Chris' Pivot Mach 4 SL Custom Build
Right before first ride.
It’s been a few years since I’ve really gone mountain biking, or mountain biking as much as I used to. For the past few years I had a Specialized Epic hardtail, then a Chisel for getting out on the trails and doing the occasional race. As it were, I wasn’t doing much riding or racing. More on that here.
As a return to riding and hopefully racing, I wanted to get back onto something capable, fun, and fast. Having brought on Pivot in December and getting some rides in on our shop demos, I knew it would be a Pivot Mach 4SL. The next question was what to order/how to build it. Pivot has a lot of great builds, but I had a handful of parts from my hardtail, and definitely couldn’t go for the XTR or AXS level builds.
Being particular about all the different bits is something I find myself doing frequently too, so I ordered the frameset that came with a shock and Fox Stepcast 32 100mm fork, too. Great parts to start off with.
The goal of this build was to be light and capable, without totally breaking the bank. I can always get a dropper down the road, or quickly install one if a race or ride calls for it. The new S-Works tires are certainly light, and not the choice for mountain biking around here, but I want to use them for certain races, and the redesign has me wondering how much I can get out of them.
I put some fun parts and bits in there that might not be the norm. Most of the steel hardware that could be swapped out for aluminum (bottle cage bolts) or titanium (brake hardware, lever hardware) has been. The headset has an aluminum bolt for tension and a lightweight topcap. The 11 speed group was something I’ve had and saved me some money. It does’’t have quite the range of 12 speed, but it gets me by. Running a GX rear derailleur fits into that category as well as helping me not care as much when I drag my derailleur through some rocks. I did take the pulleys apart, clean the bearings in the ultrasonic parts cleaner and greased them with Kogel high performance grease.
Treating the chain with Molten Speedwax was fun. I’ve used paraffin wax in the crockpot before, but Molten actually makes a formula for bikes. It has stayed on past my first mountain bike ride but it probably won’t be my normal as it requires heating up the crockpot, cleaning the chain in the ultrasonic, then treating. My go to is Rock and Roll gold, which is super clean- if Gold is dripping, or making your drivetrain dirty, you’re doing it wrong- it really likes to be wiped down and dried.
The saddle is an older Specialized Romin. I love these saddles and have a stash of them from when they stopped making them.
The brake setup, SRAM Level TLMs are fine, but I will probably swap them out for some (OLD!) SRAM Elixir XO models that I’ve had forever. I just like the lever shape of the old carbon levers better, weight is about the same. I have rebuilt the XOs more than a few times and done some things to make them a bit smoother than they were new.
An (almost) complete parts list is below, the complete weight as pictured without pedals (XL frame) is 21.67lbs.
Frame- Pivot Mach 4SL XL, with shock, remote lockout lever and cables: 2,610g
Fork- Fox Stepcast Factory 32 100mm, uncut: 1,417g
Handlebar- Raceface Next SL 35mm 10mm rise bar: 191g
Stem- RaceFace Turbine R 35 Stem - 70mm, 35 Clamp, +/-0, 1 1/8: 148g
Crankset- Raceface Next SL 175mm: 375g
Chainring- Wolf Tooth 32t 6mm CINCH: 62g
Bottom Bracket- Raceface pressfit 90 for CINCH: 69g
Headset- Pivot factory: 66g
Wheels- Specialized Control SL: 1,378g
Front Axle- Fox Kabolt: 36g
Rear Axle- Pivot factory: 46g
Rimtape- DT Swiss Tubeless Tape: 12g (both wheels)
Tires- S-Works Renegade 29x2.3: 580g (each)
Valves- Muc Off Pink: 8g (pair)
Chain- SRAM XX1 11 Speed cleaned and treated with Molten Speedwax: 244g (length on bike)
Cassette- SRAM 10-42 11 speed XO1: 266g
Shifter- XX1 11 Speed: 110g
Brakes- SRAM Level TLM, metal pads: Front: 188g (no pads) Rear: 208g (no pads)
Rotors- 160mm Magura Storm SL.2: 101g (each) Titanium rotor bolts 8g per wheel.
Derailleur- SRAM GX 11 speed: 257g
Saddle- Specialized Romin Pro 155mm: 164g
Seatpost- Thomson Elite 30.9x410mm: 262g
Seat Collar- Stock: 22g
Grips- ODI Vapor: 67g
Pedals- XTR I’ve had these for over 5 years and rebuilt them almost every year just to make sure they work well, but they probably don’t need it. They’re incredible pedals: 305g
Highland Co.
Pedals ready to be rebuilt after some parts cleaner action!
Don’t lose these tiny guys.