# Smooth Movin' Steel....



## BikeSATORI (Mar 20, 2004)

Just thought I'd post up my ride here... already put up a few pics in the "Show off..." thread, but it seems the urban/dj/park forum could use some more activity. 
Well, It's no custom mini-boutique bike, I didn't weld it myself, and no pink or chrome bling, or the hottest mtb parts to hit the market (although I did manage to basically color coordinate while still using parts I had on hand or selecting ones I wanted....) 
Anyway, I've been riding it for just over a month now, working out the kinks, adjusting, modifying, etc., and so far, it's coming out better than I expected. I wheeled off, and ground down the cable stops, since I don't use a rear derailleur, and I'm debating doing the same to the V-brake mounts, and grinding off the ends of the dropouts, just to lose some weight and make it look a bit smoother. I took off the gyro stops, since I don't use one and went with a longer brake cable.
chainstays are locked down at 15.5", tt is 22" c2c, bb height is 11.3", wb is 39.625", bar height is 37.75".


































a few more photos:

























almost forgot.... 
here's the spec list:
Eastern reject frame
Marz DJII 06'
FSA Impact Pro integrated headset
Atomlab GI Dirt 24" rims in dark grey
Atomlab GI 20mm hub front
Eastern Bikes 14mm X 135mm Singlespeed disc cassette hub and 12t driver
Demolition tensioner (drive-side only)
DMR Moto RT front
Kenda Kiniption rear (really nice)
WeThePeople Royal 175 cranks in grey & euro 19mm bb
Animal lite V2 28t sprocket
Shadow Conspiracy Interlok V2 chain
Animal Steven Hamilton Pedals
Demolition F-1 bmx stem
Atomlab Jesme Cig 22.2 bars - cut down to 24.5"
Animal Edwin DeLaRosa grips & cheap plastic barends that will hopefully last the season
Avid BB7 mech disc caliper - slightly modified to be bolted more forward
Hayes 6" rotor
Tektro cheap lever, custom bent lever blade
derailleur cable housing for brake
Macneil post w/ custom guiness aluminum can shim
Macneil SL kevlar saddle
Coalition seat clamp
custom ground frame, eliminate cable hangers, round off dropout ends, etc...

let's hear what you think...


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## sittingduck (Apr 26, 2005)

Wow, that looks really nice. What kind of frame is that? I really want a bike like that, I love my 24" cruiser and my STP, something in-between would be really cool.


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## cranberry (Nov 15, 2005)

Nice ride bro!:thumbsup:


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## BikeSATORI (Mar 20, 2004)

sittingduck said:


> Wow, that looks really nice. What kind of frame is that? I really want a bike like that, I love my 24" cruiser and my STP, something in-between would be really cool.


hey, thanks a lot... I enjoy wrenching, as well as riding...
well, it's actually an Eastern frame that I bought off of Leigh Ramsdell earlier this spring. It's apparantly a "rejected" prototype DJ-4, it's stamped on the bottom bracket, but they changed around the frame a bunch, with different design and geometry (I like this one better personally) before it hit the market to the public.
the most expensive part on the bike was the frickin' fork! everything else I either had, or managed to source for fairly cheap, and I offset those costs by selling my wethepeople thrillseeker and an older schwinn superstock 1. so, I see it as the perfect addition to my current stable of rigs for now. :thumbsup:


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## fiddy_ryder (Jun 15, 2005)

looks pimpin...im thinkin to do the same to my top when i get it pc'd.. all the guides and der hanger,, smooth the whole thing down..


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## free rider (Nov 14, 2005)

that is a sweet lookin bike, but is it just me or is the head angle super steep?


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## XSL_WiLL (Nov 2, 2004)

65 bucks is a steal (or steel if you like cheesy puns).

Nice bike. I've been thinking about grinding the v-brake mounts off of mine as well.

Probably not too important to you, but any idea on the frame weight and complete weight?


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## pavement_hurts (May 13, 2006)

A very sweet ride. I like how it looks low-key. Much more stealthy...


