SHOES

        SHOES   SHOES   SHOES   SHOES

I wear and use MTB shoes for mountain biking and road cycling.
So I need and I want a shoe, that:

• Is stiff,
• Feels like a slipper,
• Has minimal tread,
• Replaceable tread, 
• Micro fine tension adjustment,
• On the bike adjustment,
• Breathes,
• Is lightweight and
• White  

My first pair lasted for three seasons, ROAD and MOUNTAIN and finally the carbon next to the toe cracked. To be fair their still in good condition.

I could have waited a couple more months for the new Specialized S-Works mtb shoes, but they are black and or black/red only. WHITE Rules!

2012 - Summary

Highlights: Getting back on a dually! Anthem X0 Carbon 29er

Has changed my riding. Technically more confident and faster as a result far more fun

Best moments: Connecting with family, Riding with mates and talking crap

Results: December 2nd C grade MTB crits, Road crits, consistent placings. 

18thDec:2nd grade and Overall 6th wheel race.

Race aids: No Doze 3tabs pre crit races
Gear: Giordana cycle clothing comfort, specialized S-Works shoes, Bryton GPS computer, Giant TCR Advanced SL,Giant X0 29, Cratoni helmet

General: Albuterol for weight loss, Phenibut for sleep, daily meditation

Lights 2012 Beyond AYUPs

Lights have come a long way where the AYUPs use to win in weight v lighting output their are many lights on the market which simply are twice as bright and just as convenient.

My pick would be the Gemini Duo which at 1400 lumens and under $200 is simply hard to beat. The Gloworm X2 is essentially the same light with a off light power button.
A combo of flood and narrow optic gives an unbeatable beam pattern for the dollars!

2011 AYUP Lights

AYUPs upgraded:I just got my 2007/2008 Ayup's upgraded and opted for
an optic swap out from Medium to Allrounder 200% increase(arguable increase although the old optic was inefficient)

Bar LightLED upgrade 200%, Power upgrade 40% increase.

This has produced a very noticeable increase in light output and beams pattern.

The old medium light was held back by the medium(2007 flood) lens, a honeycombed lens spread the light out inefficiently robbing precious lumes. The new allrounder (flood) spread the light without robbing lumen output. As stated above this alone upped efficiency by 200%. In comparison to my Cygolight gives far more light (25-30%). In short the beam throws longer and spreads wider.

General thoughtsI like riding with a flood on my bars.This satisfies my peripheral vision whilst looking 30m up the track. The Allrounder beam is EVEN and fades out evenly on the sides. The upgraded Narrow on my helmet takes care of obtacles up the trail. Whilst this sounds ideal it does have a shortfall. Whilst traversing tight trails, hairpins or techy and turny singletrack your bar light can become redundant as it isn't facing the trail your riding. Then if you look down your narrow helmet light becomes too tight effectively creating a 1m diameter hot spot on the ground in front of you. What needs to be remembered is this often happens for split secound only. Offsetting your beams one in front of the other will spread the beam out slightly more (and is my preference) as it helps in this scenario and gives a better foward spread when riding straighter trails.
I honestly think an Intermediate beam combined with the narrow (in the one unit would solve this) but may hinder foward light progression, which is currently awesome.

Headlight
I upgraded my Intermediete lens to a narrow beam. (More of a spot beam)
I had 2007/2008 Ayup's and opted for:LED upgrade 200% increase, Power upgrade 40%

This is a great spot beam, with a very long throw.It is narrow and IMHO will require a flood lens in the foreground. This is where 2 lights excel, thanks AYUP!

Comparison
Compare this to a Topeak HID (600 lumen claimed)where the Ayup throws longer and brighter around 50% brighter!. The HID although a noticeably less bright does give less of a spot and fades out gradually great for just one light and better as the light doesn't dapple as stated above, when riding tight twisty trails. Of course the major let downs are weight a hefty light that you feel on your helmet with an anchor as a battery. This thing is easily 6 times the weight of the complete AYUP kit.

Compared to a Magicshine P7 the Ayup equalls or just betters the light throw by about 15%. The P7 has more of a flood though which is great as your sole light source. These lights have their merits and are great if stack height on your helmet isn't an issue as the light does protrude, being 3 times the height of an AYUP. This of course shouldn't be an issue if you are under 6 foot tall.
The AYUP narrow is truelly narrow but offsetting the lights with the bar light gives great depth and works very well with the wide beam. "Hoarses for courses"

Benefits
The biggest AYUP benefits are low weight (less then a third of lights compared too), much smaller batteries, low stack height, off helmet. Easy helmet mounting (gecko mounts simply un attach from strong velcro feet) . Now with the benefit of very good optics and lumens! These benefits far out way the dappled light when riding twisty trails. Due to the benefits these lights would be a racers choice!

