Going 1x10 (or even 1x11) seems a really popular choice right now with racers who want to simplify their drivetrain setup....so we thought about it for a while but then we decided against it due to a. the costs and b. the possibility of not having quite enough gears which would potentially involve chainring swapping at races creating unwelcome stress!
So ignoring the front shifter failure (which is currently being dealt with under warranty) the main issue I've been having is the chain frequently dropping (especially when in the granny ring) so what we decided in the end was to keep the 2x10 setup and swap out the XX rear mech for an X0 type 2 clutch mech. Although it's ever so slightly heavier this should keep the tension on the chain and hopefully mean no more chain drops.......well that's the theory, I guess only time will tell, so I'll report back later in the season.
My training has been patchy this week due to some sort of chesty virus so Hot Pursuit had my bike in for a couple of days and fitted up the stealthy black X0 clutch mech and a temporary front shifter so that I could do some testing at the weekend...cheers guys!
Sunday we had planned to head back down to Wheal Maid to get a bit more practice time on the track before the National. It had been pretty wet during the week and even though the weather forecast was not great (gale force winds and rain) we continued with the plan.
When we got arrived we found a very wet track, in complete contrast to last weekends race, with huge deep puddles of standing water :( The wet ground at Wheal Maid is very abrasive (like grinding paste) so we decided to get some practice on my Kona Kula training bike rather than trash the race bike...not ideal but....
...was great fun ripping up the trails and smashing through the puddles right up until I realised I had no pads left on my front brake!
We prised the calliper away from the disc to allow some climbing practice and then decided to call it a day and headed back to Cardinham Woods to test out the new rear mech.
Although I'm still not feeling 100% Cardinham was good fun, the rear mech seems to be doing it's job of holding the chain in tension brilliantly, plus it's super quiet and I managed to smash out couple of good runs so a nice end to the day. Bring on Round 1 of the 2XC series next weekend...