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## BikeSATORI (Mar 20, 2004)

frame is about 6.2lbs, maybe an ounce or two less now, minus the metal I ground off... total weight... I'm not sure, don't have an accurate way to measure unless I bust out my rapala bass scale.  I would estimate somewhere in the mid to high 30 mark. I did build it being fairly weight concious and keeping it very simple, but durable enough to where I can set it up and forget it, like my bmx bike was. 
Have to watch out, as I'm sure most of you can tell, there are a LOT of over-built and over-engineered parts on the market. And even more marketing departments out there pushing these ridonkulous parts. Especially with that stupid little trend in the last few years with these kids putting triple clamps on their hardtails, etc. Trends die hard, lasting function is where true innovation comes from. I refer to a Japanese word and basic philosophy called "kinoubi", which essentially means- through function, comes true beauty.... anyway, so much for that simple reply....


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## rickthewelder (Sep 16, 2005)

Outstanding. I dig the lines, and colors.
Nice job.


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## Ojai Bicyclist (Nov 4, 2005)

Dude that looks so clean.


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## BikeSATORI (Mar 20, 2004)

thanks for the props guys.... and yeah, it is still "clean", seen only street riding, and just 1 trip to the dj's so far (and I was squirrellmaster out there!). seriously, I hate all of these "billboard" bikes... I feel no need to show off name brands more than any of the actual components on the bike, and like rickthewelder said, it's all about "the lines", not some roman text smeared all over, or some racerboy stripes like intense's ridiculous sticker jobs.... 

free rider - it's not just you, the head angle is fairly steep, it's the replacement for my bmx bike. :thumbsup:


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## hofferfish (Feb 5, 2006)

nice bike iwas so stoked when ifound out eastern was making 26ers, can we get a review?


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## dirtyharry (Jun 27, 2006)

Wahhhhhhhhhh! I want one! :cryin:


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## BikeSATORI (Mar 20, 2004)

hofferfish said:


> nice bike iwas so stoked when ifound out eastern was making 26ers, can we get a review?


yeah, some pretty good stuff... what do you want reviewed? I like how it rides, I'm still getting used to it, but that is how it is with any other bike. It manuals super stable, nice stand-over, but bb height could be about .4" higher, but no problem at all. I scrape pedals occasionally. It's probably just me, or that the dj sections that I attempt to hit are too steep and close, but I like this bike (so far) much much better as a dedicated street rig instead of a full on dj'er. This could be different with the Eastern DJ-4, but I haven't ridden one yet.
The headtube and the bb were in great shape when I got the frame. It came with a quality 14mm cnc'ed chain tensioner with an integrated derailleur hanger too, but I used an old demolition one I had instead, since I went SS with it. 
oh, I guess I should also mention, it was basically designed for an Eastern 14mm X 135mm cassette hub, but can also be used with a DMR revolver 14mm hub (not as nice as the eastern) or just with a normal 135 mtb hub with axle converters and bolt-on. With the 14mm axles you have the option of running bmx pegs if you wanted too (I wouldn't on the disc side, unless you run V's), but it just results in a bomb-proof, stiff build, and zero-offset spokes as well. 180 proof!!!! just like everclear south of the mason dixie line, whoooot!!! let's set this night on fire boys!!! alright, so it's 190.
The frame also came with screw out studs for V-brakes, as well as screw on Gyro stops that go on the side of the headtube, instead of using a fugly lower cup from a gyro. This would look extremely smooth and low-stack when used with a stem, such as an Animal or Kink, that has the upper gyro mounts cnc'ed on.... but that's not my thing. 
oh, also one thing to note, with this particular frame set up as I did, the X-up and barspin clearance with my forward foot SUCKS!!!! I don't know, do many people here have that problem on their street rigs??? I didn't even consider this before...
as soon as I can get a ride organized with some friends who aren't too lazy to bring a camera or shoot pics (myself included), I'll try to get some action shots and post them up.

anyway, I also thought it was odd, I posted this up on Unrealcycles bike porn pages, as I've visited those for a couple years just drooling, and the first vote I got was a 2 out of 10... :skep: oh well, I didn't build it to impress... just to ride.


