Building the Lightest 29er Hardtail That I Can - Pre-Build Post

So, since the last time we spoke, I have bought and sold many, many bikes.  I can't take time now to review all of the different sales and purchases.  Needless to say, I'm having a little fun these days.  My two crazy boys are growing up and Daddy is getting a little more free time.

So, I am now taking on the project of trying to create a super light race-worthy 29er hardtail.  I had my eye on, and actually clicked the buy button on, a special from Ribble.com for their HTC SLX carbon 29er.  The trouble was, was that the purchase and sale, let alone the shipping from the UK was taking entirely too long and I was getting anxious to build my new steed.

That said, I found a deal on Ebay that I could not refuse.  For less than the price of the Ribble special, I found this bike:

This bike is exactly what I had my mind on to build in the first place, so I knew it was the bike for me and I was able to get it at a reasonable price.

Granted, I am already starting with a race-worthy bike.  I mean a carbon frame (I think sub 1000g), Rock Shox SID XX suspension fork, XTR 1x11 drive train with FSA SLK crank, XT hydro brakes, carbon handlebar and carbon seatpost, ESI chunky foam grips, FSA SLK stem and the list goes on and on.  It has so many nice parts...but, alas, I can't stop there.

I'm not sure what the bike I bought weighs yet, as it is currently on a truck somewhere in New Mexico headed towards me, but my aim is to build this bike and get it down to around 19 lbs.

To do this, I have purchased these additional parts:

1. Full carbon saddle (110g)

2. carbon seatpost clamp (13g)

3. Schwalbe Rocket Ron 29 x 2.25 for up front (approx 530g)

4. Schwalbe Racing Ralph 29 x 2.1 for the back (approx 540g)

5. Superlight thru axle for up front (approx 20g)

6. Stan Crest MK3 wheelset (under 1600g)


Now, could I have lighter parts...sure.  I could have built the thing totally in carbon, but I actually do have a budget and I have two other mountain bikes sitting in the garage needing to be sold before I go all out.  That said, with these parts, I think I can get pretty close.

I'll be back with some pics and the results.  Stay tuned!

This Season's Plasti Dip Project - The Scott Plasma 3

As one who always loves a change of pace, I stripped all of the plasti dip off of my last ride and sold it away for funds for a new ride this season.  And also as someone who always loves a change of pace, I purchased a Scott Plasma 3 and changed up its grey paint job with a little something more stealthy.  Yeah, I tried to go battleship gray and then green with it first, but in the end I wasn't feeling either color so I went back to matte black.  I love it!

As another splurge, I used some of this year's bonus money to buy a nice SRAM Etap aero kit on the ride.  Of course, I couldn't let those silver parts show, so it them up with some plasti dip as well.  I am now probably the first person in the world to have black edition SRAM Red Etap.  I also replaced one pair of regular blips with the Etap clics which make a nice clean setup by sitting right in the tips of the aerobars.

I also ordered up a nice Dash saddle since the Fizik Tritone was just not feeling comfortable to me.  I threw some tri rig parts on there to boot, including the Tririg Omega X aero brake on the front and the Tririg Beta under the saddle bottle holder for a nice aero setup.

I got some nice 3T Brezza aero bars, but the extensions weren't quite what I wanted, so I bought some Profile Design T5 carbon extensions and painted them with black matte plasti dip so they would match the rest of the bike.

Add in some Zipp 808's with some custom fluro green decals to match the other fluro green highlights on the bike.

Then there's the Bontrager Speed Concept II bento box and the custom aero cover that I made to hide the blip box and wires on the stem.  Also, I picked up a used VR Torhans aero waterbottle.  I cut it to make it into a flat kit and then painted it with matte black plasti dip to match everything else.

All in all I think it came out pretty nicely.  It should ride super fast. I can't wait to jump on!

 
 

 
 

Tri Bike Plasti Dip Make Over and Weight Loss

So, I am happy to report that my tri bike's makeover and weight loss is finally complete!  I started of with this:

This frame is super aero and light (claimed 1100g for the frame).  I raced it last year and it did well.    I had a nice cockpit setup with a Profile Design Svet base bar and Profile Design carbon T2 s-bend aerobars.  But that set up, was on the heavy side since the parts were not integrated.  Finally, I had an Adomo Attack saddle, which was comfortable on the jewels, but weighed almost 300g!  I felt that I needed to do something different with the aesthetics of the bike and wanted to reduce weight..

The aesthetics were easy enough to change.  I stumbled upon a product called Plasti-Dip.  It goes on with a spray can (also have a dip-in form) and it lays down like a spray paint, but does not adhere to the paint underneath.  Rather, it adheres to itself.  For that reason, it is very easy to remove without damage to the paint underneath (I know, I tried after I sprayed a part and then changed my mind).  It just peels right off and it is not heavy.  It has a bit of a rubbery texture and is very good at protecting the frame underneath from the elements.  All in all, it is essentially the perfect product for a bike makeover that you don't know will be permanent.

