Review: Hollywood Express 3 Bike Rack

I've been using Hollywood Express 3 Bike Rack since 2009. From my point of view it's the most cheap way to transport couple of bikes. It's price is about $60. Hollywood Express bike rack can securely carry two bikes with the weight of 15kg (33 lbs) each. I didn't even try to put three bikes on it, cause I think it's rather dangerous. Downhill bikes are usually much heavy than 15kilos that's why it's better to take off front wheel and other quick releasing staff as saddle with seatpost and pedals.

Here is the way I mount Specialized Bighit and Trek Session with Hollywood bike rack:

Weight: Shimano PD-M530 Trail Pedals

According to Shimano web site, Shimano PD-M530 Trail SPD pedals' weight is 455 grams (1 pound), and this seems to be the truth, because my scale displays 450-460grams for the pair of PD-M530 Trail clipless pedals:

Video: Road Bike Party 2 - Martyn Ashton

A must watch video of amazing trials and tricks on road bikes, featuring Martyn Ashton, Chris Akrigg and Danny MacAskill! The most impressive bicycle movie of the last month. Even if you don't like road bikes or bike trial you would be impressed by this video, be sure!

Video: Fast and Smooth Trail Riding on a Hardtail

This guy really rips the trail with his chro-mo hardtail bike with 26 inch wheels. Super fast and super smooth riding! Great motivation to go out and ride your bike!

Cotic Bikes Presents #26aintdead a Mountain Biking video by steelcitymedia

Weight: Shimano PD-M540 Pedals

Shimano PD-M540 clip-in pedals. They are very cheap and rather lightweight, their weight is about 360 grams (0.79 pounds):

Weight: Shimano FC-M552 Crankset

The weight of Shimano FC-M552 (42-32-24) Cranks with chainring but without bottom bracket is about 860 grams (1.9 pounds):

The weight of Shimano FC-M552 Cranks without chainrings and bottom bracket is about 650 grams (1.43 pounds):

The weight of three chainrings (42-32-24) without bolts is 180 grams (0.4 pounds)

Race Face Narrow Wide Chainring for my Trail Bike

My new Race Face narrow/wide chainring has just arrived from bike-components.de. I've ordered this chainring with 34T and red anodizing.
34T narrow wide single chainring weight is about 40-50grams:

 What a great weight reduction! I've thrown away 3 Shimano chainrings with 4 bolts (-200gr), front derailleur (-150gr) and front gear shifter with cable (-170gr).
I hope this chainring will keep my chain in it's place, cause I don't want to use a chain guide.

Degree Headset for my Trail Bike

As I have mentioned in the second part of my Corratec X-force review, this bike has a very steep headtube angle equal to 69 degrees. It's rather uncomfortable to ride steep mountain trails with such angle of the headtube. I was searching the web trying to find possibilities of reducing my bike's head angle. There are several angled headset manufacturers. The most popular and the most expensive is Cane Creek Anglset headset. There are also K9 Industries Angled Reducer Cups and Degree headset from Workscomponents.co.uk. Unfortunately all of these manufacturers don't have out of the box headset for Corratec X-force 2011-2012. My bike has a ZS56/ZS56 headset.
I've wrote a message to Anglset support:

Specialized Demo 8 2011

Couple of years ago my friend have sold his old Norco A-Line 2007 and bought brand new frame Specialized Demo 8 2011 in yellow colour. Needless to say, the cost of the frame was equal to his two month salaries. He was very happy to buy such a high-end downhill frame, even if there were no any mountains in our community. He always buys expensive staff like Troy Lee Designs D2 helmet and Fox 40 fork.
Let's see his bike's specification:

frame: Specialized Demo 8 2011 with Fox RC4 shock;
fork: Fox 40 RC2 Fit;
crankset: RaceFace Atlas;
wheels: Kore hubs with Sunringle MTX 33 rims;
handlebar: Truvativ Boobar 780mm;
seatpost: thomson elite (came with a frame);
pedals: Wellgo B-54;
brakes: Avid Elixir CR Carbon with 203 rotors;
transmission: Sram X7 or X9
chain guide: E13 LS1 with taco;
tyres: Intense DH FRO Lite 2.5.


Sorry for these ugly photos of a bike.

