More Five writing, but first more Five questions from the lovely people of Singletrackworld answered:
“Sim, you said in you’re first Five blog entry you wanted a bike that would “be up for some enduro stage-race action”, what races are planning to do next year?”
I’m hoping to do some of the UK Gravity Enduro series that kicks off in May. A few friends went over to Europe to take part in some of the enduro races out there so I might see if I can join them. Might need to get some competitive spirit in to test first though…
“Where are your bar-end plugs young man?”
Good point and I’ve now rectified that with random plugs from the workshop. Tony Lund, the man behind Lee Quarry’s trails, was telling me about a guy who was messing round on the pump tack up at the quarry (probably the safest part of the quarry) when he had an off and managed to cookie-cutter his stomach and needed to be air lifted to hospital with his guts hanging out*. Safety first kids. Well, second after style actually.
*Probably.
“So is Terralogic like the Brain on some Spesh bikes?”
A good question. To get the answer I asked Mojo main man Chris Porter, here’s what he had to say:
“It’s a very similar idea, but the new fork cartridge is a much more refined version with very different oil flow paths. The new cartridge has a ‘normal’ shim controlled valving assembly AND a Terralogic valving assembly. The adjuster now creates a blend between the two systems so that you can have more of one, less of the other as you prefer. Also, when the bump ‘allows’ oil flow, the ‘normal’ shim stack is in line behind the Terralogic valve so you don’t get a real dive in compression.
So…
To say that the new Terralogic is like the Brain on some Spesh bikes is like saying George Bush is the same as a chimpanzee… He looks the same, he sounds the same, he acts the same, but some of the internal architecture is different. Probably…”
Thank you Mr Porter.
“Looks great. What happened to the SlopeStyle?”
I sold it on to Ed Oxley as I needed the space in the bike dungeon, would have loved to have kept it but too many bikes and not enough space meant a bike had to go or I needed a bigger house, my bank manager made the decision for me.
In my previous long-termer installment I mentioned that the SLX brakes were not living up to expectations and not really stopping me when I wanted. Shimano distributors Madison were on the case and having read my moaning sent through a fresh set of pads and discs to see if that helped matters as they suspected the discs had become contaminated. After bedding in the new pads and discs braking was much improved, but it’s an expensive way to rectify the problem. Eichler posted in the comments “Give the rotors a good scrub with a brillo pad and some hot soapy water. Then rinse in isopropanol (alcohol). Then put some new pads in and go for a long ride.” I was tempted to do this but was wary of throwing another set of pads at the problem and subsequently into the bin if it didn’t work. And having a fresh set of pads and discs and a desire to ride and enjoy the Five I took the easy option.
So, what’s next? The brakes, and indeed the whole drivetrain, are coming off. A big box of SRAM X0 landed at the office last week and it’s going to get hung from the Five, once I pick myself off the floor after seeing how much it costs that is. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m looking forward to testing it all out, but it’s when I have to change brakes that the internal routing of the brake hose really annoys me. It does look neater when it’s all done though. And for those with precious artistic tendencies like myself, that counts for a lot.
Anyway, here’s a little video of me enjoying my Five. Short, but oh so sweet.
[premiervideo height=”300″ width=”480″ src=”extras/media/2010/12/Autumn_Orange.m4v”]
Review Info
| Brand: | |
| Product: | |
| From: | |
| Price: | |
| Tested: | by for |
Comments (0)
Leave Reply
Post Comment
I get a message box that says path not found and other stuff. My PC or a problem at STW HQ?
OOO working now!
Just a general comment and not really aimed at your bike in particular.
Really REALLY don’t like the look of the Crank Bros wheels.
Soz
Yeah got my 1’s and 0’s the wrong way round 🙂
The CB wheels are quite marmite. I like them and they suit some bikes more than others, but I can see why some people may not find them to their taste.
Not wanting to be critical, but if you’re testing bikes for a consumer bike mag then getting madison to replace a component is a bit of a cop out… now the reader doesn’t know if they have a quality control issue or whether you just had contaminated disks (something 30 seconds with Isopropyal alchol would have solved – 5 quid from maplin) – couldn’t you try the old set up after cleaning to get to the bottom of the issue?
Ewan, I tried cleaning the original discs with alcohol and replacing the pads before making any complaint about the brakes, as mentioned in the previous report. Despite the new pads and cleaned rotors they still didn’t perform as I expected them to. At this point I could have repeated the process ad infinitum until the brakes worked as I’d like, or not as the case may be, or replace the discs to see if they were in fact the problem or if there was a problem with the rest of the system. By replacing the discs I could deduce the problem was indeed contaminated rotors rather than a problem with anything else. Hence, from that, I can say that there isn’t a problem with quality control, but I had contaminated discs. How that happened, I don’t know, but if you were to buy a new set of SLX brakes you shouldn’t experience the problems I had as it was a dirty disc issue rather than a quality issue.
Sim, that’s quite interesting – sorry couldn’t remember the stuff in the previous report. But it’s stuff like that whcih is useful to know!
How do you contaminate metal rotors? As they are bare metal rotors can the contaminate simply be cleaned off?
Only if you have the correct solvant.
This is a VERY interesting topic (the contaminated brakes) and to my mind is something that should be investigated and a very useful article(s) produced on the topic. I for one do not have the cash to buy new pads/rotors/brake sets if I were ever to encounter this problem. This is obviously not an issue for reports on Long Termer bikes. But it is just the sort of thing that could be in the mag that is “new” (eg not the “it’s winter, time to test winter clothes, it’s summer time to test short sleeve shirts”). I’m not having a go at the mag, just pointing out that this is the sort of topic that I, and I feel, a LOT of the ST massive would like to read about. Better than just the next annual test of the latest disk brake sets.
Doesn’t suit as content for the magazine IMO.
That’s what the website is for. And maybe it is something that will be turned into a web piece.
why cant you put these videos on vimeo like you used to? when i do get to view them it takes about 5 mins of waiting before i can view them?
@speaker2animals;
I can’t believe you don’t like the look of them Cobalt wheels.
Of course they suit some bikes more than others.
The colour options are especially nice.
We put a blue pair on a blue Ibis Mojo before xmas, and I nearly wet myself with glee when I saw it.
Beautiful.
How did you end up getting on with the Terralogic & Five combo? i was thinking of doing a similar setup myself.