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When I first took delivery of the KHS XCT 556 a few months ago, I was pretty excited about trying its 30 speed drive train. The bike was redesigned for 2011 with swooping, hydroformed tubes and a bold color scheme. It’s spec’d nicely with name brand/model parts such as Rock Shox, Mavic, SRAM, Shimano, WTB and many more. The KHS XCT 556 was a direct replacement of its predecessor, the XCT 555, which we awarded the Editor’s Choice Award in 2010 for “Best Do it All Mountain Bike.”

Who should buy this bike?
-The KHS XCT 556 is perfect for the guy or gal that wants a bike that can do pretty much any thing he/she would want when riding. It can be ridden on an all day XC epic or for the weekend warrior who likes to race Super D. Downhill? Sure, places like Fontana’s Southridge and Telonics can easily be handled by the 556.

Rider shown-Team Racer: Corey Pond

Weight
-The test bike we have weighed in at 29lb (medium frame with pedals)

Price
-KHS’s MSRP is $2799.

What makes this bike stand out?
-The XCT556 is equipped with the Rockshox Revelation RL. This fork is pretty plush and was super easy to tune to the rider’s weight thanks to its air pressure chart that is located right on the lowers. It also has the ability to lock out. This option made climbing on the bike easier.

The fork was matched with a Rockshox Monarch RT3. I’ve been a long fan of the Monarch line because of its no non-sense usability. All I would have to do is air it up and set my sag at 25%, adjust the rebound to my liking and I was off riding!

The pièce de résistance with this bike was its 30 speed drive train. Truth be told when I first got on this bike, I thought that a 30 speed drive train was interesting. Then I saw its 36t cassette and thought that it was a bit of an over-kill. But during one of my test rides through a trail called Cholla, I quickly learned the benefits of the 36t cassette and all of a sudden I was able to clear some of the most technical portions of the trail. I couldn’t believe how well the XCT’s drive train worked.

However, there was a kink in the 30 speed armor. For some odd reason, when I would shift between the big ring (44t) down to the middle ring (33t) I would occasionally experience chain suck. This would also happen when I’d shift from the granny gear to the middle ring. I found this to be unusual because the bike is brand new.

Favorite part of the bike
-Other than the 36t cassette, my favorite was the Avid Elixir 5 brake system because it provides great braking power, and adjustable reach. Front rotor is 7″ and rear is 6″. No brake fading experienced. It comes down to this, when I pulled the levers, it wasn’t just on, but I could gradually feel the brakes engaging depending on how much I pull the lever.

How does it climb?
-Like a slow goat. The 36t cassette will help you get to the top, but at a slower pace.

How does it descend?
-Like a Boss. Plush fork, squishy rear shock that is complimented with its highly acclaimed Horst Link rear triangle. The XCT 556 soaks up small to large bumps, drops and jumps with ease.

Love/Hate
-Ok, hate is such a strong word. But I’ve got a dilemma here. I love the WTB Wolverine 2.2 tires, I think they are awesome! These tires are fast, and offer great grip…as a rear tire. For a front tire, I would have preferred something more aggressive like a WTB Prowler or even a Kenda Nevegal, then again that’s more of a personal opinion than anything.

The KHS XCT 556 may not be someone’s dream XC race bike due to its weight, but don’t be shy to race with it. Priscilla used it during the Knobby Time Series Race #2. She did well enough to podium

In conclusion
-The KHS XCT 556 is a versatile machine. It performs well as an XC rig and if you’ve got the balls to do so, it can handle Super D courses as well as the occasional dirt jumps. During the extended testing period we had with the bike, nothing failed on us. No signs of fatigue or wear. The only issue we had was the intermittent chain suck in which we’re not sure what caused it. Perhaps I was simply cross chaining it. Other than that, its a superb bike.

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Got a package this week!

I was out of town this week for work, and when I came home I had package waiting for me from Airborne Bicycles.

I was planning on meeting up with RL and several other riders first thing Saturday morning for a ride at Whiting Ranch, so I spent some time to get the Goblin assembled and ready for a ride the next day. For those of you out there who have never built a bike, here’s a quick look at how the bike came, and how much assembly was actually required. I took pictures of each part as I unwrapped it and it came out of the box. Upon opening the box, the wheels were on top and the first thing to come out.

