Oh No, Next Up - a CX Rig

Inspired my MJs riding his CX bike on French, I found myself in a bidding war on Ebay for a beaten Raleigh Pro CX Bike. Its all carbon, very blue, full of ports for internal routings of cables.

To use up my spare parts collection, I am starting with a single speed setup to re-use my awesome TRP Hylex brakes.

I ended up ordering an eccentric BB, spacers, in addition to some tubeless WTB Cross Boss tires, I am plotting to go tubeless on my old DT Swiss wheels.

Already plotting for really wide handlebars, and I will need to re-route lots of hosing and bleed brakes.

IF I really like it, maybe I move all the FM166 parts over to make a real CX rig for next fall...

Fleet Weigh-In - 2016-0206

Inspired by the very light feeling Scott 29er when riding with M, afterwards I used the trusty bathroom scale for some
quick comparative measurements. I tried to re-weigh myself between bikes and took multiples of each bike to average.

Me 197.3 - mtb ride clothes, full of coffee and oatmeal

Scott - Garmin 500 n mount

222.8 222 223.1 221.6 = avg and minus Me = 25.1 lbs

Me 197.2

Poison - fenders w/some dirt

229.5 227.0 228.3 228.3 229.4 = 31.3 lbs

Me 197.4

Fm166 - lights and tools, no fenders

216.4 216.4 216.4 = 19lbs

Looks pretty consistent, Focus naked would be 17-19 but I ran out of time. Thats half of Poison :/

I suspect the Maxxis Ardent tires are contributing a lot to the 29ers weights, quite substantial rubber compared to the Schwalbes. Fenders and droppers, cheap saddle do not help Poison either.

Poison Carbon Hoops Ridden, Trainer + Ant USB Dongle + Zwift On Rainy Tuesday, MudHugger Tomorrow...

Poison is "done" again, it rode great on my first MTB ride in a month, thanks to the rain. I sent this image as the "Light Bicycle" money shot for them to use, good products and they now sell 18mm rim tape and long valve stems - they need an air compressor to complete the package!

Also due to our California El Nino raininess, I bought a trainer in desperation from a BBC member who had 2. Its an older Kurt Kinetic Road Machine, almost compatible with "Zwift" - I logged on this morning for my free trial and after taking the Green Jersey on the sprint, and then the Polka Dot Jersey (out of 500ish people mind you), I got flagged as a lost pro or equipment failure.

I got bummed that my unit was somehow not compatible with the "zPower" calculation but upon investigation I found the actual magic fluid training part is identical to the new ones (T-699C is the magic part). So lets blame tire slippage and try again next storm.

Tomorrow is Wednesday, my favorite day of the week...(WMD!) Some really huge fenders came in the mail from "Mud Hugger" that I should go try to put on for the event...

2016, Rainy Weather and New Carbon Hoops

Very little riding has been going on since late December, with a rainy Xmas Eve Ride and Full Endo (I hit brakes whilst attempting a too-late dropper adjust) being the last off-road jaunt. Some ski trips, more cold rain, more skiing and a little road ride here and there dodging rainstorms.

The fat carbon hoops showed up, and the spokes were all the wrong size. Once new spokes were ordered, I got to work tearing down the American Classic hubs.




M helped me with the front, we re-laced and tightened it down on Brian's awesome Park truing stand. The centering gauge was really useful. The carbon rims from Light Bicycle were very true and sturdy, and so once laced the wheels went together very well.

 Once working, I put in a very long valved tube (required) and had to get new longer valve stems for going tubeless. With tube, I wrestled a tire on the front wheel to make sure it would work, and it did great. Next, time to go tubeless and this was, again, a huge new mess. Unable to get the Maxxis on with my floor pump, I went through 6 CO2 cartridges hoping it would be enough - nope. Part of the problem was trying to use 21mm Stans Tape - it did not fit well into the spoke hole channel. Light Bicycle tech support suggested 18mm tape, I found some "Orange Seal" on Amazon and it did the trick to cover the holes and provide the appropriate seal.

