MtnBikeRiders.com

 Powered by Max Banner Ads 

The answer is a yes and no…As is, Dirty Dog Rotors are pretty fantastic. But with a bit of magic, you can make them just a TAD (pun intended, but you’ll get it later) bit better.

Here’s what I did. I took Priscilla’s tad pole rotor (provided by Big DeBeer), as you can see its a fun, cool looking rotor by it self.

Then I grabbed a can of engine enamel and I wrapped up the braking surface with masking tape. I’m sure this already looks familiar since I’ve done this same project with a different rotor. But this time, I’m using a Dirty Dog Rotor, so its 100 times better.

I then painted each side. I made sure that I got in 2 coats. I used old water bottles to hold the rotors. This allowed for very little contact which means, the paint was applied more evenly.

I let the paint dry for about a day. Then the masking tape came off….ooooohh purdy!

This is how it looks mounted from the inside of the rotor.

The green matches perfectly with the accents on Priscilla’s frame. Besides, frogs are supposed to be green.

Full view.

Tada!

Hopefully this inspired you to customize your own set of Dirty Dog Rotors, if you don’t have a set, pssh, what are you waiting for! Get some!

Popularity: 2% [?]

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

Sometimes we here at MTNBikeRiders receive letters from Santa about this time of year. Usually it’s kids writing to Santa wanting to get a new bike for Christmas but let’s face it, Santa ain’t got a clue when it comes to bikes. Santa will usually forward the letters to us to read and make a suggestion for a new bike. Below is a perfect example of just such a letter. Billy, from the USA, wrote Santa asking for a new bike that he could race! Well we just happen to get in a new Sette Serum Pro for a long term test.

Letter from Billy, USA

Billy, here is a video I shot just for you. If your a good kid, maybe, just maybe you’ll get a new Sette Serum for Christmas.

Quality is priority #1. The tubes fade in several places from a visible carbon weave to a flat black which is completely different their older frame the Phantom. The carbon is 3k High Modulus which means high quality. There are only a few carbon bike manufacturers in the world and you can be sure that this frame was produced in one of them. With a 5 year warranty, you can’t wrong.

Fade to Carbon Weave

Full spec kit is priority #2. The bike has Shimano XT everything except for the brakes which are Avid Exlir CR. Tires are Kenda Small Block 8, a great all around choice. Front suspension is provided by a Fox 32 F RL which is indubitably one of the best.

Da Business

Stiff. Lightweight. Fast. I will be testing this bike on real trails but during the neighborhood test, all the kids got smoked. I have seen others weigh the frame by itself at 2.7 lbs and this bike weighs 22.5lbs, really light!

Artistic Framework

The bike is available for purchase now at a retail price of $2250 and the forums are already abuzz about the new frames. If your a good kid like Billy, maybe Santa will bring you one too.

The Serum for your ailment

I’ll be testing this bike for a while and my first order is to fine tune the cockpit. Once that is completed and this heat wave we are experiencing fades, I’m gett’n on this thing for sure.

Popularity: 3% [?]

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

Another successful trip to Las Vegas!  This time the excuse was Interbike 2010.

I planned my trip so that I could also attend the Outdoor Dirt Demo.  After a few laps on the dirt I wanted to try something different.  So I walked up to the Trek Road bike demo and they handed me a Madone 5.2.  So I jumped on it and headed towards the road course.  I first tried to shift through the gears but the lever didn’t move, I thought to myself, huh?  Did they give me broken bike?  So I stopped and looked down at the drivetrain, and saw there were gears, it wasn’t a single speed, then I noticed it was Dura-ACE Di2 Electronic Shifters! SWEET!!!  It was awesome, the gears shifted perfectly and smoothly, I was thoroughly impressed, I want one!  If you’re wondering why I am talking about a road drivetrain on MtnBikeRiders.com keep reading, the topic will shift.

So the next day I meet up with the rest of the crew and we headed into the indoor show floor.  Walking into a trade show as big as InterBike can be very overwhelming, there are shiny new bikes and cool new parts all that are just screaming “look at me.”  At least for me it’s hard not to jump randomly from one cool thing to another.  Somehow I ended up looking at some Tune and KCNC hubs, bar ends, and skewers.  While checking out this little booth I noticed a very nice 29” Titus Ti frame with a Cannondale Lefty fork.  But after a few more glances, I noticed the same Dura-Ace Di2 derailleurs I experienced the day before, but on a mountain bike.  This sparked my interest and I started to inquire more about it.  It turns out that this was a “Titus Di2 Project 29er” that was a completely one-off, it has a programmable Di2 brain that takes shifting to the next level.  There are only 2 buttons for shifting both the front and rear gears.  The brain uses calculated gear inches to decide on the proper next gear.  The brain also removes duplicate gears and prevents cross chaining.  A feature that’s not even available on the Road Di2, is that if you hold down the button it will allow you to dump the gears in either direction.  To top all that off the Brain was enclosed in the stem and the battery unit was hidden in the seat tube. All this weighed in at around 16 lbs.  Here are some pics.

Popularity: 3% [?]

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

Not too long ago, I had gone on a short turn around trip to Mammoth Mountain. That meant we left @ 2am and once we got to Mammoth, we rode until 4pm. Keep in mind, we were riding in 9,000 feet elevation, so we made sure we were plenty hydrated. Throughout the day, I must have downed over 1 gallon of water. But that proved to be insufficient because by the time I got home and into bed, my body started cramping up.

My abs went first, then my feet, then my quads. It all kinda happened at the same time! As I was grunting and screaming in pain, I asked Priscilla to get me some water. But then I remembered that Neil Adams (single speed racer of 661) told me that Pickle Juice helps get rid of cramps. While Priscilla was getting me water, I was laying on the ground all messed up and that’s when I yelled for the juice. The stupid thing was, we were both cracking up because I’m trying to stretch out my abs, by arching back. Then my back started cramping and I was in so much pain! However, I was still laughing because I couldn’t believe that my whole body just went crazy.

Priscilla rushes in with a jar of pickles. I quickly drank at least 1 cup of juice…mmm its so tasty too! lo and behold…the cramps disappeared within 3 seconds!

So the moral of the story, drink over 1 gallon of water when in higher altitude and have a jar of pickles handy just in case you cramp up.

Popularity: 2% [?]

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

Former Park Pre owner came out with this limited edition 36″ wheeled monster cruiser. Only 150 of these bikes were made.

Popularity: 2% [?]

Bookmark It

Hide Sites