|
|
Post by 'Bee' on May 19, 2008 12:53:37 GMT 8
What I like:1. The new look 2. The Eccentric Bottom Bracket  , It's clean looking. 3. Very responsive but not so stiff (in comparison with my former Orange SubZero) 4. The bottle opener at the rear dropout (very important ;D ;D ;D ) 5. Not so heavy for a sturdy frame. What I Don't Like:1. Bottle opener become useless if you use a Shimano Shadow derailleur.  2. Can not achieve a good chainline using a 2-pc crank with outboard bearing BB (Shimano XT 08) but there's a solution for this by using a non-outboard bearing BB with shorter spindle. 3. The price. 4. The delivery time. It took 3 months to arrive. 5. The bottle cage studs under the down tube (this is a useless feature, imho)
|
|
|
|
Post by Lui-G on May 19, 2008 14:11:23 GMT 8
What I like:6. The White color 
|
|
|
|
Post by 'Bee' on May 19, 2008 17:38:32 GMT 8
Oh, another What I like item: 7. It comes with a proprietary seat clamp. Lovely.  |
|
|
|
Post by rfm2md on May 19, 2008 17:53:19 GMT 8
How much would this frame cost? TIA....
|
|
|
|
Post by 'Bee' on May 19, 2008 18:55:49 GMT 8
How much would this frame cost? TIA.... PMed you the price, brad. |
|
|
|
Post by rfm2md on May 19, 2008 19:43:32 GMT 8
Thank you Sir....I'm drooling over your Chameleon.  |
|
|
|
Post by hyperion on May 19, 2008 19:45:42 GMT 8
 Looks like they are using Deore LX outboard bearing crankset on this offical pix from the Santa Cruz site. The build kits also feature outboard bearing cranksets (Deore, LX, XT, XTR, Noir). Is there a chainline issue only with SS setup? I am also fond of the versatile and tough chamie. Nearly bought one two years ago but changed my mind when the local importer could not give me the final prize and a definite delivery date. You know ... he did not sound like he was interested in making a sale at all. Still dreamin of one. I suppose the eccentric BB is an upgrade over horizontal drop outs ... |
|
|
|
Post by 'Bee' on May 19, 2008 20:11:03 GMT 8
Padi, It's a catalogue photo, it can use any cranks without showing the actual problem. No chainline issue with SS though coz you can fine tune with spacers at the rear. The EBB is 63mm. Using the 08XT cranks, I put 1 spacer at the drive side and 1 at the non drive side. The result is: 1. The left crank arm would not touch the rubber face of the non-driveside Outboard Bearing because the crank arm is on the very end of the spline (sagad na). 2. Unequal distance of the crankarm from the left and right chainstay. More than 6mm difference. 3. Chain at the middle ring and at the 5th sprocket, the chainline is about 2 sprockets offset from end to end. My solution to the problem: 1. Instead of the regular 2.5mm thk spacer of the Outboard BB, I used a 1.5mm spacer to bring the driveside arm 1mm inward. 2. I put a 3mm spacer at the base of the freehub body before installing the cassette thus bringing the the cogs outward. The result is a more acceptable chainline and better indexing of the front derailleur. But the distance of the crankarms in relation to the left and right chainstays remain the same. To address this problem, a shorter spindle BB should be used. BTW, the chameleon is available in two versions: 1. Vertical dropout with EBB 2. Horizontal dropout with normal BB shell. |
|
|
|
Post by OnebyOne on May 19, 2008 21:08:32 GMT 8
Padi, di ba you need 2 spacers on the drive side and 1 on the other for 68mm BB shell? maybe that's the reason but I might be wrong? |
|
|
|
Post by Alphabolt on May 19, 2008 22:21:28 GMT 8
egad! I think Im the only lousy-na-techie bicolano in this forum! heheh Nice nice bike, padi Banny! |
|
|
|
Post by hyperion on May 20, 2008 0:37:49 GMT 8
Padi,
According to the SC bike faq:
The Chameleon uses a 68mm bottom bracket shell, and a 50-51mm chainline. Pretty much any of the newer external bottom bracket cranks will mount up without issue. The Truvativ stylo and shimano Deore XT are our favorites. If you are using an ISIS setup, you need a 68x113mm bottom bracket.
For 68mm BB shell ... try two 2.5mm spacers at the drive side, and one 2.5mm spacer at the non drive side for Shimano XT FC-M770.
|
|
|
|
Post by 'Bee' on May 20, 2008 6:50:18 GMT 8
Mga padi, That's what I did at first, 2 spacers at the driveside. When I put the chain on the middle ring and 'eyeball' the chainline, the chain falls on the 3rd smallest cog (where in theory, it should be at the 5th or middle cog). In this setting the chain will still go up the biggest cog while on the middle ring but it will fall in either of the next 2 rings when you back pedal, which should not happen if you have a good middle ring-5th cog alignment in the first place. It's obvious that there's some issue about the frame. I still need to do some tweaking although I'm happy with the present setup except for the uneven spacing of the two crankarms with respect to the left and right chainstays. Brought her already to several outings and everything is OK naman. I don't rely on FAQ too much. I have to see it for myself that's why I build my own bikes from scratch. Anyway, I'll keep this setup for a while coz I promised Lui-G (who's coming over for a ride this saturday) that I'm going to lend him the "White Lizard" for the Lamma Ride. |
|
|
|
Post by hyperion on May 20, 2008 12:02:45 GMT 8
OK, padi. You are the one who has hands on with the bike, not us so you should be correct hehehe. On the other hand, this is not good for Santa Cruz quality control if the frame is somehow a tad misaligned at the rear which might be the only possible reason for the less than perfect chainline. |
|
|
|
Post by OnebyOne on May 20, 2008 14:59:30 GMT 8
Thanks Padi, got your point and thanks for sharing this to future lizard owners By the way, can I ride your lizard too?  |
|
|
|
Post by 'Bee' on May 21, 2008 10:00:12 GMT 8
On the other hand, this is not good for Santa Cruz quality control if the frame is somehow a tad misaligned at the rear which might be the only possible reason for the less than perfect chainline. Exactly padi. I'll try to do some more checking before I file my complaint. But if it's using a 68mm BB shell with a 50-51 chainline, it should be simple as "put 2 spacers at the driveside, thread the chain on the middle ring and middle cog, then that is the chainline more or less." It might not be the perfect chainline but i must not be too offset. The Shimano 08 XT cranks has 50mm chainline according to their website so it should be spot on. Another possible reason is this frameset is one of the first batch that came out for 2008 with the EBB. There might still have some issues with it. In fact, the one you've posted from the website's FAQ (Pretty much any of the newer external bottom bracket cranks will mount up without issue.) sounds defensive, IMHO. Thanks Padi, got your point and thanks for sharing this to future lizard owners By the way, can I ride your lizard too? I believe it will be rectified in the near future. Sure Padi, just pop up one weekend and we'll go for a ride. |
|
|
|
Post by 'Bee' on Jun 17, 2008 8:29:31 GMT 8
|
|
, It's clean looking.
