Australia Post is working today as I got my XTR levers as well as my carbon fibre fork today for the single speed project. Have to say, it’s amazingly light and damn sexy! It’s actually made in Taiwan and rebranded as a White Brothers product to the USA (of-course for 3 times the price). I paid $173 for it off eBay. Can’t wait to get this gear on the single speed!
Jing and I went to Loftus Oval this morning to test the new Reign. We ran into a friendly guy (Anthony) in the carpark, who seemed to be excitedly waiting for some bikers to come along, cool that he too had a Giant (a new Trance) which funnily enough he also had never ridden and he just bought it from my local bike store in Maroubra Junction.
All in all the bike did really well, some of the climbs I just had to walk up but the bike really shines on downhills, it’s so confidence inspiring. The single track at Loftus is awesome and the bit I loved the most, shame it’s so short. Looking forward to joining MWG on some Blue Mountains stuff and also trying Manly Dam. More pics here.
OK, so I finally caved in (bit of pressure from Jing, who actually spotted the bike for me) and bought myself a NEW bike today.
It’s a 2007 Giant Reign 1 which was worth $3000 new and was on a run-out sale at Cranks in North Sydney (still on their site now). I ended up bargaining it down (it’s the Asian in me) to $1800 cycle away.
Despite initially wanting a hardtail I knew I had to give full suspension a go and it was between the 2008 Scott Genius MC-40 or the Reign. The Scott small felt way too big for me and the lowest I could get it down to was $2350. I did a lot of research on the Reign which is much loved all over the world. 6 inches of travel (that’s massive) a good all round all mountain bike, great for downhills, great for climbing too. I was sold.
Riding it feels pretty strange, it’s very plush, bobs up and down when peddaling out of the seat, but then you realise you didn’t have to get out of the seat, even going off a gutter is surreal as you can sit down and not even feel it. I’m 100% sure it’ll be amazing on the rough stuff.
Tomorrow I’ll hit the national park, or Manly Dam in it and take some pics! Here’s a great clip showing off the suspension at work. Here’s the spec sheet.
Edit: just took some pics.
Spent the day catching up with the JDMyard boys which were busy dropping a B18C (yo) into a customer car. Safety first (notice the use of a seat belt to lift and drop the engine!) ah got to love grass roots backyard mechanics!
Jing came over last night with his toys, namely a Specialized P3 dirt jump bike, a Scott Scale 40 and a Kona Stinky downhill frame. We got busy taking everything apart to weight stuff. Weights can be found here. I went for a ride today on the Scale and I love it, it’s so rigid, light (11kg’s) and fast, if anything it even turns a little too fast but I’m sure it’s something I could get used to. Gears are a luxury too after riding up my hilly area on a single speed. Hmmm, the brain continues to debate about what bike to build next.
I got my new pedals today. They’re Crank Brothers Mallet C’s and the packaging was awesome, quality is unbelievable, the kit was so complete, cleats, shims for cleats, bolts, even replacable grips for more hardcore conditions. I also got an army grade hydration pack, it’s awesome. Latest picture of bike here.
OK, so I’ve decided to reduce a little weight off the bike. The heavy 2kg+ shocks have to go. I’m 100% sure on that. I’m eBay bidding on some 1.4kg Rock Shox SID’s and have an eye on some carbon 500g forks at about $350 although I’m not 100% sure I want to go rigid over suspension.
One thing I’ve never skimped on with cars are wheels and tyres. Forged rims are expensive but they’re damn light. Reducing unsprung weight is a massive plus for cars and even more so for a bicycle. The fat tyres are heavy but I love them. Maxxis do sell a 300g tyre but it’s so thin and probably useless on a trail. The rims I am running are winder and heavier than the original old skool rims too, something I’ll have a think about later, but for now I’ve bought a few sets of the world lightest mountain bike tubes at 96g/tube. Love the retro packaging too.
A couple of mates of mine are bringing in some very nice drool worthy guitars from Japan. They’re rare and in immaculate condition. I’ve been doing a little design work for them, identity, web site work, all in exchange for a nice guitar of-course! Check out the ladies here.
Caught up with a mate Ben last night, he’s a crazy running man, he’s also super into bikes. He brought along a super old skool folding bike he found on eBay (which after putting in tome TLC into he was about to sacrifice for a girl), so much character and it had a hub with gears inside it, something I hadn’t seen or riden before.
We both geeked out when we walked past a softride bicycle. Super rare! The owner came running up to the bike thinking we were going to steal it, or something (lol).
We dropped in on a quiet little JDMST meet too, which of-course, is always cool :) Oh, and Jing got himself yet another amazing bike (my fave brand too).
