Today I took the plunge and upgraded my trusty 2 year old, and 8500 mile Oxygen SCross MTB to the new upgraded Oxygen SCross MTB MK II
Here is a link to my ongoing review of the original SCross MTB that served me so well
Initial impressions, it is a really ice looking bike, and I am really really pleased with it.
I loved the first one, but this one looks so much more modern. It really does look dressed to impress.
It is very similar to the original with a few upgrades that I can see, and cosmetic changes.
The bike feels really sturdy with razor sharp brakes, and nice clean gear changes.
The crankset is now a suntour one instead of shimano, and the brakes no longer have the electronic cutouts. I think the forks are the same, but honestly, not sure on that.
I was worried when i heard that the brakes didnt have cutouts as I am so used to them, but there was nothing to fear, as while test riding it, i didnt even notice a difference. It would seem that when I am changing down gears and braking, I do it so quickly, the cutout effect makes no difference.
The battery now has a nice small rubber bung in the charging hole rather that a big piece of rubber that I always have trouble pushing back in after charging, so thats a nice touch, and listening to customer feedback.
The kickstand now looks meaty and solid...I did get a few annoying rattles from the old one, but this one looks a lot more up to the job.
The great thing about buying this bike was the fact that I knew which bits i would like to change having lots of experience with the first one.
Ive put some ergon gp1 grips on to replace the standard ones. I suffered really bad pins and needles with standard round grips.
Some big grippy pedals are now on and I have bought some full size mudguards. However, I did buy a set of smaller ones from Oxygen as they more "look the part". As long as these work well with the rack I am taking off the old bike to put on this one, I will keep them and return the full size ones, as I personally feel the full sized guards detract from the Oxygen's clean styling.
I have a nearly new set of Schwalbe Marathon Plus MTB tyres on the old bike, so they will be swapping with the rapid robs on the new one.
Oh, and my NCX seatpost will be ported over to the new seat too.
These changes are personal preferences, and dont detract from the bike as standard, Ive just learnt what suits me as a rider.
I dont imagine I will be doing anything like the mileage I did for the first year on the mk 1, unless i get bored in my job and end up travelling further, so updates on the thread might be a bit fewer and farther between, but will update as often as I can.
Here is a link to my ongoing review of the original SCross MTB that served me so well
Initial impressions, it is a really ice looking bike, and I am really really pleased with it.
I loved the first one, but this one looks so much more modern. It really does look dressed to impress.
It is very similar to the original with a few upgrades that I can see, and cosmetic changes.
The bike feels really sturdy with razor sharp brakes, and nice clean gear changes.
The crankset is now a suntour one instead of shimano, and the brakes no longer have the electronic cutouts. I think the forks are the same, but honestly, not sure on that.
I was worried when i heard that the brakes didnt have cutouts as I am so used to them, but there was nothing to fear, as while test riding it, i didnt even notice a difference. It would seem that when I am changing down gears and braking, I do it so quickly, the cutout effect makes no difference.
The battery now has a nice small rubber bung in the charging hole rather that a big piece of rubber that I always have trouble pushing back in after charging, so thats a nice touch, and listening to customer feedback.
The kickstand now looks meaty and solid...I did get a few annoying rattles from the old one, but this one looks a lot more up to the job.
The great thing about buying this bike was the fact that I knew which bits i would like to change having lots of experience with the first one.
Ive put some ergon gp1 grips on to replace the standard ones. I suffered really bad pins and needles with standard round grips.
Some big grippy pedals are now on and I have bought some full size mudguards. However, I did buy a set of smaller ones from Oxygen as they more "look the part". As long as these work well with the rack I am taking off the old bike to put on this one, I will keep them and return the full size ones, as I personally feel the full sized guards detract from the Oxygen's clean styling.
I have a nearly new set of Schwalbe Marathon Plus MTB tyres on the old bike, so they will be swapping with the rapid robs on the new one.
Oh, and my NCX seatpost will be ported over to the new seat too.
These changes are personal preferences, and dont detract from the bike as standard, Ive just learnt what suits me as a rider.
I dont imagine I will be doing anything like the mileage I did for the first year on the mk 1, unless i get bored in my job and end up travelling further, so updates on the thread might be a bit fewer and farther between, but will update as often as I can.
