Finally finished off fitting my new XT drivetrain to the Cube last week so took it out for a spin today to bed everything in. All felt groovy so took an extended route home; got to the “stick to the roads or go proper xc” and I chose the XC route..
It was heroic, Epping Forest has lots of small branches down, crud getting all up and personal with the new cassette and derailleur and most of my time going sideways rather than straight and only had a couple of ‘offs’. It was so bad I *actually* had to drop the seat to get lower to the ground...
Joking aside, it just reminded me why I love mountain biking and reminded me why I am trying to desperately re-live my 20’s and the Cube just soaks it all up... the problem being that I can see 2 updates coming my way:
New wheels so that I can quickly switch the weekday slicks (Conti SpeedKings) for something that is a bit knobbly as I spend so much time spinning out, even with the rear brake being used to modulate the power. Or I fit year-round knobblys and suffer the drone and loss of speed on the commute. I’m lucky enough that springing for some new wheels is tolerable - Nukeproof Horizons from CRC..
I’d also like a new fork as the Suntour XCM fitted is spring-only and I’d quite like an air fork for the adjustability but that does feel like a long way down the line..
Jokingly I did suggest to the wife that the correct answer is to buy a new commuter bike - the Orba’s do look rather nice...and it follows the n+1 that we’ve always followed!
So, before I hit the button on CRC anyone got any other recommendations when it comes to a bargin-priced pair of 29” wheels?
It was heroic, Epping Forest has lots of small branches down, crud getting all up and personal with the new cassette and derailleur and most of my time going sideways rather than straight and only had a couple of ‘offs’. It was so bad I *actually* had to drop the seat to get lower to the ground...
Joking aside, it just reminded me why I love mountain biking and reminded me why I am trying to desperately re-live my 20’s and the Cube just soaks it all up... the problem being that I can see 2 updates coming my way:
New wheels so that I can quickly switch the weekday slicks (Conti SpeedKings) for something that is a bit knobbly as I spend so much time spinning out, even with the rear brake being used to modulate the power. Or I fit year-round knobblys and suffer the drone and loss of speed on the commute. I’m lucky enough that springing for some new wheels is tolerable - Nukeproof Horizons from CRC..
I’d also like a new fork as the Suntour XCM fitted is spring-only and I’d quite like an air fork for the adjustability but that does feel like a long way down the line..
Jokingly I did suggest to the wife that the correct answer is to buy a new commuter bike - the Orba’s do look rather nice...and it follows the n+1 that we’ve always followed!
So, before I hit the button on CRC anyone got any other recommendations when it comes to a bargin-priced pair of 29” wheels?
