Been busy!
My brother caught the bug so I donated my wheels (rotos and tyres too), and brakes to his build... his build is super clean! will have to get some photos of it when I get a chance next, and he's free.
So new wheels and brakes!
I was overseas in Malaysia for a job, and managed to pick up some M9000 levers super cheap! I'm a little weird, I prefer the non-servo wave levers. I like the "softer" bite... as if my brakes are consistently not working properly.
I like pictures... so here we go...
So a bell is always handy, and my mate raved on about the Spurcycles Bell. Long story short we both ended up with them. I managed to get it to fit snuggly next to my brake lever.
Gets people's attention! I use my bike for work... like today was Ride to Work day, and I had a shoot in the CBD, so it proved handy in possibly dooring situations. :love:
I matched my levers to Saint Calipers. I figure I'd have to shorten hose/bleed brakes, I may as well have some fun wrenching. Plus, I'm still in the delusion that I'll get back into some DH... I also bought hoses when I was in Malaysia, and after sourcing the calipers (one of which came with TWO right brake pads) it worked out to be cheaper than buying a set of M9000's. I felt bad buying so much stuff overseas so got some rotors, brake pads, adapter mounts (yes, I have a box of them... but as it goes, only found them after I had bought new ones) from Borsari Cycles. They used to stock so much high end MTBs, but times are changing and it's really tough for retail here... such a shame. But like other LBS's, they're finding it difficult when online prices are about the same if not cheaper than wholesale here... not helped by lack of stock availability. My rotors cost about twice as much as CRC/Wiggle, even after a discount. Urgh... ranting... if you get the chance he's got some retro/collectors GT's out the back!
I also did a bit of work shortening the Reverb hose, and cleaned up the cockpit.... as much as I could with so many cables. I'm very tempted to just lose the CTD remote.
After lots of reading, mostly here on RB, I decided to give Light Bicycle rims a go. I went with 650b, 30mm internal/35mm external width, 3k matte finish, with LB decal in black (you can hardly see it).
- my first point of contact is a sales person, she (apparently) will create some urgency to get you to order, it's all false... apparently at the time 32h hubs were in stock, but would be a long wait for 28h etc etc. The rising USD pushed me over the line.
- once you've placed your order they take a while, as in 2 months... perhaps it's because I asked for the decals so they couldn't just grab one off the shelf, or maybe my hub choice. Regardless, it wasn't until I emailed them explaining that the sales team were under some urgency in ordering my hub, then all of a sudden it is at customs and would arrive tomorrow. Wheel arrived 5 days later. They offered to give me 3 spare spokes and nipples for the trouble... LOL.
- they asked me if I had any specific requests... so I asked for the 240s/Dt Swiss logo to be lined up with the valve hole... didn't happen LOL. Next time I think I'd just order all the parts and build the wheel myself or by someone here I think. Not too fussed to be honest
- arrived well packaged, I was pretty excited to receive them.
I was going to go with Hope Pro 2 EVOs (I had the old old Pro 2's on my Bottlerocket which I loved), but decided they're a bit too loud.. plus the utilitarian 240s would outlive a few rims and are so easy to service. Not that I'm planning to break these.
They arrived with the 18T ratchet, which to be honest I am still riding despite having the 36T upgrade sitting on my desk (bought them on eBay sale + cash rewards offer). I'm pretty happy with them, engagement is super solid. Servicing is a breeze!
When they arrived they were almost silent, which was a little scary... so I wiped off a little grease just so I could tell my hub was working haha.
Ride-wise, the new wheelset is overall almost 400g lighter. The front wheel is easier to manual, but the most noticeable was turning either directions had a much lighter feel. Quicker to accelerate, but probably just my (lack of) skill level that I've noticed I'm not as stable through rough sections. In particular through longer sections, of rough stuff, I'm finding I really need to pick a more "efficient" line to carry through without losing a lot of speed... or go quicker. The Stans Flow seem to just bulldoze through. Something I need to adjust to.
I've gone back to Maxxis tyres. My favourite setup back ages ago were Minion DHF ST front, and High Roller ST/Ardents rear.
I've been running Shorty 2.3 front, and HR II 2.3 rear, until recently when it has really dried up. I thought I ordered a set of DHF 2.3's but ended up with DHR II's lol. So running them up front now... been on one ride, seems fine but definitely less sketchy than the Shortys in the dry.
One thing to note is the HR II 2.3's run with a really FLAT profile on the 30mm internal width, which I'd imagine would create more rolling resistance. In hindsight, maybe I should have gone for a 30-32mm internal width rear rim for the HR II's... maybe when I do some DH runs with 2.5 HD casing tyres I'll love the wider rims?
The Minion DHR II's run a rounder profile at the front, which I'm pretty happy with, sorry forgot to take a picture that would give an indication of the front tyre roundness. P.S. the Shorty up front was amazing in wet/loose.
I used 48mm Sun Ringle rim tape, cut down to 36mm to seal the rims. Not 100% happy with the quality of the tape, but they're holding with a single layer with about 60mm overlap. Although the Maxxis tyres were so tight I lost some skin getting them on, they held air without sealant. Seating the tyres was pretty easy with a track pump at 40psi.
I ordered the Milkit sealant kit with valves (because they were black), ages ago off a crowd funding platform and they arrived two days before my wheelset! Sure I could make my own kit, but their kit is super neat and means changing tubeless tyres are actually quicker than changing tubes. For me anyway, because I spend some time ensuring the inner tube isn't twisted and seated perfectly. Also means I can just syringe out any sealant to check or reuse.
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I've discovered some deformation on the edge where the stem meets the carbon bars. Still on the grippy textured part... seems like just the surface but still has me concerned. I've installed my stem by first ensuring there is no gap in the top two bolts (as per Straitline's instructions), and the bar can freely turn at this stage, and torqued the bottom two bolts alternating to 3.8Nm.
Is this normal? I can get photos I guess. But you can sort of see the point of concern in this image:
Build is pretty much complete... just some minor things to do. New axle on it's way. The QR cam on my current axle feels either too tight, or when it's smooth enough I'd need to rotate the lever to effectively tighten it down.
There's also a creak on each of my non-drive side downstrokes...
Have held off on other cosmetic changes... just want to get out and ride more