Here's where
it got hairy. I tried throwing on the wheel to get a feel
of what it would look like, but ran into issues. The caliper didn't
sit high enough for the rotor to fit in. No matter how I slid the
caliper on the sliding caliper mounts, I couldn't get it high enough
for the rotor to fit in, and thus get the wheel on the bike. After
a few desperate emails and some sleep, I moved all the caliper
washers and cones to one side of the caliper bracket allowing it to
sit higher and the rotor to fit right in. Ah. Very nice. The next
issue was my Spot Rocket tensioners. My Chris King fun bolts didn't
fit through the holes in the tensioners. Out came the drill and then
they fit. Oh yeah the chain was a pain in the ass too. The chain I
had been using on my other bike was one link short. I didn't have
any new chains, so I threw on this rusty piece of crap I had hanging
around. It fit perfect. I should check and see if it's good. It
might just be rusty, but
good.
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Finally the front wheel. Time
to
ride!!!!!
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Oh wait, a shot from the
other side. Now it's time to ride!!!!
Initial ride
impressions (around the driveway) were sketchy. It felt too big and
a lot different then what I had been riding. I took it out on the
Wednesday night ride and things were completely different. The
bike didn't feel big anymore. It climbed well (though I did not) and
handled
quite predictably. A few minor tweaks, some more energy
on my part and this thing could be quite a
weapon.
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So
now it's been a week and I haven't ridden it again. Haven't had much
time, though I did get some new parts. First to go were the narrow
FSA bars. They're fine for semi-flat railing, but not for
mid-winter bomber rides. I got a Salsa Pro Moto flat bar. It comes
in at 660mm. Only
an inch and a half more on each side, but
feels like a mile (in a good way) in the shoulders and lungs
when climbing. Also went with the
Ritchey WCS grips. I've
been running Oury lock-ons for years, so I thought I'd try something
new. Plus the 1/8 of an ounce I save in each
Ritchey grip
makes up for what I lost in switching from an utra light carbon bar to
an aluminum quintouple butted one. Ummm. Yeah.
I
probably shouldn't be changing so much stuff from one bike to the
next (how do you get a fair comparison), but I'm riding offroad so
little
right now, it doesn't make that much of a difference.
Speaking of difference, I actually used some of my Moots layback to
adjust my seat and
get a little more room on the bike. Originally
thinking the bike was too big, quickly turned into "I need more
room" on the
trail.
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Lastly I went with a 185mm rotor up front. I'd
seen it done before. Heard people talk about the benefits and
finally decided, after killing myself
on the downhills in the
Wilderness 101, it was probably a good idea. You shouldn't have to
work so hard to slow yourself down. I also flipped
my stem. The
Spot sits two inches taller than my last bike. Though flipping the
stem is probably more optical illusion then benefit, I figured
I'd try it anyway.
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Here's a series
of photos I didn't feel like commenting or thought they'd comment
for themselves. The photo will change every few seconds
to
show some other detail about the bike. I figured this would be
the cleanest or nicest the bike would ever be, so I went nuts
with the camera.
A lot of what's featured are the
"welds." Actually it's all paint (I kinda went nuts with that too).
This was the first "real" bike for me. I've always
ridden shop
floor or catalog models. When the option of paint (from Spectrum Powder Works) came up, I made
it special. The base color is
powder coated. Then they hit
all the weld areas with a torch to basically burn the powder coat
and make the welds look raw. The banners
and Spot logo are
air brushed. The logo is awsome. On top of all that is a matte clear
coat.
All in all it's been a great experience so far.
Working with Frank at Spot Brand has been quite a
pleasure. My hopes for the season are
high. Hell all this talk about the bike makes
me want to sneak out for a ride this afternoon.
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One last note. I've got a set of Industry Nine wheels on order for this thing.
Nothing like a stiff new wheelset to keep things
rockn'.
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