Opened the box!

As you can seen the the photo, the ends of each hubs had plastic guards to prevent them from damaging any other components in the box during shipping. The wheels were also zip-tied together to prevent any unnecessary movement while still in the box. The wheels are equipped with SRAM’s new 10-speed cassette. This is the number one thing I have been looking forward to about this frame is being able to spend some extended time with the 2×10 system. I have demo’d it before on several other frames, but only a ride here and there. The wheels both have 160mm Avid rotors. Having removed all of the protective packaging, I set the wheels aside for later.

New Sram 2x10 drivetrain

Avid 160mm rotors

Individually wrapped were a few smaller components such as the skewers and the saddle, already mounted to the seat-post.

Skewers

Saddle & post

The last and largest part left in the packing was the frame itself. This was definitely the longest part of the unpackaging process in that there was lots small pieces of wrapping attached to the frame. Each tube has its own wrapping to protect it from damage. The frame in its entirety was also attached to cardboard supports in the box to keep it from moving during shipment. The frame already had the fork, bottom bracket, cranks, headset, stem, seat clamp, grips and brakes installed as well as the the derailleurs mostly installed. The rear derailleur still need to be attached to the frame, but all the cables and hydraulic lines were already run and in place.

Goblin frame fresh out of the box.

I attached the rear derailleur to the frame and straighten/aligned the front fork and the stem. While the stem was already install the bars were in installed on the stem, so the stem needed to be opened up to put the bars in place. Next the skewers needed to be placed in the wheels, so the wheels could be set into the frame. Once the skewers where in place, the protect plastic parts to keep the brake caliber from compressing needed to be removed. Once that was done the wheels were ready to be installed. FYI- Be very aware when seating your wheel that they are fully recessed into the dropouts. Losing a wheel while riding really sucks!

Almost complete

With the wheels installed that left the saddle and drive-rain as remaining parts in the box to be installed. I took a quick stab at the estimated saddle height and tightened down the collar. Then I completely removed the chain from the frame and wrapped it around the two largest cogs to confirm it was the appropriate length. I ended up taking a couple of links out. Once the chain was installed the rear derailleur needed to be adjusted. The only must have tool to put the bike together was really just my allen-wrench set. Two things that are not included in the box, were pedals and a water bottle cage. I stole those parts off another bike. I made some adjustment to cockpit of the Goblin to make it ready for me to ride. I moved the brake levers to the inside of the shifter and also moved both the shifters and levers much further in toward the center of the bars so that the brake lever is position so that I can brake with solely the index finger. I tend to do all of my shifting with my thumbs, and positioned the shifters accordingly as well. After spinning around in front of my house the final adjust I made was to the position of the saddle by sliding it futher back, away from the bars.

The Goblin was now ready for it first time in the dirt!

Fresh from its maiden voyage.

The full specifications and geometry for the Goblin can be found here on Airborne’s site. Stay tuned for for more pics and info on the Airborne Goblin!

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In the beginning of March, we had received a pair of Chrome Kursk Pro-SPD shoes to review. Since then I’ve been able to put some miles on them. My rides have been a mixture of downhill, trail and even bicycle commuting.

From the get go I’ve loved the way they looked. I was excited to try them out because I’ve never been a fan of cycling specific shoes unless they look like skater styled shoes like Vans and even Converse All Star.

The Kursk Pro SPD retail for $95 and you can read all about their specs HERE.

One of the great features I liked about the Kursk is that they have a shoe lace “garage” in which you can tuck in your laces so they don’t get caught up with your chain rings or cranks.

I chose to use Shimano SPD cleats and pedals. But they should also work with Crank Brother Pedals. Notice how the sole of the shoe doesn’t interfere with the pedal surface. There’s enough clearance between the pedal and rubber to ensure that you’re not fighting to get clipped in or out.

