A New Standard for Trail Bikers!!!

Trail bikes or Light All-Mountain Bikes (as some call) riders usually end up in a dilemma when it comes to choosing their forks.

Most riders want a 20mm version without having to live wit h the weight penalty. Although some riders dont mind the extra weight, they are still a large group of riders who wants a stiffness of 20mm axle fork but with the weight of a normal axle fork.
Well, you can now throw away that dilemma because Shimano (aint they great at introducing new standards? although we might not like it, remember low-normal?) is introducing a new axle diameter standard, the 15mm. The good news is Fox already has a 15mm fork prototype model.

Image taken from BikeMagic.com.

Shimano is introducing 15mm versions of their hubs and wheels in their XTR and XT product line sometime middle to end of year.

It's uncertain when the rest of the fork manufacturers (RockShox, Marzocchi, Manitou and etc.) will introduce the new standard into their product line. (Lets hope we see some prototypes during InterBike 08). Anyway the new standard is certainly a good newss for us trail riders. Expect to see the new 15mm hubs from other companies later this year (maybe next year) and hopefully it will become a new trailbike standard for 2009 and beyond :cross fingers:.

*Update: So far I have recovered from pneumonia and I am happy cause I can continue adventuring into the woods, problem is....im not as fast as last time (poor me). Oh well guess more training and exercise for me.

Chaoz

CrankBrothers surprise.

Recently I went to cyclingnews.com and I found a very interesting article. It seems CrankBrothers has now join the ranks of fi'zi:k, Brooks, and Selle Royal because CrankBrothers has merged with Selle Royal. The good news is CrankBrothers will stay as the CrankBrothers we knew now. For more information, head to cyclingnews.com.

For those who didn visit CrankBrothers website yet, you will realise that it has been updated but to most of our surprise, it seems CrankBrothers Cobalt SL cranks and Wheelset is missing from the website. So far the products that are shown in its website is :

pedals | bottom brackets | directsets | seatposts | pumps | tools | accessories.

Its odd that they remove the crankset link and still show the ISIS bottom bracket. And the absence of the 2 products that are shown in last year interbike is a surprise. Guess we have to wait for this year interbike. I am hinting that CrankBrothers still has to sort out some problems with the new products.

Anyway Happy Chinese New Year!.

Happy New Year and surprised?

Hi, first of all I would like to wish everyone a Happy New Year although it 28days has passed since the New Year. As you all might know, I announced that I wont be posting until March because I ended up in a government programme called National Service, unlucky for me (and good for you guys), I fell sick and ended up in hospital for a weak, turn out I got pneumonia.

Pneumonia is an inflammatory illness of the lung.[1] Frequently, it is described as lung parenchyma/alveolar (microscopic air-filled sacs of the lung responsible for absorbing oxygen from the atmosphere) inflammation and (abnormal) alveolar filling with fluid. Pneumonia can result from a variety of causes, including infection with bacteria, viruses, fungi, or parasites, and chemical or physical injury to the lungs. Its cause may also be officially described as idiopathic, that is unknown, when infectious causes have been excluded.

Quoted from WikiPedia

The doctor gave me a 1 month holiday and I wondered why until I started cycling 3 days ago.

Day 1 -
I decided to cycle in my neighbourhood and not to enter the woods, I realise I got tired while climbing the hill faster then before. I believe its a lack of stamina due to not cycling for a month.

Day 2 -
I went to the same place to practice and somehow I felt a bit better but my performance is still below expectation.

Day 3 -
Its Sunday which means its my MTB Group ride, today they decided to cycle in my neighbourhood (there is a few trails in my neighbourhood). I followed them but I got tired as soon as I reach the rubber tree plantation, sadly I turned back because I fear I might lose consciousness while cycling that small steep path. I returned home looking very exhausted.

Later on that day, I start experiencing chest pain and this feeling is unlike the previous chest pain, this time it really hurt and lasted for a few minutes.


So how long will I recover? Only time will tell. So meanwhile I am going to continue with my blog which will focus mainly on my road to recovery.

Sorry, they will be no postings till 11 March

Hye,
Guys and gals, I am goin to sound like a jerk or loser but I must sadly say that I will be away starting 30th Dec until 11th March to undergo my NS camp. Also I deeply apologize for not posting anything in my blog for a very long time. My emotion is currently sad and heartbroken so finding the urge to write something properly in the blog has been a challenge. So Im sorry.

Tomorrow is the day!

Well, today I completed the Cycle Hunt and aint it a fun event. Anyway tomorrow is the real deal. I will be writing a full review of Kayuh Lasak 07 on Monday and hopefully will be able to finish it ASAP (with pictures). So sorry to keep you guys waiting. Stay tuned

Sorry for not posting bout my ride

Okay, as my title states, I apologize for not posting bout the ride that Im planned to. The reason the process is slow cause I took about 200 pics and sorting out which to appear in my post is harder then you think (this is also due to my PC being slow again). Also I have been busy studying to pass my learning driving license and busy checking out my bike to make sure its in good condition for this weekend ride cause Its Kayuh Lasak!. Below is the map of this year trail.



It seems this year trail is going to be more challenging from last year. There are 2 major hills to climb which is Penang Hill and Iron - X.

To those who dont know what Im talking bout. To climb Penang Hill, you must use a jeep. Meaning a normal car wont be able to go up Penang Hill (this should give you a rough idea bout how steep the hill is). And Iron X (a.k.a IronCross) is a hill with a constant 30-45 degree elevation.

So it seems this year its going to be more challenging, lets hope Im up to the challenge. Slow and steady finish the race :D.

Its Over!!!

Woo hoo!!!, my exam has finally over and now Im busy taking my driving license course. Anyway tomorrow morning is the day where I start to train for Kayuh Lasak. Although its not a competition, but finishing before the sun rises (around 12.00-1.00) is always better cause chances of you feel dehydrated is less.

Well If my mom allows me to bring her camera phone while riding tomorrow, hopefully I would be able to take some pics and give a report of the ride. The venue is goin to be near my neighbourhood and I decided to make my own loop. This trail has many routes so what I meant by making my own loop is cycling most of the trail for the whole morning. Hopefully this training session would improve my performance for the jamboree. I have practiced a couple of days during my exam so my stamina is okay I guess.