Random Shot of the Bike

This was a random shot taken a week ago of my bike at the station.

My Bike and I

First of all I would like to apologise for not having any posts recently, I have been busy with work and I'm in the midst of preparing for the re-opening of University for the new semester. Looking forward to going back to Uni after a long break. Although I have been working pretty hard to get the bike up and running throughout the holidays. I will try to update the blog at least once a week at a minimum.

Had a random in the train today come up to me today and said I had a nice ride. The feeling is so good.

I am currently awaiting for the shipment of 3 items from ChainReactionCycles. A hoodie, pair of skins compressions and another headlight for my bike. I am pretty keen to cycle in the night over the next few days. Night cycling seems more peaceful, however recently the weather in Melbourne hasn't been very good. Its been either raining or just really cold. I don't have enough layers or thermals to be cycling long distances in the rain.

Definitely need to get a pair of water resistant pants or pants covers. I'm always getting my work pants dirty these past few shifts when I ride to the train station. My stamina is currently slowly improving however my legs get tired really quick. I still wonder if I could put in the effort to cycle a few laps around the lake near my apartment to get my stamina up.

Really sorry that I haven't updated any pictures yet, I kind of broke my phone this time round and need to get it fixed soon. My camera is still down to.

I would like to get some advice, on how should I maintain my bike? What should I do regularly?
What kind of lube to use on the chains and How could I solve the front derailleur shifting problem?
How do I clean the bike? What do I use (just soap and water?)? Are there specific products to use to clean bikes or are there any DIY Methods to this?




Hope to get some advise from you guys soon.

Cheers~!

The First Ride

On the way back from YarraValleyCycles today after picking my bike up. I decided to go to the supermarket with my friend who decided to tag along. We ended up at the supermarket and I realized I needed my front lights on my bike to work at night because I had to ride to work. 

Decided to ride up home check the battery size and come back down. By the time I got back my friend had finished his shopping. I was out of breath by the time I reached the top of the hill which leads to my student accomodation. Time to cut down on the smokes. 

The first ride was really smooth. Enjoyed going downhill the most though. 

Eventually I decided I was going to ride to work the train station, didn't really know the route even though I checked it out on a map. My iPhone's LCD smashed on my birthday last sunday just after an overnight shift. So that wasn't a very reliable option. Nevertheless it felt great cycling from the station to work which only lasted ten minutes. However, I dropped my bike. Parked it wrongly and the front light broke. Managed to fix it after my shift with a bunch of sticky tape it's holding pretty well but kind of looks a little dodgy. In a week or two I may decided to get a new one. 

The ride home was the most tiring. The road down had a total of 8-9 vertical hills. This was the only road I knew how to ride back even though there are about 3 more alternative routes. Definitely have to check those out. I may have got off and walked uphill about 3 times. My boots may have played a part as they are very heavy. I did have lighter shoes but needed to know how it felt to learn for myself. Lesson learnt no more boots while cycling long distance. 

The trip home by driving is about 10 minutes however it took me 45 minutes to reach home. 

It would be great if I could get some tips of how I could build my stamina to cycling uphill. I do have a spare cassette which I could use which has a better gear ratio. 

Looking forward to my morning commute to work in a few hours. If anything interesting does happen. It's sure to be on this blog within a few hours. 

Completed the build

Jut got the bike back from YarraValleyCycles at 4 pm. Purchased a helmet and a lock for my bike too .

$59 for the helmet and $20 for the BBB lock.

Since it is my first mountain bike with a front suspension I could feel the difference riding it home from the supermarket today.

I'm going to fit the lights in to ride later tonight.

Will be riding the bike to commute from work later tonight.

BBB Combination Lock 

Lazer 

My finished Bike 

I would like to thank everyone who has helped me in this build, particularly the guys on Rotorburn.com , BicycleNetworkAustralia and YarraValleyCycles. Thank you for all your support and help with the build. 

This does not mean it is the end of this blog though. 

I will be posting updates on my rides and upgrades or even simple maintenance updates. Look forward to seeing more people supporting the blog. Thank you all once again! 

Cheers!

Problems

I'm not really liking the look of the bike at the moment. The silver fork and the design of it makes the whole bike look weird. I am thinking of going back to my LBS next Wednesday and trading the fork for something with a higher travel. At least minimum 100mm. Didn't get the other Marzocchi they had because I honestly couldn't afford it at this point of time.


An added problem, the tube valves would not fit into the rims because the slot it too small. Would have to exchange the tubes if possible. Just emailed my LBS, hopefully I hear from them soon.



Here are some pictures.

The Bomber fork and the RockShox Brake Mounts

The frame with the New RockShox fork Installed

The Valve that would not fit. 

New fork and bike update

Sorry about the picture earlier, I put the bomber fork in the wrong position when I shot it. The image below was the best I could do with my iPhone and the lighting in my room.


Also a picture of my bike. I need more spacers now because of the steerer tubes length. Its the smaller things that have been setting me back.

Pretty stressed..

Well thats all for now, got to get ready for my shift at work.

Cheers!

Build update

Only managed to fix the seat clamp in today. For some reason the Front Derailleur cant be tightened.

Here are some pictures, realised the screw for the FD is pretty short. What should I do?

Tried pushing it together and that didn't work either. Also tried taking oit the spacers but even that made it too loose.


P.s if this post turns out badly I'm sorry I'm using the blogger app to upload this post on my iphone.

Fundamentals Mountain Bike Set Up Video

It's my day off so I was aimlessly surfing the net and ended up on youtube. 

Found this documentary on the Fundamentals of a Mountain bike. 

Pretty much most of the information I was looking for is on it. Do check it out !

YouTube-Fundamentals Mountain Bike Set Up