#233 - Changes to my Reign

Below are the changes I have been doing to my Reign.

The changes that I have done (and still doing) hopefully

makes my Reign easier to handle.

L-R : Thomson Elite Setback 30.9mm cut to 375 mm length
stock Anthem Giant setback seatpost 30.9mm 375mm length
Giant Switch R 30.9 mm 375mm length

SeatPost

I have to be honest. One of the things that made me buy

the Reign 1 is the dropper seatpost. However, I have brought

my Reign to several trails around Singapore and the thing is

I seldom use the dropper seatpost. In fact, I couldn't get

used to the notion that before any steep downhill section,

I have to press the remote and bump my saddle down

with my butt... not to mention the things that I read on

the net about dropper posts failing at the most ill

opportune times. This has even led me to bring a separate

seatpost in my bag. Do you know anyone who has

a spare seatpost in his bag?

Anyway, above are my 3 choices for the seatpost.

Although the Thomson is the lighter choice,

I chose to go with the Giant seatpost that came

with my Anthem. I find the setback style of

Thomson ugly hehehe.

Fulcrum Red Metal 10 with Ashima 160mm
Airotor (claimed weight 85g)

Width of the Fulcrum Red Metal 10 is 19mm

Stock Giant wheelset comprised of DT Swiss E540
rims + Shimano M525 hubs ... not sure what the
spokes are. The brake rotor is by Avid.

The stock wheelset is 22mm in width



Wheelset

This is a very important component. It is always

wise to save weight on anything that spins.

The easier and more expensive way is just to order

a set of ZTR Flows + Hope hubs + DT Swiss spokes.

But having just paid for a whole bike, I don't have

the money for a new set of wheels ... maybe for

my birthday ?! Ahem ahem.

I have 1 set of Fulcrum Metal 10s lying around with

a pair of Ashima Airotors. Looking at the stock wheelset

and my spare wheelset, I thought that the Fulcrums will

be a lot lighter. However, the weight difference is just

a 100grams plus! I then measured the inner width of the

rims and found that the Fulcrums are 19mm and the

stock wheelsets are 22mm ... hmmm I think for this

one, any weight savings will be offset by the effects

of a skinnier rim ... and so in this case I decided to

go with the heavier wheel BUT I changed the

Avid 160mm rotor to Ashima Airotors.

Stock Avid 180mm front rotor

XT 180mm front rotor

Brake Rotors

One day, while loitering around Hup Leong, I saw

these 180mm XT disk brake rotors on offer for 50%

off. I can't remember the exact price but I paid just

20$ odd (23$? 26$? around there).

When I got home, I immediately weighed them. I also

took off the stock Avid 180mm rotors to see their weight.

As you can see, the Avids are lighter ... but since (1) I already

took them off, (2) the XTs are nicer, and (3) it would be a

shame if I don't use them, I attached the XT rotor to my

front wheel. Did I notice any difference in braking? Let's

call a spade a spade ok? No difference!

Don't do this. I can't find a post to post 180mm
adaptor for the rear brakes so I tried this.

This is the change that made a lot of difference!

Since, I now have a 180mm Avid lying around, I decided

to use it on the rear. I searched high and low for an

adaptor for Avid Elixir brakes that will make me

mount a 180mm rotor on the rear of a post mount

frame. I can't find any. I then took some very long

screws and added spacers to it until the brake calipers

clear the rotors. Success! I went to BT and Rooty

Trail, verryy nice (<== said like Borat).

On the way home, I went to Tay Cyles at Bukit Timah

and had a chat with one of the mechanics there. I was

willing to pay Tay Cycle BT price (which is very high)

as long as they can give me a post to post mount for

180mm rear brakes. They don't have any. The mechanic

also told me that it is not a good idea to do what I just did.

He said, yes it will work, then slowly, the screw holes

will loosen and then it will be bye bye screw holes

... and since the screw holes are post mount ... then

bye bye frame.

After that, I quickly went home while consciously using

just the front brakes (hehehe) and after I rested, I quickly

dismantled my 180mm modification. Now I'm back to

using a 160mm Ashima Airotor at the back :(

Left is 11-36 10spd SLX cassette, Right is 11-36 10spd XT cassette

The pic above is just for info. I didn't change my cassette

to XT... which is just as well since the scales say it is just

around 30grams lighter than the SLX cassette that I have.

A low mount FD should be the solution for the chain rub
issue that I was facing. BUT, take a look at the areas pointed
to by the arrows. I think the suspension will hit them when
it compresses ...



Just a little bit of a backgound, the Reign 1 2012 came

with a triple ring SLX crankset. The rings are 40T-32T-24T.

As I mentioned in my earlier post, I noticed that I very seldom

use the 40T on the trails since the Reign is heavier than my

usual XC bikes. I took out the 40T and substituted it with

a bash guard. After that, my biggest chainring became 32T.

