Faulty Fox

My rear shock (Fox Float RP3) for my beloved KHS XC904R failed me on Labour Day (1st May 2007). It doesn't hold the air anymore.

It is now at the LBS for repair. There goes my riding time on such excellent bike.

Luckily, I have another bike, the KHS XC604, to keep my adrenalin flow.

[My bike hanging at the LBS]

[Close up view]

Rolling weight

I upgraded my wheelset, from 1988 grams to 1696 grams, and yeapp.. I sound like weight weenies. Mathematically, that is a weight saving of 14.7% or more than half a pound.

The new wheelset consist of:
Mavic XC717 silver rims
DT Swiss Competition double butted spokes
Brass nipples
A set of Ringle Flea hubs

It might not be as light as the XC racer wheelset, but I chose durable components like more durable nipples and spokes. I could have gone to alloy nipples and DT Swiss Revolution spokes to save another 80 gms, but I saw to many of those failed.

I had two rides with the new wheelset. Both rides were on wet and muddy trails. It performed far better than I expected. Climbing was definitely easier now. Cornering felt so much better. A downhill rolling felt like butter.
However, I think I need to test them on dry trails to see its true potential.

Even the lightness can be felt when fitting the bike onto the car rack. That must be good.

Trail Maintenance 02/2007

I'm beginning to like trail maintenance. The wet weather in April just going to ruin the trail if something is not done.

On Monday, I compacted some soils (with outslope) at Carnival trails to try to force the water away from the trail surface. I also re-arrange several rocks (about 1 foot in length) to avoid water from puddling around them. After that I reinforced them with smaller rocks and pegs. That was hard work.

It started to rain when i was about to finish. I saw the water just drain away from the trail surfaces, and I was smiling.

Trail Maintenance 01/2007

The Plan C, Rumpy Bumpy and Barakuda trails are in bad shape, after DBKL widen the trails to accommodate horses.

DBKL just widen the trails, but didn't carry out any soil compacting work. The result is just muddy and soft trails, and unsuitable for mountain biking. It is also probably not suitable for horse riding.

In my opinion, the Plan C and Rumpy Bumpy trails are important trails in Bukit Kiara. Both of them give access from Hartamas to Taman Tun Dr. Ismail and vice-versa. They need to be in good condition.

Friday, 20 April 2007 is also a birthday for my friend, Normy Marziah. I send her SMS for birthday wish. But, it's also the day that I committed to repair Plan C.

These are what I did:
1. Six trail-side retainers with compacted soil filling,
2. About 15 meters of soil transfer and compacting (uphill).
3. Four on trail retainers.

It was a little bit though job because it rained heavily the night before. This made the the soil muddy and heavy. It was also difficult to compact them. I just hope the weather is dry today so that the compacted soil bed in.

It took me about 3 hours, 1.5 liters of isotonic drink (Excel) and lots of layers of mosquito repellent.

Heart Rate

I'm 34 years old. As I'm getting older, I must train my heart accordingly. So, lets do the Karvonen Formula on training based on heart rate:
Maximum heart rate > 220 - 34 = 186
My resting heart rate > 80

Therefore, my working heart rate > 186 - 80 = 106

The following are the start of the training zones:
Start of aerobic zone (70% effort) > 80 + (0.7*106) = 154
Start of anearobic zone (80% effort) > 80 + (0.8*106) = 165
Start of red zone (90% effort) > 80 + (0.9*106) = 175
Must stop > 80 + 106 = 186

Yesterday, I bought Sigma PC9 heart beat monitor, and these are the number that I crunched into it:


Maximum heart rate > 186
Start of health zone > 134
Start of fitness zone > 154
Start of performance zone > 165
End of performance zone > 175

If you have any positive comment about the calculation, please e-mail me.

Hot Bash

On Sunday morning, when Kimi Raikonnen was getting ready to battle with Fernando Alonso (2 times F1 world champion), and here I'm torturing myself on the longest and hottest bash I have ever ridden in 2 years.

[From left: Lim@Bike Pro, me and others]

[Asri]

I also like to say that this is my 3rd bash with my new KHS XC604 bike. I must admit it is one hell of good trail bike. Just look at the GPS profile below, lots of climbs, but my XC604 didn't dissappoint me.

