So, on Monday I came home for my afternoon break to find a massive box containing my newTrekFarley 5fat bike waiting at the front door!
Took it inside and opened it up....
27.5 inch wheels with 4.5 inch tyres are quite a sight to behold!
Finished work later, and on return gave everything a proper check over, my plan was to strip it of everything and fit my XTR 12 speed and all my other bits and pieces.
After a discussion with Team Cycles they offered to take the bike back, give me a replacement fork (which would be black) or offer a refund. I duly accepted the refund of £200, thinking I was pretty sure I would be able to do something with it to hide the damage.
Roll on to the next day and after a wander around the nail varnish section in Superdrug found this...!! I mean, could it be a closer match... blueberry muffin by Barry M!!
The wheels are high quality with tubeless ready rims and tyres (surprisingly light, as is the whole bike to be fair) and the rear hub is a cracker with 108 points of engagement... but I'd already done my homework and ordered a micro spline hub body and end cap!
Now awaiting the arrival of a replacement chainring as the Shimano 12 speed chain of course doesn't want to play with the 10 speed one....
So, I had a go at touching up the paint damage to the fork leg.... it‘s not perfect, but I’m happy enough with how it looks now.... I think THM would be pleased!
Pic also shows the Swiss Stop rotors. Didn’t know they did rotors as well as brake pads and needed something bigger and 6 bolt as my XTR rotors are centre lock. They look good though, better than the Shimano XT option.
Eventually managed to get the tyre set up tubeless, was a bit of a faff but didn’t want to resort to a garage air line as I won’t have access to one out on the trails, so it was a case of perseverance!
Got some Problem Solvers P Nuts to help tighten the tubeless valves against the flat, wide rims which work well too.
It's finished! Grabbed a few pics outside in the snow this morning
Yet another new tool added to the collection as my crank remover wouldn't work on the ISIS cranks to fit the Absolute Black ring, and getting the tyres set up tubeless was a trial but I managed without resorting to the garage and an air line!
Looking forward to trying the dropper post, hoping it will help with the hip pain if nothing else!
Even with the dropper post and the huge wheels and tyres it's lighter than the Stooge Scrambler, and if I ditched the dropper and fitted the ENVE post that would shave some more weight!