Project Vortex Begins!

On the left here is the Vortex frame by Sarma.  USPS tried to deliver it on Saturday.  Unfortunately no one was home to sign for it.  So I went to the post office and picked it up today.  There is something special about building a bike from the frame up.  This is the second time I have done that.  I tore down many bikes and rebuilt them, upgraded and it is just not the same.  I have been sourcing parts for this build for some time.  Some are new and some are lightly used.  In this post I will give a run down of the parts that will be going on this bike.  My target is a sub 30 pound fat bike.

Sarma Vortex Frame: The frame is made in China and with Sarma's new business model it is shipped directly from the manufacturer.  The frame is 6061 hydro formed aluminum.  The welds are all very clean and sanded down. The frame has nice curves and because of the hydro forming resembles a carbon frame.  I put it on the park scale and it came in at 4 pounds and 5 ounces.  The frame was wrapped in foam and then wrapped in bubble wrap.  Wrapped up in the frame I was surprised to find the rear thru axle, Neco headset, seat post clamp and the derailleur adapter.  The derailleur adapter is pretty heavy so I will be using the one I have.  There also was a bag of cable clips included.

To the left here is the derailleur mount.  It is very heavy and will not be used for this project.

 The Neco headset is here on the left.  This was a surprise.  I will be shipping the headset I bought from Bike Nashbar back to them along with the seat post clamp I purchased from them.

 The Sarma Seat Post Clamp is here on the right.  Very nice and light too!

On the right here is the included thru axle.

Fork:

Carbon Cycle full Carbon Fat Bike Fork 150mm spacing.

Fork weighs 1 pound 11 ounces with the thru axle installed.

Wheels: The wheels are next and were a Black Friday Special from Bikes Direct.  They are Sun Ringle MuleFut tubeless ready rims laced to Novatec hubs.  They came with tubes and Vee Snowshoe 26x4.5 tires.  One of the upgrades at some point will be 4.7 or 4.8 tires.  

Front wheel and tire.

Rear wheel and tire.

Drivetrain: The drivetrain will be 2x10 and will be all Sram.  I also have the ability to change it to a 1x10 as I have some Shimano parts.

Sram X9 rear derailleur.

Sram X5 direct mount front derailleur with mount.

Sram X9 2x10 shifters.

Completing the drive train will be a Sram 11-36 10 speed cassette and a Sram 10 speed chain.  The Sarma site stated that the Sram X5 crank will work with this frame.  I am not sure about that?  I have an X5 crank and will try it.  This may be something we have to purchase if this crank does not work.

Cockpit: bar, stem and seatpost are all carbon.

Bar is Chinese Carbon, 31.8 clamp diameter, 700mm long.

Chinese Carbon stem with aluminum face plate.

Nashbar Carbon Seat Post, 30.9x400mm.

Ergon GE1 grips.  I have these on the Farley and love them.

Crank Brothers Candy Pedals.  They have seen a little use.  The springs are red to go along with the highlights on the bike.

Not shown is the saddle which is a Bontrager Race that I have.  It is used and one of my favorite saddles.  Brakes are going to be Avid BB7 with Avid FR5 levers and Avid rotors.  They are also used but very solid.  I think I will need to get cables and housing also.

I am not in a rush to complete this build as we don't have any snow yet and that is what this bike will be for and the Farley will be my trail bike.

I am going to do a video of the build that I may post to You Tube.  The video will explain what I am doing and take you through the process of the build.  I will keep posting here as I progress through the build.

The next post will be the fork and frame coming together and mounting the wheels.