Rockman Aurem 4 Stock - Build Thread

[ClarkeHutchison]

Hi All,

As some might know i have got a 24" echo trial which i bought from harmertrials which has improved my riding no doubt, but i always had part of me which wanted to try out a stock.

I am at the first stages of my new project, i am hoping to build up a lightweight ( I am not a weight weenie, yet?!?) stock bike with a combination of new parts, bits i can get cheap on here and also some parts i can find lying around that just need a bit of work on them. I will try to update this thread as much as possible and recommendations will be needed throughout.

My first aim was to find a 26" frame with a geo that suited me, I really enjoy riding with a high BB, but i wanted something less cramped than my echo trial.

This Rockman Aurem 4 became available on here, i think its a slate XL branded as an aurem 4 because the geo is identical. I think the geo will work well.

WB - 1090

BB rise - 70+

CL - 380mm

Weight - 1.48kg

I made a deal with BAZZA for the frame, £150 with some try all bars and stem included for free. I am very happy with the condition, its almost brand new.

My first question to all the members is should I 1) Leave the frame as it is (the colour looks better in the pictures)

2) Raw it down and then wet and dry for shiny finish

3) Raw it down and then Paint/lacquer (i was thinking dark blue)

I picked these up for £27.50 for the pair, never been used. I have an 05 hs33 with 4 finger lever on my 24" and it is really solid, but thought i'd give these a try. I'm a bit concerned with how thin the levers are.

Edited April 7, 2015 by ClarkeHutchison

[Thehiphopsolidier]

Don´t strip, green is cool.

[ClarkeHutchison]

Today i used some of this to remove paint from magura slaves i picked up for £10.

Before:

During, I just used a paint brush and dabbed it on, it eats away at the paint very well.

After, I rubbed loose paint off with a brush and then used steel wool to finish it. There's still flakes of paint, but nothing to bad.

Looks a lot better now in my opinion, i wont be using the braided hose though.

I'm Waiting for a few parts to arrive.

[dann2707]

Keep doing updates like this, pleasure to read

[ClarkeHutchison]

Keep doing updates like this, pleasure to read

Thanks, I have seen your neon X-ray has a nice shiny silver finish, what steps did you take to get it like this.

Also my frame is anodized so would caustic soda mixed with water work best?

[Jake.]

Thanks, I have seen your neon X-ray has a nice shiny silver finish, what steps did you take to get it like this.

Also my frame is anodized so would caustic soda mixed with water work best?

Please don't raw your frame it's a lovely colour.

But yeah boiling water with caustic soda, wait for it to cool down a bit then rub it on with a cloth. Most people dunk it but you'll need a lot of caustic, and water, and a steel bathtub or something along the lines of that.

Make sure you get another cloth with freshwater and wipe the caustic grime off after you raw it.

[ClarkeHutchison]

I am not going to strip the frame yet, i will build it to fit in with the green, meaning mostly silver/black components. I think too many colours look horrible.

The caustic Soda arrived, so decided to give it a try on my brake clamps, as they were a bit patchy. I'll probably get comments from some people saying, "you don't need goggles or mask blahblah", but i'd rather not burn myself or inhale toxic fumes

I poured 100g of caustic soda into a litre of boiling water, i then put the clamps in which started reacting instantly, I waited about 20 sec and then forked them into the soapy water with some pliers.

Before:

After, I don't know why but i have always got on better with the standard magura clamps compared to some more expensive options. They look good now as well.

Also some magura parts from tarty arrived as well as a trialtech hosesplitter, I put together the rear brake and bled it with oil, but after using water bleeds for so long it felt very spongy and slow.

Its now bled with water using the 'bath bleed' technique and it feels so much more snappy. I have heard the 2011 maguras having problems with water bleeds, but i am taking the chance.

I wasn't sure on the best way to feed the hose to the cylinders, but i decided on tucking the splitter under the frame and wrapping the hoses round the sides to make it as low profile as possible. I did try putting the hose through the holes in the frame and back out but it put to much pressure on the hose.

