the whole article can be found in the magazine and on this link
Saturday, 10 October 2009
money express feature
today i got the photos from money express ! enjoy!
the whole article can be found in the magazine and on this link
the whole article can be found in the magazine and on this link
Saturday, 3 October 2009
new parts on the way
this week i ordered 2 new parts for the bike. they will bring down the weight just a bit.
it's going to be a tune potenz saddle at 38g without weight limit and a schmolke tlo handlebar 600mm at 79gr . theoretically the weight loss is going to be 102gr which means that the scale is going to show 8.69kg.
they say that the potenz saddle is as comfortable as a normal speedneedle one , it just lacks that front part, which makes it ugly but also interesting .
it's going to be a tune potenz saddle at 38g without weight limit and a schmolke tlo handlebar 600mm at 79gr . theoretically the weight loss is going to be 102gr which means that the scale is going to show 8.69kg.
they say that the potenz saddle is as comfortable as a normal speedneedle one , it just lacks that front part, which makes it ugly but also interesting .
Sunday, 20 September 2009
the conclusion!
it's been almost 2 months now since i have been riding the bruto. i am usually very critic with my purchases and it happens very often that i criticize things i buy(eg the stupid iphone). I've been thinking and analyzing this bike from all possible points of view and wanted to find a defect, something i did not like about it...it took me a little while to get used to the frame and position and i just LOVE IT! the only thing that i hated about it were the nobu's which i replaced with sachs quartz gripshifts and now i really consider this bike perfect. it is exactly what i have dreamed at all these years and i am still excited with every ride or eye that i throw at it!
the overall feel of the bike is absolutely amazing! the position on long rides is comfortable. i went on a 80km ride and besides the muscle cramps, i had absolutely no problems whatsoever. usually i get back pains and numbness in my palms, this time everything went perfect!
if you think about it, it all makes sense as it is obvious that Francesco Paduano spent a lot of time designing this frame. everything on the bike, every small feature, adds to the quality of the ride!
there are 3 highpoints on the bike, all equally important and all adding quality to the ride in the same amount:
the frame
the fork
the crankset
if you can , go for the german a forks! i know they are expensive but they are absolutely brilliant. they react to small and big bumps , they are very stiff in corners and at 1147gr they are also very light!
same with the crankset! the q rings have a very "round" feel. if you try a normal chainring afterwards it feels strange, uneven. the stiffness is above xtr aswell! you can feel it especially on sprints, when you put a lot of stress on the crankset! add the lowest available q factor on the market and you can say that rotor did a nice job !
my weight estimation was 8.55kgs. of course it didn't go that low. i was actually 250gr off, which means that the bike is at 8.8kgs. decent weight for a full susser keeping in mind that there were places where i couldn't shave off weight due to my 0.093tons and to the fact that i did not wanted to loose stiffness!
next year hopefully i will be upgrading to 5rot and also i will go for a backer carbon saddle and probably a schmolke handlebar just to make the scale show 8.6kg
*the riding position has been modified from the picture. i've cut the steerer and i now have a 5 mm spacer under the stem ;)
Saturday, 1 August 2009
finally...
the bike is finally ready
i will post a movie of how it came what it is
this is how it looks and what it weights. at 8.8kg i did not make any compromises regarding rigidity and strength.
i am still testing with the position of the stem and handlebars, therefore the fork steerer is not cut yet
as a general impression after a few km's the only things i don't like are the nobus and the kmc chain. the chain was already replaced in the pictures , the nobus will be replaced next week with sachs quartz grip shifters
the german a fork and the softail are fantastic. the rotor crankset although it has developed a small play that was sorted out, feel very "round". when you pedal you have the feeling that the torque is linear , unlike normal round chainrings
don't forget this frame has the steepest, shortest most rigid and sexyes looking back triangle on the market, as Mr Paduano recently told me!
i will post a movie of how it came what it is
this is how it looks and what it weights. at 8.8kg i did not make any compromises regarding rigidity and strength.
i am still testing with the position of the stem and handlebars, therefore the fork steerer is not cut yet
as a general impression after a few km's the only things i don't like are the nobus and the kmc chain. the chain was already replaced in the pictures , the nobus will be replaced next week with sachs quartz grip shifters
the german a fork and the softail are fantastic. the rotor crankset although it has developed a small play that was sorted out, feel very "round". when you pedal you have the feeling that the torque is linear , unlike normal round chainrings
don't forget this frame has the steepest, shortest most rigid and sexyes looking back triangle on the market, as Mr Paduano recently told me!
