[James]

Tuesday nights are fun, they're usually my "work on bikes & drink a couple of beers" nights, and tonight is no different.
Thanks to the friendly folks at QBP for not messing up the shipping.
Deore crank (new design I noticed too, I think the same mold as the older XTs!), BB and brake cable for the Soma steel bike. New IRC Mibro 2.25" tires for the Trance. Derailleur cable for the carbon hardtail.
This should be a fun night.

JJames

 

[reflux]

Does this mean that you'll finally have more than one working bike after tonight?

 

[James]

Does this mean that you'll finally have more than one working bike after tonight?

Yup!
In fact I will jump up to 5 or so!
Soma
Trance
Anthem
SS
XTC Composite (assuming I do the Avid mech. discs)

Very excited.

 

[loco-gringo]

What is the weight difference in those cranks and the old XTs? I really like my XT cranks.

 

[James]

What is the weight difference in those cranks and the old XTs? I really like my XT cranks.

I don't know. These have the cheap chainrings, steel, which will be coming off tonight in favor of some nice alloy ones, but they don't feel *too* hefty.

 

[Zark]

James, Mr Gucci bike part himself, buying a deore crankset......
I'm floored!

 

[MMcG]

What is the Soma you refer to above? Which of their framesets is it?

 

[loco-gringo]

What is the Soma you refer to above? Which of their framesets is it?

I want to guess a Groove, but don't have any real reason for that.

I was disappointed when I didn't get an orange Smoothie road frame, but like my IRD quite a lot, so I can't whine.

 

[James]

James, Mr Gucci bike part himself, buying a deore crankset......
I'm floored!

I know huh? Bascially the problem is this: the frame doesn't have bent chainstays, which means you need a pretty wide BB, and a crankarm that's not too wide too. I had a set of Race Face Turbines on there, they hit the stays under pedaling forces. I put some TruVativ stylos on there, which cured it. Time passed, the bike got some parts robbed, and now coming back together.
It's *really* hard to find a decent set of 3-piece cranks these days, XT is long since 2-piece, same with LX this year. SRAM is out of ISIS Stylos right now. So I slummed. It has an X7 rear derailleur too, so it's not that nicely spec'd. X.O shifters, Monkeylite SL bar, XTR front though, so not 100% budget...

MMcG, it's a Soma Groove. I got it a little over a year ago because I'd never had a steel hardtail. Here's an older pic:

 

[MMcG]

I like! Nice color. Throw a 29er up front on it and frankenbike it out!

 

[James]

I like! Nice color. Throw a 29er up front on it and frankenbike it out!

Yeah, I really dig the color too, I was stoked on it. No way on the frankenbike, I'll stick to what it was designed for! Interestingly, the new Fisher Ferrous is a similar color, and that's one of the bikes I'm looking at, I need a 29er, for both personal, and work stuff. I really like that new Salsa, but I'm not sure if I can wait that long...