Finally - A born-again n00b gets his bike

Belphegor

So with zero help and mucho inarticulate hinderance from my landlord, I have made the necessary improvements to my shed which facilitates the (hopefully secure) keeping of my new bike. I was allowed to install a ground anchor in the shed, but not a padlock on the door. Well... technically I haven't, but the door IS now locked.

So, whilst temporarily evicted from my house by builders (another bone of contention with my landlord) I picked up my '08 Felt Q920 and decided there was no time like the present to break her in and get muddy. So with a rucksack full of everything I had bought that day (10% off voucher for Pembury Cycles, Bristol, I made use of it. Oh, and 2.5% less VAT...) I tackled Rownham Hill and introduced myself to my local trails at Ashton Court. Overdressed, with the bell, reflectors and chainring trouser guard all still present 8) Jumping in head first on an unfamiliar trail with loads of crap (including a ski jacket and a bottle of Fenwicks cleaner) on my back I discovered how crap my Maxxis Ignitor tyres are in heavy mud (as Steve_b77 very accurately warned me back in Sept when I bought it). They clogged very quickly and I was skating around on orange mud tyres with tiny bits of rubber showing through. The mud was so claggy I don't think much else would have faired better though. The stock cage pedals were clogged in mud pretty quickly too, and weren't exactly gripping my hiking boots, but I managed to keep my feet on them. It was more of a confidence thing. I picked up some Northwave Celsius boots in an LBS for £70 so I'll get me some Shimano M540's when I'm more familiar with the bike I think.

I have to say I'm puzzled by why these days gear shifters are push/push rather than push/pull (like my cheap and cheerful Shimano Altus were). It's just because I'm not used to the Sram X.9's but I now have to think really carefully about which lever I have to push to do what, which doesn't make for a quick flowing ride. If it ain't broke, why fix it? Anyway, I soon worked out I'd have to move the shifters in on the bars, as the knuckles of my thumbs would continuously knock the downshift lever which irritated the hell out of me and kept ruining my flow. I was taken by surprise by just how stoppy my Avid 3's are too, slamming on the anchors in technical bits I nearly threw myself off a couple of times. The levers have a fair bit of slack and then suddenly the brakes are on. I reckon it was only the weight in my rucksack that saved me! The fact that this is easily the lightest bike I've owned is a factor. All things I'll learn to adjust to. I was expecting a bedding in period but I guess I missed it!

One minorly annoying thing, when I get up even a bit of speed I get a metallic ringing noise from down below somewhere. After a while I worked out it was my discs, the front one I think. It seems the left hand pad rubs slightly, but when you spin the wheel with your hand it spins for ages, so it must be rubbing just the tiniest amount hence the ringing? The rear one doesn't spin anywhere near as long. I'll be getting Pembury to look them over when I have time.

The RS Tora forks seemed to handle everything well enough, at least they didn't distract me from my ride or bounce me over the bars, so job done! I'm fairly sure they did make me ride faster over the rootier stuff though! I did get sore hands, on the outside edge of my palms, but I think this was due to the shifter position forcing my hands out onto the raised outer lip of the bar grips. I need to get some lighter weight gloves for when it isn't raining. All my clothing purchases so far have been geared towards surviving crap weather commutes.

I can't wait to get out there again now I've move the shifters in, raised the saddle (it was too low initially which helped me get a sore arse) and got rid of the 'legal' junk from the bars. Though I've added my own in the form of the Tesco torch I'm dead chuffed with the bike, and if I had my way it's have it's own little bed next to mine so I could be sure it won't get nicked.

Oh, and I'm very happy with the air flow my Giro Indicator provides. It's very light, looks good, and only cost £26. I forgot I was wearing it until I hit my head on small branches a number of times...

Stoo61

oooooh a new bike, im jealous! Nice looking thing that Felt.

esamenoi

Belphegor that sounds like my first experience with my new Felt Q520 08, I nearly came off over the bars with the new breaks xD
But I also have the same thing with my discs. Not sure if they are exactly the same ones as yours but also when I took my front wheel off so I could have a look see at the pads it took me about half an hours woth of hard work just to get the thing back in properly! The pads had basicaly locked round the disk.. Not sure what happend then but it just suddenlt went back in.
I recently did some of the south downs way with my bike. I found that my tires got pretty clogged up too, "WTB MOTORAPTOR 26 x 2.1. 22TPI Skinwall All Black with Wire bead inc. " Also my peddals became pretty damn slippy quite quickly

But I love the bike might have to get a few upgrades if I can afford it... But as this is my first serious bike I just need to take my time and try and get out on a few new trails.

Belphegor

If I lean my bike against a wall and tap downwards on the handle bar, the disc rings, which is making me think it's the nature of the beast.

Went to work on it yesterday, shifting was much more pleasant and I didn't get sore hands or a sore butt. On the third chain ring and on the 8 or 9th cog at the back the chain rubs against the front deraileur. Another thing on the list for my free checkup.