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Get it? Supdate…Like S as in Single Speed Soma…but since Update doesn’t start with S, I threw it in there. But then it makes it like a double meaning, Sup’ as in “What’s up” but combined with Update becomes Supdate as if I was saying “What’s Up, here’s an update!” Aye…nevermind, if I have to explain it, then it’s not as clever. I’m sure there’s a few of you that said, “Supdate?….wait….OOOOH I get it!!!! haha Supdate…ya…haha…Supdate.”

Anyhow, the other day I was able to take the Soma SS on its first longish ride. The Fullerton Loop is about 11.5 miles and it has a mixture of ups and downs, as well as wall rides, teeter totters, boulders that chase you, darts that shoot out at you while you’re riding away, and some guy name Jones…Indiana was his first name. Ok, you got me, that stuff about wall rides, boulders and such were made up. But wouldn’t it be cool! But I digress, my gearing on the Soma is 32t/20t. I had feared that having such a big cog in the back would make me spin too much on the flats, well it’s true, I was spinning like a hamster on a wheel. However, it was the perfect gearing to ensure that I could clear all the climbs. I did dry heave a few times because I found myself exerting my body in order to keep up with Priscilla and our friend Ben. Then again I recall when I was SSing with a 26er, it was pretty common to get that nauseated when I was working hard.

So far the Soma is doing great! No chain skipping or breaking, and riding on drops was a great experience. My only complaint would be the brake levers I installed. One of my friends donated them to me, I thank him for it. But they are just a tad to small and the reach was too far. You see, my hands are like biscuits with baby carrots as fingers, yes wide and stubby (Moe, don’t even…). This mean that braking was a bit of a task and proved to be difficult especially if you’re going down the trail fast.

I ended up ordering some Tektro XLC brakes from Jenson USA. Funny thing about these brakes, I searched for “Road Bike Brake Levers” and they didn’t show up on the Jenson site. So I Googled it and found a link back to Jenson in turn I purchased them for about $17.

These brake levers are awesome! Not only do my hands fit in them, but they are ergonomic and has 2 reach settings. Not bad for $17!

Here’s a photo of the old lever in comparison to the new.

I’m hoping to get another ride in before the weekend is over. I gotta see if these levers are as awesome as I am hoping them to be. So until next time, I’ll provide you all with another Supdate….get it? Supdate…aye never mind.

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Have you been on the fence about going from your standard triple crankset, to a double? I was. I read the articles, saw all the ads, seen them at the races. Well, I finally made the switch earlier this year on my XC bike. Why go double? Most of us spend a lot of time in the middle ring, dropping down for the steep climbs, and shifting up to the big ring for the long downs. So a double that has a one ring a bit smaller than a normal 32 middle, and one a bit larger sounded good to me. You could go
all out and buy a crank, shifters, derailleurs, cassatte, and chain to go full 2X10. I went the cheaper route. I went with a Sram XX crankset, and ran my existing components.

The XX crank is not the cheapest double out there, but it is one of the lightest. I’ve also used the FSA Comet double. And it can be found for just over $100.

Using a 2 X 10 crank with my 9 speed components worked out fine. I did have to spend sometime dialing in my front derailleur. And dont forget to shorten your chain.
The biggest thing I noticed by going from a standard 22-32-44 triple to a 26-39 double is, I can push a bigger gear than I thought. I was scared the 26 tooth ring paired with the 34 cog in the rear, and 29” wheels whould be to tough on some of the steep climbs. But it wasn’t that bad. And it didn’t take long to get used to. The double also seemed to up shift quicker.

So far I’m happy with the switch I made. With all the options out there, 2X10, 3X9, 2X9, 3X10, even 1X9 or 1X10 it can be a tough choice. So what are you currently running? And if you have tried a double setup, how did you like it?

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MtnBikeRiders.com received the Cane Creek Angleset Model#: AngleSet ZS49 — ZS49/30 a few months ago to review for the site. Since then I’ve been able to put the Angleset through various riding situations and conditions to really see if there’s a benefit to a simple 1.0 degree.

Product Description

The all-new AngleSet threadless headset from Cane Creek makes it possible to change your game. You can now transform the head angle of your mountain bike with ease, as the low-stack-height AngleSet offers up to six offset angle adjustments. With steeper or slacker adjustments from 0.5 to 1.5 degrees, dialing in the perfect geometry to attack the trail is a breeze.

Price: $120-$150

Installation of the Angleset is pretty easy. As long as you have a headset press, it can be done in a few minutes. The Angleset was installed on my Airborne Taka. This bike has stock head tube angle of 66 degrees. Upon installing the Angleset it brings the the angle back to 65 degrees and you can obviously see a difference on the stance of the bike. The fork’s rake is more pronounced and when you sit on the bike, you’ll see and feel that the fork is “sticking out” further (rake) than when it was stock.

Naturally after the installation, I wanted to see how it affected pedaling and sprinting on the bike. I got on the Taka to do some sprint up and down my street, at that time I couldn’t really tell much of a difference, and that’s a good thing. Here’s the reason why, have you ever tried to do sprints on a bike like a beach cruiser, hybrid, or comfort bike that has a really slack head tube angle? If you have, then you’ll know that its difficult. Sprinting on a bike is easier if the head tube angle is more upright. But with the Taka and its new Angleset, sprinting felt as it was still stock, plus the bike didn’t have a “chopper” feel to the fork.

The first place I decided to try out the effectiveness of the Angleset was at a local DH trail. Bare with me as I try and describe how the Angleset felt…The Taka, now with its slacker head tube angle by 1.0 degree, is more aggressive, the steeps were easier, the fork seem to like the change up and believe it or not, I didn’t feel like I was too upright during my fast descents down the trail.

During my initial ride, I was thinking to myself…”can 1.0 degree make that much of a difference in how the bike performs?” Well the obvious answer to that was a loud YES!

The next testing ground was at a race, dubbed as the Fontana City Nationals, the course for this particular event are usually tougher than the normal Southridge races. The Taka performed beautifully! The Angleset made tackling fast corners so much easier and fun. I’ve actually done a few more races as well as fun DH rides since then and I gotta say, I had quickly fallen in love with the Angleset. I was convinced that EVERY DH BIKE should have the Cane Creek Angleset as a stock item on the bike, if not, then it should be something that bike shops push as an upgrade for their customers.

The Angleset is such a game changer in how a bike’s handling and performance can change. Just think about it, this little headset, that doesn’t cost that much money, can be responsible for drastically changing the way your bike rides and handles.

In my opinion, the Cane Creek Angleset is something that every DH Bike owner should get. Oh and check this out, remember how I mentioned my Angleset was 1.0, well they actually have a 1.5 available! Can you believe how much more of a difference the 1.5 can make. What’s funny about the Angleset, its such a simple and brilliant idea, that I’m surprised that no one came out with this years ago. If anything, I predict that you’ll see Cane Creek on more bikes out there, it just makes sense to do this.

FTC Disclaimer

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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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This evening I had a chance to install my new Shimano 12-36t cassette. I took a picture of it for your viewing pleasure.

In case you’re blind, 36t on the left and 34t on the right.

Viola! I test rode it on the street, but I’ll have the opportunity to see how well it works once I go on my ride this weekend. Part of the trail has a 2 mile climb that we’re doing twice.

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