Very nice Bob.
Glad you and the bike are OK.

I just got back from my trip, some very nice trails up where I was.
I will have to wash the bike over the next few days, then degrease the factory lube from the chain, and re lube it with the stuff I bought.

Yes, you need a chamois for mountain bike riding.
I took my mountain bike shorts with me, and they really do help.

 

Welcome home Corey! Looking forward to your pics and writeups.

 

Nice! What made you spring for the thompson post?

 

I like having the microadjuster heads both facing down. The Specialized post has one up and one down making adjustment difficult. I'm in process of trying a few different saddles lying around and adjust frequently on the trail. I know, stand up!

Also, the Specialized head has about a 1" setback while the Thompson has none. The new handlebars have slightly less sweep and rise that would have me bending further forward so I figure with the Thompson zero offset head I'll come out about the same effective top tube length. That and I found a screaming deal $69 NIB.

I still have a Dean Ti seatpost on order but they have a four month backlog. I'll sell the Thompson when the Dean arrives.

These Alex wheels are starting to bug me. It's difficult finding 29er Schraeder tubes. They should've used Presta rims. Maybe they'll taco and they could warranty something better, so I'm hammering but they don't seem to flex much.

 

Bob, I really like the rims that came on my bike, I see they are pretty popular on other bikes too.

Hey, on the saddle thing, I thought my skinny saddle was going to be murder on my out of shape butt, but no.
The saddle is very comfortable, and along with the old Zoic mountain bike shots I brought along on my trip, I never got saddle sore.
I am impressed with the saddle Specialized picked for this bike.

 

Me too! I tried a couple others and am impressed with the Indie XC saddle and will keep it.

Yeah, DT Swiss rims rock. Not so sure about these Alex rims yet. I'm looking to reduce rotating mass so am switching to lightweight tubes, but can't find Alex 29er wheel weight (including talking with Specialized) to compare to others.

I figure counting wheels and steel fork, my bike must be 3-4 lbs. heavier than yours. I'm no weight weenie but understand best bang for buck performance improvements (besides diet and training) usually mean reducing weight of things that move (wheelsets, tubes, tires, pedals, chain and freewheel).

Did you notice the gappy midrange? It really affected momentum when upshifting while climbing. Here's my new cassette that will fix that:

http://harriscyclery.net/itemdetails.cfm?ID=730

I did this to all of my bikes (different custom cassettes) with outstanding results and the guys at Harris are great.

 

I did not really notice a gap, but then I have been out of the bike scene for many years.

I just looked up the specs again on my bike, and it is the "SADDLE
Specialized Indie XC, Body Geometry, 143mm width, front and rear bumpers."
http://www.specialized.com/us/en/bc/...hopper&eid=107

Funny thing, I just went to their site again, and it now takes me to the 2010 models instead of the 2009 like it did earlier.
http://www.specialized.com/us/en/bc/...e.jsp?eid=4340

The Pro model like mine is now listed under the first tab, the SL line.
http://www.specialized.com/us/en/bc/...perSL&eid=4340

The Pro model has now jumped to $1550.
Looks like they may have upped the specs over mine a bit too with Avid 4 brakes, and a few other items.

Gone is the orange color too.

Also an air fork this year.
My fork does not use air pressure like yours does.

 

Your color is beautiful. I just saw the '10 version of mine. Yeow, it looks like an EMT bike with red everything. Glad mine is a bare polished clearcoated frame now.

 

My brother was very impressed with my bike when he saw it camping.
He likes the color too, and it has really grown on me.
I did not like the color at first, but soon came to like the color very much.

Hey, I just grabbed a short hose and my nozzle and put some Griots carwash in a dishpan and washed the bike outside with an old washcloth and one of these Griots Three Wheel Scrubber Brushes.
They sent them to me by accident and let me keep them when I placed an order for other stuff several months ago.
I do not use them on my rig, but they fit in between the spokes to do the rims and spokes on the bike perfectly.

The bike was pretty dirty from riding on my trip.
The tires still have crud caked in the threads, that is OK, but I wanted to get the gunk off the paint.

I wonder what wax would be good?
Certainly will not take the Porter Cable to the bike, but maybe their Best Of Show that I use on the FJ would be good since it has carnauba in it?

It makes sense to put something on the paint to help protect it from sun damage.

 

Waxing bikes is a personal thing. I don't b/c the carnaubas tend to attract dust. So I just wipe it down after a ride with a damp microfiber cloth. Plus if your finish is like mine, there's a good clearcoat on top.

 

I believe it does have a clear coat Bob.

These aluminum frame makes a strange noise when you tap it with your fingers, does it not?
These are very well made bikes.

I am thinking now of getting some long fingered gloves, those Oakley ones I saw in a magazine that they gave a good rating to.
http://www.oakley.com/catalog/produc...atic-glove-2-0

 

Corey, I really really really think your fork has an air spring. I'm gonna check again tomorrow, but I am 99.99999% sure it is. Please tell me Im not going crazy...

As for using presta tubes with shraeder rims, you can get rubber inserts for the rim to narrow down the hole and keep the valve from knocking around while riding. Or you can just use a presta tube and deal with the noise.

 

Also, lightweight tubes are a scam!! Dont buy em!!

 

RockShox Recon Race Air Fork 2009, 100mm
I have the RockShox Recon Race SL which perhaps is the non air version.
This is what I have, but a 2009 model.
No air.
http://www.merlincycles.co.uk/marzoc...-recon-sl.html
Three adjustments on mine:

 

PS...
Flash, I will snag some closeups of my fork top and bottom tomorrow sometimes.
The manual states that they have both air and spring shocks.

On top where you would think is an air valve is a blue disc to turn with an arrow that says pre load on it, and on the bottom right fork is a barrel adjuster for more dampening, and on the top right is only the lockout.

I have not attempted to adjust the fork yet until I read up more on it.
It does make noise when going over a bump too, kind of a squeak

Do you have any of this same bike at your shop to look at the shock setup?

 

flashkl, thanks for the tips.

I've been playing with the Thompson post and will swap it for the setback model. I'm also swapping the stem for a longer +/- Thompson Elite stem that just came out for the 30.7 crowd (me). I'm thinking that when I eventually get a wheelset and slicks for pavement training rides, the ability to invert the stem will add speed = fun.

 

Oh snap I am going crazy... I always thought all recons were air. I learn something new every day

One day, you can upgrade to a Fox F100RLC!!

 

After inverting the OEM stem and playing with the shim stack, I found a sweet spot that should work. Hopefully it will lessen wheelie tendency on steeper trails.

The Thomson post won't be needed either. The setback came out nearly the same as the OEM post. Now that I've decided to use the stock saddle I won't have to deal with the PIA microadjusters once fitted properly.

So Corey, exploring adjustment possibilities with the stock hardware saved the day and $180. And after comparing the stock stem to a Thomson, it'll work for my noob status after I get it replaced under warranty. I found the lower right screw stripped out, prolly an assembly error that my LBS will no doubt correct.

 

In my dreams. I can't believe the price of quality forks, sheesh. Of course the engineering is incredible too. So far I'm thoroughly impressed with the RS Tora Race, but I'm in the "don't know any better" noob status.

http://www.sram.com/en/rockshox/crosscountry/tora/#tab1

 

Yeah, I know didley squat about these forks.
All I know is they smooth out the trail