The plati-dip can be a little finicky and delicate.  For instance, my aerobar slammed against the frame during assembly.  Rather than creating a chip in the paint, it took a chuck of plasti-off, exposing the paint underneath.  No problem though.  I just whipped out the spray can and sprayed that spot.  It adhered to the rest like there was never any damage.  No need to worry about sanding down or getting all of the layers just right!

The Plasti-Dip comes in several colors, even cool lime green.  I went with stealth matte black.  That's just what I like.  All my bikes are now stealth black.

I also made a couple custom decals.  I chose to call my new, homemade brand of bike "ICONIC".  I picked a cool font and made custom vinyl decals on the cheap from DIYlettering.com.  I even inadvertently messed up my first attempt at the decal and they sent me replacements for free!

As a final touch, I used lime green housing.  I love the black/lime green color scheme and added just a little touch of color to get the look I wanted.

Now for the weight loss...  I changed a couple of things out as follows:

1.  I  changed it out for an Easton EA90 carbon tt fork.    It too got painted stealth black to match the frame.

2. I changed out the Adamo saddle at almost 300g in favor of a Fizik Tritone.  I'm a huge fan of the Ariones (that's all I ride otherwise) and this is essentially an Arione with the nose cut off.  It comes in at 220g.

3.  I swapped out the Profile Design cockpit for an Easton Attack TT integrated carbon cockpit.  This setup is LIGHT!  Rather than 500-600 grams for the other setup, this one is in the 300gram range.  It keeps things neat and tidy with a lack of hardware.  One issue I had in the conversion was the lack of adjustability of the cockpit setup.  I needed the armrests to be higher.  Fortunately, it came with one set of aero spacers. I had another set lying around from the last time I used this particular aerobar setup.  To get a little higher yet, I used spacers from my Profile Design bars which just happened to fit the setup.  Although it was slapped together from some random parts, it got me to where I needed to be height wise and I think it is still light and aero!

4. One of the biggest changes I made was going from a two chainring setup to one.  Rather than the heavy 53t chainring on the outside (128g) I opted to use a super light bbg chainring (28g).  I almost never use the large chainring.  During my half IM last year, I didn't use it one time; so why carry the extra weight.  I kept my front derailleur on as a chain catcher and went with a 44t small ring rather than the 39.  This should give me just a little bit more on downhills and flats i.e. those few times I may have wanted to shift up to the big ring for a little more.

With those changes having been made and the addition of the plasti-dip, the total bike went from 18.02 lbs to 16.76.  It is markedly lighter and may I say that I think it is much more bad ass than the last version.  It just looks faster now.  I can't wait to ride it!

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

With a ton of snow on the way and with a long day at the office behind me, I felt the need to get outside for a ride before being locked in on the trainer for the next couple of weeks until the snow clears.  The only problem was, snow from a different storm was planned for tonight.  No problem...I'll just take out the 29er.

I haven't gotten to ride the bike in some time between triathlon training on the tri bike, riding the new road bike and riding the new cyclocross bike.  And I'm sure glad I did.  With large white flakes starting to come down, I headed out to the trails around my house.  In daylight, the trails aren't all that bad, but do offer some really fun rooty type riding with some rock gardens and a lot of hills.

In the dark, however, things get much tougher and with the snow coming down hard, tougher yet.  The trail was frozen and still partially covered with leaves.  It was difficult riding, but it was so much fun.  I didn't go far but I had a blast, got the heart rate up and got the duldrums of my ho hum day in the office behind me.  I gotta do that again!!

My Review of the Pivot Vault Cyclocross Bike

As you know, I recently purchased a Pivot Vault cyclocross bike. I got this bike on a killer deal after my initial purchase of a Niner RLT fell through. I have to say, I can't complain one bit. This bike is my new favorite ride!

I was looking for a bike to ride in crappy weather, especially in the winter, so disc brakes was a big deal to me. And I knew that I wanted something that I could ride both on the road and on the many gravel trails and single track around my house. The Pivot Vault is one heck of a bike for that.

The carbon frameset is nicely complimented by Shimano Ultegra 11 drive train, some TRP hybrid hydro disc brakes, and a very sturdy 386EVO bottom bracket. For what I paid for this bike, I got a steal. I did make some changes right off the bat. I replaced the Kenda small bloc tires with Schwalbe Sammy Slicks which are better in muddier conditions. I also replaced the saddle with my favorite Fizik Arione. I used an older, lighter alu handlebar as well, although I might switch back to the FSA compact bar that was supplied with the bike.  I also replaced the crank with a matching Ultegra crankset for purposes of consistency and some small weight savings.