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## chucker1221 (Feb 7, 2006)

did you paint the fork


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## BikeSATORI (Mar 20, 2004)

chucker1221 said:


> did you paint the fork


nope. Removed stickers. just painted the spots on the frame I hit with the wheel grinder with a simple paint marker.


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## BikeSATORI (Mar 20, 2004)

some close up pics, one of the bolt on gyro stop that some were wondering about. one of the cnc'ed der. hanger/tensioner supplied with the frames, another of the 14mm disc SS cassette hub, and some other various random detail shots...










































as you might be able to see, this frame, especially noticeable at the headtube junction, and the seattube/stays junction, is quite different than the DJ-4. and apparantly, the removeable gyro stops are not an option on it either...


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## Bunsincunsin (Jan 5, 2006)

Thanks for posting these pics BikeSATORI! They have cleared up some questions.

This frame is looking quite tempting, I will look into this frame some more!



One question, what type of BB does it use?


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## hofferfish (Feb 5, 2006)

thanks for the review it seems nice but i dont like the front foot clearance issue but maybe that doesnt happen on the DJ-4


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## Bunsincunsin (Jan 5, 2006)

I read a review on the DJ-4 and the guy reviewing it said the front foot clearance has to do with what type of fork you use.


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## BikeSATORI (Mar 20, 2004)

Bunsincunsin said:


> Thanks for posting these pics BikeSATORI! They have cleared up some questions.
> 
> This frame is looking quite tempting, I will look into this frame some more!
> 
> One question, what type of BB does it use?


yurhopeeyan.  (the wethepeople royal cranks work for both 73 and 68, but I only used 1 spacer, so I'm just assuming it's the smaller of the two, at 68mm) chainline is PERFECT.

I also see they just came out with an inhouse built wheelset, using their hubs. Nice! but I like mine how they are.


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## dhracer1067 (Jan 13, 2004)

BikeSATORI said:


> hey, thanks a lot... I enjoy wrenching, as well as riding...
> well, it's actually an Eastern frame that I bought off of Leigh Ramsdell earlier this spring - and guess for how much, hahaha, $65! It's apparantly a "rejected" prototype DJ-4, it's stamped on the bottom bracket, but they changed around the frame a bunch, with different design and geometry (I like this one better personally) before it hit the market to the public.
> the most expensive part on the bike was the frickin' fork! everything else I either had, or managed to source for fairly cheap, and I offset those costs by selling my wethepeople thrillseeker and an older schwinn superstock 1. so, I see it as the perfect addition to my current stable of rigs for now. :thumbsup:


Heh. I got mine for free from eastern. I ended up giving it away for free though cause i didn't feel like building it up. didn't have a 14mm wheel for it is mainly the reason. they were designed around like a 6 inch fork. That's why it's so steep with a shorter travel fork.


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## BikeSATORI (Mar 20, 2004)

wow, even better hook up for you.... nice work, how did you get that 2wheeldeal? But, mine wasn't designed around 6"?? They advised me it was a 4" model, and that's how I built it, works perfect!


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## BikeSATORI (Mar 20, 2004)

well, I did weigh the complete bike today. Pretty accurately, measuring a couple of different ways, it came out to about 32.5 lbs each time. Not bad, lighter than my original estimate. :thumbsup: still could lose maybe another .5 to 1lb pretty easily.... maybe if I ground more off of the dropouts, cut the top .5" off of the steerer tube and lost the top spacers, swapped to super skinny tires, change my chromo crank spindle to a Titanium, swapped the hayes rotor for the original thin avid mech, took out bar plugs, etc.... but, I'm not too concerned with it at this point. just want to hit the streets... have been considering swapping out the 3" rise atomlab Jesme bar for possibly a 1" rise Atomlab GI dirt bar cut down.... we'll see.


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## fiddy_ryder (Jun 15, 2005)

cut down the excess seat post and switch out to the new BlkMrkt stem... 190g's!