Edited April 7, 2015 by ClarkeHutchison

[RuFiK]

Nice job mate !

[Dazza1414]

That green looks awesome!

[ClarkeHutchison]

That green looks awesome!

I'm not actually a big fan of the green haha, but I will be keeping it for now.

I have a wheel set and some other parts on the way.

[lewis.jackson]

Keep this going as its interesting to read

[ClarkeHutchison]

Keep this going as its interesting to read

I will do, just waiting on a few parcels.

[ClarkeHutchison]

I haven't updated this in a while due to preparing and completing a job interview today. I am happy with how it went and now that that's out of the way i can get onto more important things e.g building my bike

'Weight Weenie Alert' I bought some Titanium bolts from Tibike, these have arrived and i think they look very nice in blue.

They cost a hell of a lot (£30 for 6 x m5 x 25mm, 6 x m5 x 20mm and 1 x m6 x 35mm + 6 Ti washers), but they have a lifetime guarantee.

The bolts seem to be top quality, I decided on socket cap heads for the brake clamp bolts and the allen key fits nice and secure in them.

I have a Carbon trialtech 2 bolt booster but i'm not sure if its needed because of the frame having such a rigid surrounding.

Also I made a chain stay protector out of an old tube, due to being bored waiting for wheels to arrive.

Wheel set may be arriving tomorrow, so i will try to get them fitted after work.

I'm pretty sure i will be going over my budget in the next few days, BB, Cranks, Bars, Forks, freewheel and tyres are next on my list.

Edited April 7, 2015 by ClarkeHutchison

[dann2707]

Keep it up. That chainstay protector looks wank though. Seems a shame you're going to a lot of effort to make this a top notch build then ruin the aesthetics with that. At least use black cable ties!

Nice though so far

[ClarkeHutchison]

Keep it up. That chainstay protector looks wank though. Seems a shame you're going to a lot of effort to make this a top notch build then ruin the aesthetics with that. At least use black cable ties!

Nice though so far

Haha yeh it's now off, it wrecked the look of bike especially the multicoloured cable ties.

Thanks, wheels should be arriving tomorrow and also BB, cranks, forks, freewheel and tyres are on the way, so I'll be updating soon.

[ClarkeHutchison]

Just a quick update, i am still waiting on parts.

I used some large aluminium washers for the trialtech 2 bolt brake booster, as i find that the carbon fibre squashes quite easily when used with small washers.

I know the booster is not as aesthetically pleasing as when without one, but i always like the solid braking and non flex on my rear brake when used.

I didn't like the red washers, so gave them the caustic soda treatment.

Much better, the bolt heads fit perfectly as well.

The washers do a good job of spreading the weight over the carbon booster, Titanium bolts all round.

I put the booster straight on top of the clamps at the moment. Its very low profile, it fits flat and seems very sturdy, but i might end up buying some spacers.

I also do not have any snail cam bolts except some rusty old ones fitted, I cut down some old magura clamp bolts, again titanium to make some snail cams to size.

Before:

Will update again tomorrow if wheels arrive.

[dann2707]

Little tip for you mate. When you cut down a bolt, put a nut on all the way to the head of the bolt then cut it, then when it's cut unscrew the nut and it will make the thread continue throughout the bolt.

As when you cut it like that it destroys the thread and can result in crossthreading your threads really easily.

[ClarkeHutchison]

Little tip for you mate. When you cut down a bolt, put a nut on all the way to the head of the bolt then cut it, then when it's cut unscrew the nut and it will make the thread continue throughout the bolt.

As when you cut it like that it destroys the thread and can result in crossthreading your threads really easily.

Funnily enough i had to cut down the brake booster bolts after this and i did exactly that, should of thought of it earlier for the snail cams.

Cheers

[Josh_Helliwell]

I love the colour of the frame mate, attention to detail on the magura splitter is a nice touch. Interesting to follow the build!

