Q45 Build photos

[Black Hawk Down]

I purchased a 2024 Q45 frame and added my own components to prepare the bike for long distance world touring. Here's the changes/additions that I made:

-- Thor Carrier Seat with extra thick cushion that I added more padding. I also got the Thor Neck brace and mounted it to the back of the seat.
-- SRAM Rival AXS 10-52 cassette, derailleur
-- SRAM Rival 1X 12-Speed Crankset
-- SRAM Rival brifters with hydraulic brakes
-- 180 mm break rotor on the back and 203 mm rotor on the front.
-- 26" x 2" tubeless wheels with Schwalbe Mondale tires.
-- Pedaling Innovations Catalyst pedals
-- Two Klean Kanteen TK Wide 64 Oz thermoses
-- Two Blackburn Outpost Cargo Water Bottle Cages
-- Cruzbike V20 handlebars
-- Cruzbike Underseat bag
-- Cruzbike Curved slider
-- Cruzbike B&M CycleStar Mirrors (2X)
-- Cruzbike Origin8 Light Mount Stub

Still to add:
-- Rear and under seat Cruzbike pannier racks






I lowered the back of the seat by rotating the seat post 180 deg. That made it very close to the V20 angle with the Thor seat, which was my goal. I also had to reduce the length of the steerer tube. Unfortunately, I cut it too far and needed the curved slider to bring the handlebars back up a little. It's about perfect now.

The back of the seat was mounted using two u-clamps with thermoplastic for filler:



I transferred the stock seat hardware from the front to the Thor seat front and used thermoplastic molding to space it between the Thor seat ribs:



Unfortunately, you can't see much in the photo as the underseat bag is in the way. When I add the racks, I'll try to get a better shot of the clamping.

I mounted the Thor neck brace using a piece of aluminum that I bent to get the right contact angle. It worked well but it has a lot of flex, which I'm still getting used to.



I added the large 64 ounce thermoses to the back of the Thor seat wings. Perfect fit. They are necessary for 100 deg F summers in Texas.





I attempted to replace the shock with a Kind Shock KS A5-RR1 but it didn't work. I could push the shock down the full length of travel without much weight. Either something's wrong with the shock or I got the wrong model. It was 3 days too late to return it on Amazon.

When I add the racks, I'll update the post.

 

[Animal494]

Wow, awesome! Thanks for sharing!!

 

[Rampa]

Did you get a shock pump with your Kind RR1? You will need to pump it up more.

 

[Black Hawk Down]

Did you get a shock pump with your Kind RR1? You will need to pump it up more.

Yes. I pumped it to 150 psi, which is the maximum recommended by the manufacturer. The max rating is 180 psi, but they recommend keeping it at 150.

Edit: I tried 180 psi for the MP and 70 psi for the NP. No improvement. Must be a bad shock.

 

[Dudley]

I thought the same thing about the air-shock (i.e. that it was no good) and bought another one with the same result. I then worked out that the problem is with the frame design. Instead of having the attachment points the same distance from the fulcrum one is much further away so only a small portion of the shock 'resistance' is actually effective. I know I haven't described it well but you want the direction of movement to be straight down the axis of the shock, not at some obtuse angle. It's a design flaw that is masked by the use of the heavy spring shock.

 

[Black Hawk Down]

I believe you're right. I noticed the same thing. On top of that, because I rotated the seat post 180 deg to lower the seat back, I have much less gap between the seat post and the back tire. When I compress the shock, it only compresses about half it's range before hitting the tire. I put the original shock on and tightened the preload so that a hard bump won't hit the tire. I don't like that the original shock is so heavy, but I'll stick with it until find a better air shock that will work.

 

[LarryOz]

I purchased a 2024 Q45 frame and added my own components to prepare the bike for long distance world touring. Here's the changes/additions that I made:

Great build Bill - Best Q45 I have ever seen - First class!

 

[Black Hawk Down]

Thanks Larry. I have you to thank for it. I'm very happy with the Q45. I'll be back with photos after I mount the racks.

 

[Black Hawk Down]

I added the back rack to my Q45. It was an ordeal as my seat back is so low, I had to come up with a unique solution. It was based off an idea by @woodguy with my own adjustments. Here's the rack with a pannier attached:



And without the bag:



I do wish that Cruzbike would have designed the rack so that it would sit lower over the rear wheel. It seems way too high and is likely to wobble with fully loaded panniers attached.

I attached the two braces at the top of the rack to the seat using two angle brackets. Normally, these are attached to the end of the seat post, but my seat post is rotated 180 deg and attaching them there would not secure the rack very well.



The bottom of the rack normally attaches to the top of the shock skewer, but my setup doesn't get anywhere close to the shock, so I added a pipe clamp to the seat post and attached the rack to it.



