Latest refinements before taking a Friday afternoon ride at FOMBA.
As with any new bike, it's not long before the upgrades start. Now I know what you are thinking, "Uh, but wasn't your latest bike a no expense spared money pit?" Well, yes and no. It was a money pit, but "no expense spared?" To borrow a phrase from Han Solo, I can imagine quite a bit*, but I didn't spend that much.
First on the agenda were new pedals. I cursed myself a few months back when I said my old Shimano 959s would last forever. On my second ride the left one started spinning like it was full of rocks (a rebuild not helping) and the other wouldn't release in anything approaching a predictable manner. I decided to take a chance on a set of XPedo's Ti-spindled M-Force pedals. They work with standard Shimano cleats, are feathery light at 230g, and even at my heaviest I easily clear the 185 lb. rider weight limit.
I'm still getting familiar with the slightly different entry, though this probably has as much to do with a recent cleat position change. As far as release goes they are great. I am using them with Shimano's SM-SH56 mutli-release cleat and when I want out I'm out. Can't ask for much more.
The second tweak was a a straight seatpost. The old Thomson layback model I had shimmed in and the old RaceFace XY that replaced it both had too much setback. I went with a Thomson Masterpiece, which rivals carbon posts for weight and is unmatched for beauty. I've slowly been moving the seat forward 1mm every couple of rides, trying to find the optimal position; I'm still coming to grips with the fact that this bike actually fits me and I don't need to have the seat slammed back to have enough room.
The last changes were wrought by a branch at Massabesic last Monday which snapped by rear XTR derailleur in half. The stout Niner replaceable hanger didn't budge...Not sure if this is a good thing or not.
I've also had some problems with the chain getting bounced off the middle ring, getting hooked by the big ring and then getting pulled between the gap between the big ring and the chain stay. This is a one-way trip, there is no pulling the chain back by hand, you need to break the chain. Possibly during suspension compression the gap opens enough to let the chain slip by?
At any rate this is my biggest complaint about the RIP9. At first I thought I was engaging in ill-advised shifts, but then it happened while I was JRA in the rough.
The solution for now is a 2x9 setup. I replaced the 44 tooth big ring with a Truvativ Noir carbon rock ring, which fit/looked perfect with the RaceFace cranks. With less chain wrap I went with a medium cage XTR Shadow derailleur. These shadow variants have a much lower profile to trail debris than Shimano's traditional derailleurs. The shorter cage obviously helps too. The obvious problem with all this is the loss of the high gears. Right now I have a 22/32 x 12-24. This is fine for riding Massabesic and anything else technical, but for fireroads, rail trails, and the inevitable tarmac, it is woefully undergeared. Still, single speeders get by without it, so maybe I can too.
If not, then I'm hoping somebody will eventually make a 11-36 9-speed cassette that is friendly to aluminum drive shells (so no thanks
SLX HG61). Then I can switch to a 24/36 in front and probably be ok.
