15/4/11

Where has the last week gone? My first real week of Easter holidays and I don't seem to have done any work! Looks like I'm not going out today...

The big news is my new bike is done! Finally got all the bits together so got it built up yesterday (I was insufferably excited whilst it was being built!) The first big question was will it be lighter than my friends carbon fibre race bike, the answer is no - they weigh exactly the same - 23 lbs 10 oz, although my pedals, bars and stem can all be replaced for lighter ones without too much expense, whereas my friend is going to need to spend a bit more! Quite surprising as mine hasn't been built with anything overly light - guess thats what happens when you have a very small frame size!

Initial riding around the car park suggested it was going to be quick, and felt very nice having a bike that wasn't too long for me (layback seat post the right way round felt very strange!), even considering getting a slightly longer stem when I get a good one for it! Very carefully packed it into the car and got it home to take some photos (seen below in my flickr stream), I'm particularly proud of the photo of my XTR brakes!

Managed to persuade my dad to drive me to delapre, so we did a quick lap of last years course from FNSS, I was really quite impressed with how fast it goes! The first half of the loop is a gentle but long climb so it was a nice warm up to get used to the feel of the bike, I then flew down the opposite leg, scaring myself on many of the corners with how fast I was, but quickly gaining confidence when I realised how good the brakes are!!

I've already tweaked the fork pressure a bit, possibly need to move the seat, and adjust the height of the front end but that can all be done as I when I need to. Also contemplating changing the pedals. Everyone is telling me that clipless is the way forward! I have clipless on my road bike and I wouldn't have it any other way, I tried it on my mtb last year and I just didn't seem to get on with it, despite trying it for quite a prolonged period I was still spending a lot of the time not feeling confident just because I was clipped in, but I will dig out my old pedals and see if I can get them working again, and maybe give them another go before racing...

Just want to get out and ride it some more, quite fancy a trip to cannock but will have to arrange it with a group of people so we can share petrol costs!

First FNSS is 3 weeks today!!