And so a little Amazon shopping and I ordered a 3 gallon 110 PSI air compressor, which made very quick and easy work of popping the tire onto the nice wide rim. Meet my new garage friend! Very loud, and it does well shooting Nerf darts.

With the front wheel together, and tubeless, and more rain in the forecast, I took apart the rear wheel and attempted to pre-lace the spokes to speed the process up a bit. Nope, I was off by a hole and had to replace the drive side, but in the end the spokes were of the right size and the rear went well together too. 

I took the final assembly to work and back today, it felt good - like on the road bike, the lighter weight/increased stiffness really shows with a little speed. The wheels look massive, both deep and wide, looking forward to trying them on the dirt.

Poison and Me, Santa gets me Dropper #2

Dual suspension has been a delightful surprise - somewhere between Cx on the hardtail and right now, fresh from installing a Thomson Dropper post onto Poison, I have been crushing the trails on my new bike. 22+ PRs in China Camp alone, where previous times have not been slow. Climbing obstacles at Tamarancho and limitless traction where I slid before. Downhills, dropper down, giggling in delight vs hiding behind the saddle, bottom on the wheel. I have yet to put a scale on it, but the rig is a good 5 to 8 lbs heavier than the hardtail. I will apply some science soon.

Dropper #1 was a generous surprise from co-worker Jiro, a borrowed item that had been lent to him, deposited on my office chair the day after discussing my curiosity. A 2011ish Specialized Command Post, 125mm, perfect. So I put it on, worked great for 3 or 4 rides, then went flat on cold Turkey day during the appetite ride, stopped holding air soon after and this weekend in China camp, started creaking and loosening sideways. Time for a service, but not before Santa ordered me a Thompson that arrived today and got installed tonight.

Gorgeous Packaging

Put on a red furred, because thats how Poison rolls.

Thank you Santa - Barb is giving me the empty box for Xmas.

More Quick Happenings of Oct

Other happenings

1. Squealing brakes on the FM166, even after 3 pad swaps and a try using the TRP discs.
2. Floyd's Merlin got sent to Colorado using BikeFlights
3. Remember that Tandem and rack for it? Yes.
4. AC got an awesome IBIS Ripley carbon with Ibis 941 rims. 41 mm of carbon wide rims, super-light weight with travel, $9k but its all in one bike.
5. Almost never commuting to work, pinned between M and Z's school start times.
6. First flat on the FM166 carbon rims. Levers not enough. Pump not enough/very slow to fill the tube. Darkest Friday of the year, Phil stayed with me to the bitter end (thanks)

That Bike is "Poison" - Full Suspension Project and Learnings

Poison Niner Rip 9

After it went together well, completed the Niner Rip 9 and did 5 rides in a row:

1. WMD @ SLG, JMP, Roberts and French with Mr C
2. Tamarancho with GN, made it up the rock face I never did before. The lower link loosened on me too.
3. WMD @ SLG, with MrC and GN, a little Fern and Pasos
4. SLG with GN and AC, 3C's and 3PRs to my surprise. Crack hoise no problem. Best climb on face of GNs BigTree hill as well.

After AC and GN swore me to getting a dropper, my co-worker/New Coffee buddy/ex DH pro JN came through with a dropper post to try, a Specialized Command Post 125mm 3 position circa 2011. Its went on smoothly, top position is 1 inch too high, 2nd position is 1/2 inch shorter, and drop is as low as it goes.

I awoke the Sunday after the series of PRs and hill conquests then wondered if I would have a reason to ride the HT again. SO I rode it on today's WMD. Light and quick, but a little harsh and I needed to re-learn how to pick lines. I ended up liking the bike again, but I am not sure I am riding enough to be fluent with 2 bikes. The XT brakes were awesome as usual

Also, the chain kept on skipping and popping - different than usual wear sort of fail, not quite chain suck either. SO when I checked over the bike after the ride, I found the derailleur pulley was flexing all over due to being completely cracked through.

Chain Reaction came through with a $56 replacement, and I threw in a set of XT brakes for Poison as well.