To quote Ride...
"Here's a good idea: KHE want to put as
many people as possible on one of their
pro frames, and this is how they're gonna
do it: release two complete bikes priced to
make them affordable, all built round their
biggest selling frame, the Catweasle. You
end up with a complete bike ready to roll,
built around a bullet proof frame worth at
least £260, and upgrade components as
you progress and break stuff (which is
inevitable - duh). KHE made sure to spec
them right for the price and also give them
dicky names in the process - let's check
out the Pussey and Skunk complete bikes.
The Pussey is the cheapest of the two
models and it knocks out the door at under
£350 - remember this bike is built around
a £260 frameset, so it's already pretty
much a bargain. The Pussey's parts
comprise of a mix of generic stuff and KHE
own brand gear: the wheels are the
cheapest bits on the bike - they're 48
spoke chrome wheels, but they look like
steel and the hubs are pretty low-budget.
However, the tyres are the best! Cheng
Shin 'Primo' tyres (without the Primo
logos), plus you get a full set of steel KHE
pegs which look totally like Gack pegs: 4.5
inch long, chromed, if they were sold in
the shops you'd be paying around £25 a
pair. The bars are FS 4pc, similar to
Redline Forklifters, and the grips are KHE
FS mushrooms.
The brakes are supplied by Dia Compe,
front and back. Up front you get a Bulldog
calliper, and for the rear an AD990 brake
is fitted and dialled in - rear U-brake
don't come much better than the AD990.
Tektro make the levers, they're sprung and
work OK. There's a KHE seat, KHE cranks,
a CD, oversize layback seatpost, oversize
double bolt seatclamp, and even aluminium
KHE OX pedals.
In a nutshell, the Pussey complete bike is
good for the money, considering that you
get a fully strong and rad frameset. Some
of the parts aren't the best in the world,
then again, some of the other parts are
excellent - like the tyres, Odyssey Gyro2,
KHE pegs and AD brake for example.. The
Pussey is the cheapest way of setting
yourself up with a Catweasle frameset built
up into a bike. As you progress, change
the wheels, bars, whatever you like: but
the frame should last anyone a lifetime.
The Skunk is about a hundred quid more
expensive then the Pussey, and the
complete sells for £459: you can
immediately see that the parts are an
improvement over the Pussey parts, with
chrome aluminium 48s, a Freehub, KHE
bars, and clamp-on stem.
Like the Pussey, the centrepoint of the
Skunk is the Catweasle frameset -oversize
4130 cromoly tubing throughout,
platform, wraparound headtube gusset, AD
brake on the chainstays, it's beef city and
a superb all round frame designed by Albert
Retey - but this time it's hooked up with a
pair of KHE forks, with 6mm dropouts,
machined steerer, and AD brake mounted
on lugs. The stem this time is a KHE
clamp-on unit, and the bars on the Skunk
are KHE Fat Bob oversize cromoly 4pc bars
- with a good sweep, strong tubing, and
fine chrome job, these bars are totally rad,
A bit wide though.
The wheels on the Skunk are Alex/KHE
chrome aluminium rims, laced into a high
flange Sovos front sealed mech hub and a
KHE Econo Freehub at the back - very
useful for flatland and mini ramp riding.
Pegs on the Skunk are flatland friendly too
- big 2 inch diameter aluminium knurled
pegs. 4.5 inches long and grippy. The
tyres are Cheng Shin Primos, the best
tyres money can buy, and the cranks are
KHE cromoly 1 pc with a Mini CD staying
out of the way for scuff stuff - again,
another flatland feature (but still out of the
way for mini ramps).
Tha Skunk may cost £110 more than the
Pussey, but from the looks of it you get
quite a bit more for your money: stuff like
aluminium chrome 48's, 2 inch fat flatland
pegs, a free hub. Fat Bob bars, clamp on
stem, a front AD brake, and more - all
these features are built into one of the
best frames on the market today. If you
have £450 burning a hole in your pocket,
you could do a lot worse than spend your
wad on a Skunk bike.
So, now you have a few more choices to
getting yourself a Catweesle frame:
1) Buy a KHE Catweasle frame and fork for
around £270 and build up your own parts.
2) Buy a KHE Pussey bike built with
Catweasle frame for £350, and upgrade
the parts as time goes on.
3) Buy a KHE Skunk bike built with
Catweasle frame for £460, ready to rock,
upgrade the parts if you want."
Bling
