This bike has a similar configuration as the 2012 Motobecane Fantom 29PRO. It’s the highest level of 29er hardtail aluminum that Motobecane offers. That means, it is equipped with competition-ready components such as the Shimano Dysna-SYS XTR/XT drivetrain, Avid Elixir CR hydraulic brake system and Rockshox Reba RL with the poploc remote. The price of the fork alone is more than what I paid for this bike. In addition, this bike also comes with the FSA Afterburner Hollowforged crankset, which is almost as light as the Shimano XT crankset.

One caveat with this bike though, the frame is 21″, which is too big for me but I knew that beforehand. I bought this bike as my build kit for a carbon frame. I’m going to try to make it as lightweight as my wallet can afford I can’t wait to build this baby up so I can test it out on the trail.

So here she is, my soon to be full time commuter and part time trail bike:

The other day while at the bicycle store waiting for my wife’s bike to be build, I tested a medium Specialized Rockhopper (hardtail) and a small Specialized Stumpjumper (full suspension). First impression on both bikes… AWESOME!!! And that was just riding on their parking lot. I didn’t really notice a big difference between the hardtail and the full suspension but pavement is not a good testing ground for that. The full suspension actually felt slower for some reason. Maybe it’s because the rear suspension is robbing some power. Their parking lot has lots of uneven surface and potholes but the Rockhopper managed to ride on them with ease. Before I had a chance to ride the 29er bikes, I’ve already been hearing stuff like, the 29ers are fast bikes. I know it will be because of the larger tires versus a 26″. That’s a given but once you hop on the bike and start pedaling, you’ll have a better understanding why people call it a fast bike. It’s really fast! You have to ride one to understand. It’s smoother, less twitchy and more stable than my 26er. I also tried to maneuver the bikes on tight turns and this is where their weakness showed. I can already tell, I’m gonna have a problem riding it on technical trails with sharp turns. It turns very wide for me. Well, who knows, maybe it’ll work that’s why I need to ride one on the trail.

Now on to sizing. When the 29ers came out, some riders speculated that these bikes are only meant for tall people that are 5’8″ and up. They say that they will benefit more on the taller stance and geometry of these bikes. That may hold true but not exactly right. Some manufacturers have now smaller sizes like 16″ and some even have 13.5″ to cater to the shorter riders who wanted to ride a 29er bike. I’m on the shorter side myself and personally when I was riding the bike, I didn’t feel that the bike was big for me. There’s also not a huge change in the geometry except for the taller feel. Actually, the medium Rockhopper has almost the same geometry feel as my current medium Santa Cruz Superlight. But I probably won’t be getting a medium if I were to buy one of these. The small Stumpjumper is just perfect for me. I wish they had a small hardtail because I don’t think I’ll be interested in getting a full suspension 29er. It’s an overkill for the bike in my opinion.

At first I wanted to sell my Santa Cruz Superlight for a 29er bike. But now I’m thinking, maybe I should keep the 26er just in case I don’t do very well on the technical trails with the 29er bike. Having fun is the key on the trails. I don’t want to limit myself. I’m sold on the 29ers so I will get one eventually.

You might ask, does a 29er bike makes you a faster rider? Is it really faster than a 26″? My answer is, it still depends on the rider and the type of trail.

• 2008 Motobecane Fantom Elite – http://sfbay.craigslist.org/sby/bik/2230995658.html
• Shimano XTR Rear Derailleur RD-M971 SGS Long Cage – http://sfbay.craigslist.org/sby/bik/2230927753.html
• Shimano SLX Shifters SL-M660 with cables (Left & Right) – http://sfbay.craigslist.org/sby/bik/2230915789.html
• Shimano SLX Cassette CS-HG61-9 11-34 – http://sfbay.craigslist.org/sby/bik/2230939816.html
  
• Shimano 9-Speed Chain – http://sfbay.craigslist.org/sby/bik/2230950009.html

Dyna-Sys is Shimano’s new drivetrain technology which primary goal is to improve drivetrain efficiency. Unlike SRAM’s XX, instead of going with a 2×10, Shimano kept the three chainring in the front with a closely spaced gearing (42-32-24 vs the traditional 44-32-22) and paired it with a wider range 10-speed cassette (11-13-15-17-19-21-24-28-32-36). This new technology is currently only available in XT and SLX groups. Although a rumored 2×10 may become available for its flagship XTR group.

When I started the conversion project, I didn’t intend to fully utilize the new Dyna-Sys components but the new 10-speed cassette forced me to upgrade my parts. This is how I did it:

SLX Cassette (CS-HG81-10)

XT Directional Chain (CN-HG94) – Zinc alloy plated for maximum durability. This is supposed to shift better than the regular chains. This is a necessary upgrade to work with the 10-speed cogs. The 9-speed chain will rub on the sprockets.