I cycle to whichever trail I go. If I am alone, I can

take my own sweet time. But when I am with the 'peloton',

it is very difficult to keep up with just 32T as the biggest

chainring. ALSO! If you notice, the smallest chainring

is now 24T. Last time, I used 22T. So now, I have

a lower than usual gear for the road AND a higher than

usual gear for the trails ?! What do I do?

Good thing I have this 2 chainring SLX lying around :)

and so, I took out the new SLX and in went the old

2 chainring SLX in it's place. For those of you who

are wondering, yes, the old SLX is for a 9 speed drivetrain

BUT it will work with a 10 speed front shifter AND

it will also work with a 10speed chain.

The problem now is that when I shift to 22T, the

chain rubs on the lower part of the FD cage.

This is what I was trying to solve with the photo above.

I tried to use a low mount, 9 speed XT FD on the Reign.

but as you can see, although, it is ok to mount, it seems

that there will be problems when the suspension is

compressed. See photo above.

Top left : I had to mount the FD at the lowest point possible
Top right : Now when I shift here ...
Bottom : ... the chain does not rub any more

 In the end, I went back to the original FD. I mounted

it to the lowest possible point and after a few magic

incantations the chain now clears the FD cage when

I'm using the 22T chain ring (see arrow in photo above).

However, note that if you cross chain, say, use 22T in

front with 11T at the back, then for sure you will have

chain rub issues.

... and last but not the least,

we debunk Giant's OverDrive2 standard.

Background again, please read this article from BikeRadar.

As I mentioned in my earlier post, Giant seemed to have this

burning desire to be different thus creating a new standard

called Overdrive2 which means the upper part of the steerer

is supposed to be 1 and 1/4 inches while the bottom part

remains as 1 and a half inches. I even bemoaned the fact

that since the steerer is now bigger, the rest of the stems

that I have will no longer work.

Then this morning, Deck popped me in WhatsApp

saying : hey, our fork steerer can accept the normal

sized stems. This text was followed by a picture showing

his fork's steerer being 'pinched' by his digital calipers.

I said he must be dreaming. Wait a while and I will show

him the error of his ways.

I took out the top cap of my fork followed by the

OverDrive2 spacers. I then took a normal sized carbon

spacer and tried to push it onto the steerer of my Reign

fork expecting that the steerer will not go thru the spacer.

But it went thru !!! Huh?!?!

See the pictures below. It seems that the only thing

that is sized 1 and a quarter inches here are the spacers.

The steerer is normal sized!

I immediately ditched the Giant 70mm stem and

replaced it with a Spank Oozy 50mm stem :)

Top spacer is stock Reign. See gap pointed to by the arrow.
Bottom spacer is normal spacer. Note that steerer is supposed
to be 1 inch AND a quarter.

Left is a pic of a normal spacer. Note absence of gap.
Right is spacer from Reign 2012. Note presence of gap.



#232 : Saturday Group Ride

7 out of 14 riders

Bal going down Black Cobra, me below taking pic.
Pic by AirTime Mark

Pic by AirTime Mark

StairRider Deck going down the 3 black diamond entrance.
Note how much is left of the 150mm fork.

Sugar Rush Rey going down from Bird Cage

Four of us went on an early morning road trip to

Changi Village to meet with the rest of the guys for

a trail ride at Ketam in Pulau Ubin. The meeting time

was supposed to be 8AM. However, I think we

were forgiven for being late as this was the 1st time

we took that journey on pedal powered motorcycles

... errrrr ... that is AM bikes :-)

Anyway, the weather was nice although we could

have used some more clouds to shield us from the

sun. Also, nowadays, it seems that nobody wants

to 'explore' the rest of the island after the trail ride

in Ketam. Everybody seems to want just 3 to 5

laps of Ketam and then go back to Singapore

mainland to have some of those Ayam Penyets

or Dum Briyani.

Ooopsss, I almost forgot, now I remember what

took the place of the customary Chek Jawa rides.

Now that almost everyone is on a long travel bike,

every one goes to Black Cobra and have their

picture taken by semi-pro photographer

AirTime Mark :-)

At the end of the trail ride, everybody promised

to go to BT on Monday for a trail ride ... hmmm

let's see how many actually show up ;-)  

#231 : Saturday Group Ride

Efren wearing goggles ... by Speedo hehehehe

Brother Oro looking peachy even after his early spill

Alvin on his way to jumping, and I mean JUMPING into
the first stream.

Alvin after his jump



Jun resting after his 2nd(?!) lap of that trail that leads
 to Casuarina.

Friday and our Facebook Group was finally abuzz

with late feelers as to who wants to go on a group

ride today (Saturday). In the end, Efren and

Sugar Rush Rey were the only ones free to go to

Bukit Timah. I wanted to wake up late and so

I didn't respond so that they won't have to wait

for me.