The bike is not the lightest bike, despite the fact that it is carbon. I haven't officially weighed it yet, but I would guess around 18lbs. As a trainer bike, this is all fine with me. Plus, once I add the bike lights, the tail light, my heavier mountain bike shoes and pedals and all my winter clothes, does it really matter anyway. I'm not going to be feathery light on this bike much of the time. So it serves me well for my training purposes.

The first thing I noticed about the ride is how stable it is as compared to my road bike. I mean, it was quick and responsive but as stable as a barge. You are not slipping out anywhere on this bike. You can also tell that it is made for bumps and bruises and to be ridden hard. This bike is no prima donna meant only for the roads. I've now taken it on single track, over roots, mud, gravel and I've even done some bunny hops on it...it just keeps on tickin'.

The adjustability of the bike can't be beat. You can set it up with either disc brakes or cantilever brakes. How many bikes can say that?

The Stan's wheels supplied come with tubes and tires but are tubeless ready. I purchased the sealant but have not installed it yet. I think running tubeless will be a game changer on the bike. I was bouncing all around on my ride today. I am anxious to see the changes that come from the switch to tubeless.

The bike is nimble and quick, although I expect to be much more response and quick once summer comes and I don't add another 5 pounds to the bike.

I am still getting used to the Ultegra 11 drive train. I've been riding SRAM red for years now and I am used to the confirmatory click that comes when you change gears. The Shimano shifters give you no such direct feedback leaving me wonder whether the gears actually changed. Again, this is in part due to the fact that I've been riding with heavy winter gloves. Perhaps when those come off I'll feel the click a bit better. I will say that the shifters are buttery smooth and take absolutely no effort to switch from gear to gear or multiple gears at one time. This is my first shot at an 11 speed system as well. I can't say that it is an end all be all, but I'm sure that extra gear is a nice addition even if it is not in the front of my mind while I ride. At no point did I say to myself, wow it is nice to have that extra gear.

I have to say that this is, by far, the most fun bike in my stable. It's ability to ride smooth on the roads and trails provides an incredible amount of versatility during a ride and makes riding so much more fun and interesting. There is no where you can't go. And you don't have to endure the penalty of thick nobbies on the road or the fear of riding of slicks on rough terrain.  This bikes provides the ability to ride both. It is unbelievably well equipped right out of the box and rides extremely well. Additionally, its ability to convert to a canti system from disc brakes is unmatched in the industry.

If you are looking for a fun ride, I highly recommend the Pivot Vault.

My new toy...the Pivot Vault Cyclocross Bike

Yeah, I know, I just got a new ride like a couple of months ago, but it is holiday time and I've been a pretty good boy.  On a whim, I started looking around at gravel grinders.  I fell in love with the Niner RLT.  It was on a very good end of year special and I locked it in on a moment's notice out of fear that it would sell out fast, which it did.

I was pretty excited for the bike to come.  I purchased it from an online site.  Sadly, I received a call from the store a few days after I locked in the purchase during which they told me that they checked the frame before shipping and it was deformed.  They were out of Niner frames, so no replacements in my size.  That was it.

They continued, though, that there were some alternatives.  My ears and eyebrows raised..."oh"?  I was just waiting for the bait and switch speech.  The nice representative continued.  He reviewed this potential bike and that potential bike...none of them fell in line with what I wanted.  Then he said, we do have a left over Pivot Vault.  You can have it on a super clearance price, which, from looking around, I can confirm was a ridiculously good price.  It was just about the same as the Niner but it comes fully stocked with the following:

* Ultegra 11 drive train
* TRP hydro shifters for mechanical brakes
* beatiful carbon frame that can accept both disc and canti breaks and up to 38c tires
* Stans Iron Cross wheels upgradeable to tubless

This is regularly a $3500 cyclocross machine! Sure, I know I was looking for a jeep and this is a Ferrari and I probably won't ever ride it like it should but I have a steed that offers more than I'll ever need.

I plan on using the bike as a bad weather bike, gravel bike and on smooth single track just so I can go on the road and trail in the same ride.  It should be fun as hell.  I'll be sure to get back with my review.  Here's a few pics:

Beauty and the Beast

My newest bike after her maiden voyage.  I had to sell my Cervelo, which I absolutely loved, but this one is awesome, an upgrade to carbon and weighs only 14.2 lbs with the pictured Mavic Ksyrium SLR wheelset.  Specialized Tarmac Pro SL4 54cm carbon frameset, drive train is SRAM Red 10, Mavic Ksyrium SLR wheelset (carbon spokes, carbon hubs), S Works superfly handlebar, Fizik Arione k1 saddle (gold carbon weave), with gold tidbits all throughout the frame.