It downhill performance also flawless for a 4.2 inches bike. It rear suspension didn't feel stiff during downhill braking... just pure terrain tracking. Sweet.

[The profile: Lots of hill climbings]

[One of the long climbs]

Longer Cross Country

My current bike is KHS XC904R Team, which has 3.5 inches of rear travel and 4" of front travel. With not-so-light component, the bike weight is about 25.6 pounds. See my first blog in November 2006. I love it because of the horst-link suspension setup and slightly relax headtube angle (70 degrees).

Call me selfish.. but I always wanted to have 2 bikes. If possible, a similar setup, for the "just in case situation"

I was saving my money for Titus Motolite. The reviews on Motolite were all excellent. I also tried a few Motolite from various riders at Bukit Kiara, Kemensah and Thailand. Every time I went to the LBS at Taman Tun Dr. Ismail, I will admire at the Motolite frame.

On 2 January 2007, I was surfing the KHS website to look for the part number for my XC904R. Suddenly, I found out all the 2007 KHS full suspension bike are now featuring horst-link suspension setup. Wow...!!! This is an option. Open your mind.

So, I started to look around at LBS in Malaysia. No LBS carried them except one simple bike shop at Sri Damansara. I asked for the XC904R Team frame, but unfortunately the local importer for KHS bicycles does not import it into Malaysia. What a shame?

But, I know the XC604 bike offer horst-link and 4.2 inches or travel, with only 1/4 pound of extra weight. I immediately put my deposit to order the frame. Five days later the frame arrive. With help from my friend, Asri, we started to assemble it.

[Complete bike - New KHS XC604: Just before the first Bukit Kiara ride]

[Horst-link setup]

[4.2 inches of travel Manitou Radium with Platform Plus pedalling platform]

After about 75km of riding, I'm impressed with the peformance of the Manitou Radium with Platform Plus pedalling platfrom. It firm when I'm pedalling, but once it hit the bum it started to react. I would say it perform as good as the Fox Float RP3 on my XC904R Team bike.

[Control center - Equipped with Ritchey WCS 90mm stem, Syntace low riser carbon handlebar, SRAM trigger shifter, foam grip and VDO wireless computer]

[Hayes 9 brake - similar setup to my XC904R Team bike]

[Fork - Rockshox Reba 100mm]

[Crankset - Truvativ Stylo, Pedal - Crank Brothers Candy SL. Notice the downtube is made from double-butted 6061 aluminium]

[Rear shock - Manitou Radium with Platform Plus in close up]

[Cassette - 2006 XTR 12-34T, Rear derailleur - SRAM 2007 X9, looks like 2006 XO and perform like 2006 XO.]

Kiara Underseige

Since the installment of the new Agung (The King of Malaysia - the honourable Sultan Mizan), in late 2006, the majestic Bukit Kiara trails are underseige.

Why...??
1. He is an avid horse rider and wants to ride at Bukit Kiara Equestrian Club and its surrounding.
2. The Kuala Lumpur City Council (DBKL) is widening the mountain biking trails for horse riding.

I fully respect the honourable Sultan Mizan's passion for horse riding, but I'm against the DBKL action of widening the EXISTING mountain bike trails for equestrian.

The possible consequences:
1. The horses will consistently damage the existing mountain biking trails on each step they take.
2. A lot less singletrack, a lot more doubletracks. This means less technical, hence less fun.
3. Most of the trails were built by the rubber tappers and mountain bikers for hiking (rubber tapping) and biking respectively. They understand the concept of trail building.
4. I wasn't amazed to witness DBKL cut down several trees that were at least 15 years old to widen the trails.

Bukit Kiara is recognized by several magazines and avid mountain bikers as one of the best trails, perhaps the best, within a large metropolitan. What can we do to preserve that?

Building trails are relatively easy. To maintain them is another challenge.

Please visit Fakawi Tribe or KLMBH website for more information.

I'M ON THE NET AGAIN

After some hickups on my laptop, I managed to blog again.

Yeahhh.....