Tubeless Tire Repair...anyone?

During my visit to Nashville few weeks ago, I visited an outdoor shop called cumberland transit. It's located toward south west of the city, just nearby from two other great bike shops: Nashville Bike Co & Bike Pedlar. It also sells outdoor equipment such as camping gears, hiking, running etc. As for the bikes, they carry schwinn brands.
In there I picked up an interesting small thing: a Tubeless Tire Repair kit for MTB. The concept is no different from a common tubeless repair kit you'd find off the street here in Indonesia. But it's so small, designed for MTB tubeless tires. Furthermore, it only cost me $4 plus tax.

Frankly I didn't know what to do with it until last saturday ride at puncak got me a nearly-flat rear tire. I thought it was a bent rim or something like that. BTW, I was using Mavic Crossmax XL with Kenda Nevegal UST - a bent rim will cost me dearly. I tried to pump it using the minuscule crankbros handpump. But the tire just kept loosing its pressure.

After I got home and cleaned the bike, I pumped the tire using a floor pump. Suddenly a faint hissing sound appears. Phew! it's punctured. Not a defective rim. Now what to do? Then I remember the Tire Repair Kit. I opened it, followed the simple instruction, and VOILA!...my tire was fixed!...great stuff!!

lets sing an anthem

Don't get me wrong! I'm not gonna sing anything for you. I'm only referring to the new Giant Anthem. For you that hesitantly following bike trends, Giant Anthem is supposed to be the replacement of the popular Giant NRS. It only has 3.5" of rear travel, pure XC racing machine. It utilized Giant's owned & designed (this is MBA lines) Maestro design. Giant's Craig David...ooops...I mean Adam Craig won short track XC race on a carbon fiber Anthem at Sea Otter Classic.

It will never replace my previous Blur LT with 5.5" of travel. But it sure climbs very very well. I finished third during last month's Puncak rides (gimme a break, I'm not a strong climber.....so third place is good enough for me).
However I had to negotiate a lot more during the long rocky downhill section. It's rear end just bouncing like it were a hard tail. I did had some difficulties getting the correct shock setting. If I put less pressure, it'll bob too much. But if I crank in high pressure, it behaves like a hardtail. After a while, I was able to find the most comfortable setting. It still bob a bit, but I managed to get maximum travel of the shock without bottoming out.

It's indeed a true XC bike. I would definitely choose it for tracks with plenty of uphills and not-so-technical downhill.

Farewell to Blur LT....

Last month I had this crazy idea. I decided to sell my most beloved Blur LT. Why in the world I would wanna do that??? I don't have the right answer myself. The bike was perfect!! I did complained about it's weight, but it was due to the hefty Vanilla fork. Not the frame. The bike itself was flawless....it feels great on rough descend, and didnot rob your energy on uphill.

What happened was......on a lovely tuesday afternoon, after company BOD lunch meeting (not at a 5-star hotel, but a humble noodle hut..we do care about taste y'know....hehehe), suddenly my good friend Ozy called. He said that he is on his way to our favourite bike shop nearby. So we decided to give him company. You know...to help him choose his right gear.

At the shop, I spotted a secondhand Giant Anthem frame. Secondhand? at this time of the year? I couldn't imagine what was the previous owner's thinking. It was in mint condition. Too bad it's a small size. Then I measured the top tube length. It was 22.5 inch. It's the same length as my medium sized Blur LT. Also it uses the same seatpost diameter as Blur. Whoa!!...with my 550 mm Thomson seatpost, it might do the trick. It'll look odd, but what the heck! So I decided to take it home, move all component from my Blur (excpet for the Vanilla fork - don't get me wrong...it's the plushest fork I've ever had). And put my beloved Blur at the bikeshop. I did asked for a higher-than-normal price for my Blur. If nobody wants it, I can always take it back home for my next bike project. But what do you know? Someone took it only in less than a week. It is time to say farewell for my beloved Blur LT..

Mid June 06

Part 4 - finished - Salak Mt Ride 11 March 06

Time is sure running fast, man! Already a month after my accident at Salak mountain, and my ankle still hasn't fully recovered.

