And there she is..

First 7 hours of testing complete.

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Big thanks goes out to Christain, who helped me build it up. Thanks man.

More to come.

New Frame - Canfield Brothers ONE 2011

Finally got my new frame!

The service I got from CanfiedlBrothers.eu was awesome. I presented my problem, with the broken Enduro frame, and Canfield Brothers.eu told me they would ship the frame by plane, so that I could get the frame earlier - so that I could be back on my wheels ASAP. Awesome. Now its finally here, lets take a look:

I went with the black ano, with white links:

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According to the Canfield Brothers, this link takes 8 hours of CNC work. Check out the sturdy 20mm bearings, they should last 2-3 years according to Canfield Brothers. "Its the kind of bike where you dont have to do anything" - Chris Canfield.

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12mmx135mm thru axle. I was getting sick and tired of the pre historical quick release 9mm axle. Thru axle was one of my deciding factors when choosing between frames. You would think that such a huge axle would be a big weight gain, but actually, it reduced the weight with 22 grams on the hub and axle itself - compared to my previous standart QR setup. Notice the pinch bolt system:

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Sturdy ISCG tabs. Im going with a 1 x 9 gearing for this build, so a chainguide with a taco bashguard is already waiting to be installed.

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So I basically sold the lightest 160mm AM frame there is (the new Sworks Enduro), and got myself one of the most heavy instead : ) Im confident that ill benefit from it despite that - speed wise and tech wise. Weight without shock, size medium, in kg:

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I thought a long time about what rear shock to get, Ill primary be riding AM, so I went for the 2011 Rock Shox Monarch RT3 with a High Volume canister. More about this shock later. Ill be running another shock for the bikeparks tho'. Notice the 2 different shock-mount-holes, one is for 165mm, the other is for the 190mm - with the current rearshock size.
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Im almost done building her up, and the bike is starting to look downright evil..

Its here..

Oh yes:

More to come..

Jump Session

Finally a jump session. I haven't been jumping since I broke my frame, so when I got the opportunity to catch some air I emidiately went for it. We went riding for 4 hours, mostly sessioning sections, adjusting a few things on the trails, and Christian even had a big crash in the end of the day.

Out of shape, skills lacking, rusty and a bit unsecure. But I had a really fun day nonetheless. Besides my hardtail, I got to borrow Christians Banshee Spitfire now and then, such a fun and nimble bike to ride:

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A small stepup, good fun.

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New stepdown:

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Talk about a deep impact; check out the tire and rim...

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Im sooo looking forward to get the new bike, its like waiting for friggin christmas when I was a kid.

New gear: Shelter Frame Protection

Well perhaps its not gear per se, but its interestingly enough for me to make a small post about it. Got this stuff for my soon-to-be-here frame. And before I explain what so special about this, you should see for yourself:



Pretty cool huh? I will update you guys on how it goes with installation, and how it holds up.

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It contains two 55mm X 500mm strips, enough to plaster most of your bike, and downtube.

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Its surprisingly thick.

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Hardtail Hell

So, im currently without a bike, well, I do have a backup frame, so... BAM! there it is, my current ride:

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Its like being bombed back to the stone age - the most inefficient rear wheel tracking there is, and im stuck with it until the new frame arrives. The headangle is about 73 degree, and that does absolutely nothing for me, im not being negative, it just doesn't. The seattube diameter is small, so I cant fit my adjustable seatpost either. Bummer.

The frame is a Merida, they are actually big players, they weld Specialized frames as well. The model is the TFS, it has a nice low toptube, that invites you to play around. It climbs well, but I truly dont feel any advantage compared to the Enduro and its horst link. Im not faster on the climbs or anything. As I said before, im back to the stone age - and it hurts to be here.

Dropped the seat here, before entering a fun tech section, dont blame me for not trying ; )

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Installed my millenium bar (750mm), works surprisingly well for xc hardtail riding, even tho' I do pretty much no aggressive riding at all right now. Installed nc17 mag pedals as well. Other than that its all flimsy xc gear - it does its job, for xc. Man do I look forward to get the new ONE frame from Canfield Brothers.

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Speaking of the Canfield brothers, and to end this post with some stokage, you should check out this vid. Its Chris and Lance (guys behind Canfield Brothers)  ripping it up, and I really do mean RIPPING:

Catastrophic frame FAIL

There you go:

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What happened? We where riding a fast, but easy descend with two small jumps. Fun section, and we actually rode it over and over for more than an hour, then suddenly I heard this nasty *CRACK*, and my frame just collapsed under me. The shock eyelet had given in, and got torn completely off the frame. This frame is dead.

What about warranty? You can say alot about Specialized, but I have a hard time saying anything bad about their warranty. They had me covered 2 times with the frame, and 2 times with my Specialized e150 fork. Its allways been a no-bull shit approach. And so it was this time as well, they gave me the new revised Enduro S-Works platform. Shock eyelets are positioned in a completely different way, putting less stress on the frame, way better than the old frame imo, and I have a hard time imagining that this could happen to the newer frame.

Yearh, you can call this a pretty cool warranty: If a frame ever was sexy, this would be it.

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What now? I really saw this is as a hint for me to go try something different, so im all over that. I sold the warranty frame, and began to think about what other frame to get. I wanted something with a different suspension type, dont get me wrong, I like the horst link, but I just wanted something new (no single-pivot tho'). Also wanted a more versatile frame, that could be adjusted. I also wanted to have a low leverage ratio (shock-stroke, vs wheel travel). Climbing capabilities are important, so is descending. It should be bikepark compatible as well. Frame weight is not important, nor is material (carbon/alu) - function is everything. Those of you following this blog might not be surprised that I ended up going for the yet to be released Canfield Brothers 2011 ONE frame.

Just check out the specs. Insane geo, adjustability, flexibility, and more feature packed than anything else out there. This frame is way ahead of its time, and the numbers are perfect for aggressive AM, so I already have my expectations set high. The frame should be here sometime this month. Oh, did I mention it will be equipped with a 2011 Monarch Plus? : )

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