#251 - Brand-X Hardtail II Triple Butted 7000 Frame

My seatpost is Titanium. That should help in color comparison.

I turned up with the above frame for my normal Saturday

ride and my friend Deck said : You bought a Titanium frame?!

On the way home and we met Bal and Podium Louie hiking

in Bukit Timah and they said : You bought a Titanium frame?!

So, although CRC assured me that what I am buying is a

grey colored frame, in real life, the color of the Brand X HT II

Triple Butted 7000 frame is actually nearer to Titanium color.

You can look at the picture above and compare the color of

the frame to my seatpost which is actually Titanium.

Ever since I started going to these Jamborees in Malaysia,

I have been going over to Togoparts and ChainReactionCycles.com

every night. I'm trying to get a hardtail frame that won't break

the bank. You might ask why, since I already have a Jamis

HT. The thing is my Jamis HT is 17" C-T. I stand 1.70m barefoot.

Most of the sizing charts that I see says that I should be fine

with a Medium frame (17" ?). But seeing all the pros in youtube

and even our local racers in Sg, I think I should be better served

by a smaller frame. Hence the burning desire to get a 16" HT frame.

... But I don't have the budget for a Ti or Carbon frame (as always)

and so I had to settle for an aluminum frame. If I could get a

second hand (cheaper!)  frame from Togoparts.com then

that would be the ideal scenario.

However, CRC has been selling this Brand-X XC HT 7000

frame for just 174SGD (depending on the prevailing exchange rate)

and so I put that frame on my basket.... and when I was finally

ready to order ... yup, I was too slow again, the size 16" was

already out of stock. I grumbled to my wife and she asked if

there is another alternative? Of course, there is! Enter the

2nd version of the Brand-X XC HT frame.

You may ask what is 'new' to the second generation of Brand-X

XC HT frame ... and I don't know the answer. I just know that

the first version comes in three colors (black, silver and blue)

whereas the 2nd version only comes in grey. The nice thing

though is that the reviewers of the first version all said that the

paint on their frames, chipped easily. In the second version

nobody seems to complain about the paint ... must have been

solved by then? ... and so, with that in mind, I paid around

250SGD for the frame and conveniently forgot about it so that

I won't go crazy waiting for the package to arrive.

But I didn't even have to wait long! I ordered on a Wednesday

and the next Monday the package was delivered at home. My

wife smsed me saying she thinks there is something wrong

with my order ... apparently, the box is so big and yet whatever

is inside is soooooo light. I said there's nothing wrong hehehe

in fact everything is perfect nyahahahahaha!!!

So when I got home, the first thing I did after opening

the package was to weigh the frame. My frame is 16" C-T

and it weighed exactly 1.6kg. After that, I took out the

bosses for the v-brakes but I didn't bother weighing them

as they seem inconsequential.

The next day, I went to TEF @Novena and asked Wilson

to put in an Aerozine headset which costs 50SGD and bought

a set of Clarks shifter cables (everything you need is inside,

cables, housing, etc.) for 30SGD. I then went back home and

proceeded to transfer all the stuff from my Jamis to the Brand-X

frame. After just 1 hour ... tadaaaaa, I have a new bike :)

All the cables are on top of the top tube. CRC forgot that the
cable guide for disk brakes are for mechanical disk brakes NOT
hydraulics.

How did it ride?

Of course it was nice! It's a new bike :)

In all honesty, I can do 'more' with this new smaller

frame. It was just an inch smaller (C-T) but now I can

'get out' of the bike more so I don't get too scared whenever

the trail points down. Also, it seems a bit 'softer' than my

Jamis. Anyway, that is subjective. But was I faster on this

than my Jamis? Maybe just a bit, on the downhill parts.

Was I faster on this than on my Anthem? On the road, of

course, yes. But on the trail, I'm still faster on the Anthem

and yes, that includes the climbs. Maybe I need some more

time on this hardtail before I can bring it to Malaysia

with confidence.

Is this frame for you? If you are looking for a nice, cheap

aluminum frame that you can use on the road for your XC

training as well as cruising on fireroads then this is the

frame for you. It is relatively light and seems to be as well

made as other aluminum frames from the more well known

makers. There is no choice of color but the grey is quite nice

and understated. My only complaint is that although it is

stated that this frame has the routing for disc brakes, the

disc brakes being referred to were mechanical ones. There

are no guides for hyraulic disc brakes on the top tube of the

frame. But hey, 250SGD for a new frame and delivered

straight to my house? I think I got a very good deal.



#249 - HardTails

We felt sooo 'lazy' on this ride that we thought we'd rather climb
a few stairs than go to the reroute to Jalan Tenaga on the way to
Tampines Trail

A very delicious Storck. I asked the owner if I could lift it
.... and I was very surprised at how light this bike is!

All five slots in the wash bay was occupied by hardtails.
The ones waiting their turn are all on hardtails as well.
Some were on 29ers, most were carbon HTs. By the way,
notice the inverted handle bar on this 29er?

Lately, I have been going to Tampines Trail on Sundays.

This particular Sunday, I saw Boom and KK there ... so that

was one carbon 29er HT and one 26 HT.... and when I reached

the gate it was then that I noticed that almost everyone there

was on a carbon HT. Also there seems to be more 29ers now.

Finally, when I was waiting my turn to clean my bike on the

wash bay, all five slots were taken up by hardtails ... and those

waiting their turn were also on hardtails. And! Only me, my

friend and another guy (on a white Merida HT) were cleaning

aluminum hardtails! Most were on hardcore carbon race bikes!

What's the big deal you say? Nothing. Just an observation.

Four years ago, when I bought my first MTB. I bought a HT

because of budget issues. Most people I meet on the trails,

be it Bukit Timah (and surrounding trails) or Tampines Trail

are using 140mm bikes. I remembered that there was even

a strong XC team that had it's members using ML8s

(remember those?).

Fast forward 4 years later, to the present. Here I am

having three FS frames at my disposal and yet I'm using my

aluminum Jamis HT in Tampines Trail :-) The thing is, now

that we can't go to the nicest trails in Singapore anymore

due to their being illegal, couple that with me and my friends

discovering the joy of attending Malaysia's jamborees, I am

seriously considering getting a carbon HT ... or a Lysnkey.

... and so, if you are seriously considering giving the sport/hobby

of mountain biking a shot, just get a simple hardtail first. Who knows,

maybe that is all you need? :-)