okay.... apart from the bombers making a return and the wheels, updates are the the Raceface Evolve DH bars and Azonic Shorty stem. They make it much easier to flick the bike around, which is fun, but when im riding while standing the shorter stem does make it feel like all my bodyweight is over the front wheel.
splashbacks arent what id call grippy in the wet stuff
cheers mate! the reason i took the smokes off in the first place is because they werent grippy enough... when riding over a wet rock or tree root they would slide straight out, they dont like thick mud either. i thought that was quite poor for an offroad tyre, and they are too skinny. they're more like a 1.9" width rather than the 2.1" they should be. For a bike that gets ridden it should probably have modern rubber, i think i'll buy a pair of schwalbes and the splashbacks can sit in the garage until summer
I've never tried any modern mountain bike rubber myself. The Panaracers were the last set of knobbies I bought for a mountain bike. And that was probably in 1994. Been riding some Bontragger slicks since 2005 until just before Christmas. Makes me want to get something new to try it out!
Ive changed the handlebars and stem back for modern, because after using new and old theres just no comparison between 90s bars & modern ones, and ive wanted a set of carbon Renthal Fatbars ever since i seen the pinkbike review when they were first released...
weight is also a factor so im being quite particular... THE STOCK weight of these bars is 180g but ive cut them down to 700mm so now they weigh 170g, and theyre gonna be paired with my thomson elite stem which weighs 166g. the old Raceface bars and Azonic stem combined weigh a fairly hefty 553g
Old for erm, old... I really like the ti railed Avocet, its like a flite but without the constant arse ache
the changes make the bike more rideable and i didnt trust the splashbacks much in the wet so I've changed them for some schwalbe racing ralphs, they arent the most nobbly of tyres but held up well in wet mud
here are some iphone quality pics from the trails. The colour isn't very true to life, the frame looks more blue in some of these photos than what it actually is...
i put a lot of time (and money) into restoring my bomber z2's, just to put about 100miles on them and replace them with a different fork But... you dont see this era of sid fork with a v brake for sale very often, ive been riding em for a while now and i think they're one of the best pairs of suspension forks ive owned. maybe thats just the difference between newer forks and the retro ones ive been riding, but I'm still impressed. aint likely i'll upgrade these...
nd a new DMR chain reactor... its steel so + a few g but its thinner than the old one which means i could change back to the original (shorter shell) XT bottom bracket, cus the creaking from the titanium bb and its tendency to loosen itself was starting to piss me off. The big red dmr roller woulda looked stupid on my turquoise frame so ive changed it for a blackspire one....
i dropped these bits off to be powdercoated along with a bunch of motorbike parts i was already having done. I can see what 'blackstar' was saying on the last page, black does look somewhat more subtle
for an old frame it takes the 80mm forks nicely, they dont throw the geometry off at all and i think they suit it really well. I'm also having a pair of Surly rigid forks refurbed at the moment for a rigid option
i swapped the adjusters for late 90s Avid speed dial ones. i never liked the shimano XT/XTR barrels
The thomson stem is the 110mm variant this time. its a shame they dont make a 15 degree X4, cus the SID steerer is pretty short
I really like the detail of modern carbon parts, even if it is just a seat clamp! with the ti bolt it weighs 20g less than the original GT binder... Not bad
is an amazing bike! been following the built and is incredible! one of my favorite frames ever!
thanks, and yeah its a great frame, its nice and short which i think gives it a comfortable riding position, and it feels really stiff and tough as well