I just got my GEBE 2.0 finished up and functional for the road. 2.0 because between me and my son, we rode the first Golden Eagle build until we pretty much wore the bike out. The first build was just the bike I had on hand, so I went looking to see if, for less than I'd spend rebuilding/repairing, I could find what I wanted in a GEBE-friendly bike. My wish list: front, but not rear, disc brake (rear discs interfere with placement of the mount strap, and I don't want to cut and mod more than I need to); front and rear suspension for a cushier ride; and, rear forks with enough room to comfortably accommodate the drive ring.
Surprisingly, I found everything I was looking for in one of the cheaper and more common Craigslist offerings - the Genesis V2100 (Wallyworld new, so fairly common on the used Market). GEBE-adorned and shorn of its cheesy decals, it is now the Green Monster:
I swapped in the hi-rise handlebars from my old bike to allow for a very comfortable upright riding position. Also allows somewhere to hang the mini-fanny pack and bike lock . . .
If those handlebars look a little spare in spots, it's because I stripped off the shifters (and derailleurs) front and rear. Phoenix is so flat that in 3 years, I probably shifted the old bike twice. I like the minimalist thing - one fairly high gear to get going is all I really need. Between gears and handlebars, it's now less mountain bike, and more suspended road cruiser.
I forgot to take a photo of the mounting point for the brace strap, but where the white rear fork joins the black pivot portion of the suspension, the white fork has a crossbar. It was very easy (and there was lots of room) to drill a 1/4" hole in the middle of the crossbar for a brace strap mounting point. That lets the whole unit, including brace strap, stay fixed to, and ride with, the rear fork. In other posts about the V2100, I've seen the brace strap mounted to the seat post, which left the brace strap pivoting or some such to accommodate the movement between rear fork and seatpost. I wanted the unit solidly mounted, including brace strap, on one component. You can somewhat see where that crossbar mount is, along with the lack of rear derailleur, here:
Unlike most bikes, the rear fork on the V2100 is boxed, not tubular. That made drilling the brace strap mounting hole in the crossbar easier, because that crossbar is part of what's boxed, giving me a solid, flat bar to drill through rather than a round hollow tube. I also think the boxed fork makes for a little more room between drive ring and rear fork (note the daylight between fork and drive ring at the red arrow). While you can't fully see this from a rear view, the rear axle also proved to be plenty long enough to accommodate the mount strap and still fully nut the axle.
You can see the front disc and rear caliper brake in a couple of the shots. The bottle holder is stock, and like most, is the right size for an MSR fuel bottle that holds just a bit more than an extra tank of gas. True to the Walmart bike profile, the disc brakes are cheap, but they work fine. I'll probably swap them out when I wear the pads out. Until then, they're adjustable enough to do the job, and they have far more stopping power than any front caliper brake I ever had.
As always, the GEBE kit popped right on the bike with no trouble. There is genius in the simplicity of the GEBE kit - easy to mount, trouble free, rides like a champ. Perfect for us motorized bike newbs, yet so functional and fun that I'll probably never want anything else. I got a rear wheel with extra stout spokes from my LBS for my prior bike and swapped it onto the V2100.
I'm also taking my chances with a non-OEM belt. GEBE gets their belts from Gates, and you can get the same belt from Gates (actually, from one of their retailers) except that it's made with fiberglass, not Kevlar. GEBE seems to have a proprietary deal with Gates on the Kevlar. According to Gates' website, the Kevlar helps the belt withstand snapping during "shock under load". To me, that means baby the belt a bit, back off the throttle when I hit a bump, etc. No big deal, I ride easy to baby the GEBE anyway. The difference to me is $12 rather than the $35 or so for the GEBE belt.
I'm only approaching 100 miles with this non-GEBE Gates belt, but so far, I can't tell the difference between it and the GEBE version. I suppose I won't be able to fully assess this belt until the day it snaps. We'll see whether that's sooner or later.