The orange bit is a piece of rubber so that I don't have metal on metal. That worked better than I expected. The rack seems very sturdy.

I also ordered an under seat rack, but I accidentally ordered the S40 version as it was the default in the order page and I didn't notice it. I'm hoping to send it back to Cruzbike and get the Q40 rack. When I get that, I'll show my bike with both racks.

 

[Black Hawk Down]

First thing I noticed about the rear pannier rack is the tubing is much thicker than normal racks and the Ortlieb pannier bottom clip can't properly hook the bottom of the rack. I can hook it if I loosen the clip and then tighten it down when it's overlapping the fat tube, but I don't think it tightens very well and could come loose. Ortlieb is a pretty common pannier for touring. They should be considered when designing a rack.



Pardon my dust... I got rained on today while riding.

 

[Black Hawk Down]

I mentioned that once I removed the under seat bag that I would provide photos of the seat bottom clamping Here's some from different angles:






And from the other side:



I get a little carried away with the amount of thermoplastic I use. Way too excessive. I can still release the quick release clamps and remove the seat bottom. I would have to also unscrew the u-clamps on the seat back to remove the whole seat. The seat seems to be solidly attached.

I also added a ROCKBROS Bike Rack Bag Trunk to the top of the rear rack:



It holds everything I need plus has two side panniers that flop down when you open the zippered side pouches. This is handy if I'm stopping at a store for supplies.

 

[kizarmynot]

@Black Hawk Down, for the rear rack did you look into using an Old Man Mountain Divide rack with one of the thru axle fit kits? I've used this on my diamond frame bikes with success. As you know from our other conversation I am (will be) a new owner and plan to look at this soon (I'll need the thru axle spec).

 

[kizarmynot]

I purchased a 2024 Q45 frame and added my own components to prepare the bike for long distance world touring. Here's the changes/additions that I made:

-- Thor Carrier Seat with extra thick cushion that I added more padding. I also got the Thor Neck brace and mounted it to the back of the seat.
-- SRAM Rival AXS 10-52 cassette, derailleur
-- SRAM Rival 1X 12-Speed Crankset
-- SRAM Rival brifters with hydraulic brakes
-- 180 mm break rotor on the back and 203 mm rotor on the front.
-- 26" x 2" tubeless wheels with Schwalbe Mondale tires.
-- Pedaling Innovations Catalyst pedals
-- Two Klean Kanteen TK Wide 64 Oz thermoses
-- Two Blackburn Outpost Cargo Water Bottle Cages
-- Cruzbike V20 handlebars
-- Cruzbike Underseat bag
-- Cruzbike Curved slider
-- Cruzbike B&M CycleStar Mirrors (2X)
-- Cruzbike Origin8 Light Mount Stub

Still to add:
-- Rear and under seat Cruzbike pannier racks

View attachment 17182

View attachment 17183


I lowered the back of the seat by rotating the seat post 180 deg. That made it very close to the V20 angle with the Thor seat, which was my goal. I also had to reduce the length of the steerer tube. Unfortunately, I cut it too far and needed the curved slider to bring the handlebars back up a little. It's about perfect now.

The back of the seat was mounted using two u-clamps with thermoplastic for filler:

View attachment 17184

I transferred the stock seat hardware from the front to the Thor seat front and used thermoplastic molding to space it between the Thor seat ribs:

View attachment 17185

Unfortunately, you can't see much in the photo as the underseat bag is in the way. When I add the racks, I'll try to get a better shot of the clamping.

I mounted the Thor neck brace using a piece of aluminum that I bent to get the right contact angle. It worked well but it has a lot of flex, which I'm still getting used to.

View attachment 17186

I added the large 64 ounce thermoses to the back of the Thor seat wings. Perfect fit. They are necessary for 100 deg F summers in Texas.

View attachment 17187

View attachment 17189

I attempted to replace the shock with a Kind Shock KS A5-RR1 but it didn't work. I could push the shock down the full length of travel without much weight. Either something's wrong with the shock or I got the wrong model. It was 3 days too late to return it on Amazon.

When I add the racks, I'll update the post.

@Black Hawk Down, are you running the Schwalbe Mondale tires tubeless? The Schwalbe website spec shows these are tube tires. I am a fan of tubeless tires and am interested in options.

 

[Black Hawk Down]

@Black Hawk Down, for the rear rack did you look into using an Old Man Mountain Divide rack with one of the thru axle fit kits? I've used this on my diamond frame bikes with success. As you know from our other conversation I am (will be) a new owner and plan to look at this soon (I'll need the thru axle spec).