After the long technical downhill ride, we had lots of ups & downs. The group even got lost...not entirely lost, but kinda unsure which path to go. Therefore we decided to ask this old lady who happened to walk by. Too bad I didn't captured her face in the picture. Anyway she pointed to a direction which was uphill. And I mean uphill! Impossible even for our most experienced rider to ride it. It is a mystery how the old lady managed to walk this section with a huge pile of wood on top of her head.

While waiting for the guys to decide on direction, the artiste MTB-ers are posing up for a good shot....here goes...
My good friends Kurs & Eric also posed in front of beautiful scenic valley.
We finally reached the lower plain grounds. But again the leader chose the unrideable section. It's not technical whatsoever, but it's extremely narrow. In between the rice fields. So the pack had to walk the bike once more. It was a beautiful walk. But I felt pain in every step I took. I wished the narrow track could've stopped soon and I can ride my bike again.
Here Kurs (the nice guy with orange long sleeve) had a small accident. He fell into a small river with his bike. Fortunately he was fine. Arya & Harry give him a hand recovering his bike from the pit. Great teamwork guys!!


After the grueling rides, we finally reach Bogor city, and the gang stopped by at a fried chicken stall for a late-late lunch.

Just look at those happy-smiling faces, and try counting the number of empty plates on the table. Guess who had the most chicken....hahaha!
That's all folks!!...hope you enjoy the show. See you in my next MTB adventure.

-END-

Part 3: Salak Mountain 11 March 06

Hi guys,
Let's be focused on something. More specifically, downhill section of this ride. It's definitely not my game though, especially after I got my ankle twisted during the first section of the ride. So I'll just share with you the excitement, glory, and doom...hahaha

This particular downhill section is covered with slippery earth and plenty of roots. There's no way you can control your bike slowly by pressing your brake lever. It'll only make you loose traction. This is the place where you're gonna need that long travel suspension and good control of your rear section. In the middle of the downhill track, there is a short stepping terrain which require the rider to do small bunny hop and carefully adjust their riding position in order follow the track. It's not easy since you won't be able to use your brake properly.

Those freeride lover guys are quickly attacked the downhill section before I got a chance to set a proper photo stance. Here Hendro Isnanto from Solo Power was blasting downhill with his Giant Reign. He described this particular section as a "premium ride".

After Hendro Isnanto, Jemmie Tauw took his turn in blasting this particular section with his Giant VT. The new Manitou Nixon he installed a week before the ride seems working flawlessly and clearly improve his downhill performance.
Putri, Jemmie's fiancee also showed her best effort to rule this section. Unlike Jemmie who used full suspension VT, she used hardtail Specialized Cirrus. So she must have put more effort in controlling it's rear end from bouncing all around. She made it through the first part, but failed to escape the tight switchback. Fortunately she was fine. Two thumbs up!!
Next 'contestant' was Eric "the freeride guy". No doubt, Manitou Stance equipped Giant AC Team rules!
Harry was next in line. In the beginning of the descend, he already lost traction and end up hitting the soil. Good for him he managed to took his right side of the track, otherwise it's gonna be a long way down to the cliff. At least he came up unharmed.

Here's the next Nixon user. Tony with his XT equipped Giant Trance. He used Crossmax SL for a long travel trail bike setup. Kinda ironic, ain't it? (no worries bro, I also use similar setup hahaha).

The next daredevil riders is a mystery. He blasted the downhill section with a big smile, using dual crown suspension with Bike to Work tag on it. So I asked to B2W mailing list if anyone recognize this guy and tell me who he is. But no answer so far....soooo it remain misteeerious...
Some didn't escape the cruel & slippery descend. Here are the proof...well, kinda missed the right-moment shot, but at least there are evidence that bikes are over the soil or over the bikers...hahaha


Aaaaand for the rest of us...lets walk the bike!...eeeeeeeew



END OF PART 3

Part 2: Salak Mountain 11 March 06

OK I admidt I want my own picture in my own blog. So here it is. It was taken before we enter the pine trees. It's a beautiful scenery towards Bogor city.

This is the second part of my mtb trip to Salak Mountain March 11, 2006. Here I still bragging about my riding friends. They are great riding buddies. I always look forward to ride with them in the future.





