New product Review Part 2: 2010 S-Works 29er HT

About 2 months ago I started hearing and reading about a new component group from SRAM. I have SRAM XO on one of my bikes and love it. The new group is called XX (yes 20). My heart skipped a beat. I had been noticing that the MTB world wasn't really changing that much over the years. I remember in the mid nineties going to CABDA (the former east coast Interbike) and seeing Grafton cranks/ brake levers, Kooka stems, Westpine hubs, Nukeproof hubs, etc. All products that were better versions of standard equipment. There hasn't been anything like that in a longtime, until now.

2010 SRAM XX: The return of bling, 10spd finally hits the dirt

First it's important to realize that the entire group is new, all the parts have been re-thought and changed specifically for XX. One of the coolest features for me (a bicycle mechanic) is that you only need 1 tool to adjust anything in the group, a T25 torx driver. Before you needed a phillips screwdriver, a 6mm hex wrench, a 5mm hex, a 4mm hex, a 2.5mm hex and your fingers. T25 is the same tool we have been using for disc rotors for years. Now it's for everything including the limit screws, cable anchoring bolts, derailleur clamp bolts, etc. I love it! 1 tool for the saddle bag.

The cassette is pretty spectacular itself. If you haven't seen the new SRAM Red cassette, SRAM's top end Red & XX cassettes are milled from a chunk of steel. The difference is that the XX cassette is drilled out for mud and dust removal. The lowest gear is the backplate of the cassette and is made of aluminum. Yes you guessed it, lightweight. The standard XTR 11-34t  (9spd) cassette is 250 grams. The SRAM XX 11-36t (10spd) cassette is 218. Wow.

I'm just realizing this is going to be a long review. Come back later for more on XX!

New product Review Part 1: 2010 S-Works 29er HT

I don't even know where to begin.

First off I would like to explain a little. For the past 6 years I have slowly acquired 5 fully custom bikes made for me. 4 of my bikes are steel and 1 is titanium (I also own an Electra cruiser if that counts). They are pieces of art, except they love rolling. I also haven't purchased a bike out of a box in over 13 years.

Last week we had a stack of bikes to build at the Solana Beach location. One bike happened to be a 17.5  S-Works Stumpy HT 29er. I was eager to see it. At first glance it was a regular MTB, on second look I had been mistaken.

Purely from an aesthetic stance, the bike is pure sexy.

Part 2: The parts

The medals are all gold in the Walsh household...

James Walsh & Beth Gerdes both won their MTB races this weekend at the US Cup Unification Race. James won the Cat 1 (30-34) race and Beth won the Cat Women's race. I would like to think it's because of my wrench skills but, somehow I know it's because they are kick ass riders.

James warmed up for Sundays MTB win by racing his first ever Cyclocross race on Saturday. He blew the field away and got 2nd in the Cat 3/4 race. Can't wait to see him win the next one.

Congrat's James & Beth!

What's in a name?

I can't even count how many times I have been asked "What does B&L stand for?". I've heard many renditions as well. For instance on more than one occasion I Have heard that the former owners were named Barry & Linda. I hear that it was BBQ's and Lawnmowers. I have even had a customer tell me it stands for Bikes & Leisure.

What do you think it stands for?

Inventory

All this week our new purchasing manager, Scott Alton, has been doing a store count (Scanning items, printing tags for untagged items, etc.). The more stuff he pulls out the more I realize we are packed to our gills. Who buys 1" carbon headset spacers? When was the last time you searched for nine 108mm Isis BB's? It's time for some late-spring-early-winter cleaning.

Now I just have to find an extra 5 hours to do it. Small steps.


 

The 2009 SoCal Cyclocross season is upon us!

The official 1st race of the 2009 season is the SoCalCross Prestige Series "Unification" Race in San Dimas. Then on Sunday there is an Urban CX race in Ken Malloy Park just north of Huntington Beach.

Checkout the current schedule at Celo Pacific's website for future races. Hope to see you all out there!