remedy rebuild

After a bit of a battering the remedy has not been used since 13 August 2011 (day before broken collarbone) and has been treated to a bit of tlc in that time.

Of course the rebuild of the bike was purely for functional reasons and not just about adding bling!!

The first thing that needed to be done was sorting out the forks. Having been back to the importers once this time they were sent off to tf tuned. They had to send them back to the importers for a second time to sort out a complete fail in the rebound adjustment. After much discussion (almost as much as you would get over which tyres) I decided to get them converted to coil. Although this adds a bit of weight all the reports are that it should improve the forks no end.

Next on the “sort-out” list were the wheels. Thanks to Alex picking it up I managed to source a steel freehub for the Hope Pro2 hubs to replace the manlged alloy one.

Worth the investment as I was getting a bit fed up of using a mallet to get the cassette off. A true of the wheels and they were ready for new tyres. At this point I decided to take the plunge and go tubeless. Purchase of one No Flat’s Joes’s Kit later and I was ready to give it a go. A few texts to Ali and a bit of swearing later both wheels were sorted inflated and pretty much holding air.

count em, turned up to 10

Will be really interesting to see how the roll and hold up.

This was the end of fixing things and next was buying shiny new things…

First off with drivetrain, this needed all needed upgrading. As I have gone with 1 chain ring I decided to give the 10speed a go. All went together pretty well – my only concern is that I ended up going for a shimano chain – experiences of shimano chains has not been the best in the past with a number of snapping issues. Hopefully the 10speed will prove different but if not a new robust chain may be needed.

Also decided to splash out on an xtr shifter – not cheap but no more expensive than buying a pair of xt shifters!

The only thing left to be replaced was brakes.

Over the years I have been pretty impressed with the array of shimano brakes I have used so decided this was the way to go. After much debate and looking at a stack of reviews decided that xtr trail were the way to go. Much patience was needed for the right sale to come along to save a few £££s, thanfully merlin cycles came through with a decent new year offer.

shiny brakes

First impressions are that the bikes look good, never been a fan of silver bike bits (any other colour is fair game) but have to say I think the chrome looking brakes are pretty damn fine. The brakes come with some crazy finned brake pads and ice-tech rotors.

The marketing spiel is that it is to help cooling brakes. Not sure how much of this I buy in to but after some very long descents in the alps last year I am happy to have a bit of extra security.

The added advantage of getting the xtr brakes is being able to have one clamp for brake and shifter. Always been one for uncluttered handlebars and this means that they bars only have the 2 clamps on them.

Not sure why this bothers me so much but stops the bars “looking like a flightdeck” as our very own Mr Jones refers to his bars with full set of gears and dropper post lever.

uncluttered bar

1 clamp 2 jobs

Overall pretty impressed with how it has come together, test ride before the end of the month and proper ride at the start of March…