The Number of the Beast.

Built. It rides so damn nice its ridiculous...fast and relaxed, poised and sharp. It will be such a nice tool for the job.

So its not a proper cross bike, but what it *is*, is a machine ready and willing to do the dirty on road and trail for as long as my legs can keep it moving forward, right from the door. Mix it up, it will cope. Biomechanically, its silhouette means i wont get anything funky going on when i jump on the tIF to ride proper trails or the pinkster to do some touring.

Exactly what i wanted. As ever, thank you tim and thank you indy fab.

And yes, i used an end mill getting this together...i had an old dt swiss thru bolt rws skewer that needed the nut 'massaged' as it was prior to the final relieved nut they make now.



Issues - how to make the fixed rear wheel i built work with a chainline that sits at 47mm at the chainring sits when the velosolo ring sits at 54mm chainline on the hub. Best idea so far (thank you phil!) is to send the hub to a friendly lathe to have its excesses removed and space the ring out a few mm...

Blammo

Back. Lots to tell, but prolly for singletrack. Will post some Picos thoughts as they come though. Biff's shopper held together just fine and we had a supreme time.

In other news the 'Maiden is almost ready. Only hitch: (i had wondered if this would happen) setting it up to take a fixed 135mm/disc attachment cog *and* a singlespeed wheel with road cranks is proving.....tricky. We'll see. At the moment it is freewheeled, because it is meant to be a training tool for the most part, so it mimics the tIF.

Pictures when done. I am especially pleased with the cable routing for the rear brake...

Me and my man.

Are off to the picos. He's packed too...

Project: Iron Maiden.

End mills are your friend.

----sorry for the bluuuueurgh-----


I have mentioned swapping disc rotors. The sharper tacks amongst you will notice im using a 180 rotor with an 185 avid adapter/BB7. Isn't that a bad idea? especially if the pads wear and then hit each other before they hit the disc because 2.5mm of the pad material never gets worn by the rotor?

Well, it would be, but i used an end mill and removed some material from the adapter to allow a good solid contact.

:-)~ All good.

Thats it...

So, kit sorted, and im packing the rest of the stuff up.

In terms of the bike...i have a total weight of 15.1 kg. The bike itself weighs 12kg so i have 3.1kg of kit on it. That is including everything i am taking except water.

My wingnut weighs 1.95 kg. Again, thats inclusive except water. So that puts my kit total for the trip at 5.05kg, or 11.1 lb. Pretty good, i think, and it is noticeable when i am riding that the bike is lighter. It is easy to pick up and carry, which is good.

I only got 20 mins riding today as i have a million and one things to sort out, so i need to get a little more time in to brake (!) the rotors in, then its tear down and shove it in the trico.

Bike prepped.

One of the things i wanted to do prior to heading to the picos was fit new disc rotors. The shimano rotors seem to have a better feel than the avid stock rotors, I wanted to use a rotor with an alloy carrier so it is stiffer, and less likely to bend, and also as it doesnt have the slightly annoying rotational play that the avid 6 bolt to center lock adapter allows.

I got hold of a shiamno xt RT79 rotors - 180 front, 160 rear. Unfortunately, the rear alloy carrier interfered with the disc caliper. The front was ok due to the greater diameter. Chipps had mentioned this might happen, so i wasnt too surprised and instead fitted an SLX RT64 which has a smaller alloy carrier but a similar steel disc. All done and the end mill didnt need to be utilised as the rotors sit slightly more out from the flange, thus making adjustment of the brake easier.

All good.



Next up will be replacing the rotors on the tIF with the same rear and probably a new XT RT76 6 bolt rotor when they come into stock.

The tIF got an ardent fitted on the front (thanks andy!) and this tyre belies its unmounted size with a pretty beefy volume. Hopefully this will be the tyre for shenandoah...more once its ridden.



Now, time to pack stuff up and work out a layering system for the picos...i think i may have to take something primaloft - mainly to bolster the sleeping bags warmth over night...

Locked and loaded.

Today i finally had a chance to get the pinkster loaded up with the new Epic Designs bags, with an approximation of the kit ill take to the Picos de Europa. All works well. I have a few bits and bobs to do to the bike, then we are away. I serviced the rear hub mechanism, replaced front pads and bedded them in. I did notice there is a compatibility issue with the front rotor, brake and fork. The rotor is sitting too far to the left at maximum adjustment of the caliper. Still, it works. I might replace the rotor, as i want to use the alloy armed shimano rotors but we'll see. They have better braking power, are stiffer and lighter than the avids.



The packs are (predictably) amazing. Holding all the gear well without interference to my legs or the bike. They have good adjustment in order to keep everything snug. Front bag is currently holding waterproof and primaloft jackets, along with a thermarest and the bivvi sack. The rear has a wool top, sleeping bag, gas, kettle, coffee maker (thanks shaggy!) porridge and cup. I will likely re-stow stuff and put a little more in the rear, but this gives a good idea of how it will all ride. The kilo lost weight - from removing the Old Man Mountain racks - from the bike is noticeable. The bike weighs 32lb without water, so it'll be pretty light considering.



More as time allows.

Anja

I am certain a report will surface on the moulin site, but anja rocked to a third place at the "rest of the world" singlespeed championships in new zealand.

Ferrari

My man matt got second SS at cohutta 100, first NUE race of the year. Chapeaux.

Yo la.

At shaggy's stag do, we were talking about family guy. I've never seen family guy, so i googled, and look what i found.