This Is Not A Specialized Advertistment

Oh, I LOVE my Panaracer tyres. They have damn bloody good grip on singletrack and cornering on both trail and road is oh so 'Keira Knightley' smooth.



BUT, the rolling resistance on road is very pronounced. It feels like my tyres are flat. Too many knobs make the tread unsuitable for flat ground. But I guess trail stability is a good trade for low rolling resistance.

And today, my drivetrain gave problems. I initially thought it was my derailleur, but to my horror, my chain is dry!!!

4 months of weekly washing and i dint lube my chain, and now one of the links is stuck. After a long washdown and generous teflon lube, which costs a bomb btw, its ok now.



I really can't wait for the bike rally. 128km of glorious road, plus I get to know the route to NTU and back. And that's excluding the return journey to the East Coast start/end pt from home.



So hyped up. What's more I have a good cycling partner for company. But I'm afraid, if this person does not attempt any singletrack in the near future, she'll turn into a trail rider's worse nightmare...

A ROADIE!!! Ahh!!!



Bikes are supposed to look like this:

Weighing about 10.5kg, and able to do anything, depending on the rider's skill level. Jumps and dropoffs for Isyraf, and nice technical but not too technical, singletrack for me. Even so, it still is light enough to go on the road, and even I can maintain 28kmh for long distances. Maybe more, if I ever lay my hands on it.

Price: US$7400

Its NOT supposed to look like this:

5.5kg featherweights, meant for speed. An average person can maintain 34mh on one of these. Good right? NOT. One kerb ride up, and your $1000 wheelset is permanently damaged. 1 ride along a sandy patch of grass near a traffic light and your $900 hubs and bearings are gone. 1 blob of mud, and your precious drivetrain is rendered useless.

Price: US$8500

Not only are roadies useless just to gain a bit more speed, they wear weird clothes that show every small detail of their anatomy. Which is gross, considering most roadies are guys, who aren't in the best position to showoff anyway.

That's why I think roadies are the weirdest bunch of ppl ever. The only good thing is that because of their endless pursuit for lighter bikes, the MTB community has benefitted from their research. Now our XC bikes are so light. Even my bike weighs 11kg+. But of course, my bike is a hardtail, not a full suspension like the one above. And Shimano and the like now have their own research labs looking for the lightest yet strongest parts ever.

I want a Specialized Stumpjumper. If i were to get the middle range one, it would ONLY be S$5500. Hmm. I'll consider buying it if I have the time to continue on my day-long rides.

And by that time, Isyraf would've have gotten his $5500 Santa Cruz bike, in customized Olive green with the adidas outdoor shoes to match. Lol.

Very tired already. Bye.