Friday, 17 July 2009
YOU GOT MAAAIL!
today i received 2 important components for the bike, the crankset and the brakeset
rotor agilis xc2
first impression with the crankset is very very good. it looks very carefully built with high attention to detail! the chainrings are absolutely impressive, everything is cnc machined.
i opted for the agilis xc2 mainly because of it's rigidity. they have a special cnc operation where they cut the crankarms outside aswell as inside! yep cnc inside the arms! they go through this very complicated cnc process because they say that the rigidity is 30% higher at the same weight!
forged aluminum loses some of the strength properties compared to the cold cnc machined one !
the chainrings are q-rings, which means they are oval and are adjustable. adjustable in the sense that you can set them to behave differently . i installed them on position 2 , later to have them moved to 3! there is an accommodation period with these chainrings and they suggest you start with position 2!
the xc2 is two chainrings only and because of they're shape they come in 40/27 t . i've noticed that as well with 29'er bikes, that the mtb direction is towards 2 chainrings and not 3. a little bit of inspiration from road bikes now with the release of sram's 10spd mtb casette?!
also a special part of the crankset are the bb's. because i wanted to have the bb's for 68mm without spacers, the guys from velotechservices sent me 2 bb's one sabb and the bb1, a nice gift from a bunch of nice chaps!
the bb1 is a 100gr light bb designed for mtb use with spacers for 68mm shell
the self alignment bottom bracket is what it's name says...the picture explains everything!
they claim a weight of 753 grams including bottom brackets, chainrings, spacer etc but my scale shows only 720...
hope mini x2 pro
well...evryone knows how hope brakes feel and how they brake but the x2 is a step higher than my m4 and m6! i have to honestly say it that i ahave always been a huge fan of this small company called hope and they have not let me down with the x2 pro!
620gr with 160mm rotors, i think it's pretty fair!
rotor agilis xc2
first impression with the crankset is very very good. it looks very carefully built with high attention to detail! the chainrings are absolutely impressive, everything is cnc machined.
i opted for the agilis xc2 mainly because of it's rigidity. they have a special cnc operation where they cut the crankarms outside aswell as inside! yep cnc inside the arms! they go through this very complicated cnc process because they say that the rigidity is 30% higher at the same weight!
forged aluminum loses some of the strength properties compared to the cold cnc machined one !
the chainrings are q-rings, which means they are oval and are adjustable. adjustable in the sense that you can set them to behave differently . i installed them on position 2 , later to have them moved to 3! there is an accommodation period with these chainrings and they suggest you start with position 2!
the xc2 is two chainrings only and because of they're shape they come in 40/27 t . i've noticed that as well with 29'er bikes, that the mtb direction is towards 2 chainrings and not 3. a little bit of inspiration from road bikes now with the release of sram's 10spd mtb casette?!
also a special part of the crankset are the bb's. because i wanted to have the bb's for 68mm without spacers, the guys from velotechservices sent me 2 bb's one sabb and the bb1, a nice gift from a bunch of nice chaps!
the bb1 is a 100gr light bb designed for mtb use with spacers for 68mm shell
the self alignment bottom bracket is what it's name says...the picture explains everything!
they claim a weight of 753 grams including bottom brackets, chainrings, spacer etc but my scale shows only 720...
hope mini x2 pro
well...evryone knows how hope brakes feel and how they brake but the x2 is a step higher than my m4 and m6! i have to honestly say it that i ahave always been a huge fan of this small company called hope and they have not let me down with the x2 pro!
620gr with 160mm rotors, i think it's pretty fair!
Saturday, 4 July 2009
german-a kilo no 1
I WANT ONE!
it's going to take some time though, 1500 europeans isn't cheap at all!
this fork is absolutely amazing, i have tried one on a merida nintysix and it feels very plush and responsive. also, because of the design it comes with anti dive technology and hi lateral stiffness all because of the parallelogram.there are aother forks with anti dive but they don't come light this one has a carbon shaft and carbon legs delivering an impressive sub 1100g weight
high quality german technology...
I WANT ONE!
it's going to take some time though, 1500 europeans isn't cheap at all!
this fork is absolutely amazing, i have tried one on a merida nintysix and it feels very plush and responsive. also, because of the design it comes with anti dive technology and hi lateral stiffness all because of the parallelogram.there are aother forks with anti dive but they don't come light this one has a carbon shaft and carbon legs delivering an impressive sub 1100g weight
high quality german technology...
brakes ordered !
hope mono x2 pro for me please!
after watching different other manufacturers models being serviced at my local bike shop i definitely went for hope! they are simple and easy to service!they are sub 600gr and as any hope product they work flawlessly.
i've seen formula r1 and magura sl's broken after verry little use so , althought it might only be a coincidence, i cannot trust anything other than hope! the frm and formula disc brakes are with around 10-20gr lighter per set, but i like the looks and the way they feel better with the x2 pro!
next week i'll have then, till then this is how they look !
hope mono x2 pro for me please!
after watching different other manufacturers models being serviced at my local bike shop i definitely went for hope! they are simple and easy to service!they are sub 600gr and as any hope product they work flawlessly.
i've seen formula r1 and magura sl's broken after verry little use so , althought it might only be a coincidence, i cannot trust anything other than hope! the frm and formula disc brakes are with around 10-20gr lighter per set, but i like the looks and the way they feel better with the x2 pro!
next week i'll have then, till then this is how they look !
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