have is if your going to the extent of using ceramic bearings, why not put ceramic ones in the hubs rather than the BB. It would be more expensive, but it will reduce rolling resistance more than in th BB


Ceramic bearings for the hubs are already on order, but won't be swapped until winter is through. I may have been a bit misleading in that I chose the Saints for their external bearing feature so that I could run ceramic bearing bottom brackets, however I would not be switching until the cranks arrive.

A new rear shock is in the works as well. I was going to try for the Vivid, but maybe a Roco instead. Those guys are cheap.

We'll see once the shock has had sufficient break in time.

-Kevin


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## chooofoojoo (Feb 22, 2007)

I might suggest running a bash on your chainguide. The gamut doesn't do a good job bash-less. 
killer bike though. 

also a bit on the fork not really feeling like it's properly sag'd when you're on it : it's probably not fully broken in yet. once you get some good rides on it then it'll settle a bit more.


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## matt (Feb 2, 2004)

Yeah you definitely need a bash on that thing.

I dunno about that weight but the bike looks sick. I like the look of M3s.


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## bmxconvert (May 17, 2006)

The only reason the bashring isnt on yet is because I needed to grind it to fit behind the arms and just haven't done it yet. Sunday is a tuning day so it will be on before then.

Thanks for the comments guys.

-Kevin


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## Gaulty-33 (Sep 7, 2007)

sorry to jump in, but what hight are you and how do you find the Medium frame? im 5'10" and looking at a medium Uzzi


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## Rover Nick (Jul 13, 2006)

Gaulty-33 said:


> sorry to jump in, but what hight are you and how do you find the Medium frame? im 5'10" and looking at a medium Uzzi


Def go with a medium. I'm 6ft and its kinda on the small side for me, but I like my bikes that way.


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## SHIVER ME TIMBERS (Jan 12, 2004)

first off how much you weigh??
I am the same height and 205....I run a 500 spring with DHX 5.0 (probably should have a 550 pound spring

on race day my bike is a tad under 38


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## trailripper (Apr 30, 2007)

bet you wish you could shed weight like your bike does huh smt


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## SHIVER ME TIMBERS (Jan 12, 2004)

SJensen said:


> bet you wish you could shed weight like your bike does huh smt


I just wish I was healthy......no ridin for a month so far and I go for surgery next week on my broken wrist......still hanging between 203 and 207 so that is good.....once weighed 232....will be doing a lot of XC ridin to end the year, so I should get down to 190/195 or so.......that is as low as I will go


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## trailripper (Apr 30, 2007)

i hear ya on the xc riding. just need to find a pedalable bike... $$ and timeeee


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## SHIVER ME TIMBERS (Jan 12, 2004)

SJensen said:


> i hear ya on the xc riding. just need to find a pedalable bike... $$ and timeeee


under 2k and 28.5 pounds 5 inches of travel.....Specialized Stunt Jumper


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## Uncle Cliffy (Jul 7, 2006)

Rover Nick said:


> Nice bike
> 
> One question I have is if your going to the extent of using ceramic bearings, why not put ceramic ones in the hubs rather than the BB. It would be more expensive, but it will reduce rolling resistance more than in th BB


I recently heard an interesting story about ceramic bearings. My buddy who works in a shop that sells more road bikes than anything said that a couple customers already burned up a set of ceramic bearing hubs and derailleur pulleys. It wasn't the balls that burned up, it was the races inside the bearings. I guess the ceramic balls are so hard that they ate the steel races up!!!  Anybody else ever hear of this?


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## XSL_WiLL (Nov 2, 2004)

I've got a brand new Ultegra 9 speed 12-27 cassette that I can let you have for a good price.


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## bmxconvert (May 17, 2006)

SHIVER ME TIMBERS said:


> first off how much you weigh??
> I am the same height and 205....I run a 500 spring with DHX 5.0 (probably should have a 550 pound spring
> 
> on race day my bike is a tad under 38


I'm 6 feet 145lbs(with gear) of puny muscle-less mass.

Heres what I've determined so far: 
After the winter season I will be switiching to a Ti spring, possily Vivid or Roco WC, road cassette(dura ace), Full XO, lighter tubes, Fsa Gravity Light cranks, Ceramic bearings for my hubs and bottom bracket, and a new lower stack headset.

I will be heading out tomorrow morning to do some solo riding/tuning. I got lucky enough to get my lady to shuttle me on our anniversary, how nice!

Pics tomorrow and an update on how tuning has gone. I've dropped the PSI to the minimum pressure backed the preload off another 1/2 turn. My high speed compression is left wide open on both the fork and the rear shock. I've turned the low speed compression in 2 clicks on the fork and one full turn on the rear shock.

-Kevin


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## bmxconvert (May 17, 2006)

SMT how do you have your build at 38lbs? Spec list?

-Kevin


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## SHIVER ME TIMBERS (Jan 12, 2004)

bmxconvert said:


> SMT how do you have your build at 38lbs? Spec list?
> 
> -Kevin


Ti Mag pedals...they don't even make them anymore
special 888
ti spring dhx 5.0
light thompson seat post.
Ti WTB seat
550 gram tires running tubeless

that is how you do it


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## westman (Jul 13, 2007)

Nice bike(s)!

You should really go for lighter tubes as well as switching that saint crankset onto a Hone crankset. Those things are around 930g with bb(!) and save you some weight. I have been freeriding and racing one and have several friends who all have done so without breaking them. And if you do, two of them are still cheaper than one saint set..


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## bmxconvert (May 17, 2006)

The saints are up for sale actually. As soon as the sell I will order the new Gravity Lite external bearing crankset to shed weight in that region. However, the cranks are a minute place to shave weight on a bike being as they are at what is essentially the fulcrum of the bike. Picking up the bike you can feel the static weight of them, however there will be no rotational weight saved and even in jumping of tossing the bike around there is likely to be no weight difference felt.

-Kevin


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## westman (Jul 13, 2007)

True.


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