And it's brilliant fun! First time at rigid, ss and on 29 inch wheels and I love it. Decided to go for some Superstar wheels after asking for advice on a thread a few weeks ago, as the cheaper price left me with enough money to get the few other bits I still needed. (I did go for the Arches on Deore hubs that Stu found, unfortunately they were out of stock by the time I got round to it..)I got it finished last Thursday and managed to get out for a solo one-nighter on the 9th-10th and I can comfortably say it was the muddiest and wettest weather I've ever ridden in. Pretty glad it was ss, I could see the potential for some mud induced derailleur destroying!
Pretty much the whole ride was through rain, but I did manage to get above the clouds on the Long Mynd and found a reasonably dry patch of forest to sleep on. Plenty of hot chocolate, feet in carrier bags and a lot of hooning along.
DSC_1331 by JackD1995, on Flickr
DSC_1326 by JackD1995, on Flickr
Descending Caer Caradoc in the mist.
DSC_1335 by JackD1995, on Flickr
Finished, considerably damper than when I set out.
The bike felt really good, the wheels did seem to roll over things well and the ss was good fun and not as hard on the hills as I thought it would be. The frame felt good, I chose the 19.5" after a thread last year and I'm pretty pleased with the choice. The 18" might have given better clearance for a seatpack, but the longer top tube of the large size felt comfortable and it feels very stable when loaded. The frame bag I made for the Genesis doesn't fit too well so I'll have to make another and a bar sling too now.
The rigid fork was a little jarring but I think a major contributor to this was the tyres and grips. I could probably do with something like a 2.4 up front instead of a 2.2 and ditching the thin on-one grips for a pair of Ergon ones. Any thoughts on this?
Sorry for the rather large amount of waffle, I've got a little excited about the whole thing.. :D And thanks to a few people on here who I've bought parts from.
Jack