The Ruckus

Good to see others finding the love for Specialized


Great buy. As mentioned previously, I've got the '09 RH Comp, and I love it. The pro can only be better, right!?

Not sure if I missed it- did you take the 17 or the 19 frame??

And the rack looks like a really nice bit of equipment. It looks like the front wheel is nice and secure, but does it have attachments for locking up the frame as well?


One last thing- double check that those bars aren't included with the recall from earlier this year. The bars that came on my Comp (recalled after purchase, swapped for whatever shop had at comparable price) were Specialized alloy, 31.8mm, 25mm rise, 640mm wide, 8 degree back sweep, 8 degree up, 2.8mm thick- they were used on some other models, but looks like the Pro came with an 8 back 6 up, that are slightly thicker. Still worth checking out, though. Don't want to read that you got a mouthful of stem because of defective bars on your maiden ride!

Corey

iTrader: (1)

He he he, thanks Bob!
Yes, if it was not for you, I would not have bought the FJ

I am daydreaming of being camped right next to that creek I am going to vacation at, and going out for rides during the day on this.

BT17R

Corey, while I'm thinking of it this is by far my favorite chain lube. This is the time to clean the cosmoline off your chain (I use mineral spirits) and apply a couple coats a day apart to let dry. Available from Performance or a few other shops, otherwise online:

http://www.progoldmfr.com/products/prolink.html

Corey

iTrader: (1)

Thanks Ruckus.
I did indeed forget to mention the frame.
The Kona I tested was an 18", this one is a 19".
The bar just taps ma boys

They felt the 17" would have been to small.

Recall, I am not sure which bars you are referring too.
Been out of the lingo loop for a long time.

The rack has the tire loop for the rear tire, and the rod that comes up and pushes down against the front tire, it is spring loaded.
The sales guy who has one flies down forest service roads with his, and he said it is very stable.

Corey

iTrader: (1)

Thanks Bob, will check out the lube.

I gave away a nice Park work stand years back, I saw a nice one in the shop today for $250 that also is a scale for your bike.

It says almost $400 on the shops website, but I swear it said $250 when a sales guy showed it to me.
http://centercycle.com/itemdetails.cfm?libid=46649



PS, cheaper at Amazon.
http://www.amazon.com/Topeak-PrepSta.../dp/B000FI6XKS

The Ruckus

I'm on the 17 at 5'8, so I kinda figured they'd likely fit you to the next size up.

By bars I mean handlebars. The recalled group missed some hardening step in the manufacturing process and had snapped in half under someone's weight. Only thing I can picture when I think of that is hands going to either side of the wheel, face or sternum going down on the steering stem. Ouch.
No doubt the rack looks plenty secure for trail driving- I was wondering more about gas stations and roadside diners- locking it down for security more than risk of it falling off.

Corey

iTrader: (1)

Ahhh, handlebars, yes, I will mention the recall to them.

The rack we could not use my custom hitch lock I have had for some odd 18 years or so, so we used a Thule one that locks the rack to the hitch, the pin is the lock.

They also have locks to go on the trays, but I did not opt for them.
When driving, I will use the 7' cable lock to secure the bike, rack, to the trailer chain loops built into the FJs tow package.

Yeah, I am 5'10" give or take, so it seems the 19" is a good fit.
Did not try the 17" one.

Shock have three adjustments on them.
Two on top, one is a damper I think, the other is a lockout, and one barrel adjuster on the bottom.
It will take awhile to get use to playing with it.

Overall I am pretty stocked about the bike.
Orange would not have been my favorite color, black, silver would have been my first two, but the orange is growing on me.

I did not go for a kickstand either.
I had one on my old bike, I figure this saves weight, and I can lean it up against something.

They only had those pedal straps I wanted with new pedals, so I will have to order them from the maker of them.

BT17R

Now I have to start asking MTB questions.

What's a good cushioned riding short? Or do you layer stuff? I know enough to not wear my road riding bibs since a) I'd be laughed off the mountain, and b) shredded Lycra in the first hour.

Corey

iTrader: (1)

Bob, I have some Zoics (spelling) I bought years ago when I thought I was going to get that other bike.

They look like hiking shorts, but they have the spandex leg grippers inside, and also the chamois thing.
http://www.zoic.com/

I do not see mine there, but they have others.
They still fit me too, in fact I dug them out of a drawer yesterday and washed them.

BT17R

Thanks.

Eh, for $250 I'd get an indoor trainer (can you tell I'm big on them?) and use it double-duty for tuning. For quick lube and rear wheel change, get one of those overgrown coathanger things you can hang from a nail in the garage.

Lots of bike computers out there you'd enjoy too, but you're having too much fun now!