Broken Trek Session 88

My friend was riding his Trek Session 88 for couple of seasons. Trek Session is a very lightweight frame. The whole bike with Boxxer and average components had a weight less than 17kg (37.5lbs). Session was the lightest downhill frame on the market in the year of manufaturing. Maybe this lightness caused some strength problems...

Video: How to Become an MTB Rider

Every mountain bike board and blog have posted this outstanding video today. Mine one won't be and exception. I think this VOD will beat the score of MTB videos!
Most of the steps are familiar to you, aren't they?

Thanks to NSMB

My Bikes from 2007 till 2013. Part 3. Specialized Big Hit 3 2010

<<< Part 2

In the end of season 2010, I've bought new frame - Specialized Big Hit 3 2010. All of the components were take from my previous bike setup - Fireeye Griffin.

Frame:   Specialized Big Hit 3 2010;
Fork: Marzocchi 66 RCV 2009;
BB:   NC-17 ISIS MTB Pro Bottom Bracket;
Crankset:   FSA Maximus DH Chainset  170mm 32T;
Front wheel:   WTB Dual Duty FR + WTB 14G Spokes + WTB LaserDisk Super Duty 20mm;
Rear wheel:   WTB Dual Duty FR Rim, DT Swiss Champion Stainless PG Spokes, Cycledisign 2 sealed bearings hub;
Brakes: Avid Juicy 5;
Handlebar: Da Bomb Apache 750 Bar 2010;
Saddle: BeOne Blizzard Ti Alloy Saddle;
Tyres:   Tioga Factory DH;
Chain guide: Truvativ Boxguide;
Rear Derailleur: SRAM X.5  9sp;
Shifter: SRAM X.5 Trigger 8sp;
Chain: KMC Z82 8sp Half Silver;
Cassette: SRAM PG830 8sp;
Grips: Lizard Skins Logo Lock-On Bonus Pack - Peaty

Corratec X-Force 2011-2012 Bike Review (Part 2)

<<< Part 1

I've been riding my Corratec X-Force 0.3 2012 since April 2013, and I've visited two Enduro races in Finland with this bike.
My first impression of a bike was: "It's so light and so fast! I push a pedal and the bike accelerates very quickly!" My Specialized Bighit 2010  weights 19.5kg, and it doesn't accelerate, that's why I was very surprised when X-force gave me opportunity to turn pedals and go faster on non-downhill trails and in the city.
Corratec X-force is like a XC bike but with downhill capabilities. 140mm of suspension is enough for agressive trail riding. X Fusion E1RL rear shock works similar to Fox shocks. I like to have about 30-40% in the rear with this shock when I go down a hill. When I go up, I use lockout to get better riding position.

My Bikes from 2007 till 2013. Part 2. Fireeye Griffin

<<< Part 1

In the winter of 2009 I've bought the most cheap mtb freeride frame at ChainReactionCycles  - FireEye Griffin with Manitou Swinger 4X shock. It's a frame with 180mm of travel, with chro-mo front triangle and alloy rear swingarm. Equipped with Manitou swinger shock, suspension of this bike works very very well. This frame is worth every penny paid for it. The only minus of Fireeye Griffin is a high position of bottom bracket. Most of the components were taken from my previous bike.  I've installed new Avid Juicy 5 brakes, Marzocchi 55 ATA fork and new FSA Maximus DH ISIS Crankset. This is a photo of complete bike in the begining of 2009 season:

First Steps on Wiggle Balance Bike

This summer I've decided to buy first bike for my 2 years old daughter.
I've been choosing between Rebel balance bike from ChainReactionCycles, Strider bike from Ebay and Wiggle balance bike. I've ordered Wiggle balance bike from wiggle.co.uk, cause it had the most cheap delivery cost to my country.

Wiggle balance bike with a "Tour de France" decal has a steel frame, front brake and cheap plastic/foam wheels. The bike is rather lightweight, its weight is only  3,7kg without brake. The frame of the bike is rather high. It's designed for children 1m of height and higher, that's why I've cut the seat tube of the bike to the minimum to fit my daughter. She's only 90cm.

Wiggle Balance Bike:

My Bikes from 2007 till 2013. Part 1. Stark Pusher

My first mountain bike was Stark Pusher 2007.
It was equipped with crappy RST Gila fork,  semi-slick Kenda tyres, heavy wheels and bad pedals.