Next picture consist of Ietjung "Gading Serpong rider", followed by Irawan "more uphill for me", Levy "Racer X", Eric "The Freeride Guy", Beben "biker n diver" and Andre "gimme the uphill section".

Pictured below is KHS rider from Bogor City, Harry, followed by Kurs & Juheri "the sweeper".

This is the only female rider in the group, Putri. Shown here with fellow Gading Serpong rider Arief..

Jemmie, Putri's fiancee, was riding in front of her. So sorry guys, I couldn't take both of you in one picture. Here's Jemmie with his Nixon equipped blue Giant VT..

Aaaaaand....from the black corner, wearing black shirt & black trunks, weighing 75 kgs with 11 kgs Scott scandium....presenting Mamen Depe....finally he decided to ride his bike, after gruelling truck ride. Don't be shy Mamen...I know your age is catching up, so we fully understand why you need the truck ... hahahaha

This is Yongki "I don't have any of my bike picture", also Bogor City permanent resident and Giant VT user.

This is the toughest kid on the block. Can you imagine using rigid bike on this type of terrain? If it were myself, I would have lost all my bones like hell...hahaha...Please welcome Mr. Muda Saputra with his classic bridgestone MTB.

Entering the forest, it was still climbing uphill singletrack. The track got more and more difficult along the way. I sprained my ankle when I was trapped in the middle of very slippery climb. It hurt, but what concerned me was the fact that we were only about 4 km of total 20 km rides. ouch!

This track happen to have lots of 'unrideable' track. So you can imagine how painful each step I took with my injured ankle. Lucky for me most of my riding buddies are very helpful, especially when I need to clear big rocks and small rivers. Thanks guys!

End of part 2

Salak Mountain - 11th March 2006

Saturday March 11, 2006, was truly a great day to ride. The sun was shining brightly, and rain didnot pour the day before, despite Bogor's reputation as the rain city. Anyway the gang gathered at the NISP Bank parking lot in front of the famous Bogor Botanical Garden. Man! there were more than 40 bikers from Jakarta, Bogor & Serpong area. This ride was special, since there were three senior bikers from Solo - Central Java who happened to be in town. And they were fully prepared to attack the trail. And I mean prepared.

We hired around 10 minibuses to take us uphill to the end of the road. The destination was Sukamantri Camping Ground. The minibus ride last around an hour & cost us Rp. 50K per bus. But there are some of the hardcore-diehard XC riders who opted to ride uphill. Not surprisingly they arrived at the same time as the bus, strong guys!

After quick bike assembly, we continued riding uphill to the camping ground. It was a 3 km uphill under beautiful pine trees. Picture below is our Bogorese fellow, Buchan entering the Sukamantri camping ground

Some guys found an easier way to reach the camping ground. I wouldn’t say they were cheating, but maybe close enough…hahaha.

After all members reached the camping ground, we continued riding to the forest. I managed to took some pictures of all participants before we enter the forest. Below is H. Ujang, leading a whole bunch of MTBR.

Our distinguished guest...Hendro Isnanto from Solo Power..

Sugeng "The Hulk", also from Solo Power. A skillful downhiller and strong climber. Ripping all the climbs with Dual Crown equipped Giant AC. Whew!

Next is Sapto (nice goatee...), followed by the one and only Mr. Arya...

Next picture is my young friend from Bike 2 Work community, Sunu "the mad cow". Despite his daily town commuting, he was very comfortable riding off the road.

End of my part 1

My MTB Photographs are on the news & Mags!!

On August 2005, one of my MTB photograph was printed in one of Indonesia biggest national Newspaper "Kompas". I was very excited. However Kompas did a mistake by not putting my name as the photographer. They had acknowledged their mistake and made a correction a week after. But you know how it feels, lah.

My photograph on Kompas Newspaper, end of August 05

It came to my surprise when yesterday my good old friend Ozy told me that my picture was on a magazine. I rushed down to ask the driver to get me the copy of "Warta Ekonomi" Magazine, volume 4 February 06. And voila!...There are two of them. Sadly they didn't print my name either. Oh well...I'm not a in there for the money or fame anyway. I just glad that my pictures are good enough to be put inside a national newspaper and magazine.

