So I had a couple of firsts last week:
First time attending Sea Otter
First time racing downhill
First time riding newly set up bike
I just finished having my imperial powder coated, along with the new bars and hub, in time for Sea Otter. I literally picked up my hub from the coaters the day I had to hop on a plane to Reno....sweet sweet Reno
. Resulting also in a rear wheel that was hastily laced, and in need of tensioning all week long, not to mention never actually trued (not by a truing stand anyway).
Luckily I had half a day in Tahoe to piece together my bike and roll around a neighbourhood a bit to see how she felt........ Wierd mostly! Below is the setup, and the fork, stem, headset, handlebars, crank-set, bashguard, and pedals are all new to the bike.
Imperial frame
Manitou 1.5" breakout plus
Hope Bulb, 20mm thru axle setup
Hope Mini brakes
FSA Orbit Xtreme 1.5 headset
RaceFace Diabolous 1.5 stem
Thick Bikes custom chromo bars
Thomson post
Demolition seat
Profile ss crank-set
Evil bash guard
Blackspire 40 tooth chain ring
Rohloff hub
Mavic D521 rims
Well I think thats everything. So I was coming from a Z1 fork with frame spacers, and an MRP/Bones crank system (sacreligious on an imperial, so I am told
), my old bars were lower profile, and the frame used to be army green. So my front end is now pretty much 3+ inches higher than before and it felt wierd for a while.
However, once I got used to the setup, and availed myself of the travel reduction to 5", I got comfortable and started really enjoying this new setup. The fork performed excellent IMO, giving me no worries on the DH course. The bike in general performed excellent, and I think the only thing lacking was a corresponding pilot upgrade
.
So the whole Sea Otter event was just great. Awesome weather, people, and riding. Thanks very much to everyone who helped make this a great event for all the participants and for myself, especially Eric, Zeke, Lorie, and Jacky. You guys made my trip!
The riding was quite different from what I'm used to and therefore really compelling and enjoyable. The DH course was just fun, fun, fun I would humbly state. Racing was a good time, but it stressed me out a bit..... performance anxiety
? I crashed in my race run, and got a mug full of California's finest coastal dirt/dust. Didn't crash once during practices though.......ah well. It was cool to BS with all the other riders during all the multiple stages of waiting surrounding the actuall riding. So overall I give 'er two dirty thumbs up. I definately plan on attending next year, and hopefully racing some more in between.
On my way out of town I got to ride at a nice spot around reno, an hour or two before my flight, having to box my bike up for the flight at our car at the riding spot. This spot was some djs and a dual type of line (many berms, many jumps) and I got to meet Jim 'Hacksaw" there, since he is the man heading up the building/maintaining of that spot. Jim was real nice to meet and talk to, and props to him (and all the riders) for even participating in the big air/dirt jump event. Also congrats to him for being offered a rider spot on the Marzocci team.
I have some video I'm trying to put into a coherent whole, so that is forthcoming, and should be fun to watch/laugh at.
and hopefully my pics will post........
First time attending Sea Otter
First time racing downhill
First time riding newly set up bike
I just finished having my imperial powder coated, along with the new bars and hub, in time for Sea Otter. I literally picked up my hub from the coaters the day I had to hop on a plane to Reno....sweet sweet Reno
. Resulting also in a rear wheel that was hastily laced, and in need of tensioning all week long, not to mention never actually trued (not by a truing stand anyway). Luckily I had half a day in Tahoe to piece together my bike and roll around a neighbourhood a bit to see how she felt........ Wierd mostly! Below is the setup, and the fork, stem, headset, handlebars, crank-set, bashguard, and pedals are all new to the bike.
Imperial frame
Manitou 1.5" breakout plus
Hope Bulb, 20mm thru axle setup
Hope Mini brakes
FSA Orbit Xtreme 1.5 headset
RaceFace Diabolous 1.5 stem
Thick Bikes custom chromo bars
Thomson post
Demolition seat
Profile ss crank-set
Evil bash guard
Blackspire 40 tooth chain ring
Rohloff hub
Mavic D521 rims
Well I think thats everything. So I was coming from a Z1 fork with frame spacers, and an MRP/Bones crank system (sacreligious on an imperial, so I am told
), my old bars were lower profile, and the frame used to be army green. So my front end is now pretty much 3+ inches higher than before and it felt wierd for a while.However, once I got used to the setup, and availed myself of the travel reduction to 5", I got comfortable and started really enjoying this new setup. The fork performed excellent IMO, giving me no worries on the DH course. The bike in general performed excellent, and I think the only thing lacking was a corresponding pilot upgrade
. So the whole Sea Otter event was just great. Awesome weather, people, and riding. Thanks very much to everyone who helped make this a great event for all the participants and for myself, especially Eric, Zeke, Lorie, and Jacky. You guys made my trip!
The riding was quite different from what I'm used to and therefore really compelling and enjoyable. The DH course was just fun, fun, fun I would humbly state. Racing was a good time, but it stressed me out a bit..... performance anxiety
? I crashed in my race run, and got a mug full of California's finest coastal dirt/dust. Didn't crash once during practices though.......ah well. It was cool to BS with all the other riders during all the multiple stages of waiting surrounding the actuall riding. So overall I give 'er two dirty thumbs up. I definately plan on attending next year, and hopefully racing some more in between.On my way out of town I got to ride at a nice spot around reno, an hour or two before my flight, having to box my bike up for the flight at our car at the riding spot. This spot was some djs and a dual type of line (many berms, many jumps) and I got to meet Jim 'Hacksaw" there, since he is the man heading up the building/maintaining of that spot. Jim was real nice to meet and talk to, and props to him (and all the riders) for even participating in the big air/dirt jump event. Also congrats to him for being offered a rider spot on the Marzocci team.
I have some video I'm trying to put into a coherent whole, so that is forthcoming, and should be fun to watch/laugh at.
and hopefully my pics will post........
