Voodoo Bizango

sundaytrucker

Hello. I have loitered in the background here for a few months and thought it was time to introduce my Voodoo and myself. Here is my Bizango. I picked this bike up in October to get myself off the sofa, have a laugh and get a bit healthier.



I am enjoying getting out on the bike and while I am still adjusting to riding a 'full sized' frame after my previous bike, a 16" Kona Stuff, was too small for my 6'3" body and not really appropriate for the type of riding I wanted to do. It had been five years since I had last ridden and the Bizango felt like a monster.

Being a beginner to mountain biking I see no need to to go over board on the upgrade front at the moment but plan to grab some wider bars and move from a 2x9 to either a 2X10 or if I am feeling brave, my preferred option of 1x10. I am continually tempted to plop some money on to a dropper post with the Thomson Elite being on the lust list due to the under seat lever option.

Due to the sloppy nature of the local bridle ways and trails I swapped the Maxxis Ardent tyres to some Maxxis Beavers which have been ace since installation a few weeks ago. I live in the shadow of the Malvern Hills, however I am yet venture up, sticking to smaller climbs while I get used to the bike and get a bit fitter.




Having fallen for the Cotic frames I eventually intend to attempt my own bike build around either a Soul or Solaris transplanting some of the upgraded components from this Voodoo.

So below are some pictures of my current ride, with new On One bash guard, Charge Scoop saddle, Thomson X4 50mm stem and Shimano Saint pedals.

BigAl

Good choice -it's a great bike and tremendous value.

alexthebear

Love the colour scheme and you've made some decent upgrades

buddy_club

Looks gorgeous,

How you getting on with the scoop and the saints?

PBNinja

Nice one, I was stuck deciding between the bizango and the boardman in the same price bracket, seeing your pics has swung me in the voodoo way!

Enjoy your new ride

sundaytrucker

buddy_club wrote:

Looks gorgeous,

How you getting on with the scoop and the saints?

Hey. The scoop has improved things a lot. The Bizango review on bikeradar mentioned the saddle being comfortable but I guess as the main point of contact it is highly subjective, I was struggling with a sore arse for three days or so after a ride and since switching to the Charge Scoop I am yet to suffer. The standard pedals on the Voodoo were pretty terrible in my experience and after switching to the Saints I have a lot more grip and feel more comfortable, especially in the sloppy type of mud that is now prevalent where i ride. They look damn good too.

buddy_club

Aha might go for it then, it's nt terrible but it's not really as comfortable as it could be

PBNinja

Ordered mine this morning, can't find one locally to sit on so I've reserved for a build at the local Halfords. Hopefully I'll like it, hopefully it will like me and it will be a match made in Halfords.

If not, I'll walk away with a Boardman 650b instead

sundaytrucker

PBNinja wrote:

Ordered mine this morning, can't find one locally to sit on so I've reserved for a build at the local Halfords. Hopefully I'll like it, hopefully it will like me and it will be a match made in Halfords.

If not, I'll walk away with a Boardman 650b instead

I had to chance it too as my local Halfords didn't have any stock. Hopefully all works out well, one way or another.

sundaytrucker

Just a brief update that I ordered a Rockshox Reverb on a whim during relaxing after a ride this past Sunday. Browsing The bike forums or online bike stores straight after a ride is not good for my bank balance. The Reverb arrived and was installed Tuesday along with some new brake pads to usher in the spring riding. It's pretty crazy to think my seat post cost nearly a third of my entire bike cost but anything 'decent' will only get transported over to a new frame when I settle on either a Cotic Solaris or Kinesis FF29 build.

Installing the Reverb was simple enough with a hose trim required and fitting the right hand remote under the bars on the left side like a lot of folks seem to do, it makes sense. The hose trim was trouble free and didn't require a bleed.

As I look toward building up either the Cotic or Kinesis I will be adding some newer/better components to the Voodoo, wheels are most likely the next big spend and once again I am undecided on where to go. The Kinesis IX wheelset received a great review on Bike Radar but Hope Pro2Evo and Stans Arch Ex are slightly cheaper and Hope seem to have a great reputation for spare parts. Decisions, decisions.

Anyway that is enough of my rambling, I have a shock pump to play around with.

buddy_club

Nice! I'd be interred to know how you got on with the reverb. I've also been looking at some new wheels, albeit with a lower budget than you, and I think I've settled on the Mavic Crossrides. Reverbs are quality pieces of kit, I had the chance to have a go on a mates bike at Llandegla a few weeks ago and it really does make a big difference.

sundaytrucker

buddy_club wrote:

Nice! I'd be interred to know how you got on with the reverb. I've also been looking at some new wheels, albeit with a lower budget than you, and I think I've settled on the Mavic Crossrides. Reverbs are quality pieces of kit, I had the chance to have a go on a mates bike at Llandegla a few weeks ago and it really does make a big difference.

I have only been out for a short forty minute ride with the Reverb so far but having the ability to drop the seat for without having to stop made for a more interesting rise. There are sections on the rides I do where you want the saddle out the way but the nice, fast downhill only accounts for 30 seconds of the segment before levelling out and having the opportunity to raise and lower the saddle without breaking stride was much better. It also made me want to push myself a bit more as I have less excuses to 'stop to lower saddle' and take a sneaky breather!

Hopefully in the next few days I get more of a chance to put the Reverb through the ringer with a trip to the Forest Of Dean, my first trail centre ride.

buddy_club

sundaytrucker wrote:

buddy_club wrote:

Nice! I'd be interred to know how you got on with the reverb. I've also been looking at some new wheels, albeit with a lower budget than you, and I think I've settled on the Mavic Crossrides. Reverbs are quality pieces of kit, I had the chance to have a go on a mates bike at Llandegla a few weeks ago and it really does make a big difference.

I have only been out for a short forty minute ride with the Reverb so far but having the ability to drop the seat for without having to stop made for a more interesting rise. There are sections on the rides I do where you want the saddle out the way but the nice, fast downhill only accounts for 30 seconds of the segment before levelling out and having the opportunity to raise and lower the saddle without breaking stride was much better. It also made me want to push myself a bit more as I have less excuses to 'stop to lower saddle' and take a sneaky breather!

Hopefully in the next few days I get more of a chance to put the Reverb through the ringer with a trip to the Forest Of Dean, my first trail centre ride.

Forest of Dean is a lovely trail centre, the trails are particularly fun to do, and they have nowhere near as many braking bumps as Cannock Chase. It was one of the first ones I went too, you'll definitely enjoy it!

sundaytrucker

It has been quite awhile since my last post and since then I had been getting a lot of use out of my Bizango, until winter came around and I got swallowed up by beer.

Since Xmas I have given up alcohol and the bike is back getting regular action so I decided to treat it to a pair of new forks with an impulse buy that nearly back fired due to steer tube length.

Anyway I picked up a pair of 120mm Rockshox Reba from singletrackworld forums and fitted a Hope lower cup to allow for the tapered steer tube. The previous owner had replaced the standard decals with customised yellow ones and I hoped for a match with the Bizango, unfortunately they didn't and today I took the Rebas into to stealth territory.

Bike by Darryl Jones, on Flickr

Bike by Darryl Jones, on Flickr

Bike by Darryl Jones, on Flickr

sundaytrucker

Continued...

Bike by Darryl Jones, on Flickr

I have been meaning to replace the stock wheels for quite some time and hopefully that will be sorted in the coming months with something or other laced to Hope Pro 2 Hubs plus a new stem, bars and seat post clamp is also incoming shortly.

Bike by Darryl Jones, on Flickr

buddy_club

Nice job on the upgrades - turning into a sweet ride