Did I mention a 2 day upgrade,turn around! Wow!
PS There is no way a Magicshine is 900 lumens as claimed, maybe closer to 500-600 lumens.Its hard to tell as the beam has slightly less throw then the narrow AYUP but spreads more.

Hope this helps others thinking of upgrading their optics.

2011 Equipment update

MTB Geared: Giant ANthem 29
180mm Xt cranks
Stans Crest rims on A/Classic hubs
Tubeless Shwalbe Rocket Rons front and rear

MTB SS: Avant Kiss 29
Suntour fork
190mm Prolink cranks
Stans Crest wheels on XT hubs
Tubeless Schwalbe rocket ron / Specialed Renegade

Road: Giant Defy Alliance

Giant Anthemx29

Completed build

WINTER Arghh If it's not freezing cold, Im sick or similar.

This last fortnight I have ridden a mere 4 hours.
My cold turned nasty, snotty and chesty. Then an aching tooth turned into an extraction. Good move the tooths root was split!

In between all of this I was building the my new Niner Jet 9 and my Avid Ultimate brakes crapped out. One of the pistons stuck and wouldn't budge. Today I had Micko fit a set of XT brakes once home fitted X0 trigger clamps necessary as the matchmakers are not compatible with Shimano brakes. Refitted grips and cycle computer and weighed in at 12kg flat.

A quick spin around the block confirmed that the bike pedals well, feels natural and fast.

Bike

Sparrow Hill Tour on a 29er

I entered this race for the pure fun factor. Who doesn't like to ride Sparrow Hill. It's so fast and flowy and today Paul Cole linked it in reverse with a perfect mix of technical sections thanks to Spagetti Western bobsled and everything in between. 31kms total.

I've ridden the Paragon 29er a couple of times now and just love it. It shames other bikes for handling 29 or 26 inch and the corner grip, braking and traction are unbeleivable. Im converted!

I ran WTB Nano Raptors tubeless using Bontrager rim strips and valves. These rim strips are awesome and make Stans look like a KM-Mart kit! The Bontrager strips are a harder plastic that line the rim wall to the edge and are a hard plastic, once mounted they don't move. The tyre valve is all metal and mounts seperately to the rim strip, so in a race you could just add a tube if you flatted. Me likey!!!

Having said this I didn't bring a tube to todays race and tore the sidewall of my front tyre on a downhill rocky fire road just a few ks from the finish.

Oh well I had a blast anyway!

New bike Anthem X0

I picked up my new bike and headed out to Stromlo for its first ride.
I should have listened to Michael from Onya Bike Belconnen on the front tyre.
I opted for a Crossmark Lust Non UST and after a slow climb to the top we regrouped and headed down the berm track.

Well it happened the front tyre burped air and the bars crossed over resulting in my first off I hurt both knees but more annoyingly the front wheel is untrue.

I think a new UST front tyre is going on!

What I noticed from this short ride was that the steering is slower and will require some getting used to. The bike is definetely more rigid then last years model and offers 4" travel up from 3.5".
Next ride will be a solo one so I can muck around with the stem height in an attempt to get more weight over the front end.

Voddoo 29er review. Gary Fisher 29er quick ride - 1 hour

I picked up a titanium Vodoo 29er sporting
crossmax SL 29er a wheels
Reba Race 80mm
and XT components

I took it to Stromlo for a test ride and after setting it up noticed the geometry placed me in a very upright position despite the longer flipped stem.

My aim of this test was to see if a 29er had merits for me at 6'2".
- In short I noticed that I sat in the bike as opposed to on top of the bike which was a nice feeling that promoted confidence.
- The tyres are more sure footed grabbing well on climbs under power.
- Steering differences are negligable to a 26er.
- Titanium is over rated and still very harsh and definetely not a replacement for dual suspension
- 29 wheels can not replace the smoothness of even a racier 26 short travel suspension bike
- I found it difficult to bunny hopmaybe due to the longer wheelbase of a 29er

In short Im still curious and want to try another 29er maybe a Salsa Dos Niner or Mamasita

Earlier in the day I also tried a Gary Fisher Paragon and although only a short 20 min ride noticed it steered quicker had a plusher and nicer Fox fork and a better mix of components.
The bike was also easier to moneuver and bunny hop.

On both bikes I noticed that acceleration was improved over my Anthem0 although it is noticably lighter. 29ers also roll over fist sized trail objects and trail ruts far superior to a 26er.