... Saturday morning came and I dragged myself

out of bed ... I really want to go on a trail ride, it's

the getting there part that I hate ... anyway, I

went inside Bukit Timah from the Visitor Centre

at 9:15AM and I took my owwnnnn sweet time

in getting to Zheng Hwa Park.

By the way, did you all notice that the mountain

bike trail has been invaded by trail runners? I mean

I'm ok with sharing the trail BUT some of them are

listening to MP3 players and are ambling like

spaced out zombies. I'm not sure if they hear the

bikes coming???

Ok, back to my trail ride... when I finally got to

ZH Park, I saw Efren, Sugar Rush Rey and new

guy Mon. They told me they will be going to Rooty

Trail and then go home. Hehehehe too bad they

saw me. I convinced them to go Casuarina trail and

back after Rooty Trail and they agreed.

After Rooty Trail, we saw a few guys from MTB

Brothers. Our friend Oro was sporting some nasty

scratches on the face that promises to boost his machismo.

No doubt you heard that saying 'chicks dig scars'. I

enquired as to the cause of the scratches on his face

and his helmet (!!!) and I was told that he had an endo

at the first downhill in Bukit Timah. Arrggghhh gnarly!

MTB Brothers went home early as this was their

first ride for the year and everyone was still lugging

excess pounds due to drinking and eating during the

holidays.

... and off we went to Casuarina Trail.

Casuarina Trail is quite dry except for the first

stream ... speaking of the first stream. We found some

guys playing in the first stream. One guy (we later found out

his name to be Alvin) was doing a banzai run coming from

the direction of the 2nd stream and he wants to jump that

2 or 3 foot drop that leads to the 1st stream. When I said

jump, I mean jump! I have seen many many people roll

that 'drop' ... but seeing his speed, he has no intention of

rolling it! He was literally gonna jump! Into the soft ground!

... Spectacular ENDO if he makes an error.

On his first try, he was going fast... and when he landed

his jump, he turned to the left, went into the stream and

he was thrown off his bike. Hehehehe if I was that,

I'd go home by then. ... He picks himself up and he

seemed to know what he did wrong. He picks up his

bike and pushes it back uphill.

Now every one was waiting with a camera pointed

in his general direction. ... This time I saw he is going

even faster than the first try! ... and this time he jumped

perfectly, didn't even bother to avoid the soft ground

and I think he landed almost at the first stream !!!

Everyone watching was whooping!

... after that, me and my mates continued with our ride

while wondering aloud, if we were 20 years younger

and if we have access to a decent FreeRide/DH bike,

would we do that? Me? No way! :-)

#230 - Weekend Ride

There was a small group ride yesterday (Sunday). Heh, but
I managed to sneak in a ride on Saturday hehehehe. I knew
the ride will be starting from the BT Visitors' Centre and so
I brought my Reign there just to see if I can survive one lap.

Fast forward to Sunday and the meet-up was as usual at
Velocity. All four of us were 'testing' different stuff. Deck
and I were still not used to our big bikes. Efren was still
coming to grips with his Ellsworth Truth and 2012 Fox fork.
Lastly, Paolo was testing his Garmin unit which does
everything including help him pedal when climbing hehehe.
(I know, i know, that last statement was an exaggeration
but that Garmin unit costs more than my 2008
RockShox Recon !)

This ride turned out to be longer than intended.
We went to BT, Rooty Trail and that trail that leads to
Casuarina. Although the ride was long, at the end
of it, StairRider Deck declared that he has come to
grips with his Reign ... this is quite obvious actually
since he managed to finish all the trails that we went to
literally without a single foot dab.

As for me and my Reign? Uhhhhh .... no comment :-)

#229 : New Year

It's the beginning of a new year and both NoLights Louie

and StairRider Deck decided to pair up and join the

synchronized diving event in the trail that we entered

from Casuarina. They had me worried for a while there

because I thought it would only be a matter of time

before I joined in the diving competition.

Anyway, this post is not about greeting the new year

by entering a diving competition!

What better way to greet the new year than by

acquiring a new set of useful skills? :-)

... and so I took off my XTR shifters, XT RD and FD, SLX

crankset and SLX brakeset from my On-One Inbred

and I transferred all of them onto my Giant Anthem.

It was easier than I thought. The best tip I could give

is that you should have the proper tool for the job.

Nope, the kitchen scissors will not cut through shifter

housing. I tried that. It can cut the plastic outer housing.

But there are wires running the length of the shifter housing.

Those are very difficult to cut. So! Go and buy real

cutting pliers for shifter housing. Mine cost 28$ from

Hup Leong. Later on I saw that shop at Changi Village

that sells bike tools are also selling the pliers but

I didn't bother looking at the price for fear that

those are lower priced hehehehe.

I did get some help ... from YouTube.

Here are my reference materials :

1. Changing Shifter Cables

2. Front Derailleur Adjustment

3. Rear Derailleur Adjustment

Since I learned these, now I will convince my wife

that I can buy a new light weight seatpost with the

money I saved :-)