Just a casual Monday afternoon

Operation Stem Slam

The part

The final touch on the new bike was to get the handlebar position nice & low. To be able to get things done the way I like them to be I got a beautiful piece of kit from my mate Gyuszi. Thanks a million dude! :)

The details:

Specialized // 90 mm lenght // -17° angle with additional -4° spacer. 

The job

So, there was nothing else to do but to cut the steerer tube of the fork. Luckily I have what I need to get a job like this done easily.  

The setup

After the 15 minutes job the front of the bike was ready. Freakin' awesome setup it is and honestly I can't wait to give the beast a go. Roll on next weekend!! :) 

2016 Trek Superfly 7 // My new machine

Yep, something has changed recently! I sold my faithful Niner and got this lovely Trek Superfly 7 XC machine for myself. This is the 2016 model from the range of Trek and there is plenty of change compare to my last 2,5 years: the bike has gears and also has a suspension fork. I guess I'm getting back to my roots after the longish single speeder years. :) 

But lets have a closer look at the machine itself!

The frame is made out of Trek's Alpha Platinum Aluminum and it comes with tapered head tube, internal cable routing, bolth through axle and press-fit bottom bracket. The lines are sweet and the weldings are nice & smooth. This is a 15,5" size that means the bike runs 650b wheels. The seatpost size is 27,2 mm and it has my old Fi'zi:k Tundra saddle on.  

At the front there's a sweet FOX 32 CTD fork with 15mm bolt through axle and 100 mm travel. We can't ignore the decal colour design, it looks absolutely brilliant! The cockpit is nice and low thanks to the 100 mm long Specialized stem with -16°drop. The 690mm wide Bontrager handlebar is the right size fro the bike and the beast looking ESI grips will make things comfy indeed.     

I've made some changes to the gear system of the bike as I'm running a single chainring at the front. There's a lovely 36T AbsoluteBlack oval ring fitted to the Shimano M627 cranks (massive thank you to my good friend Majláth Gyuszi for sorting me out with this brilliant piece of art). Of course I put the old set of Shimano XTR pedals on, they are simply the best out there in my opinion. At the back there's a 10 speed Shimano HG50 casette with the range of 11-36. The Shimano XT Shadow Plus rear mech does a perfect job. 

The stopping power is provided by the Shimano Deore hydraulic brake system. They will stop the wheels (Bontrager Mustang Elite) just fine! The Bontrager XR2 Expert 27,5x2,20 Tubeless tyres will keep me rubber side down on the trails.     

So, this machine will be my new companion on the trails. Am I excited to ride this bike? Jaysus I am!! Can't wait to get out and have my first proper test spin on it! Stay tune for first impressions!! :) 

Finally! Winter is here!!

Yep, a proper amount of snow has dropped overnight. This could mean only one thing: a savage winter MTB session in the snow! So we got on the bike got one of the best winter spin done in ages. There was a loooot of going sideways I'm tellin' ya! :) 

Good by single speed... // Hello gears!

Yep, the decision was made and there was no turning back. I could say: it was only matter of time my friends. But lets see how did I get here after riding single speed for more than 2 years.

Long story short: riding single speed was great fun and challenging in a way. Something that I really liked indeed...but the main issue was the speed. The bike wasn't fast enough. It was brutally fast uphill but the speed on flat and on descents was very slow. And that's not something I want right now. 

What I need is speed. Speed that keeps me with the group during XC Maraton events. Speed that doesn't allow me to get dropped on a fast training spin with my mates. 

The Niner got a 1x9 setup fitted last night. Massive thanks to my awesome training buddy József Király for sorting me out with his spare parts left over from previous bike builds. So, here I am, back on a geared bike again! Yeow, bring on the speed baby! :)