After few months of riding I've decided to change the most crappy components. I've bought Marzocchi Bomber Drop Off 150mm fork, Wellgo V8 Copy pedals and Bontrager Earl 26x2.4 tyres. The bike had begun to look like a freeride hardtail.

After riding in the mountains on this hardtail bike, I've decided to buy a suspension frame.
In the winter of 2009 I've bought the most cheap freeride frame at ChainReactionCycles  - FireEye Griffin with Manitou Swinger 4X shock.

Part 2 >>>

Corratec X-Force 2011-2012 Bike Review (Part 1)

Summer season is ending, and it's time to write a review of my new all mountain bike Corratec X-force 0.3 2012.

Stock bike specification:
Frame:      X-Force - 140 mm Travel - 2CIRCLE Supension - Alloy 7005;
Brakes:     Shimano M596 Black 180/180;
Bottom Bracket:     Shimano BB51;
Crankset:     Shimano Deore M552
Derailleur Rear:     Shimano XT RD-M780 shadow Rear derailleur;
Shifter:     Shimano DEORE SL-M591 10 Speed;
Handlebar:     zzyzx MTB 720 Low Rise 8 degree sweep;
Saddle:     Corratec 2012 MTB;
Stem:    zzyzx 70mm;
Forks:    Manitou Minute Pro Remote 140 20TA Taper;
Rear Shock:     X-Fusion E1RL 200mm;
Tyres:    Continental Mountain King II 2.4;
Wheelset:    zzyzx, 20mm front, 135x12 rear, 19mm rim width.

Stock weight of the bike was 14.45kg (31.86lbs) with magnesium MG-1 pedals:

Trek Enduro Series. SM4 Ounasvaara (Rovaniemi), Finland, 10-11 august 2013

This august I've got a chance to visit Finnish Enduro competition "Trek Enduro Series". Round #4 (SM4) took place at Ounasvaara, Rovaniemi, on 10-11th of august 2013. This was my second trip to Finland on MTB Enduro event. My first enduro ride was at Messilla in May.
Usually I go to Finland by car. It is more than 900 km from my city to Rovaniemi. I use Hollywood bike rack to mount bikes. It is very easy and fast to install this rack on a back door of a car.

On a gas station:

My Specialized Big Hit 2010 for Sale

Riding enduro races in Finland, I've made a decision to sell my downhill bike Specialized Big Hit III 2010.
Weight of current setup is about 19.5 kg, rather heavy, but it is because Marzocchi 888 RC3 2008 weights about 3,75kg and there are 1.2kg DH tyres on my bike. Installing single crown fork, or a boxxer and lighter tyres will make the bike weight 18kg.

Specification:
frame - Specialized Big Hit III, size "М" 2010, in a very good condition;
rear shock - Fox DHX 4.0 with propedal in excellent condition;
fork - Marzocchi 888 RC3 2008 with 2010 decals, works fine;
wheels - Specialized P-disk Rim with Specialized hubs;
cranks - Truvativ Holzfeller 1.1 galvanized with Howitzer bottom bracket;
chain guide - SPC (stock Specialized Big Hit chain guide);
rear derailleur - SRAM X7 with short cage;
trigger - SRAM X.Gen;
cassette - Shimano 11-28, 8 speed;
pedals - Wellgo V8 Copy;
brakes - Shimano Deore 596 with new 203 Avid G3CS rotors;
handlebar - Azonic World Force, 762mm width, 1" rise;
tyres - Intense DH FRO Lite dual-ply, ghetto tubeless;
saddle - Corratec.


Price for this complete bike is $1700.

Trek Enduro Series. SM1, Messila, Finland, 25-26 May 2013

I was very happy to participate in Finnish Trek MTB Enduro Series at Messila. This was my first enduro race at all. This was my first visit to Finland on my new  all mountain bike Corratec X-Force 0.3 2012. As a result, I was not able to get good results, but I've got great pleasure riding the trails.
There were 5 different trails and they were ridden 2-3 times. Overall 13 stages. The trails were very various. Some of them had little climbs, and some had rocky downhill sections. I enjoyed the trails very much even on non-enduro bike (140mm trail bike with 69 degree headtube angle).
The most hard thing for me was climbing the hill 3 times without a lift, because I was not well trained in the beginning of the season. Flat pedals didn't give me opportunity to go fast on rooty "cross-country" uphills and flats. Steep headtube angle sometimes made me stuck in a rocky section of stage 1b. As a result 89 place of more than 200 riders.

