Forgive me father for I have sinned. I haven't blogged for...shit, how long now?
Seriously, the work
piled up whilst I was off with the knee and I have been working like crazy to
catch up. Have I caught up yet? No, it'll be there when I get back after our
Christmas break.
The one great thing
about working as a school groundsman is that I get half of all the school
holidays off and my annual leave is always at Christmas time.
This year we're heading
south on a road trip. This will be a big push for me as the anxiety will be
high. But the anticipation is awesome. I haven't been able to even attempt this
for some time now but I cannot retreat in fear forever. We are heading back
roads as much as possible on our way down to Adaminaby in the Snowy Mountains
in the Southern New South Wales Highlands.
What's this got to do
with N+1 you may ask? Well I've bitten the bullet once again and purchased a
new bike. No, not a touring bike, a new mountain bike. Ol' Frankenstein is
getting rather long in the tooth and it is hard to feel safe on tracks and
trails on him. It is only a base model after all and is probably not designed
for what I have attempted to do on it...not that I've been mountain bike riding
for some time now...but it is on my bucket list now the knee has healed.
The bike of choice is a
2018 Cube Attention SL. I purchased it form 99 Bikes in Brisbane and will be
picking it up from their Everton Park Store on Saturday when we begin our trek
down south.
The
model is a large frame size with 29" rims. It sports a Shimano Deore 2 x
10 group set with an XT rear derailleur and Deore front. Running Deore Hollowtech cranks and Rockshock forks with remote lockout. A lot of the running gear components are similar to that of the Sutra, and that has been as reliable as buggery.
I will do a full review of the bike once I pick it up and ride it, and ride it I will. Staying down in the Snowy's will give me ample time to test ride it on many of the trails that are down that way.
I will get to see how it performs, and you never know, I might eventually become a mountain biker...that'll be different.
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As this is an old blog that I forgot to post...yeah...slack I know, I thought I may as well jump straight into the review now.
I've had the bike for just over a month now and I love it. It is not a top of the line bike, but ticks all the boxes for me and stayed well within my budget.
The Shimano drive train works effortlessly and smoothly. I had a bit of trouble getting used to using indexed gears again, but it didn't take.
The bike itself is sure footed and easy to ride. It is responsive and carries an old fat bastard like me well. When I first rode it on a trail I didn't have enough air in the forks, and even though the RockShox Recon Silver's responded well, they are much better with more air in them now.
The frame feels stiff and responsive, and the ergonomics are quite relaxed, more attuned to a long day in the saddle. Whilst the aluminium hardtail soaked up the bumps reasonably well (as best an aluminium frame can), the headset seemed to keep my shoulder aligned in a relaxed position which helps prevent tensing up.
Whilst the Schwalbe Smart Sam tyres are only the base model, they grip well and seem rather compliant. I ran about 25 PSI in the front and around 30 PSI in the rear on trails. Once these are worn I will replace them with a better tyre and go tubeless.
The 29" ZX20 disc rims seem to do the job. They are a 32 hole rim with spoke eyelets for added strength. They aren't tubeless ready, but I'm sure with a tubeless kit that problem will be solved.
My only dislikes about the bike have been the grips and the saddle. The grips are only basic Cube grips that seem a little narrow for me. They also spin around the bar when riding, which is a pet peave of mine.
The original saddle is a Cube Active 1.1...umm, well it reminded me of the time I put a Fizik Arionne on my Domane. In the long run the Active 1.1 wasn't too bad with knicks on and when you were standing up a lot.
So I have replaced the grips with my Ergon 3's and the saddle with my well used Sefras RX, them small changes make a world of difference to the bike.
I have also changed the tubes over from Schrader to Presta valves as my mini pump is for such. I did purchase another pump whilst I was away, but it's a bit bulking. I wanted to stick to something that I can just mount in behind my biddon cage.
I didn't necessarily buy the bike to become a mountain biker, although I am loving getting out in the dirt. I mainly purchased it as a budget bike packing rig/gravel grinder, something I can spend long days on the trails just cruising to my heart's content.
Over all I am impressed with the bugger which I have dubbed Gooding Junior (or Junior for short), and where did I get the name? "Cube" Gooding Junior :-D.
It does what I need it to do, componentry is good and will stand the test of time, and it is a vast improvement over Old Frankenstein.
I look forward to writing about my first bike packing adventure, and about my budget set up shortly.
Anyway, cheers guys, and as always ride safe out there.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
As this is an old blog that I forgot to post...yeah...slack I know, I thought I may as well jump straight into the review now.
I've had the bike for just over a month now and I love it. It is not a top of the line bike, but ticks all the boxes for me and stayed well within my budget.
The Shimano drive train works effortlessly and smoothly. I had a bit of trouble getting used to using indexed gears again, but it didn't take.
The bike itself is sure footed and easy to ride. It is responsive and carries an old fat bastard like me well. When I first rode it on a trail I didn't have enough air in the forks, and even though the RockShox Recon Silver's responded well, they are much better with more air in them now.
The frame feels stiff and responsive, and the ergonomics are quite relaxed, more attuned to a long day in the saddle. Whilst the aluminium hardtail soaked up the bumps reasonably well (as best an aluminium frame can), the headset seemed to keep my shoulder aligned in a relaxed position which helps prevent tensing up.
Whilst the Schwalbe Smart Sam tyres are only the base model, they grip well and seem rather compliant. I ran about 25 PSI in the front and around 30 PSI in the rear on trails. Once these are worn I will replace them with a better tyre and go tubeless.
The 29" ZX20 disc rims seem to do the job. They are a 32 hole rim with spoke eyelets for added strength. They aren't tubeless ready, but I'm sure with a tubeless kit that problem will be solved.
My only dislikes about the bike have been the grips and the saddle. The grips are only basic Cube grips that seem a little narrow for me. They also spin around the bar when riding, which is a pet peave of mine.
The original saddle is a Cube Active 1.1...umm, well it reminded me of the time I put a Fizik Arionne on my Domane. In the long run the Active 1.1 wasn't too bad with knicks on and when you were standing up a lot.
So I have replaced the grips with my Ergon 3's and the saddle with my well used Sefras RX, them small changes make a world of difference to the bike.
I have also changed the tubes over from Schrader to Presta valves as my mini pump is for such. I did purchase another pump whilst I was away, but it's a bit bulking. I wanted to stick to something that I can just mount in behind my biddon cage.
I didn't necessarily buy the bike to become a mountain biker, although I am loving getting out in the dirt. I mainly purchased it as a budget bike packing rig/gravel grinder, something I can spend long days on the trails just cruising to my heart's content.
Over all I am impressed with the bugger which I have dubbed Gooding Junior (or Junior for short), and where did I get the name? "Cube" Gooding Junior :-D.
It does what I need it to do, componentry is good and will stand the test of time, and it is a vast improvement over Old Frankenstein.
I look forward to writing about my first bike packing adventure, and about my budget set up shortly.
Anyway, cheers guys, and as always ride safe out there.
Just getting around for a ride
Kedron Brook Bikeway
Bom Bom State Forest
The Boundary Trail Kosciuszko National Park
