Carl Buchanan - Mountain Bike Racer

Project X-Fire: Day 1

A new frameset begets a new build and hence a "Project" name, to keep it all official and whatnot. That means several posts to document said build....sweet. So I took a little bit of time out of the day on Sunday to run to the shop and get some of the parts that I had for Project X-Fire. Pressed in the headset cups for the FSA integrated headset that came with the frame as well as the Bontrager Race XXX Lite stem that was on the Six13. This stem has pulled duty for me for a couple of bikes and it has become the part that travels with me. It was a gift from a great friend and it has served me well so it will continue to keep things together for me.

Race XXX Lite continues on with the next chapter
Other installed parts included the ISIS Drive 175mm FSA Gossamer crankset, currently sporting a 39/53 combo but will soon be a 39/44, or 39/46 setup, that was graciously donated by Blue. He said something about it being an early Christmas gift. Sweet. He also donated a FSA seatpost so that I could mount up the Fizik Arione saddle purchased from J. Fry and get some things measured out.

Gossamer cranks. Large chainring to be swapped out later with a 44 or 46 tooth ring. I'll use the 53 tooth ring here for a replacement when I wear out one of the rings on one of my road bikes....yea right.

FSA seatpost and Fizik saddle. Best saddle ever by the way. Needs to have a bit of a setback post though.
Finally, I used a set of spare Shimano wheels to get the frame off the ground and get an idea of how it will sit after everything gets installed and dialed. I received word from Blue that he wants to do a small parts trade so I will soon be acquiring a set of Campagnolo Chorus hubs laced to a pair of Mavic Open Pro rims....very nice. Oh yea, it's going to be a good thing when all done.

Keeping it as black as possible for the "Kerkove Effect". Look for lime green highlights when the build nears completion.

Sitting next to my Six13. Standover is definitely higher on the Ridley.
The 2007 Cyclocross Nationals are officially complete and Cannondale's own Tim Johnson has taken the Elite Men's title aboard his 2008 model X4, dubbed the XTJ as it is his own signature model. Nice work Tim, way to hunt down the race leader and bring it home.

For those of you that are still a bit curious about cyclocross racing, even the fans have a blast at the races. Check out how it's done here.

Well it's that time of year again when the white ground gets me thinking about getting outside for some "cross-training" of sorts. Best way to get a full body workout in the outdoors of winter? By snowboard of course. You will use muscles that you never knew you had....I promise. It's waxed and ready, now I just need to find a couple of free weekends and have some fun. Hmmmm. I have some vacation time coming up, maybe I can find a way to get out then.....