273 - Rule #1

Deck's medium carbon Titus X

One of the rules of racing (ok, we're going for a Jamboree, but

you know what I mean) is that you should not use anything new

on race day. Why? Simply because new things are untested.

 

Of course, this does not mean that if your inner tube burst

on your last practice, you can't change it for race day!

 

But these friends of mine are sooo amped up with this

coming WaCycles Jamboree that they got themselves new

frames :-)

 

Deck's sin is more forgivable because he just got the carbon

version of his aluminium Titus Racer X. The suspension is the

same, the angles seem the same but with the added bonus of

a lighter bike. His bike now weighs 10.8kg. That is with a full

XTR groupset, Hope hubs/DT Swiss wheelset and carbon

contact points. We were even pleasantly surprised because it

looks like the shock was tuned exactly for this frame. There

was no pedal bob and yet when he bounces up and down

on his bike, the suspension gladly cooperates!

 

 

Bal's 16inch titanium On-One 456 Evo

 Now, this friend of mine Bal is the one who committed a

mortal sin. He asked me to transfer over all the stuff from

his full carbon Scott Genius into this new Titanium On-One

456 Evo! The only new things that he bought were a Ti

Seatpost, Chris King headset and XTR high mount FD.

 

So from a carbon full sus to a Ti hardtail ?! AND we did the

transfer yesterday (Friday) ... not sure what's in store for him

tomorrow BUT the funny thing is that according to my

highly accurate heft-o-meter, the complete ti 456 bike with

CK hub/ZTR Arch wheelset/150-130-110 Talas Fox is lighter

than NoLights Louie's carbon Scott Contessa/XTR wheelset/

100mm Fox fork bike ?! Bal's heft-o-meter reading also

came up with similar readings. So I'm definitely not

imagining things.

 

Anyway, see you guys on Sunday!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



Titanium Seatpost



as the saying goes, a picture is worth 201 grams ....



Nice? :-)

Last Monday, I walked to Tay Junction which is like 3 HDB blocks
away from my office. I wasn't planning on buying anything.
Especially after I was quoted 95$ for Ti barends at their
Bukit Timah branch.

While browsing around, I saw a sliver of Titanium peaking from under
a bunch of black anodized aluminum seatposts.... I asked the
saleslady if that seatpost is 27.2mm. She confirmed with
one of their mechanics that it is. I asked how much while
knowing that eventually the price will be beyond my reach.
Then she said : 100$, sir. Upon hearing the amount,
I didn't hear what else she was saying. All I could hear
was Annie Lennox singing 'There must be an Angel' (right title?)
inside my head. So, this time, I gladly paid for the seatpost and
went home happily.

The Ti Seatpost that I got looks like the Soul Titanium Seatpost
advertised in the Soul Bikes website. I can only see two differences.
First, the Soul sticker is missing. Second, the Soul seatpost is 150$.
What a difference a brand name makes ;-) Also, this seatpost trimmed
off a few grams from my bike's overall weight as it is only 201 grams.
The amoeba seatpost that I used to use for my Inbred weighs 306grams.

I used this on my Two Hills ride last night. All that I have heard
about Ti damping trail chatter (in this case, it's the bricks in the
HDB walkways) is true. I indeed can feel that my ass can feel
less unevenness in the roads.

Now I am happy with my bike :-) I have a steel frame, Ti seatpost,
tubeless wheelset and an airfork.... but wait... Eggbeater 2s are
lighter than my Candy 2s! Maybe ......   :-)