In bike-related matters, this week I have been working hard to get my man Tim Wilding (Santa Cruz-Pearl Izumi-Maxxis-Roadworks) on board his new Santa Cruz Blur XC in time for the North Island Cup MTB Finals in Palmerston North this weekend. Thanks to RockShox NZ for getting the Reba Team forks to me so I could finish the Blur off in time for Chris Kendall (Wheelworks-Turner) to kindly pick it up and drive it up to Tim at the swanky headquarters of Cabin Racing...
This awesome bike is fully kitted out with 08 Shimano XTR, including the blingy 1520 gram wheelset, for a total weight of 11.17 kg (24.62lb) as measured on my Ultimate scales, and before being tubelessed. Tim's first ride on it impressed him and he says it outclimbs his Superlight. As I type this he will be racing, so I hope both the bike and the race are good to Tim as he races his way into form to defend his NZ XTerra title in March.
Also this week I built up this wheel from a customer supplied blue Hope hub and Mavic EX721 rim. I used black DT Swiss Competition 2.0/1.8 spokes in a 3 cross pattern, but instead of using the usual brass nipples I used a box of blue aluminium nipples I found hidden in a drawer. These matched the hub perfectly and gave the wheel a fully pimp look. I'm sure Pete will enjoy riding his new Santa Cruz Bullitt on it...
Also this week I built up another stunning Lynskey for local up-and-coming triathlete, Jacinda Papps, who Dave from Bike Fixation is sponsoring. The pic shows the bike in a preliminary state using Shimano Ultegra, which will be replaced by the new Sampson Stratics gruppo the second it arrives in New Zealand, and with Mavic training wheels on, which will be replaced by a lovely pair of Topolinos, and sans saddle...The build is to get Jacinda racing on her Lynskey and to nail any positional issues, so that when the Stratics arrive she is fully good to go.
Cheers, Oli
