Old legs & the prospect of a child seat on a bike, the decision made was to trade the single Speed – Jamis Exile – for a multispeed MTB to do the commute & other rides. Cruised the bike shops & on-line dealers, traders & eBay. Picked up a 2nd hand Specialized Stumperjumper hardtail from 2009, it’s the bottom rung model with a alloy frame, SRAM X7/X9, Shimano SLX components, Avid Elixir disk brakes & Fox RLC80 forks. Looked like it was very underused.
After adjusting the bike fit I put the child seat on for a roll up/down the alleyway with Mr Moo on board. Discovered that rear weight bias certainly dominates the ride & I’ve come to the conclusion that it’ll be strictly used as a leisurely Sunday afternoon roll to a fully catered picnic blanket somewhere picturesque.
That was a Wednesday evening when I picked it up. Come Thursday I was faffing around with it (while attending to Mr Moo’s outdoor activities) & I thought it was only right to do my first real ride on the ‘new MTB’ at the Thursday evening MTB dirt crits at Westgate. [ http://www.fullgaspromotions.com.au/Dirt-Crits/dirt-crits ]
Had to wait for my lovely significant-other to return from work before I could free myself for the ride out to the venue. It was a pretty frantic ride there to make it by the 6:30pm or thereabouts, start time.
Arrived just in time to ‘enter’ & strap a number to the front of the new rig. It’s been 2 months since my last circulation around there, and I forgot about all that rain we had 2 days ago. So the track was ‘fast’ but really slick boggy puddles in places kept things very interesting. My race in B grade was pretty much the usual for me: Frantic start, usually in a good place but as the 6 laps ticked by I slowly faded into the rear of the field. I did have a doof into the bushes on the 4th lap, the combination of a wet rock on a tight corner & SDP cleats which were heaps tighter than I am normally have on my other bikes (I didn’t back off the tension bolt beforehand) sent me gracefully off the track & onto my head at a blistering 5kms/hr….
My last lap was a frantic battle for [not being in] last place which didn’t end well for me.
Still, it’s racing, which is far & away better to come last in a race than be at home keeping the TV or PC company.
After adjusting the bike fit I put the child seat on for a roll up/down the alleyway with Mr Moo on board. Discovered that rear weight bias certainly dominates the ride & I’ve come to the conclusion that it’ll be strictly used as a leisurely Sunday afternoon roll to a fully catered picnic blanket somewhere picturesque.
That was a Wednesday evening when I picked it up. Come Thursday I was faffing around with it (while attending to Mr Moo’s outdoor activities) & I thought it was only right to do my first real ride on the ‘new MTB’ at the Thursday evening MTB dirt crits at Westgate. [ http://www.fullgaspromotions.com.au/Dirt-Crits/dirt-crits ]
Had to wait for my lovely significant-other to return from work before I could free myself for the ride out to the venue. It was a pretty frantic ride there to make it by the 6:30pm or thereabouts, start time.
Arrived just in time to ‘enter’ & strap a number to the front of the new rig. It’s been 2 months since my last circulation around there, and I forgot about all that rain we had 2 days ago. So the track was ‘fast’ but really slick boggy puddles in places kept things very interesting. My race in B grade was pretty much the usual for me: Frantic start, usually in a good place but as the 6 laps ticked by I slowly faded into the rear of the field. I did have a doof into the bushes on the 4th lap, the combination of a wet rock on a tight corner & SDP cleats which were heaps tighter than I am normally have on my other bikes (I didn’t back off the tension bolt beforehand) sent me gracefully off the track & onto my head at a blistering 5kms/hr….
My last lap was a frantic battle for [not being in] last place which didn’t end well for me.
Still, it’s racing, which is far & away better to come last in a race than be at home keeping the TV or PC company.
There is now a bit of work before I can sell the Jamis as the RockShox SID Team forks still need those new oil seals installed, & then be refitted to the bike. I’m running Mosso rigid carbon-wrapped forks on the Jamis Exile at the moment to bring it under 8kgs. I also want to swap the tyres so I can keep the Schwalbe Kojaks for the new Stumpjumer when its time to do the work commute again.
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