Cruzin' for a bruising...

No talk today, just action...

Peter wanted me to rebuild his Chris King red hubs built with DT XR 4.20 rims...



...into burlier freeride-y Syncros DS28 rims using the same hubs, but with DT Competition spokes and blue aluminium nipples



Next was a wheel for Barry, who wanted his old Mavic track hub built into a Mavic Open Pro rim - again, using my favourite DT Competition double-butted stainless spokes, but using standard brass nipples



Then I got to start on Colin's beautiful new Santa Cruz Blur LT. He's been slowly assembling the parts over quite some time, and I've been looking forward to building it for just as long. Cheers, Colin!

The bits assembled for...er...assembly



Whack the Thomson seatpost and Specialized saddle in and into the workstand with it!



Face the headtube



Face disc mounts and bottom bracket



Fit cassette and rotor to rear hub, then fit tyre and fill with jizz



Install bottom bracket



Install headset cups



Chuck XTR chainset in



Smash crown race onto fork crown using extreme violence



Fit headset, forks, stem and spacers



Fit handlebars, brake and gear levers and grips



Rear wheel



Rear derailleur, front derailleur, chain to length and rear gear cable and housing. Adjust rear gears



Hook up front derailleur, install pedals then run through gears



All done bar the front wheel, which is waiting for a Chris King 20mm front hub



Finito using temporary front wheel! The bike turned out gorgeous, with the usual great build quality that Santa Cruz are known for. My brief test-ride showed me that it climbs like a scalded cat, which was confirmed by Colin and Jono the very next day on it's first real ride. It felt light at around 29lb



Next up were these wheels I built up for my good buddy Pete Burt. Pete and I met when I was wrenching at the 2006 MTB Worlds in Rotorua and he was the New Zealand Team Doctor. His latest cycling related job was the prestigious post of NZ Cycling Team Doctor at the Beijing Olympics. He has just bought a beautiful steel Eddy Merckx frame that Paul Larkin is building up for him in Rotorua



Pete came up with some lovely 08 Campagnolo Record hubs which I laced into Mavic Open Pro rims using DT Competition double-butted spokes and brass nipples on the rear, and DT Revolution db spokes and aluminium nipples for the front to save a few grams without compromising the durability of the wheelset overall. I used the classic 3 cross building pattern which gives an unparalleled ride as far as I'm concerned. With weights of 900g rear and 700 front this is a sweet pair of competitively lightweight but near indestructible wheels. I hope he enjoys both the bike and the wheels for many years to come



My final job for the week was to assemble this very cool Commençal Meta 5.52 I got in for Dave. Thanks are owed to Al at Blue Shark (Commençal wholesaler) for going the extra mile to find a medium for us - I know Dave was stoked to get it, and just in time (literally a matter of hours!) to get on the ferry for a week long riding holiday.







A couple of random shots of the bling MTBs I had in for a shining hour last Friday...





My old mate Wheels was excavating a wall in his house when he discovered a pile of old 70s newspapers, one of which contained a fascinating story on local legend Harry Kent (1970 Commonwealth Gold Medallist in the Kilo, among many other extraordinary feats...) and his custom Carlton track bike. Thanks, Wheels!



I'll be back later in the week with some photos I took of the Wild Wellington MTB 6/12 hour relay that I took my boys to spectate at on Saturday.

Kester discusses Team Brooke-White tactics for next year with honorary Kennett Brother John Randal



Until then, cheers for reading...