More wheel trouble? Wha? Yup. This time I suffered a broken spoke on my rear wheel early in Race the Phantom. Fortunately the wheel held it's true, more or less, and a friend (Skiimo) even managed a few laps on it at Gorefest before it was repaired! I suspect this was just SNAFU for the likes of me. A $0.90 spoke isn't so bad, especially considering the wheel didn't taco on me!
At that adventure race, Race the Phantom, I tried a new tire combination. I've got a Specialized Fast Trak on the front and a Kenda Small Block 8 in the rear. Now some of you may remember me tearing through the walls of the stock Fast Traks that came on the bike. Good for you for paying attention! I found it somewhere in New England, New Hampshire I think. Skiimo and I each bought one and the appeared to be an older model as the side walls were noticeable thicker like the ones I've had in the past. Or maybe I'm just imagining it! Regardless, knock on wood, the Fast Track up front and the Small Block 8 have been super fast! At Race the Phantom Skiimo and I (and our third teammate) blasted one road section at 33 km/hr! Not bad for three dudes on mountain bikes at hour four of a 30 hour race! The tire setup holds it's own nicely on the singletrack too. The Small Block 8 does struggle in the mud, but I'm willing to live with that.
I haven't done as much xc racing on the Epic as I would have liked to this year, but I have done plenty of adventure racing and I'm quite pleased so far. I was worried that I'd miss my hardtail on the adventure races, but that's just no the case. The Epic's suspension doesn't compromise my overall efficiency at all, and I figure the smoother ride might actually help me out in the long run. I definitely appreciate the stopping power of the Avid Juicy 5s over the V-Brakes. I knew I would on xc races and rides, but I thought I might find them overkill on an adventure race, but again I'm quite pleased.
Now if I could only figure out what that funny noise is when I do a rock garden! When the going gets fast and rough I often hear a symbol like sound. I figured another loose spoke or a loose brake rotor. Neither one! I checked chain rings too, but they are solid. Guess I'll keep looking!
Both the OEMs and the ones we got in NH are what's called 2bless, which to the best of my knowledge is a quasi-tubeless system. Someone in the industry can probably clarify that for us!
I considered that it may just be an OEM thing as OEM parts are on occassion slightly different, or at least made in a different place, but the tires we got were actually OEMs that someoen didn't want and they took them off a stock bike. (They did have a test ride or two so I got us a good deal!)
The only difference between 2Bliss and a regular Specialized tire is the 2Bliss has a tubeless bead. In order for it to be used in a tubeless setup it has to be used with sealant; it has the same sidewalls as a conventional Specialized tire.
You should try swapping the small block 8 to the front and the fast trak to the back (providing the small block hasn't seen a great deal of use). The Small Block 8 definitely has better cornering traction.
Definitely? Really? I've found the Fast Trak to have more lateral traction, but It's easy to swap and test a bit... I never have done much of a comparison. Looking at the tread I'd assume the sae as well even without riding! Though I've listend to the AustinM advice before and I've never been disappointed! I'll check this out and update! I originally had the Small Block 8 in the rear and a Specialized Captain up front. I quite like the small block 8 and I may end up rockign two of them! Any experience with that? Two Fast Traks were fine enough. I loved the Rollex up fron and the Fast Trak in the rear that you suggested some years ago, sadly the Rollex is discontinued!
The cymbal sound is probably a brake rotor being driven into the pad/caliper due to flex. I get the same noise on one of my bikes (Duke fork/Hugi hub/light Mavic rim/Hayes MX). I checked everything and it was all tight and in a good state of tune. It usually happens when cornering or some other off centre force is applied to the wheel/fork. It doesn't seem to hurt anything and I don't notice it on other bikes that have stiffer forks and/or wheels.
I considered that. The wheels do have a lot of flex and the front rotor is a big one. Agreed that it doesn't seem to hurt anything! Just a concerning noise when I've had the trouble with the spokes / wheels.
I think the difference in sidewall on the Fast Trak is that the ones you purchased in NH are tubeless ready; I suspect the oem's on your bike weren't.