new bike pics

[bad_brain]

alrighty, took some new pics today, pimped the bike a little since the last pics...

installed a neoprene frame sock to protect the frame from being scratched by chain sucks:


now with platform pedals with pins, maybe a little dangerous without shinbone protectors, but they look simply cool and provide a nice grip:

added a bottle holder with a nice insulated bottle, and a CO2 pump:


and here are my sweet grips, they are pretty hard but I also got nice gloves with gel cushions on the palm (from Specialized), together they provide also an awesome grip:

[ph0bYx]

Ah, much better with the thumbnails!
Your bike looks nice. For what is a CO2 pump used?
(<-biking newb)

[bad_brain]

hehe, yeah, messed it up the first time and posted the full images...

it's to inflate the tires like with a regular air pump, it's just more lightweight and saves a lot of time and sweat...you simply have to press a button instead of pumping for minutes like with a regular one.
I had a regular small pump attached first, but after I had to inflate a flat tire once with it I decided to go for a CO2 one. of course a CO2 pump is only something for emergencies (flat tire on a tour) and nothing for the average "let's add a little more pressure" jobs at home...simply because every CO2 container costs money.

that's a CO2 container for the pump:

[ph0bYx]

If every CO2 container costs money, couldn't you use air for that?

[bad_brain]

containers with compressed air would also cost money...the reason why those ones contain CO2 is mostly because they are standard containers which were actually made for beer dispenser systems, or soda siphon bottles, or for use in those "make soda pop yourself"-systems....and so they are not that expensive.
and well, such CO2 pumps are actually designed for professional bike sport where it's most important to save time and that parts are as light as possible...so it's not really practical for "real life", but I had to get it...

[Necrix]

Sweet bike!

[bad_brain]

an updated pic of my bike...and of me in my usual biking outfit:

cleaned it a little by removing the lights and the GPS device, the new white handle bar (Ritchey WCS 660mm) looks too good to be hidden behind mounting brackets:


and here's me....yes, I started wearing a helmet... with my old bike the limit was about 30 km/h because it felt totally unsafe, but with the new one even 50 km/h is no biggie, so head protection is a must.
and of course my shirt tells what I feel about those "look, I act like I just came from Tour de France!"-bikers...

[bad_brain]

alright, another update...got some nice new parts today.

- Ritchey WCS Marathon seat
- Ritchey WCS two-bold seatpost



oh, and a Ritchey (yeah, I love the brand) stem carbon cap:

[lilrofl]

I wonder if there is an adapter for paintball CO2 cartridges for filling bike tires... they are also light, plus refilling them is cheap as dirt.

[bad_brain]

ok, got my new wheels, sadly not the ones I first wanted....the shop where I ordered them is total crap, after more than 2 weeks of waiting and lame excuses I had to tell the shop owner to shove the wheels up his ass and to give me my money back...

so I got Fulcrum "Red Metal 5" ones, they might not have the bling-bling look like the ones I wanted first, but they are very stable too and the hubs are simply awesome.
additionally I got Hope quick release axles and Quad Sting break systems by Tr!ckstuff.
as tires I use Maxxis "Holy Roller", they are focused on street use, I love their grip in curves.
oh, and I upgraded to Shimano XT cassette and chain (both was just HG53 before, now HG93).









next on the list is a better fork, and I have an eye on the Race Face Deus crank set...

[floodhound2]

Nice set up BB. Now get that thing dirty!!!

[bad_brain]

but...then I would have to clean it...

I will definitely hit some mud in the next time, now I can be sure everything is really stable....before the wheels and the quick release axles were so unstable that I killed 4 brake discs by bending them like a rollercoaster track when riding in hard terrain...

[Radar_mX]

nice bike , I like it with white color

[DNR]

watch those C02 refill kits - most do not have enough air to fill a mtn bike tire to about 55 psi, you might need two or one and half (and discard a still half full canister).
I think you want a 85gram CO2 canister.

DNR

[bad_brain]

I have 2 of them with me DNR, one attached to the pump and a spare one on the other side of the bottle holder....luckily I never needed one yet. when I changed my tires I took the opportunity to check how the pump works, which was pretty funny, because there is something that looks like a button and so I assumed "open the valve and press the button".
but that was wrong, so when I opened the valve: "WHOOOOSH!!", luckily I was smart enough to hold it away from my direction...