New Bike Day.... the powder blue girls bike

[MingtheMerciless]

'It's a Trek, the all do that sir, it's a character trait."

Mrs L's old Trek had locktite tougher than the pivot bolt which fell to bits as I tried to undo it.

[weeksy]

I think it's just all bikes after use in dirt all the time.

The 2 spacers between pivot bearings and chainstay were horribly dirty, they're a pain to get to as it's cranks out etc, but hopefully we should be there now.

I have to say the build quality on the Trek is the best of all the bikes I've owned.

[weeksy]

Silent today, joyous! 50km and not a whisper out of it apart from the tyres rubbing the trails and roads. My legs and body are pretty grumpy with me though as they thought today was a day off when it was raining earlier

[weeksy]

Ok, stay with me here. It’s a dreary damp day, my legs are dead and I’ve watched the cycling.

So.

I’ve got a Trek Fuel ex9.8 with a knock block headset.

After attempting to swap the stem I’ve just found out my headset spacers are also knock block.

So they slot into frame/headset/stem together and are locked in place



So I’ve currently got 35s fitted, alu with 38mm rise and 780mm width

I have standard bars, carbon 35s, 800mm and 28mm width.

But I wanted to try some 31.8s I have with 760mm width and 28mm rise, why, well, why not.

Now Google shows me these

https://www.tritoncycles.co.uk/componen ... q_EALw_wcB

Which means I lock that in place? Why? I can then fit a standard stem?

I get the stiffness discussions but can normal humans/riders really notice a difference between 31.8 and 35s?

[Mr Moofo]

^ I have just realise that I am not hanging out with the cool MT cats any more
I have never heard of Knock Block

Just off for a surf
One issue - go and have a quick read up on Triton. They seem to have interesting customer reviews

[weeksy]

Was reading something over on stw forum and decided to whip the dhr off the front and throw on a 2.5 Assegai. It's a burly beast in terms of size and tread, but not particularly heavy.
We'll see how it feels.

[irie]

Which means I lock that in place? Why? I can then fit a standard stem?

Yes, done this on both our Trek Rails. Just put it at the bottom (it has an arrow you align) and you can then use regular spacers and Ahead stems.

I get the stiffness discussions but can normal humans/riders really notice a difference between 31.8 and 35s?

Doubt it.

[irie]

Got ours from J.E.James. IIRC I called to check they really were in stock and they were posted straight away.

https://www.jejamescycles.com/product/5 ... in/option/

[weeksy]

One of the lads on stw has one for a tenner new.

[weeksy]

One of the lads on stw has one for a tenner new.

Arrived today, but currently i'm going to run it with the carbon 35s which were the stock bars on the bike. No rush to change things about as i'm not really riding any tech stuff for a little while due to racing stuff, i may try and get a midweek ride though next week at Swinley.

[weeksy]

Took the speedy carbon thing to collect the car today. First 6km is off road and uphill, only averaged 17.5kmh for that, but then the speed picked up on the road with the next 10km being just under 28kmh. I was keeping things fairly sensible but getting a sweat on, but not pouting. With some of the final section being 32+ and then a gentle one on the last hill I finished the ride in 2hr 6min and 23.5kmh.
Considering I'm on a MTB running grippy Enduro rubber, it's hard to be unhappy with that.

Sadly it never taught me a lot about the bars other than the fact I like their position well enough.

[irie]

Have SQlab 31.8 carbon bars on my Trek Rail. Not for weight saving, but for the increased damping (compared to alloy bars) when travelling fast over rough terrain.

[weeksy]

I did 30km yesterday and 20 of trails today, tbh I like the carbon. So they're pretty much staying on

[Crosshair]

Can you talk in miles now Boris is bringing back imperial

[weeksy]

Can you talk in miles now Boris is bringing back imperial

Wash your mouth out with soap bringing politics into cycling section young man. You get what Dan's Strava feed tells me we rode.

[weeksy]

Still loving the Fuel but have a minor dilemma this weekend.

I'm racing DH. It's not full in WC DH of course but it's techy and jumpy and a bit hard core for a 50 year old dad lol.

So my 2 options are

2020 fuel ex9.8

2019 specialized status 160

My lad is stealing the GT Fury.

I'm torn as to which to pick. I was out on the Trek tonight trying to push myself and it's great.

But will I want the extra 20mm.

Hmmm

[weeksy]

2022-06-14_05-18-28 by Steve Weeks, on Flickr

In some ways, they don't seem that different

[weeksy]

Went out this morning testing the Specialized Status on the 'Enduro Line' at Slanting Hill. Was quite interesting as it has plenty of plusses and a few minuses compared to the Trek.

First off is the suspension, both ends actually feel better and more plush than the Trek, which is slightly weird because both are running Fox 36s and 29er front ends... Even with the arugably worse tyres fitted on the Status of the Butchers, it still felt good. The rear though feels superb on the Status, really nice. The Fox DPX2 i've always liked on bikes and it just soaks things up superbly. I don't mind the suspension on the Trek, but it's not as plush that's for sure. I may work a little on the front end, but not sure i can do that much on the rear.
Handling wise the Trek wins in parts but loses in parts, none are a shock. The Status seems to turn quicker, well it would with the 27.5 rear and shorter chainstays along with the front end of the Status feeling a bit 'wandery' on anything other than downs. However, all i'm racing on at the weekend is the downs. lol.

The other minor downside to the Status is the levers, they're integrated so i can't move them further out, the result is that they touch my hands when i'm gripping the bars and i'm conscious of them being too close to my hands, they have 2 positions and i moved them to the outside one a few months ago, but still too close.

Sadly due to Strava not letting me create a segement for the Enduro line as apparently it's 'too short' i can't really get any 'live' and accurate data on timing. I was thinking about getting my lad to stand at the bottom and time me, but he's poorly at the moment so can't. However, i can't see my actual finishing position changing on either bike in the race lol. So i'm not sure any of it matters.

enjoyed the testing though and happy to once again do both sets of dad-gaps

2022-06-15_08-29-40 by Steve Weeks, on Flickr

[Crosshair]

I’d have come two minutes up the hill and timed you

[weeksy]

I’d have come two minutes up the hill and timed you

I'm not sure i could cope with your laughing at me