Marsh Creek Ride

Today I rode 10.2 miles at Marsh Creek State Park. I was able to get the ride in the morning before any rain. The Fantom 29 performed flawlessly.

I started with the Blue Trail and headed toward Cornog Quarry. Instead of going through the woods of the Blue Trail I went through the field.

The Ludwig's Corner Riding Club was having an equestrian scavenger hunt. I did see a lot of horse trailers but I only ran into a couple of horse back riders on the trails. I guess the park is big enough to accomodate a lot of activity. I also saw some of the scavenger items tied to trees as I rode.

Anyway, I took the quarry trail and this time found the quarry. It has a fence around it and you can't really see the quarry. There is a trail around the fence so I made a right and took it downhill. The trail is really narrow but it gives you a good ride. At the end of that trail I noticed it came out to Marshal Road near Route 282.

I then took the trail left and it puts you on the rail road bed that will become part of Struble Trail some day. I took the rail road bed as far as I could go before coming to a huge mud puddle near the edge of the park. So I doubled back and took the Blue Trail to the boat launching area. I then took my normal route to the dam and the downhill beyond the dam then back to the Blue trail to the Chalfont Road parking lot.

Awesome Ride!!!

What a day for a ride!!!

Today was an absolutely beautiful day for riding. Temperature was in the low 70's and it was nice and sunny. It was the first day this year that I rode with shorts.

I rode 9.5 miles today a Marsh Creek State Park. I did my usual route plus I rode the trail up to Cornog Quarry. It is the first time I took the Quarry trail and I must not have gone far enough because I did not see the quarry. I seemed to have done a big loop just short of the quarry and back down to the blue trail. This loop was really nice as it was among shady pine trees. There was also good variation in the terrain.

When I was going down the downhill trail near the dam I tried to hop over a downed tree and flipped over my handle bars. I was getting too over confident on the 29er. No real damage to me, just a bump on my left forearm and a scrape on my left leg. The Fantom 29 came through with no damage at all.

The Fantom 29 ride was flawless. With the trails being real dry I seemed to go a lot faster also.

Motobecane Fantom 29 vs Windsor Cliff 29 Comp

No Ride this weekend as I finished up the bathroom renovation. Starting tomorrow I should be able to start my road bike riding in the mornings before I go to work.

So today instead I will compare some cousins.

Bikesdirect just came out with a series of new 29ers. They are the Windsor Cliff series. They have the Team at $950, the Pro at $750 and the Comp at $550. I thought I would compare the Comp to my Fantom 29.



Here are the specs:http://www.bikesdirect.com/products/windsor/windsor_cliff29comp.htm



Both have Avid BB5 Brakes but the Cliff has 160 mm rotors vs 185 mm rotors for the Fantom 29.



The Fantom 29 has WTB 29 x 2.1 with FX28 Rims with MotoRaptor Tires vs WTB SpeedDisc AM 29" and Maxxis Ignitor 29x2.1 (Foldable Bead) tires. Call it even



Both have RockShox Dart 3 Fork at $125 but the Fantom 29 has 100 mm travel vs 80 mm for the Cliff.



Both frames are aluminum.



The Fantom 29 has Shimano Deore Mega-9 Rapid Fire 27 speed trigger shift at $90 for pair vs SRAM X-5 at $50 for the Cliff.



The Fantom 29 has Shimano Deore XT long cage rear derailleur RD-M761 at $85 vs SRAM X-5 at $45 for the Cliff.



Both have the TruVativ 5D 22/32/44T Crankset at $70.



The Fantom 29 has Shimano Deore FD-M510 front derailleur $26 vs SRAM X-5 at $33 for the Cliff.



Conclusion:The difference in parts cost excluding the frame is that the Fantom 29 has $73 more in parts. Its Relative Value Factor is 0.953 so it is slightly less of a value than the Fantom 29. But if you want to spend a lttle less money, the Cliff 29 seems like a good deal.

The Fantom 29 has better shifters, rear derailleur and brakes (larger rotor).