[ClarkeHutchison]

Big update, 2 packages arrived today, felt like Christmas morning

The package from tartybikes, just a few touch up parts e.g grips, sprocket, tubes.

.

Went for the Kenda XL 2.4-2.7 (267g) for the rear and the Maxxis Welterweight (170g) for the front.

Also got an echo 15t sprocket in black, some white rim tape, Blue bleed Pro bolts, as well as some trusted Trialtech Foam grips (thin version).

The other package was from Stebass (member on here), who i made a very reasonable deal with for a large bundle of items :

First off was some Trialtech Carbon SL bars, immaculate condition

Next was the tyres, Rear - Continental Der Kaiser 2.5" Front - Continental Mountain King Race Sport 2, both still have spiky rubber things still on haha

I thought this was a good combination of tyres, it would be good to know what others run.

Some Try all ISIS 175mm cranks, Echo SL freewheel (with try all bashring) and a trialtech sport lite BB. Cranks have one light scratch

I have the echo sl freewheel on my 24" and it has always been very reliable. I also trust trialtech with essential parts which is why i went with this Bottom Bracket. It will be interesting to try out the 175mm cranks, but i might get a bit more power/leverage over my 165mm's on my 24".

.

And lastly some beautiful Trialtech Sport Lite forks, Perfect condition.

Getting there, just waiting on the wheel-set, hopefully build it up tomorrow evening after work.

I have went over my budget by quite a lot, but the bike is getting towards a very high quality.... Although it does look like i will be selling my 24" Echo trial

It will be a very sad day if i do .... :'(

Edited April 7, 2015 by ClarkeHutchison

[Scott Gibbs]

They're both beautiful bikes. The echo is lush!

[ClarkeHutchison]

They're both beautiful bikes. The echo is lush!

Thanks

The echo is the is the best bike i have ridden, the geo just feels so good and it is very lightweight.

Hopefully the Rockman can compete with it.

My plan is to build up the Rockman and then sell either it or the echo depending on what i prefer.

[ClarkeHutchison]

A few more parts came, but still waiting on the wheels

I went for the TNN ADM pads due to all the positive reviews on them, hopefully they live up to the hype... and the price.

I also used Caustic Soda on the Raceline spacers because the red looked tacky and didn't go well with the green/black/silver colourway.

Everything built up :

Was stuck between the black or silver Echo SL headset, but ended up going for the black. Will be cutting the fork steerer tube down (removing spacer maybe) once i find best combo

Front Brake:

Standard magura clamps with titanium bolts, Magura Slaves Rawed, Heatsink Coustsink pads.

Rear Brake Setup:

Standard Magura Clamps with titanium bolts, Magura slaves Rawed, TT Carbon Booster with Raceline spacers, TNN ADM pads

I have some questions that need answered.

1) My crank bolt is sunken in to the crank when its tightened, i would rather it be flush, how would i fix this without removing bash ring?

2) The crank is quite close to hitting the frame, i was just wondering does it improve balance if the cranks are further out from the frame, kind of like having wider base.

What its like now , is this OK.

Would be good to get some feedback.

Edited August 13, 2014 by ClarkeHutchison

[gage-mann]

Crank clearence looks normal, as long as theres a 8-10mm+ gap between the crank and closest point of contact with it (usually the chainstay or magura slave) should be fine.

The crank bolts are always like that, you could get some spacers that fit over the bolt thread and inside the crank but its faffing about if you haven't got any spacers handy plus they'll be threaded in less in your bb so more chance of strippage

Edited August 14, 2014 by gage-mann

[ClarkeHutchison]

Crank clearence looks normal, as long as theres a 8-10mm+ gap between the crank and closest point of contact with it (usually the chainstay or magura slave) should be fine.

The crank bolts are always like that, you could get some spacers that fit over the bolt thread and inside the crank but its faffing about if you haven't got any spacers handy plus they'll be threaded in less in your bb so more chance of strippage

I couldn't find any crank bolt spacers on tarty, any idea where i could get some.