EPX TerraShark

I bought this in ‘03 because I wanted a FS bike. I found it at Supergo.com for $350 so I figured I’d try it.

It was scheduled to be delivered on the day I was to leave for a week long camping/MTB trip. I talked my UPS guy into coming to my place in the morning (I’m literally the last stop for him). He showed up bright and early with a box that fit in his hand.

I was bummed. I asked “that’s it?” he shrugged and said “yeah”.

So I’m going over all the parts that I’ve collected in anticipation of this frame. I’m packing my camping gear, riding gear, food, etc. At about four o’clock, there’s a knock on the door. It’s him again with a much bigger box than before and a look on his face that says “Oops, my bad.” “It was in the back of the truck.” he says.

I’m supposed to be at my friends house at 6:00pm and I’m working like a mad man to get this thing together. My friend is calling me every ten minutes to see if I’ve left yet. I’d be done quicker if I didn’t have to answer the phone so many times.

I get it built and off to his place at about 7:30 and we have at least five hours to drive.

When I got it all together, I finally realized something was missing. The frame requires an E-Type front derailleur. The E-Type front derailleur requires a small bracket to position it correctly. It wasn’t in the box or tapped to the frame. I ended up naking one out of some aluminium bar stock. since I didn’t have the specs, it wasn’t quite right.

After a couple of years riding around, and without the proper setting for my front derailleur, I kinda put it aside. Then, a friend gives me a Fetish Discipline! I transfered all of the components, except the front D’, to the Fetish.

Two more years pass and my friend is now a serious MTB rider. He gets an Ellsworth FS frame and gets so excited about it. He convinces me to resurrect the TerraShark.

I emailed the EPX Australia office and tell them what I need. Evan says that he’ll send it right away, no charge! A few weeks later, it’s in my mailbox.

During the time the bike was out of service, I somehow lost the screws to the derailleur hanger. After some time, I realized that the limit screws from an old derailleur may work. I went down to my LBS and, sure enough, they fit. I had to cut them down with my Dremel tool but they work great!