BT17R

Read the specs and see you have 175mm crankarms, hehe. You'll be moving those knees in biiiig circles. That's OK, slightly long for your height but still fine. The others are 170mm and wouldn't be good. You'll have a nice granny gear, looks like around a 19" (one pedal rev = 19" forward travel) that you'll learn to love.

You know what you'd like and of course is expensive? A Ti seatpost. I waited about 4 months for Dean to make mine, and it was worth it for a smoother ride.

http://www.mtbr.com/mfr/dean-usa/sea...34_141crx.aspx

Corey

iTrader: (1)

I will look at comps later, as it would be nice to track speed/distance.

He had the bike in granny gear when I first tried it today, and I was pedaling like 100 miles per hour until I moved the left shifter to the middle position, then selected a higher gear with the right one.

It does go very looooooow.

I could see doing some TI stuff later to reduce weight.
This bike is so much lighter though than my old one.

BT17R

The Ti seatpost is actually a little heavy, so I got it for vibration dampening and some flex.

The Ruckus

Oh shoot- just looked again cause those handlebars looked waayyyy too familiar. The specs I quoted on what I thought your bars were earlier were for the 2008 Pro. The 2009 spec out as identical to what they recalled from mine. I'll stop talking about it now. (can you tell it freaks me out a bit, though? lol)

Corey

iTrader: (1)

So it looks like then mine are the recalled ones.

Corey

iTrader: (1)

Wall racks, both no drilling, held in place by gravity:

http://www.organize.com/gravbikracwa.html

http://www.orsracksdirect.com/delta-...rage-rack.html



I checked out that hydration pack, it is an REI model from 2003 that says staff on it from when I worked there.
We all got them for a Christmas present.
950 cubic inches is the pack size, not sure about the bladder.
Model is called the Runoff.
http://www.rei.com/product/747536
Discontinued of course since it is an older model.

I threw away my small couch this morning, never used it.
Bike is now in its place next to the TV.

flashkl

Awesome!! good choice on the bike, I sold one of those (same color, same size, same everything) to a guy with a blacked out tahoe with mud tires, a mild lift and a roof basket so maybe they are just popular with the offroad crowd. And youll learn to love the color. There are wayy to many black and silver mtn bikes out there, mine included, and they get real dull after a while. Oh, and I would have dope slapped you if you put a kickstand on that bike. Notice how it doesnt have any rack mount bosses either. This is a bike meant to be taken seriously. And the fork should have two adjustments, rebound adjustment and a lockout. The barrel adjuster you are seeing on the bottom is actually the cap to the shraeder valve which fills the negative air chamber for the spring, and there should be a second one on the top of that fork leg for the positive chamber if I am not mistaken. Play around with the pressures some, once you get em just right youll find that the recon is a great fork.

p.s. ditch them reflectors!!

yotaduck

Too bad I didn't see this thread earlier, I would have pushed Giant on ya, haha.

It's good to see someone get back into the sport, and awsome to see they picked a great restart bike.

A couple other sites to check along with MTBR are Pinkbike and Ridemonkey. There's tons of info on these sites, allthough it may be a bit trying to find it.


Get her out on some trails and let us know how she is.

Corey

iTrader: (1)

Thanks Duck, will check those sites out.

Flash, front deflector is coming off this week.
Rear one came off for the tool kit/bag.
Yeah, no kickstand is no big deal.
First bike actually without one.

This shock uses no air I believe.
One of the guys in the store showed me it was a barrel adjuster.
You spin it either direction.
One thing on top if the lockout, the other is the rebound.

This weekend I will get more of a chance to mess around and read the fork manual on it.
I have a wall rack coming today, will get pics before the week it over.
Not sure if I will set it up today.
We are expecting temps over 100 degrees today, that kind of zaps any work I want to get done at home.
It was 88 in my home when I left for work this morning.

PS, some info on the shock.
http://www.moredirt.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3558
You can see in the pics on the URL he provided
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/L...Name=29069.jpg
that adjuster on the bottom.

BT17R

After a couple days of calling and visiting bike shops, I settled on a leftover Gary Fisher Ferrous. They're out of production in 26" size, only making 29er Ferrous now, so that accounts for the steep 50% markdown on my 26". If for some reason I don't like the sport, I can at least get out of it for my cost since it's a future classic I'm told.

I like the simplicity of a hardtail, the vibration dampening of steel and the components are above average for this price range. I'm swapping out the fork for a RockShox Revelation 426 and haven't decided on tires yet, but that's all. It's fairly light for steel, about 26½ lbs. for my 19" frame they said.

Looks like orange was a popular color last year. I like it for something different and easier for National Guard rescue to locate me on the side of Mt. Hood!

Corey, we're starting to look like "separated at birth" twins.



http://fisherbikes.com/bike/archivemodel/413