XT RapidFire Plus Shifters (SL-M770-10) – Obviously, you need the 10 clicks for the 10 sprockets. I only needed the rear shifter but I bought the front too anyway ‘coz I want to look cool.

XT Shadow Rear Derailleur (RD-M773) – I thought I could get away with my 9-speed XTR one but the pull ratio on the 10-speed shifter is different.

Stock 9-Speed Crankset – a 9-speed crankset is supposed to work with 9- or 10-speed chainrings.

Chainrings – I could upgrade the chainrings to 10-speed but I didn’t want to buy a new front derailleur so I kept my 32T middle ring, replace the granny ring with a 24T and replace the 44T with a bash guard (I don’t use that tall ring anyway). Do not mix the chainrings with 9- and 10- speed. If you are upgrading to 10-speed rings, you need to upgrade the front derailleur as well.

XT Front Derailleur – Since I kept my 9-speed chainrings to stock, I also kept the stock one. Take note that my 9-speed front derailleur works with the 10-speed shifter and 10-speed chain. You can also use the old 9-speed shifter for a 10-speed front derailleur.

So that was it. The upgrade is nice and easy. Now I just need to test the claimed efficiency on the mountain.

Looking at the new 2×10 setups, I think I’d like to try a 39/26 or 40/28 with the 11-36T cassette. They have aggressive gain ratios and my worry is loosing my highest gear for attacking a very steep hill. It’s going to be a challenging setup but hopefully a rewarding one. My other option is to replace my front granny ring with 24T and mate it with the 10 speed cassette. This is closer to my current setup and maybe what I was just looking for. Or, for some bragging rights (depends on my leg power), I can go with 24/36 in the front.

It’s been a couple months now that I’ve been mountain biking with a bunch of friends and I’m actually enjoying this sports. I’m really not a dirt kind of rider/driver. I’m a road guy and would rather roll on a smooth pavement. Riding in the rough terrains is a whole new experience for me. There’s something about the changing terrains in the mountain that makes me want to ride them again and again. They’re very challenging and demand a lot from a rider. I’m not a good climber (well not yet at least… I’m working on it) but I think I can be good on the downhill. No big jumps but a fast downhill with lots of places to slide your bike By now, I pretty much know what kind of mountain bike rider I am. With the crazy stuff I wanted to do on the trails, I think I am of a cross country (XC) type. Hence, the purchase of my Santa Cruz Superlight last week

Lately, I am pondering on the idea of getting into mountain bike XC racing. This time, I wanted to do it all the way. This means, a lot of hard work and intensive training (a scary thought). I know this is a long shot right now specially with two young kids and a wacky work schedule of my wife. But I believe if I can get everything organized and put my mind into it, it is feasible. As my favorite saying goes… “success begins with a person’s will.” We’ll see how this whole idea is going to turn out. In the meantime, all I can do is ride, ride, and ride more whenever it is possible for me to do so. I’m going to make it happen, yes I will

Yet again, I pulled the trigger today on a Santa Cruz Superlight mountain bike. I got it from Sun Bike Shop in Milpitas and I have to give two thumbs up for my first purchase experience with them.  I was initially just going to replace my frame but since my wife needed a bike anyway, I decided to get a kitted one. I’d like to think that I got a good deal on this bike considering that most of the local bike shops don’t even carry them all the time and Santa Cruz takes a long time fulfilling orders for them. This bike I bought is built with the “R xc” kit (a manufacturer spec) so the components were upgraded. In addition to that, the fork was also upgraded to a Fox 32 F-120R instead of the RockShox Tora Air. The best upgrade was the rear shock. The original kit only came with Fox Float R and they upgraded it to Fox Float RP23 with 3 ProPedal positions and an on/off switch. I didn’t care about the rear shock before but reading the reviews and advantages of the RP23 over the R, I told them to keep it on the bike. If I didn’t get the RP23 now and decided to upgrade to it in the future, it’s going to cost me at least $400 for a new one.

Originally, I wanted to get a small frame because of my height but after test riding the medium, I thought it was the perfect fit for me. The reach is longer and I don’t feel cramped compared to the small one. The stand over height is not bad and the medium is only about half inch difference from what I currently ride. In fact, the Santa Cruz site says that the medium will fit a 5’5″ to 5’10 person.

This Saturday will be my first trail experience with this bike so I hope I’ll get my money’s worth

Fortunately, the new frame that I’ve been eyeing on (Sette Ace) has an ETTL of 57.5cm, which is perfect. I’m also looking at the Santa Cruz Blur XC Carbon and Superlight with an ETTL of 55.3cm. But the Santa Cruz is more money, but…but… it’s a freaking Santa Cruz I’m also interested on the Specialized Epic but I just learned that their small frame has an ETTL of only 54.5cm. So among the three, if I decided to not care for a pretty sticker on my frame, I might just go with the Sette Ace. At least, that name still starts with a big “S”