I've seen a few posts from people using the GEBE kit on the V2100, and I wanted to add to those with a little more detail. The V2100 is a cheap bike that at the same time, seems to be ideal for the GEBE kit. I'd give it a more in-depth road review, but I can't seem to catch my son and get him off of it!
Surprisingly, I found everything I was looking for in one of the cheaper and more common Craigslist offerings - the Genesis V2100 (Wallyworld new, so fairly common on the used Market). GEBE-adorned and shorn of its cheesy decals, it is now the Green Monster:
I swapped in the hi-rise handlebars from my old bike to allow for a very comfortable upright riding position. Also allows somewhere to hang the mini-fanny pack and bike lock . . .
If those handlebars look a little spare in spots, it's because I stripped off the shifters (and derailleurs) front and rear. Phoenix is so flat that in 3 years, I probably shifted the old bike twice. I like the minimalist thing - one fairly high gear to get going is all I really need. Between gears and handlebars, it's now less mountain bike, and more suspended road cruiser.
I forgot to take a photo of the mounting point for the brace strap, but where the white rear fork joins the black pivot portion of the suspension, the white fork has a crossbar. It was very easy (and there was lots of room) to drill a 1/4" hole in the middle of the crossbar for a brace strap mounting point. That lets the whole unit, including brace strap, stay fixed to, and ride with, the rear fork. In other posts about the V2100, I've seen the brace strap mounted to the seat post, which left the brace strap pivoting or some such to accommodate the movement between rear fork and seatpost. I wanted the unit solidly mounted, including brace strap, on one component. You can somewhat see where that crossbar mount is, along with the lack of rear derailleur, here:
Unlike most bikes, the rear fork on the V2100 is boxed, not tubular. That made drilling the brace strap mounting hole in the crossbar easier, because that crossbar is part of what's boxed, giving me a solid, flat bar to drill through rather than a round hollow tube. I also think the boxed fork makes for a little more room between drive ring and rear fork (note the daylight between fork and drive ring at the red arrow). While you can't fully see this from a rear view, the rear axle also proved to be plenty long enough to accommodate the mount strap and still fully nut the axle.
You can see the front disc and rear caliper brake in a couple of the shots. The bottle holder is stock, and like most, is the right size for an MSR fuel bottle that holds just a bit more than an extra tank of gas. True to the Walmart bike profile, the disc brakes are cheap, but they work fine. I'll probably swap them out when I wear the pads out. Until then, they're adjustable enough to do the job, and they have far more stopping power than any front caliper brake I ever had.
As always, the GEBE kit popped right on the bike with no trouble. There is genius in the simplicity of the GEBE kit - easy to mount, trouble free, rides like a champ. Perfect for us motorized bike newbs, yet so functional and fun that I'll probably never want anything else. I got a rear wheel with extra stout spokes from my LBS for my prior bike and swapped it onto the V2100.
I'm also taking my chances with a non-OEM belt. GEBE gets their belts from Gates, and you can get the same belt from Gates (actually, from one of their retailers) except that it's made with fiberglass, not Kevlar. GEBE seems to have a proprietary deal with Gates on the Kevlar. According to Gates' website, the Kevlar helps the belt withstand snapping during "shock under load". To me, that means baby the belt a bit, back off the throttle when I hit a bump, etc. No big deal, I ride easy to baby the GEBE anyway. The difference to me is $12 rather than the $35 or so for the GEBE belt.
I'm only approaching 100 miles with this non-GEBE Gates belt, but so far, I can't tell the difference between it and the GEBE version. I suppose I won't be able to fully assess this belt until the day it snaps. We'll see whether that's sooner or later.
I've seen a few posts from people using the GEBE kit on the V2100, and I wanted to add to those with a little more detail. The V2100 is a cheap bike that at the same time, seems to be ideal for the GEBE kit. I'd give it a more in-depth road review, but I can't seem to catch my son and get him off of it!