Below is one photograph that printed in Warta Ekonomi magz.

Below is the photograph taken by my colleague Cailendra. It is also printed in the same magazine.

MTB rides at beautiful Gunung Mas tea plantation Puncak. Warta Ekonomi Feb 06

Cheeers

Hendro Purwanto

MTB ride: Puncak Mountain Feb 25, 06

Puncak Ride, February 25, 2006

Hi,
This is my very first post...

Last Saturday I decided to join the guys who regularly do mountain biking at Puncak mountain with me. It's kinda quick decision, since the night before I still thinking of joining the B2Wers gang for a Saturday ride around the town.
Anyway it was cold and foggy at our starting point. There were around 14 bikers from Jakarta area which gathered at our favourite parking spot, Sederhana Restaurant at Ciawi - Bogor. There was also 2 guys from Balikpapan, Steve & Jenny. But they had to rush early to catch their flight home. We quickly put our bikes at the angkot minibus, and head to the top. We reached Puncak at 8.



After quick Nasi-Goreng & Egg breakfast, the 14 of us started pedaling toward Gunung Mas Tea Plantation. Puncak ride has a combination of tracks. There are rocks, loose rocks, soil, wet soil, pavement, rough asphalt, smooth asphalt. The track itself varied from wide fire road to technical single track. They said it consist of 65% downhill & 35% uphill. But in my opinion, the uphill always longer than downhil...hahaha.

There were some technical problems along the way. Dody broke his chain twice. I almost lost my tyre pressure due to snakebite. But other than that, it was a great ride.

The first section consist of technical downhill singletrack. As usual, Erick the freeride guy lead the pack using his Stance flow equipped Giant AC team. We regrouped in front of Gunung Mas tea factory. Then we rushed downhill up to Safari Park marketplace where we stopped for a while to re-fill our backpacks with supplies.








The left picture was taken just after we got out from the jungle singletrack. Here Eko was riding over a small bumps. I did ask him to jump, but he was a but reluctant....hehehe

Here on the right is my old friend Ibat. I thought we had lost him for good when he decided to get serious in his 4x4 hobby. Well, eventually he returned to ride with us again.













This on the left is also my old friend Belly. I haven't met him for more than a year already. That's because he's a very busy news photographer that travelled around the world. So this ride was kinda special for me. It was some sort of a reunion.

Have you ever heard of the idea of outsourcing your ride?.....the left photo will explain it to you. Anyway this is the long up hill section. I wouldn't blame Erick the bike owhers. His freeride bike setup is waaaaaay to heavy for long uphill.. Furthermore, he's helping the local's economy.

This particular section is so called "Ngehe 1". Ngehe is a slank for "damn" or "curses" or whatever violent category languages describing your short breathed lungs and painful legs...

The uphill track consist of 2 parts. "Ngehe 1 & Ngehe 2". And in the middle of "Ngehe 2", there's a beautiful hut overlooking the valley that we always use for rest.

On the right is my picture with my new bike...ha! This was taken in front of the hut.

Now about my new bike....ehm...it's a great all around bike, with 5.5 inches of travel in back and 4.9 inches of travel at front, VPP technology with propedal shock and a pair of crossmax SL wheelset. I can brag more about the bike ability. But let's save it for later, OK?

After a light snack, we proceed to finish "Ngehe 2". The ride was slippery and tough. It was quite foggy at top, visibility only 23,7 m (I made that up ..hahaha).

Dody broke his chain again at top. Well, it was because I told him that I was about to take his picture in action, so I guess he overdid it...hahaha

The ride from the top of Ngehe 2 till finish point at Sederhana Restourant was a wet one. Rain poured heavily almost along the way. There was a slippery section that I managed to took some pictures. It was so slippery that Deny ran into a banana tree, Dody fell of his bike, and I fell while trying to walk my bike...sigh..Anyway, these are the rest of the pictures.

Denny ran into a banana tree....don't laugh! it's THAT slippery.

These sequence pics is Dody's attempt to rule the slippery track. Eventually he failed. That's why the rest of the pack decided to walk the bike.....

This is the end of my very first post...

Hendro Purwanto