Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Bike improvements


Got out to the trails again today for 45ish miles. Nice, sunny day with 50 deg. temps and no wind. My rig is running great now since I made a few crucial upgrades. Gone is the aluminum switchblade fork- in it's place is the carbon version. Waayy smoother ride now and I think it is a tad lighter if that means anything. Ditched the Thompson seatpost too ( not because it is a bad post- still the best out there for most bikes!) and replaced it with a Bontrager XXX carbon variety- again, much smoother although prob. heavier- see how things even out! Last on the list was to can the BMX grips and replace them with a pair of green Ergon GX-1 grips. Those grips are great! I've been trying to get a pair for the last year but none of my distributors have had 'em in stock. Worth the wait. I've had problems with my two outside fingers and 1/2 my hand going numb about an hour into a ride since 12 hrs. of Santos this year. Once I got the angle right (critical) the grips worked great- I've got in two four hr. rides in the last 3 days with no hand problems! Anyways- the bike is riding great now- almost can't tell it is rigid until I get on the gas and it moves! Now- have to find some good wheels for it- the stockers came off a tractor trailer I think.
Anybody have any suggestions for hydration packs- let me know- My hydrapack is getting on my last nerve. It would be great to have something that keeps the water in until I need to use it instead of resembling a cropduster spraying down the trail (and me). Something with straps that one could adjust while riding would be great too!
Later-
DH

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