{"id":741,"date":"2010-11-08T11:38:31","date_gmt":"2010-11-08T19:38:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.mountainbikebill.com\/blog\/?p=741"},"modified":"2010-11-08T11:38:31","modified_gmt":"2010-11-08T19:38:31","slug":"black-mountain-shakedown-ride","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.mountainbikebill.com\/blog\/?p=741","title":{"rendered":"Black Mountain Shakedown Ride"},"content":{"rendered":"

So I finished building up my\u00a0\u00a0carbon hardtail project and it was time to give it a shake down ride.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

I decided to build it up as a geared bike\u00a0vice a singlespeed.\u00a0\u00a0The frame\u00a0came from a China company that makes frames for other\u00a0bike companies including some of the US bike brands.\u00a0 I have not dug around to figure out what branded frame this is.\u00a0 I got the\u00a0frame shipped directly from China for just a little over\u00a0$300.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0I did not go particularly weight weenie on the components and a sizable portion of these came off my Intense Spider, which I stripped down to do some maintenance on it.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Unbranded Carbon Hardtail frame from Hongfu-Bikes<\/a> in China
\nSpinergy Xyclone Disk wheelset\u00a0
\nIntense System 2 .25 tire in rear and WTB 2.4 Muntano\u00a0on the front\u00a0 (both with 2.2-2.5 sized tubes)
\nFox 100RLC (Pushed) Fork
\nXT Crankset, Front Derailuer, Shifters and\u00a0Cassette
\nXTR\u00a0Rear\u00a0Derailuer (Old School) and disc brakes
\nThompson Seatpost and Stem
\nSalsa Seatpost Clamp
\nEaston Monkeylite\u00a0XC carbon handlebars
\nSette Saddle\u00a0
\nShimano MD620 SPD Pedals
\nOhhh, had to through on the totally unncessary bling bling\u00a0carbon fiber bottlecage.<\/p>\n

So not exactly a full on weight-weenied rig, this bike is 24 lbs dead even.\u00a0\u00a0 Time to hit the trail.<\/p>\n

One of my kids wanted me to take him and some his buds to the PQ skate park so I opted to hit up Black Mountain<\/a> while they skated.\u00a0\u00a0 Black Mountain has a pretty good mix of enough stuff that would let me get a good feel for this setup.\u00a0 I started with a climb up the service\/fire road and as a expected a 24lb hardtail climbs well.\u00a0\u00a0 What I really like was how stiff the bike felt when I got out of the saddle and stomped on the pedals.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 At the same time the bike seemed to take the edge off some of the rocky trail chatter.\u00a0 I have not figured out yet wither there is some vertical compliance going on or wither it is carbon’s vibration damping properties at work I have been hearing about.\u00a0\u00a0 Either way the rig is a\u00a0killer climbing machine that is also pretty comfortable.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

On the fireroad climb, I came across this little rattler.\u00a0\u00a0 It is mighty late in the year for rattlers to be out, but I’m guessing the record heat earlier in the week had this little guy (about 18″) all confused.\u00a0\u00a0 After posing for his closeup, I steered him off the fireroad for his own benefit as you never know what level of dumbassness the next person to come by is going to have.<\/p>\n

Back on the climb,\u00a0things went well, and after a few minor adjustments things the bike was good and dialed.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Once up on top it was a very clear day with\u00a0downtown San Diego and the Coronado Islands easily seen to the south.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

It has been quite a long time since I had ridden over\u00a0on the\u00a0East Ridge\u00a0area so\u00a0from the peak I headed over that way.\u00a0\u00a0 There is a rather\u00a0steep and rocky\u00a0descent\u00a0to get over there and I was quite pleased with how the bike handled through\u00a0that area.\u00a0 It is not full-suspension bike but it was precise in its steering and and felt solid when I pressed to play “chess”\u00a0through some\u00a0chunk.\u00a0 There has been\u00a0some\u00a0trailwork going out\u00a0here as well\u00a0as some new signage.\u00a0\u00a0 I was really looking forward to checking out the\u00a0Nighthawk trail which\u00a0provides a link between the Miners Ridge\u00a0Loop and the rest of the trails\u00a0on the mountain.\u00a0\u00a0 After messing around on the east ridge,\u00a0I\u00a0grabbed a trail\u00a0that took me down to Carmel Mountain Road.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 After\u00a0I\u00a0that I got a chance to test the technical\u00a0climbing aspects of the bike and the reduced weight certainly helped here.\u00a0 The weight distribution also seemed to help keep the front\u00a0end down.\u00a0\u00a0 The trails here\u00a0can get pretty\u00a0freaking steep so there was some\u00a0hike-a-bike bits as well.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Once back up\u00a0onto the\u00a0East Ridge, I made my way over the Nighthawk trail.\u00a0 This is a nicely built\u00a0trail with plenty of rocky character to it.\u00a0 Once\u00a0over to Miner’s Ridge Loop, I decided to go clockwise since\u00a0I could not remember the last time I went that way.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I finished off the dirt action wtih\u00a0the Lilac Canyon\u00a0trail and then\u00a0did a pavement connect\u00a0up\u00a0the ball park were I started the ride.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Another good\u00a0outting\u00a0on\u00a0a bike, made even better\u00a0by playing on a new bike.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Incase you are wondering,\u00a0this is not a replacement for my stolen 6.6, there is a big squishy bike in the works.<\/p>\n

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<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t <\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t Out for the season<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t <\/a>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t <\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
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