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## BikeSATORI (Mar 20, 2004)

fiddy_ryder said:


> cut down the excess seat post and switch out to the new BlkMrkt stem... 190g's!


yeah, already cut down my post quite a bit - the macniel setup is super light to begin with, but I could pick up a Knight Ti macneil post bolt. I already have hollow chromo bolts in my Demolition stem, that is probably around 9-10oz to begin with, so I don't see a blackmrkt stem in my future, not to mention, I like running 22.2 right now, and the blackmrkt has like a 10 deg rise I think, I don't want that. 190g's is frickin' amazing though.


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## fiddy_ryder (Jun 15, 2005)

the 0* is now available!! you know you want it :yesnod:


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## BikeSATORI (Mar 20, 2004)

I wanna be Jackie Onassis.
I wanna wear a pair of dark sunglasses...
I wanna be Jackie O oh ohh pleease DON'T DIE!!!!!!

can't let a good thread die, haha, ok, a little biased here...

anyway, some aftermath pics of what I ground off a week or so ago. hard to find paint to match actually, so, I just used a Uni-Paint oil-based paint marker that I found laying around...
and just a couple other minor updates after a trip to albe's...

seatstays w/out V-brake Bosses :thumbsup: smooth movin' steel...








just a few of the larger bits I found on the shop floor after grind wheelin' and dealin'. you know, these steel bits are much heavier than you would expect, more than I expected. They are a good amount of weight in your hand...








Kink Light bar-ends... actually much lighter than the plastic ones I had.









I lost just about .8-1lbs after swapping some stuff- FSA ti 48 spline spindle (I couldn't afford a Profile) lost about half a pound right there over chromoly, Knight ti macneil bolt, and after more grinding and swapping out bar-ends... not bad.


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## JMH (Feb 23, 2005)

*More steel, different frame*

I ground all the derailleur cable guides off my Transition Trail or Park... didn't know what to do about the ugly so I just covered it with shiny black sticker material. Forgot about it entirely!

Even with the stickers the frame looks way cleaner than it did.

JMH


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## BikeSATORI (Mar 20, 2004)

JMH said:


> I ground all the derailleur cable guides off my Transition Trail or Park... didn't know what to do about the ugly so I just covered it with shiny black sticker material. Forgot about it entirely!
> 
> Even with the stickers the frame looks way cleaner than it did.
> 
> JMH


oh yeah, nice rig bro. clean. (hot rocks I hate dmax's though). the der. stops were the first thing to go on mine, before I even built up the frame, but I left the 3 zip tie guides for the brake cable, that was it. The ToP had a front der. one too, right? You should GRIND off that derailleur hanger too! you better hope it's not rusting under your stickers... 4130 loves to oxidize...
how much does yours weigh in at? I'm not positive, but I think the ToP frame was similar in weight to mine, but I'm not sure... I just didn't like the long cs's.


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## fiddy_ryder (Jun 15, 2005)

looks good. gonna have to do my top too.. i see you got the front brake through the steerer.. i would too but no way in hell i can throw a bar spin, hits my foot. even running 170 cranks...i might be able to sneak one by if i can find a tire with a shorter profile than the holy rollers.


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## aggiebiker (Apr 18, 2006)

very nice bike 
insane


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## BikeSATORI (Mar 20, 2004)

yeah, I brought it back, what you got to say?


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## fiddy_ryder (Jun 15, 2005)

HA! i grindin the extra cable routing thingys off my ToP long with the front der stop a few weeks back. I painted and cleared the raw metal but the paint didnt quite match.. cant really tell unless you know to look for it. Only thing left is to cut off the rear der tab. it was a bit much to try to tackle with teh dremel. Im hoping to get the whole thing poweder coated/painted this winter. nice bright metallic lime/neon green.. still decinding on decal colors.. maybe just white or black outline..


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## Vacation Special (Apr 12, 2005)

Why use derailluer housing for the brake?


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## BikeSATORI (Mar 20, 2004)

Vacation Special said:


> Why use derailluer housing for the brake?


trial and error experiment... (several naysayers, had to see for myself and I'm cheap). and the Odyssey linear cable was a bit too short, although I might try one next just to see. 
it's pretty stiff, holding up fairly good, but coming apart at the ends a bit now... doesn't bind... I wouldn't necessarily recommend it, but it works.


