F 135 Ride Two

I did the “Big Loop” this am. about two hours of steep climbing to the top of Smith Ravine followed by an hour of single track descending (397 to 305).

Bike Changes:
I replaced the 80 mm X 7 degree rise stem with a 50 X 0, and mounted the 50 about 20 mm lower on the steerer (all the way down). This put the bars about an inch closer and an inch lower than before. I wanted to see if I could still climb with this stem. And climb I did with no problems. I think I will stay in this position for a while. Low and close, but with enough room to move around.

Fork:
This thing is a magic carpet ride. This fork has revived my love of the Curtlo, which at one time, I had feared was all a big mistake. So nice to have plush, deep travel at both ends. I would say the rear still outclasses the front, but now only barely.

The steering accuracy is superb. It goes where you point it with no annoying flex in stressful conditions. A ride like this is too mild for this much travel (I do it rigid sometimes), but man is it fun to just glide down the trail.

In all fairness, some of the credit for the ride has to go to the Nevegal up front. I was digging in to corners I previously washed out badly on with the Exi’s. It really took running the Neves to bring out the flex of the Reba. The Exi’s didn’t hook up enough to flex the thing. Increased traction started to show the weakness of the chassis (I still am a Reba fan though).

Mechanicals:
I lost a chain ring bolt on the middle and had to small ring the last 1/2 hr.

Nearly got killed when the front Nevegal blew off the TK 7.1 rim on one of the intermediate descents on the climb. I was hauling, and the tube tried to wrap around the fork. I was able to come to a very sketchy stop, deflate the tube, and tuck everything back together, but my confidence is a little shot. I don’t know what caused this. I didn’t go off anything unusual, and Tire pressures were in the 25-30 range. This descent is not particularly technical.

On arriving home I noticed a 20 mm side wall tear on the same tire, so I guess I need to trash it even though it is relatively new.

I’ve never had a tire blow off before, and let me tell you, it weirds you out, especially on the front during a descent. i was very lucky not to go flying OTB.

Maybe I should stick to rigid.