2007 12 hour mess, 08-09DEC07

Poorly planned and painfully executed.

- No transport organised to and from the race until three days before the race

- Not enough

• Water, underestimated this time compared to the abundance of my last 12 hour effort
  
• Food; no proper carbo-loading in the week before the race, no decent food brought to the race and was cranky and starving after the second lap.
  
• Sleep, didn't catch up lost sleep in the week preceding the race. This cause me to DNF the race because I was dangerously falling asleep during the race.
• Base level of fitness; after two years of not doing any form of regular exercise, my body just resisted to being pushed harder.

- Untested lighting system; lights fade badly 3/4 into each lap on fresh battery, helmet light as main lighting source did not create shadows to aid vision and the very white light emitted by the luxeon washed out alot of colour contrast.
- The overgrippy 2.35" Maxxis Larsen TT rear tyre created too much irritating and sucky rolling resistance.
- Brakes untuned for riding since three years ago.
- 36:18 didn't compensate enough for my lack of fitness.
- Right Oury grip had the handlebar paint underneath broke down and rust through turning the grip into a motorcycle throttle.

I only managed 6 laps after retiring half way through the race because I was falling asleep at the handlebar; bad comparing to three years ago I rode the whole night and morning on looser gravely course and pulled off 9 laps, on the same bike with a 36:16 gearing instead of this year's 36:18 and skinnier 2.1" tyres.

Not dirty enough... only spent 9 hours on the trail.

Scruffed my saddle as I'd lost concentration for a second and washed out the front on a simple turn on my retiring lap.

Giant Option EVO-IV-C

Updated 30AUG07 to:
- Nitto Mod 155 38.5cm aluminium drop bars
- White Soyo Long Keirin grips
- Tektro RX4.1 bar end brake levers
- Panaracer T-Serv 26 X 1.25" rear tyre
- Some old tubes wrapped around the top tube for protection from the drop bar and for shouldering padding.

EVO-V post coming soon...

2x700 to 700-26"

My Giant Option's rear wheel which was already very wobbly that the rear brake is a feather touch braking, but it got worse with a few too many bad kerb hoppings and not so smooth drops, wobble wheel.

Instead of truing the wheel, which I have limited knowledge for and as well as not being buggered to pay someone else to try to true my weak wheel. I thought I'll just just the 26" rear wheel from my 'suspended' favourite bike (Polygon) before I get a cheap and decent 28" rear wheel then hopefully in the future a wheel built with Sapim spokes and maybe a ENO hub, can't think of a rim or nipples to lace them up to.


So meet my current evolution of transport, My Giant Option with a 26" rear wheel and no rear brakes.

Old picture: new updated build includes 43T front chainring, 18T rear cog and shorter black stem 'stolen' from my Avanti.

The old Wobble Wheel
The 'Spinny' 36T chainring
Crank stripped
Chainring bolts including the hand-filed aluminium washers that replaced the outer chainring.
The Old 46T 'Great on downslopes, not upslopes or headwinds" chainring
The (46T)-14T rear cog, On-One Groove Armada
700x28c Michelin Dynamic front tyre
26x1.5" Maxxis Xenith rear tyre
Sag-galicious
Sag-tastic 46-14T. KMC K710 1/8" chain, nice looking but its design of the outer plates create unneccessary buzz on a roller-type chain tensioners and can 'float' on certain chainrings like my Profile Racing Imperial chainwheel on my Polygon bike.
Rear brake-free living
Here I tried 16T Chris King Kog with an On-One Other Doofer, but when on to it's current build of 43-18T without chain tensioner.

With a 28" wheel and skinny road tyres, this 43-18T gearing would just be at the sweet spot as the 26" MTB tyre feels like it's dragging its 'feet' and the smaller wheel does feel a little spinny at pace.
And riding without a rear brake or fixed gearing is a little weird, especially when riding down flights of stairs when it's difficult to straighten its travel.

Giant Option Specs (EVO-IV-B)

For pictures go to this "Giant Option Stories" post.

Giant Option EVO-IV-B

Frame: Original Giant Option, Burgundy-Champagne
Fork: Original Giant Option, Burgundy
Headset: Original 1", Threaded
Stem: Unknown brand 110mm 10° Drop, Black
Handlebar: 18" Flat Aluminium 25.4mm (Modified)
Brake Levers: Tektro 316AG, Black
Grips: Gekko Foam grips, Black
Bar Ends: Titec Shorties, Black
Brakes: Original Shimano Cantilevers, Silver
Brake Pads: Front: YPK / Rear: No brake pads
Brake Cables: Simple Shit
Seatpost: Original 29.2mm XXXmm Aluminium shitepost
Saddle: Brooks B-17, Honey
Bottom Bracket: VP Component JIS 68mm 113mm
Crankarms: Shimano Altus A10 FC-AT1C Standard 5-bolt 170mm, Silver
Chainring: 43T $11 3/32" straight tooth 5-bolt chainring
Pedals: Crank Brothers Egg Beater SL
Chain: KMC K710 1/8", 100 links
Wheels: Front: 36H Joytech hub, Sun Rims Z-19 rim, 3-cross 700c / Rear:32H Shimano Deore disc hub FH-M525, Alex Rims DM-18, 3-cross 26"
Cog: 18T Shimano multi-speed cassette cog
Tyres: Front: Michelin Dynamic 700x28c / Rear: Maxxis Xenith 26x1.5"
Others: SKS Beavertail mudguards, Honka Hoota, Sigma 10mm Coiled Cable lock, Original Aluminium Giant bottle cages, 1" Threaded to 1-1/8" Threadless adapter

Avanti Ventura FX Specs (EVO-II)

Side View


Front View


Bottom Bracket Shot


Rear Dropout Shot


Sticker Shot


Fork Shot

Avanti Ventura FX EVO-II

Frame: Original Avanti Ventura FX Clear Powdercoat and Stickers Aluminium
Fork: Rock Shox Judy XC Air
Headset: 1-1/8" Aheadset Threadless
Stem: Original Avanti XXmm ° Rise
Handlebar:
Brake Levers:
Grips:
Bar Ends:
Brakes:
Brake Pads:
Brake Cables:
Seatpost: Original Kalin 27.2mm XXXmm Single-Bolt Aluminium
Saddle:
Bottom Bracket:
Crankarms:
Chainring
Pedals:
Chain:
Wheels:
Cog:
Tyres:
Others: