Chunk
08-21-2007, 07:51 PM
She is ALMOST in her final form. Im contemplating getting a new fork. Not too pleased with how the Pike is performing with the bike. Feels unbalanced. Different weight oil will be tried, then maybe a softer spring if im still not 100% happy. If after all that im still not happy, ill probably go for a Fox Float 36 or a TALAS.
Went to Tahoe a couple of weeks ago with the family and shipped the bike to the house we rented so I could have a couple days to myself at the Northstar resort. Worked out pretty well. Trails were REALLY dusty and pretty rocky, but it made for alot of fun riding. Day one beat the shit out of me as it was my first time doing anything but XC on the bike so setting up the bike for harder faster riding was a learning proccess, but day 2 of riding made for some sweet memories. I was used to the bike, used to the terrain and it was tons of fun. I have ONE picture of me riding but its on the disposable and its about to get developed. Thats what sucks about riding by yourself. No proof!
After about 5 hours of riding, id say I look pretty tired. Only half of my face was willing to smile! :lol:
http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f105/mike1205/Picture012.jpg
The bike is an absolute ROCKET. Despite having less travel than a full on DH bike, the fact that I weight next to nothing (140lb's) and the bike weighs next to nothing (33lb's with UST DH tires running tubes :S ) makes for one FAST feeling ride.
Also, I didnt get much feedback on the Formula Oro Puros on this site, and I never really heard many real reviews on the Nokon housing from this site, so ill give it a shot
My review on the Oro Puro's: On the trip I was running a 7"/6" rotor set up. Worked ok for the DH stuff, but since the trip an 8" rotor has been thrown on for my next trip. I was really impressed with the brakes neutral feeling. As in, they didnt lack any grabby-ness (like my old hope m4's) and they didnt catch you off guard with their grabbyness like some Avids Ive tried. One finger braking was easy about 75% of the time, but every so often my pointer finger needed some back up. I expect the new 8" rotor will take care of that problem. I felt some pretty minor lever pump on longer steep sections, but it never bothered me and it was hardly noticeable. The pad contact adjustment lever was a nice touch, and while it has less range of adjustment than the avid contact adjuster, I was still able to set up the levers exactly the way I wanted so i cant complain. The lever feel is great too. Perfect for one and 2 finger braking. Its shaped a bit like a hope lever (definitely a good thing) but its a little easier on your fingers because the Formula lever is more rounded out rather than so flat like the Hope lever I came from. Bleeding them is as easy as bleeding Juicy's. In fact, the instructions for bleeding them are nearly identical. They took a couple of hard hits and surprisingly they came away working great.
My review on the Nokon housing: Not too much to say here as their purpose is pretty simple. Installation was cake. Time consuming yes, but easy. I dont know how people actualy complain about installing the stuff :rolleyes: My shifting has been 100% flawless since the initial cable stretch. Not much else to say. My only complain is that now, after some dusty riding, my cable creaks a little bit when it gets moved around. Not noticeable while riding, but its enough to annoy me (a bit of a perfectionist). That, and Nokon gives you a couple of special beads on the bag that say NOKON on them so you can put them close to your shifters and be even cooler :nerd: but the finish on that paticular bead is SHIT. It peeled off in a few rides and it now looks like a corroded hunk of metal randomly sitting in a line of gold beads. Lame. Other than that im happy with them. I cant imagine what they would do for mechanical disc brakes.
Went to Tahoe a couple of weeks ago with the family and shipped the bike to the house we rented so I could have a couple days to myself at the Northstar resort. Worked out pretty well. Trails were REALLY dusty and pretty rocky, but it made for alot of fun riding. Day one beat the shit out of me as it was my first time doing anything but XC on the bike so setting up the bike for harder faster riding was a learning proccess, but day 2 of riding made for some sweet memories. I was used to the bike, used to the terrain and it was tons of fun. I have ONE picture of me riding but its on the disposable and its about to get developed. Thats what sucks about riding by yourself. No proof!
After about 5 hours of riding, id say I look pretty tired. Only half of my face was willing to smile! :lol:
http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f105/mike1205/Picture012.jpg
The bike is an absolute ROCKET. Despite having less travel than a full on DH bike, the fact that I weight next to nothing (140lb's) and the bike weighs next to nothing (33lb's with UST DH tires running tubes :S ) makes for one FAST feeling ride.
Also, I didnt get much feedback on the Formula Oro Puros on this site, and I never really heard many real reviews on the Nokon housing from this site, so ill give it a shot
My review on the Oro Puro's: On the trip I was running a 7"/6" rotor set up. Worked ok for the DH stuff, but since the trip an 8" rotor has been thrown on for my next trip. I was really impressed with the brakes neutral feeling. As in, they didnt lack any grabby-ness (like my old hope m4's) and they didnt catch you off guard with their grabbyness like some Avids Ive tried. One finger braking was easy about 75% of the time, but every so often my pointer finger needed some back up. I expect the new 8" rotor will take care of that problem. I felt some pretty minor lever pump on longer steep sections, but it never bothered me and it was hardly noticeable. The pad contact adjustment lever was a nice touch, and while it has less range of adjustment than the avid contact adjuster, I was still able to set up the levers exactly the way I wanted so i cant complain. The lever feel is great too. Perfect for one and 2 finger braking. Its shaped a bit like a hope lever (definitely a good thing) but its a little easier on your fingers because the Formula lever is more rounded out rather than so flat like the Hope lever I came from. Bleeding them is as easy as bleeding Juicy's. In fact, the instructions for bleeding them are nearly identical. They took a couple of hard hits and surprisingly they came away working great.
My review on the Nokon housing: Not too much to say here as their purpose is pretty simple. Installation was cake. Time consuming yes, but easy. I dont know how people actualy complain about installing the stuff :rolleyes: My shifting has been 100% flawless since the initial cable stretch. Not much else to say. My only complain is that now, after some dusty riding, my cable creaks a little bit when it gets moved around. Not noticeable while riding, but its enough to annoy me (a bit of a perfectionist). That, and Nokon gives you a couple of special beads on the bag that say NOKON on them so you can put them close to your shifters and be even cooler :nerd: but the finish on that paticular bead is SHIT. It peeled off in a few rides and it now looks like a corroded hunk of metal randomly sitting in a line of gold beads. Lame. Other than that im happy with them. I cant imagine what they would do for mechanical disc brakes.