As an on going recap here is a list of the bikes I reviewed. They are ranked by a Relative Value Factor (RVF) . The RVF is the price of the Fantom 29 + or - the value of the major parts difference (Delta) divided by the price of the bike.



Bike Price Delta RVF

Motobecane Fantom Pro: 796, 455, 1.32

Motobecane Fantom 29: 596, 0, 1.0

Windsor Cliff 29 Comp: 549, -73, 0.951

IBEX Section 29: 1034, 378, 0.942

Raleigh XXIX+G: 1100, 368, 0.876

Diamondback Overdrive : 600, -122, 0.790

Marin Alpine Trail 29er 667, -122, 0.711

Specialized Rockhopper Disc 29er: 760 ,-144 ,0.595

Cannondale 29er 4 Caffeine: 1059, -125, 0.445

Nashbar Fly Bag Large

No mountain bike ride this weekend. I have been busy renovating a bathroom. I did manage to get an 11 mile ride on my road bike on Saturday morning. I was able to pack up my seat bag.

On April 03 I received my Large Fly Bag from Nasbar. This is the bag I received in exchange for the small bag.

I have in the bag a spare tube, a CO2 inflator and cartridge, tire levers, a mutitool, a presta adapter (to fill the presta tire with a schrader fitted air supply) and a presta sleeve (because the rim is drilled for a schrader valve tube and I only could get presta valve tubes).

It all fits nicely!

Sette Torx ST-14 Tool Kit Initial Review

On April 1 I received my order from PricePoint.com. I ordered 2 spare tubes, tire levers and the ST-14 Tool Kit. (They also threw in some stickers.)

This is my initial review of the tool kit. I have not used the tools yet so I will let you know more as I use the tools in later posts. The kit is only $30 and seems like a good value. I currently do not have dedicated bike tools so this is a big step up for me. I will give you my impression on each tool.



First the case. It would seem handy but I think it is going to be a hassle placing the tools back in their position. Also the case is difficult to close. I think what I will do is put the tools in a tool bucket pouch. I can then add tools and have a complete bike repair kit. I will work on that later.



Chain Tool
Very useful tool and looks like good quality. It is used to remove or place a chain link pin.








Chain Whip/Pedal Wrench



The chain whip was one of the tools I was interested in getting and looks like good quality. It is used to grab the cassette when you need to remove the lock ring to remove the cassette. Although I don't plan on changing the cassette, you need to remove the cassette to replace any broken spokes on that side of the wheel. Broken rear spokes are a common repair. I usually like combination tools but a pedal wrench on a chain whip might be a little difficult to handle with the greasy chain attached, but I will see how it performs.


Lock Ring Socket with Stabilizing Post


This is used to remove the lock ring on the cassette. This appears to be very useful and of good quality






Spoke Wrench

This is a useful tool and appears to be of good quality. It is marked 10, 11, 12, 13, 14 and 15 .










8mm Long Hex Wrench with Socket Adapter


This is a useful tool and appears to be good quality. It can be used as a socket wrench for the lock ring socket and bottom bracket tool. The Sette Torx ST-812L 8mm hex wrench is designed with an 8 inch long handle to provide the leverage needed to maintain the high torque needed to mount modern cranksets. The Torx ST-812L also has a durable non-slip handle to give you the best grip when applying high amounts of torque.








Hub Cone Spanner Wrench
These are useful tools. They are 13, 14, 15, 16 mm wrenches mainly used for hubs.








Bottom Bracket Tool

This is a useful tool and appears to be good quality.










Crank Remover

The Sette Torx ST-215CB Crank Puller is the compact way to remove your crank. It has two rotating tips (11.3mm and 16.3mm), so it can be used to remove splined Shimano Octalink, ISIS drive crank arms and older style square-holed crank arms. The Torx ST-215CB has a floating, hardened tip that insures trouble-free use and long life.






Multi tool and 8 & 10 mm open end wrench

The open end wrench seems small but is easy to replace. The multi tool seems good.







Tire Levers

This are useful and good quality.











Combination Phillips & Flat Screwdriver


Cheap. I will probably replace it with regular screw drivers.











Patch Kit

Cheap. I usually replace tubes when flat anyway.