Here's a movie that Ross MacKay, from Stash Media Worx and I have been working on for a little while. It's all about my 'Pro Build' process. Building bikes up from parts and a frame to get a precision machine.
Enjoy. http://vimeo.com/54838252
Tuesday, December 4, 2012
Friday, October 26, 2012
Renthal Fatbars
When it comes to handle bars, Renthal would be on the top of most peoples list if you are from the dirt moto world. Their reputation for producing super strong high quality bars is legendary. They have been producing bars for mountain bikes for about a year now, the DH worthy Fatbar being the one thats seen no shortage of action on the World Cup Downhill stage. The Renthal range is now being imported into NZ and I have been riding a pair of the Fatbars for a few weeks now.
About 4 years ago I was talked into ditching my high end trail/all mountain carbon bars in favor of similar alloy ones. I had no idea that a really good alloy bar could be so much stiffer and give so much more control than an equivalent carbon bar. The small increase in weight was not even worth considering for the performance gained.
The Renthal Fatbar steps it up another few notches being much stiffer again compared to what I was previously using. You can really feel the whole front of your bike is much more solid, particularly when landing jumps. The bar also gives you a greater sense of what is happening with your front wheel. More control to ride faster in gnarly terrain!
All the Renthal products are available through my shop www.blackpeakcycles.com
About 4 years ago I was talked into ditching my high end trail/all mountain carbon bars in favor of similar alloy ones. I had no idea that a really good alloy bar could be so much stiffer and give so much more control than an equivalent carbon bar. The small increase in weight was not even worth considering for the performance gained.
The Renthal Fatbar steps it up another few notches being much stiffer again compared to what I was previously using. You can really feel the whole front of your bike is much more solid, particularly when landing jumps. The bar also gives you a greater sense of what is happening with your front wheel. More control to ride faster in gnarly terrain!
All the Renthal products are available through my shop www.blackpeakcycles.com
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
Phoebes new ride
I just built this bike up yesterday for local girl Phoebe Coers. She's competing in the Southern DH series this season as well as a few other events during the summer.
We took a 2012 Atherton build kit and put it all on a 2013 V3 frame. The bike got the full monty 'Pro Build' starting from changing the suspension fluids for better damping control, to special Enduro lube in the hubs and BB, all the suspension pivots redone etc etc.
Ross MacKay filmed the whole build process, so hopefully I will be able to post that in the near future so you can see how much work goes into my 'Pro Build' service.
We took a 2012 Atherton build kit and put it all on a 2013 V3 frame. The bike got the full monty 'Pro Build' starting from changing the suspension fluids for better damping control, to special Enduro lube in the hubs and BB, all the suspension pivots redone etc etc.
Ross MacKay filmed the whole build process, so hopefully I will be able to post that in the near future so you can see how much work goes into my 'Pro Build' service.
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
New roadies
I've just completed a 'Pro Build' on these two bikes. I take them completely apart and put them back together in a way as to gain the most performance from the standard parts on the bike. It's amazing how much better you can make a bike go with careful attention to detail and correct set up on all the moving components, hubs and bottom brackets especially. Making the bike the most efficient with the given parts is the object. It takes anywhere from 2 to 4 hours to complete a full rebuild on a road bike, up to 6 hours on a mountain bike when you have suspension to dial in too.
Saturday, August 18, 2012
ONZA IBEX FR 2.25's
Last summer I spent a fair bit of time on ONZA's new tyres, the IBEX FR 2.4 and the CANIS 2.25.
I really didn't gel with the IBEX 2.4 in our dry lose conditions, but over the winter I've been riding the smaller version and have found it to be a damn good soft conditions tyre. It's knobs bite in the soft ground and hook up slip free forward momentum, drift very nicely in the corners and hold on well under brakes. I find the tyre to be slow rolling like it's big brother, but run 5 psi higher than normal pressure and the drag mostly disappears with little lost in traction.
It's got a good strong, large volume casing, so running it tubeless is the go and it can handle some bashing in the rocks. The knobs seem to clear quickly of excess mud and wear is pretty respectable too. Give them a try!
I really didn't gel with the IBEX 2.4 in our dry lose conditions, but over the winter I've been riding the smaller version and have found it to be a damn good soft conditions tyre. It's knobs bite in the soft ground and hook up slip free forward momentum, drift very nicely in the corners and hold on well under brakes. I find the tyre to be slow rolling like it's big brother, but run 5 psi higher than normal pressure and the drag mostly disappears with little lost in traction.
It's got a good strong, large volume casing, so running it tubeless is the go and it can handle some bashing in the rocks. The knobs seem to clear quickly of excess mud and wear is pretty respectable too. Give them a try!
Commencal Meta shock guard.
Friday, April 27, 2012
Enduro XD15 BB86 bearing kit
I've sort of written about this very cool bottom bracket before. I have been running these ceramic balled, ultra long lasting, super smooth spinning bearing kits for a while now. The first one was in my Meta 55 mountain bike for about 8 months and know it's in my road bike, spinning very happily and making my riding less of a drag, literally.
Now Enduro have put the same awesome bearings in a press-in BB86 style kit. I've put one in my Meta SX. After running one of these bottom brackets, you just can't got back to the standard types from Shimano or Truvativ. Even Chris King bb's feel slow compared to these. These bearing kits can be disassembled, cleaned, re-greased and made to run good as new time and time again. If it gets water or mud in it, no big deal. Simply pull it apart, clean out the dirt and water, put in fresh Enduro Ceramic grease and away you go again. No waste and high performance. Sure, they are not cheap, but neither is a new BB kit from the big 'S' every 3 or 4 months and your cranks doing spin very easily with one of those in, that's for sure.
Now Enduro have put the same awesome bearings in a press-in BB86 style kit. I've put one in my Meta SX. After running one of these bottom brackets, you just can't got back to the standard types from Shimano or Truvativ. Even Chris King bb's feel slow compared to these. These bearing kits can be disassembled, cleaned, re-greased and made to run good as new time and time again. If it gets water or mud in it, no big deal. Simply pull it apart, clean out the dirt and water, put in fresh Enduro Ceramic grease and away you go again. No waste and high performance. Sure, they are not cheap, but neither is a new BB kit from the big 'S' every 3 or 4 months and your cranks doing spin very easily with one of those in, that's for sure.
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