I've got great experience riding Enduro at Messila. Now I'm selling my DH bike and I want an enduro bike with 65-67 degree headtube angle and 160-160mm of travel. It will be the most universal bike for riding enduro races and riding in bike parks.

Big thanks to Kosti Kostinen for the great photos:

Special stage #1a:

Continental Mountain King II 26x2.4 Cheap "Sport" Version with Wire Bead Goes Tubeless!!

 Yes, they do! Cheap $19 Conti MK II (weight 740gr) with wire bead and thin sidewalls goes tubeless with Stan's Notubes sealant!
I was interested in making tubeless tyres from Continental Mountain King II 26x2.4 "Sport", and was googling the web for any information. Everybody was saying that it's impossible to go tubeless with these tyres, because they have too porous sidewalls.
I've decided to try it myself, and I've succeed!
I prefer ghetto method using BMX tube as a rubber tape between rim and tyre. This method works fine with non-UST rims. 60ml of Stan's Notubes sealant have made what it should. I've spent some time shaking a wheel to seal the whole tyre, but now I can say that the tyre doesn't loose any air.

Great weight reduction. Now my Corratec X-force 2012 weights only 14kg.

I think that these tyres will work for me in our light enduro trails. It is possible to tear their thin sidewalls in big mountains with rocky trails. That's why I will buy ProTection version of Conti Mountain King II 26x2.4 (weight 660gr) for a next season, but now I am enjoying tubeless with cheaper tyre.

Here is a photo of my current bike setup:

Corratec X-Force Shock Protection

Unfortunately Corratec X-force's air shock is situated in the most muddy place. That's why mud, stones and sand will break the shock very quickly. This custom handmade mud protection will surely protect rear shock from being scratched and soiled.

My New Bike: Corratec X-Force 0.3 2012

Now I'm ready for a new bike season!! Most of all I wanted to ride on my local trails, but my Specialized Big Hit was too heavy for our light Enduro/All Mountain trails. That's why I decided to buy an All Mountain bike.
Corratec X-force 0.3 2012 was bought with a great discount at ChainReactionCycles. It's a 140/140mm AM/Trail bike with great Manitou fork and rather workable components. Here is my bike specification:

frame - Corratec X-force 140mm all mountain frame
fork - Manitou Minute Pro 140mm, 20 axle, Taper  steerer
shock - X-Fusion E1RL 200mm
rear deraileur - Shimano XT RD-M780 shadow
transmission - Shimano 10 speed
brakes - hydraulic  Shimano 596, 180 rotors
tyres - Continental Mountain King II 2.4
pedals - Wellgo MG-1 (magnesium)
saddle/seatpost/handlebar/stem/wheelset - ZZYZX

And some homemade photos:

First Trip to Messila and Laajavuori Bike Park in 2012

We decided to go to Messila and Laajavuori at our first Bike Park trip in 2012 season. Our usual first stop in Finland is Messila Camping which is close to Messila Bike Park. This camping always has plenty of space to put our tent, empty kitchen to cook some meal and drunk finnish people singing karaoke.
Messila Bike Park is very good for begining of the season. It's trails are not too hard. It has about 100m of height and about 5 different trails

Here are some photos from Messila:

My Bike for a Season 2012. Specialized Big Hit 2010

Spring had come. Snow melts. My bike is ready to hit the mountains. It is still Specialized Big Hit 2010.

I've just changed oil in Marzocchi 888 RC3 Fork, cleaned and greased chain with chainrings. I've put 2010 marzocchi decals on my fork to refresh it :). I've put 1 ply Tioga Factory DH Tyres, cause there's no hard trails close to my city. I'll put Intense FRO Lite dual-ply tyres for bike park riding.

Light MG-1 pedals will be changed for Wellgo B-54 cause I don't appreciate how MG-1 keep feet.  Other components of the bike are the same as in the previous post.