I looked at every rack I could find on Google. None would work. The Old Man Mountain Divide rack is centered over the rear axle, which in my setup would interfere with the back of the seat. The back of the seat is only a couple of inches forward of the rear axle:



Almost half of the rack would interfere with the back of the seat. There may be other racks that you could come up with a way to implement, but I doubt they would be any easier than the Cruzbike rack.

By the way, if you order the under seat rack from Cruzbike, make sure you select the Q45 option on the order page. It defaults to an older S40 rack. I made this mistake and now I have to ship my rack back and swap it for the Q45 rack.

I'm curious as to what you plan to do about the seat. I'm not sure how well the stock seat would work when lowering the back this far. You would have to come up with a head rest design. I put a lot of effort (and money) into my Thor Carrier seat to make it comfortable, and in the end, that worked out well. It's super comfortable. But it's another project getting it on the bike and adding extra cushioning in the right places.

 

[Black Hawk Down]

@Black Hawk Down, are you running the Schwalbe Mondale tires tubeless? The Schwalbe website spec shows these are tube tires. I am a fan of tubeless tires and am interested in options.

Yes. I have tubeless rims and I run the Mondales tubeless even though they are not designed for it. I've been doing it for a couple of years with no issues. I really wanted the Mondales and I really wanted tubeless, so I took a chance. I saw online that someone else had also done this successfully. You have to make sure the rim tape is sealed well. I use 1 inch Gorilla tape, which works well. I apply it right on top of the rim tape that came with the wheels. I also use Reserve Fillmore valves. They're expensive, but they work really well with no clogging. I once tried this with a non tubeless rim and it didn't work out. Your mileage may vary...

 

[kizarmynot]

I looked at every rack I could find on Google. None would work. The Old Man Mountain Divide rack is centered over the rear axle, which in my setup would interfere with the back of the seat. The back of the seat is only a couple of inches forward of the rear axle:

View attachment 17302

Almost half of the rack would interfere with the back of the seat. There may be other racks that you could come up with a way to implement, but I doubt they would be any easier than the Cruzbike rack.

By the way, if you order the under seat rack from Cruzbike, make sure you select the Q45 option on the order page. It defaults to an older S40 rack. I made this mistake and now I have to ship my rack back and swap it for the Q45 rack.

I'm curious as to what you plan to do about the seat. I'm not sure how well the stock seat would work when lowering the back this far. You would have to come up with a head rest design. I put a lot of effort (and money) into my Thor Carrier seat to make it comfortable, and in the end, that worked out well. It's super comfortable. But it's another project getting it on the bike and adding extra cushioning in the right places.

I'll check out the OMM rack when my Q45 arrives and let you know what I learn. I saw a different post regarding your lesson learned on the under seat rack, so thanks for that reminder.
As for the seat, that's a TBD - recumbutt will be new to me so we'll see how I deal with it.

 

[Black Hawk Down]

I was thinking for the OMM rack, maybe you could make your own bracket from a flat angle bracket from Amazon. Do something like this:



That way you could move the rack back however much you like. It would need to be somewhat thick Aluminum. Or stainless steel if you don't mind the weight. Just a random Idea.

 

[kizarmynot]

Now I understand your problem. Here are two pics of a Divide rack on my current bike - tires are 650Bx46, which is similar to the stock tires. The first shows the position of the centerline from from the axle (connection point) and the second is the distance from center to front of the rack. I have the rack setup as suggested in the instructions, but could lower it about 1/2-1" further. With ~3-1/2" between the axle and front of the rack this should easily fit on the stock bike with seat in a fairly upright position. With your bike setup (and maybe mine someday, too early to tell) I now see it would be a tight fit. I can take more measurements if you're interested in more information.

 

[Black Hawk Down]

kizarmynot said: I can take more measurements if you're interested in more information.

Actually, I'm setup with the Cruzbike rack. I might have considered the OMM rack if I saw it before implementing the Cruzbike rack. I was just warning you that if you lower your seat like I did, the OMM rack wouldn't work without some home made bracket as I showed in the picture. Also, the struts would have to be attached somewhere other than the frame as the back of the Q45 frame does not have the chainstay like other bikes. I would guess you could attach the struts to the back of the seat, like I did with the Cruzbike rack.

 

[2whluge]

I thought the same thing about the air-shock (i.e. that it was no good) and bought another one with the same result. I then worked out that the problem is with the frame design. Instead of having the attachment points the same distance from the fulcrum one is much further away so only a small portion of the shock 'resistance' is actually effective. I know I haven't described it well but you want the direction of movement to be straight down the axis of the shock, not at some obtuse angle. It's a design flaw that is masked by the use of the heavy spring shock.

I thought it was just me with the air shock. I bought mine second hand and I think the first owner was a lot lighter than I. I have the spring shock. A few more grams won’t hurt me.