Ok, so how far would you go to collect you’re most sought after or dream bike? Well for me it was a 500 mile round trip. Wednesday 13th February, the sun was out, clear blue sky over Norfolkshire and car full of fuel ready for the trip to the Wigan to pick up my new addition.
Departure time 09:00 - The first 100 miles were fine, I even had the window down at one point as warmth from the sun radiated through the car making it very toasty. A brief stop in Higham Ferrers to pop in and see my brother’s wife to drop some stuff off resulted in a couple of freebie hot sausage rolls from the bakery she works in, one Cafe Latte to go and I was sorted for the next leg of the journey. It had just gone overcast and as I left the A14 near Rugby the skies opened, from glorious sunshine to black clouds of doom in the space of two junctions on the M6. The rain turned to sleet and just as I passed the Stoke exit on the M6 it turned to snow. For a brief moment I thought that my journey would come to an end as the traffic bulletins gave out road closures and accidents dotted all around the county. I plodded on with the last remaining 20 miles showing on the Sat-Nav I thought nothing can stop me now.
Finally at 14:30 I arrived at my destination. Phil must have heard me pull up as his garage door was opening just as I got out of the car. I trudged through the snow up the drive way and was greeted by the bike I had travelled 250 miles to collect.
Behold one 1997 Orange X1 (Actual birth date of the frame August 1996) Now at this point I do realise that it is often referred to as the ‘Marmite’ of full susser bikes, you either love it or hate it, partly down to the Unified Rear Triangle (URT) Set-up. Now I’m used to quirky Full Suspension bikes and after having a fleet of Proflex’s I’m used to the Rock Hard Elastomers, unusual frame designs and the wonders of Girvin Crosslinks and Vectors, but I've always made my own mind up about the bikes I've owned and never passed judgement unless I could speak from experience on a bike. And after trawling through the many threads on RB I have found that owners of X1’s have enjoyed them, testament to that is some great build threads which have kept me going until the right bike came along. As small test ride has been completed and i can confirm that i love it, feels very responsive and not a glimmer of the 'Pogoing' often attributed to early full-sussers especially as i am used to the Proflex bounce
.
And here it is, I'm the second owner from new and this has not been tweaked too much and is pretty much standard as the day it was purchased.
Frame - Size Medium
Forks – Rock Shox Judy XC
Headset - Ritchey 1” Threadless
Stem – Orange ‘OX’ SK9 Ahead Stem
Bars – X-Lite G-Force
Shifters – 8 Speed Grip Shifters
Front & Rear Mech – Shimano XT739
V-Brakes & Levers – Shimano XT739
Chainset – Shimano LX
Wheels – Shimano LX Parallax Hubs, FIR Rims with DT Double Butted Spokes
Tyres – Maxis 26 x 2.10
Seatpost – Orange 26.4 Shimmed to 29.8
Saddle – D2 Velo Plush Comfort
Rear Shock – Strata Air Shock
And so the deal was completed and bike loaded ready for the return leg back to Norfolkshire, not even the weather could dampen the smiles coming from me as I kept catching glimpses of the shiny chrome frame in glinting in my rear view mirror. This one is definitely a keeper........
There will be a few minor changes, including saddle, bars, tyres, but it will be kept pretty much stock. Some new decals from Gil_m just to freshen it up and it may just be my partner for Mayhem this year
Departure time 09:00 - The first 100 miles were fine, I even had the window down at one point as warmth from the sun radiated through the car making it very toasty. A brief stop in Higham Ferrers to pop in and see my brother’s wife to drop some stuff off resulted in a couple of freebie hot sausage rolls from the bakery she works in, one Cafe Latte to go and I was sorted for the next leg of the journey. It had just gone overcast and as I left the A14 near Rugby the skies opened, from glorious sunshine to black clouds of doom in the space of two junctions on the M6. The rain turned to sleet and just as I passed the Stoke exit on the M6 it turned to snow. For a brief moment I thought that my journey would come to an end as the traffic bulletins gave out road closures and accidents dotted all around the county. I plodded on with the last remaining 20 miles showing on the Sat-Nav I thought nothing can stop me now.
Finally at 14:30 I arrived at my destination. Phil must have heard me pull up as his garage door was opening just as I got out of the car. I trudged through the snow up the drive way and was greeted by the bike I had travelled 250 miles to collect.
Behold one 1997 Orange X1 (Actual birth date of the frame August 1996) Now at this point I do realise that it is often referred to as the ‘Marmite’ of full susser bikes, you either love it or hate it, partly down to the Unified Rear Triangle (URT) Set-up. Now I’m used to quirky Full Suspension bikes and after having a fleet of Proflex’s I’m used to the Rock Hard Elastomers, unusual frame designs and the wonders of Girvin Crosslinks and Vectors, but I've always made my own mind up about the bikes I've owned and never passed judgement unless I could speak from experience on a bike. And after trawling through the many threads on RB I have found that owners of X1’s have enjoyed them, testament to that is some great build threads which have kept me going until the right bike came along. As small test ride has been completed and i can confirm that i love it, feels very responsive and not a glimmer of the 'Pogoing' often attributed to early full-sussers especially as i am used to the Proflex bounce
. And here it is, I'm the second owner from new and this has not been tweaked too much and is pretty much standard as the day it was purchased.
Frame - Size Medium
Forks – Rock Shox Judy XC
Headset - Ritchey 1” Threadless
Stem – Orange ‘OX’ SK9 Ahead Stem
Bars – X-Lite G-Force
Shifters – 8 Speed Grip Shifters
Front & Rear Mech – Shimano XT739
V-Brakes & Levers – Shimano XT739
Chainset – Shimano LX
Wheels – Shimano LX Parallax Hubs, FIR Rims with DT Double Butted Spokes
Tyres – Maxis 26 x 2.10
Seatpost – Orange 26.4 Shimmed to 29.8
Saddle – D2 Velo Plush Comfort
Rear Shock – Strata Air Shock
And so the deal was completed and bike loaded ready for the return leg back to Norfolkshire, not even the weather could dampen the smiles coming from me as I kept catching glimpses of the shiny chrome frame in glinting in my rear view mirror. This one is definitely a keeper........
There will be a few minor changes, including saddle, bars, tyres, but it will be kept pretty much stock. Some new decals from Gil_m just to freshen it up and it may just be my partner for Mayhem this year
