Ready and Roll!

Went to CMS Bicycle and Accessories@SriMuda today. Brought my Hardy 3 frame and my T-Bolt along. Finally gonna transfer everything over to get my UMF Hardy 3 rolling! Woot! Woot! Freeride bike ready! Only issue now is the rider. Lol!

Halfway through the build.


New Goodies on the Hardy 3 includes a Shimano Deore front derailleur and Shimano SIS SP shift cables. And also a "Scott" chainring protector or whatever you call it.

Ready to roll Hardy 3. Before you start flaming me out; I know that the cockpit is a little too high. Am gonna give it a go for a few times before I cut it. Don't want to regret it man. :)


And just to pamper myself a little more; bought an Azonic Vektor full finger glove.


Total damage to my wallet amounts up to Rm200 (bundle price for everything). CMS Bicycles and Accessories@Sri Muda; really a shop which satisfies the term Peng-Leng-Jeng for me. Can see that the boss really concentrates when setting the bike up. Can't wait to test everything out this coming weekend.

As for the T-Bolt, am gonna built it up. ;p Get myself a spare bike to switch in between every now and then. T-bolt for more road/XC and Hardy 3 for more AM/FR. T-Bolt would probably be using the RST Launch though. Lol! Funny combo.

T-Bolt gets a new fork

After Bukit Cermin, went for drinks and food at a mamak. Then went on down to tatseng at Kota Kemuning. Was suppose to get the Sr Suntour Axon, but due to the irresistible temptation of something "supposingly" better; ended up with a Spinner Enduro TX. :p
rm897@tatseng Kota Kemuning.

Homepage for the fork: http://www.spinner-usa.com/e/allmountain-enduro02.htm



Spinner Enduro, an all mountain range fork with 130mm of travel. Basically comes with Lockout, Preload and Rebound adjustments. Not forgetting the sleek curves which is oh so sexay. :p


Rebound Adjustment


Adjustable Lockout


Preload Air Valve

RST Capa T4 Preload setting

Hmm. Can't seem to find any guidelines on how to set the Preload on my RST Capa front fork. But trying to use common logic in it. This was what I did below.

p.s: Before following the steps below, remember that these steps were just something I thought up and should probably not be used as professional reference.

1 - I know that the fork had a maximum of 80mm travel. Meaning 80mm starting from the oil seal (indicated by the lower white line shown in the picture).



2 - Set the Preload adjuster to the hardest setting possible (keep turning towards the "+" sign until can't anymore)


Preload Adjuster

3 - Use a clean piece of tissue to wipe away the Oil Line (shown in yellow in the picture above). The oil line is the mark made by the oil seal as your fork gets compressed. It works as a good indicator of how far your fork travels up and down.

4 - Take your bike out for a ride, maybe do some jumps. Remember to get use to the bike and the suspension before doing any major jumps. Ideally try to do some jumps or hops which you would expect to go through on your trail ride. So that you can mimic trail riding as much as possible. When done, check on the Oil Line and see how far up your fork went. If your Oil Line is within 70~80% of your Travel (in this case 70~80% of 80mm) then you are good. If not, soften your forks by adjusting to the Preload towards the "-" direction and go again for a ride.

5 - Repeat until you find a compression percentage which you like. Remember that every trail would have it's own prefered setting, so every now and then, check on the Oil Line to see how far your fork compresses after each ride. If it reaches the maximum travel of your fork. Then it is probably too soft.

Alternatively, at step 2. You can adjust the preload setting to minus "-" instead and slowly work your way up. But I worry about bottoming out the forks, so I went with the "+" way instead.

Few days later, and I found an article on the correct way to setting your fork and shocks. Please view here instead. :p

The new ride

So, as I was saying last night. I got myself a new Proton T-Bolt. In case it didn't occur to you, it's Proton as in Malaysia's national car brand. Yes! Bet you didn't know they had bicycles too didn't you. No Worries, a lot of non-bikers wouldn't know. Let when I first started biking. Cost me Rm880 @ ABC Bicycles. Unfortunately, I later found out that it isn't the "upgraded" version, which has a different rear shock and a newer model derailleur. But what can I say, looked good. :p And now, it's sitting comfortably at home.


16" Proton T-Bolt - Carbon Fiber monocoque with alloy swing arm


Shimano Deore shifters


Tektro disc brakes


Dnm Torch A-01


Shimano LX rear derailleur


Rst Capa T4 80mm travel


Truvatic FiveD crank

Frame: T-Bolt
Carbon fibre monocoque with alloy swing arm
Supports 4 " of travel front and rear

Fork: RST Capa T4
80mm Travel with adjustable Preload

Rear Shock : DNM Torch
Air Shock
3.5" Travel (not sure about this, just got off some random site)

Stem: Kalloy Black

Handlebar: Kalloy Black

Headset: Cane Creek AHeadSet
1-1/8" alloy anodised black

Crankset: Truvatic FiveD
22-32-44T

Front Derailleur: Shimano Deore

Rear Derailleur: Shimano LX

Rear Cassette: Shimano
11-32

Shifters: Shimano Deore

Brakes: Tektro IO
Disc Set

Brake Lever: Tektro Sensir

Rims: Taurus 2000
Anodised black

Hubs: Formula 32H

Saddle: Velo Black

Seat post: Kalloy Black

Tires: Cheng Shin
1.95