You actually have a choice to use the SPD feature or not. If you don’t want to use clipless pedals, then don’t remove the rubber and use the shoes with standard platform pedals. But if you use SPD, you’ll need a box cutter and possibly a pair of pliers to remove the rubber cover. Keep in mind, once its off, its off.

Let’s talk about the overall performance of this shoe both on and off the bike. There’s no other way to say this, but the Chrome Kurks Pro SPD shoes are very uncomfortable. As much as I wanted to fall in love with them, my feet wouldn’t let me. I noticed a couple of problems with the shoes and I’ll explain all that in two parts.

1. When riding with them, I can certainly feel where the cleat sits beneath my feet. I’m not sure what it was, but my feet would ache within the first 2 miles of my ride. I can only only assume that the sole itself isn’t stiff enough to handle the pressure of pedaling so it would flex as I’m putting power to the pedals.

I even tried these with my Shimano DX platform/SPD pedals thinking that the platform would help add some stability, but it didn’t. The best way for me to describe this feeling is this; let’s say you’re wearing a pair of Converse or even Vans. Now get on your bike that is equipped with SPD pedals and start pedaling, see how uncomfortable it is. Well that’s the exact same feeling I was getting with Kursk. What sucks even more is to try and do downhill with these shoes. During a practice session before the race, I attempted to ride the race course while wearing the Kursk. Half way down the mountain, my feet were on fire because of the pain I was experiencing with the shoes.

2. When you’re not on your bike, walking in them is doable, but make sure you don’t do it for too long. The sole of the shoe makes the cleat sit a bit higher, so that means it sticks out more, therefore, you’re striking cleat to ground as you’re walking, clik-clak clik clak clik clak…just think of it as this…tap shoes.

You have to understand that I’ve tested other foot wear before and the last pair I tested performed wonderfully. The Sette Nix are almost half the price and far more comfortable than the Chrome Kursk Pro SPD shoes. In all honesty, I was pretty disappointed with the Kursk, I was hoping they’d be the shoe that I could recommend to everyone because Chrome has a pretty good reputation when it comes to their bags, unfortunately, the same could not be said with the Kursk Pro SPD.

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While at Sea Otter, I was stopped by an exhibitor claiming that his chain lube is green, biodegradable and better than anything out there. The brand is called Yelo Velo and I was given the Xtra Dry Lube and some sort of degreaser.

So the nice gentleman went on to explain that the Xtra Dry Lube is made with corn alcohol and itty bitty ceramic pieces. The idea is to apply the lube, and when the corn alcohol dries, it leaves behind the ceramic particulate that gets in between the open spaces in your chain, almost acting like microscopic ball bearings.

Anyhow, I started our testing process this evening and Priscilla and I will be heading out for a grinder ride to see how well this stuff works. One thing that concerned me about Yelo Velo was the ceramic particulate. I appiled Xtra Dry on my finger tips, and I can see the ceramic and once the alcohol dried up, it left a white residue. But when I rub it between my finger tips, it felt gritty. Immediately I was worried that I may have just placed this gritty stuff that could potentially ruin my drive train prematurely. With that in mind, I went to Yelo Velo’s website to gain some sort of peace of mind in hopes they’d have some sort of scientific explanation of how their product works. Well guess what, their website isn’t complete yet…great.

Ok now what? Well I figured, I’ll do our short ride tomorrow and see how well this stuff works. If I don’t like it, I’ll just degrease our drive trains.

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Its slated to be released in July 2010. They had it on display but told me I couldn’t really show what it is. Below is a photo of what I was allowed to show our readers. You should have seen the Airborne booth, I was taking photos and videos of this bike, then next thing you know 5 guys in black suits came out of nowhere and told me to stop taking pictures. They took my SD cards from my cameras and formatted them on the spot. Then again I’m highly exaggerating all this. I am simply complying with what Airborne wanted. Sorry, no Secret Service type guys. But from what I’ve learned, Eric McKenna of Airborne was some sort of Special Forces guy. I heard he can defuse a bomb with a tooth pick and shoe laces. Some have also said that he can make muggers give him their money when attempting to rob him…badass…

So this bad boy is supposed to be at least 5″ travel and relatively affordable. Once I get more info on this model, I’ll make sure to report it.

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