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## Watson605 (Sep 30, 2006)

I love that ToP


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## mentalone1995 (Jun 12, 2009)

*Your sick bike!*

That is so awesome, I've been trying to find one of these for ages. Any search details I could use in google to find it. I just can't find the 24" version, is yours 24" specific?

Any help will be good:thumbsup:


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## BikeSATORI (Mar 20, 2004)

wow, here's a vintage thread.

Hey sorry mentalone1995, sold the bike long ago in turn for a USB Molly and a bmx bike...
This particular frame was just a proto (which I also customized quite a bit myself), never saw production as it is here, but was heavily revised for the actual DJ-4 frame, which has also been replaced with the more recent offerings from Eastern Bikes. Check out their current line-up if you're still interested, they have come a long way. Heck, this was just the beginning! The entire cycling industry has come quite a long way in just these past 3-4 years!

Glad you dug the bike though, it was a fun one and I had a blast with it.


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## rickthewelder (Sep 16, 2005)

BikeSATORI said:


> wow, here's a vintage thread.
> 
> Hey sorry mentalone1995, sold the bike long ago in turn for a USB Molly and a bmx bike...
> This particular frame was just a proto (which I also customized quite a bit myself), never saw production as it is here, but was heavily revised for the actual DJ-4 frame, which has also been replaced with the more recent offerings from Eastern Bikes. Check out their current line-up if you're still interested, they have come a long way. Heck, this was just the beginning! The entire cycling industry has come quite a long way in just these past 3-4 years!
> ...


To this day, one of the sweetest lookin I've seen.
It was an inspiration !
RTW.


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## xDetroitMetalx (Mar 19, 2009)

BikeSATORI said:


> trial and error experiment... (several naysayers, had to see for myself and I'm cheap). and the Odyssey linear cable was a bit too short, although I might try one next just to see.
> it's pretty stiff, holding up fairly good, but coming apart at the ends a bit now... doesn't bind... I wouldn't necessarily recommend it, but it works.


Dude, I got the Odyssey linear cable and I thought it was going to be too short too. But I can get 2 full bar spins and the brake doesn't clamp up by the tension and it even brakes normally! Buy yourself a set and give it a try, so far I love mine with my BB7 / Speed Dial combo!


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## BikeSATORI (Mar 20, 2004)

xDetroitMetalx said:


> Dude, I got the Odyssey linear cable and I thought it was going to be too short too. But I can get 2 full bar spins and the brake doesn't clamp up by the tension and it even brakes normally! Buy yourself a set and give it a try, so far I love mine with my BB7 / Speed Dial combo!


Didn't work for me on this bike, must have been the combination of wide bars and long'ish tt. Works great on my bmx though. And also my Molly with the U-brake where it doesn't have to reach down to the disc/drop-out.
Bike is gone either way, take a look at the dates, this is from 2006! :thumbsup: Only bikes I have with discs on them now are my trail-rigs and other mtb's.


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## XSL_WiLL (Nov 2, 2004)

BikeSATORI said:


> Didn't work for me on this bike, must have been the combination of wide bars and long'ish tt. Works great on my bmx though. And also my Molly with the U-brake where it doesn't have to reach down to the disc/drop-out.
> Bike is gone either way, take a look at the dates, this is from 2006! :thumbsup: Only bikes I have with discs on them now are my trail-rigs and other mtb's.


How about some updated pics of all your bikes? You always had some sweet setups.


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## terr0r86 (May 7, 2009)

beautiful, beautiful bike.


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## BikeSATORI (Mar 20, 2004)

XSL_WiLL said:


> How about some updated pics of all your bikes? You always had some sweet setups.


yeah thanks.  
I'll get around to posting some new info on the stable sooner or later. Haven't really changed much on the Molly recently though, about the same as it is if you click on the old link in my signature. Got it to where I like it and haven't needed to change much. But honestly haven't ridden it as much as I'd like to since I spent much of last year living in Japan and all I could take was my 20"er that I packed into a "golf" bag to avoid paying the completely ridiculous rates to take a bike on a plane! And now that I"m back living in the country side I don't have many places or opportunity to ride either. :madman:

thanks terrOr86


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