Today we cover three relatively inexpensive speed secrets that can be found online or at your LBS for fifty bucks or less. The first is a sweet chainguide from Bionicon for multi-sprocket cranksets, followed by two from Specialized: an OEM stem that uses an offset sleeve to provide four degrees of angular adjustment, and a cross-country tire that rides faster than your mom - most of the time.
Bionicon C-Guide V.02 ChainguideBionicon's C-guide is not new, the diminutive chainguide has been a cult favorite for triple or dual-ring trail riders on two continents, but the latest version, the C-Guide V.02, is far easier to install and can be adapted to lock into an existing housing guide beneath the chainstay, or mounted directly to the stay itself. The C-guide V.02 funnels the chain through a plastic tube, mounted to a beautifully made aluminum link that swings laterally to allow the chain to track the various sprocket combinations, while preventing the chain from whipping wildly out of control and derailing when pounding over rough terrain. Benefiting from the first-gen C-Guide, the latest version has been optimized to adapt to almost any bike and install in a few minutes. The entire assembly splits in halves to allow the rear derailleur housing and chain to pass through the guide without disconnecting anything on the bike. The C-Guide V.02 weighs only 19 grams, comes in a black, red, blue, green, pink and gold anodized colors, and costs a bit under 50 bucks.
Bionicon |
| Small and mighty, Bionicon's C-Guide V.02 is a well-executed compromise for single and double-chainring riders who want quiet, effective chain control. The derailleur cable housing can be routed through the middle of the C-Guide's tubular plastic hinge pin, so it doubles as a cable guide as well. |
 | Bionicon's C-Guide V.02 packs a lot of performance into a tiny package, so it may seem a bit overpriced. Its beauty (and it value) is that you can buy one, assemble it on your bike at the trailhead and go ride - right then - knowing that even if you misplaced it a few millimeters fore, aft, port or starboard, it will still do its job. How many bicycle components can claim that? Zip ties seem like a poor way to mount a chain guide, but the ties included with the C-Guide are robust and its hinge action deflects direct impacts. Its saving grace, however, is that its position beneath the chainstay shields it from logs and rocks that pound against roller guides. The C-Guide runs silently in every gear combination and it and keeps the chain on. If you use more than one chainring and want to approximate the rough-ground performance of a chainguide without all the noise and complication of a ISCG-mount roller setup, the C-Guide V.02 is your next purchase. My Santa Cruz Blur LTc has never run so silently. - RC |
Specialized Adjustable-Angle Stem SystemAll of the Specialized bikes we have tested lately use a version of its 'Pro Set 2 adjustable angle stem system. The concept is based upon an offset-drilled sleeve inside the stem's steerer clamp that can be reversed to add or subtract up to four degrees from the stem's rise. OEM stems come with the four-degree sleeve, which is quite useful for fine tuning the rise of a handlebar or eliminating a few ugly steerer spacers. Aftermarket models, in the search for the perfect fit, are boxed with zero, two and four-degree sleeves under the guise that a mountain biker could actually notice a two-degree change in a 75-millimeter stem. The photo model for this review is a 12-degree 3-D forged aluminum, 75mm stem that graces mid-priced Stumpjumper FSR models. If you want one like it, Specialized sells the
aftermarket version with the optional sleeves in 60, 75, 90 and 105mm lengths. It fits 31.8mm handlebars and works equally well with carbon and aluminum. Price is around 40 bucks.
Specialized |
| Specialized inserts an offset sleeve into the stem's steerer-tube clamp. The sleeve is flanged on the lower side where it meets the headset spacer. The sleeve's offset bore is easy to make out when it is outside the stem - reversing it 180 degrees increases or decreases the stem angle. The 'wagon wheel' stem cap is offset at its center so the adjustment bolt will line up correctly. |
| All sarcasm aside, a four-degree change in a short stem like the 75-millimeter version on our Stumpjumper makes the equivalent change of adding or subtracting one spacer from the steerer tube. That's about ten millimeters give or take and it takes exactly the same effort to reverse the sleeve in the Pro Fit system as it does to switch a spacer from top to bottom. The difference is that there is a smooth surface above the stem, not a towering cylinder of faux carbon spacer ready to crack your sternum (or stern-o's) the next time you catch the face of a jump. Another use we found for the adjustment was to add or subtract height from a new handlebar. Slack head angles encourage lower handlebar rises in order to weight the front of the bike more, and rotating the sleeve provided us with a tuning option for that purpose. Using Specialized's Pro Set system also allows the steerer tube to be cut to a proper, safer height without sacrificing adjustability. I thought it was a foolish idea when I first saw it, but I found it to be quite useful in practice. - RC |
Specialized Fast Track Control 2.2-inch TireAnyone who raced cross-country, BMX, 4X or Dual Slalom will understand the Specialized Fast Track tire's shape, width and tread design. Mountain bikers who ride steep, loose terrain either up or down will probably laugh at a rounded-profile 2.2-inch tire, populated with tiny tread blocks that look like they were once place markers for a Japanese Monopoly game. There are many places on this earth where loose-over hardpack trails always have a little moisture in the mixture. Consider Santa Cruz, where every trail is perfect and park rangers purchase dust from Arizona and Texas so they can apply it here and there on the weekends to surprise locals who have never seen nor tasted the powdery substance. Specialized's Fast Track Control tire rules the world in such places. The new-improved version has a reinforced casing (Specialized calls this 429/D1) which reportedly boosts its resistance to cuts, the bead is foldable and the casing is coated with rubber and designed specifically for tubeless conversion (with sealant). The strategically-placed diminutive tread blocks are medium-hard 60 shore-A rubber for long wear and less tearing under hard braking. Specialized sells the Fast Track Control as an XC racing tire, but a lot of aggressive trail riders used them in the rear, paired with a flatter-profile, edgier tire up front. Sold in 26 by 1.8, 2.0, and 2,2, or 29 by 2.0 or 2.2 inches, its weight hovers near 600 grams. Fast Track Control tires sell for about 50 bucks.
Specialized  |
| The Fast Track Control tire is aptly named. The casing is lightweight and supple, the rounded tread drops seamlessly into corners and its minimalist tread design simply shreds on relatively smooth dirt. As a bonus, we found that the tires mounted up tubeless quite easily. |
| Had it not rained in Sunny Southern California while I was riding this tire, on a trail that was bermed up high, I would have never known what it was like to be Eric Carter for 23 seconds. There I was, leaned in and confident, tires hooked up and leaving dark lines clawed into the earth around every apex. It was a performance I did not expect from the hateful tire that banged back and forth off of every imbedded rock and drifted wide the moment my finger touched the rear brake just one day earlier. Specialized's headquarters sits in the center of the mythical belt of perfect traction in Central California, so it is no wonder that such a tire exists. A little loose soil over a hard base and the Fast Track is a marvelous tire to behold. I do agree that it makes a better rear tire (that's where I use it now). Mount it up front and It will push on a 26-inch-wheel bike, but oddly, not on a 29er - go figure. Even in perfect conditions, though, it will spin or skid relatively easy when climbing or descending steeps, so you'll need to be a finesse rider to fully enjoy the Fast track Control in its element. - RC |
(ps. WAKIdesigns- if you ever make a frame be sure to give me a pic of it. I've been wanting a custom frame XD
