Getting the SOK ready for 2010 PT2.

While in the Philly area I swung north to Abington to pick up my Bianchi SRAM SOK from Abington Wheel Wright Bike Shop or AWWBS for short.

Aside from the outside of their building being a cool shade of Bianchi Green (celeste), they have a ton to offer their mountain biking customer base. One service that stood out during my first visit with Miko, the shop's service and retail manager, is their suspension tuning services. RMT Suspensions.

I explained to Miko the issues I was having with the fork, the brakes and what I ultimately wanted to achieve with the mods I was requesting. AWWBS works on forks and I mean works on forks. I'd say 95% of the shops I visit throughout my vast territory would send the fork to either QBP or BTI for a rebuild, not these guys. In my shop days, I would have done the work myself but being a father of two and a rep, I didn't hesitate to give the business to the LBS.


Here is a mod I did on my own time. After converting the 29r to tubeless last June, by recommendation of Marshall at Youngblood Bicycles, I down sized the rear tire from a 2.3 to a 2.1 Prowler from WTB. Lighter, faster, better rubber.


With the heavier 29r wheels (verses a traditional 26in wheel) and the fact that I'm 6'5" at 180lbs, you can never have enough braking underneath you. I upgraded the front rotor from a 160mm to a 185mm by Avid. The rear rotor is still the stock size- 160mm. New sintered pads were installed on the front and rear of the bike in addition to bleeding the lines and lubing the plungers at the cylinders. (Contaminants had entered the cylinders when I had the bike on top of the Element; during a rainy-several hour drive to Williamsburg, VA last summer.)


Here is where the magic begins. It's not fair to criticize/compare the performance of this fork when I'd been on long travel, light duty freeride bikes prior to getting this steed. None the less, with the top and bottom air chambers set to where I felt they should be according to my riding style and trial conditions, the 100mm fork dove too much under braking and couldn't keep up with high speed, baby head rocks that litter the local trails. Miko listened and delivered.

The blue wipers are a wiper/seal kit from Enduro. The stock wipers are good with preventing stiction at low speeds but potentially won't seal out the contaminants as well as the ones from Enduro. Enduro's lip sealing technology is top shelf for keeping oil in and dirt out. However, these seals are TIGHT on the stanchions. To combat this, the stanchion tubes where treated with a coating of a liquid Teflon® fluoropolymer. This polymer bonds to the aluminum tubes and make Teflon even slipperier. One application lasts about 6 months on the trails under normal_non muck riding.

The stock 5wt fork oil was removed and a combination blend of 5wt and 7wt where installed. This will reduce diving during hard braking when the PopLoc is wide open. A full dose of 7wt would be a bit too thick for my body weight and could compromise low speed dampening.


I'm still running the stock PopLoc set up for now. This lever is an open compression or closed compression selector. The fork will not have an in between compression adjustment with this type of PopLoc. Once I get some months of riding on the bike, I'll probably upgrade to the PopLoc Adjust. This system will allow me to adjust the compression of the fork for either rocky terrain or flowing/no rocks-just roots, type of trails.


Now if only the snow would go away...

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wrm

FIRST RIDE - BIANCHI SOK 29R SRAM

Bianchi USA has a reputation for making some seriously competitive road racing bikes, but is often overlooked for mountain bike and cyclocross racing models. With the heritage of the Gewiss-Bianchi mountain bike team in Europe, we’ve taken aim at the Cross Country race circuit with the 2009 SOK SRAM 29r.

TECHNOLOGY:

For 2009, Bianchi’s top level 29r has received a parts and frame change. (note: the bike in the following photos is my personal ride and some parts have been changed from stock; such as the stem, handlebar, saddle and headset) The new frame design provides more muscle; strength, pedaling efficiency, and agility.

This design is benchmarked by Bianchi’s use of 7000 grade, hydroformed, triple butted aluminum. The process of hydroforming has been used extensively over the years on our road bikes with much success. The end result is a well tuned frame, stiffer bottom bracket region for better efficiency/faster acceleration and sharper steering.

The curved downtube is an immediate sign of a new matrix as well as the hydroformed ‘pinched’ top tube shape that leads up to the headtube. The vertical dropouts are new too, as is the semi-integrated headset. Three frame sizes are offered, 17, 19, and 21 inch.

The component package has been kicked up a notch with the introduction of SRAM X.0/X.9 for 2009. The X.0 Black Box rear derailleur adds touches of class to the drivetrain along with the graphically matching Stylo crank and handlebar.

Taking advantage of SRAM’s parts bin, you’ll notice full support with compatibly-engineered Avid brakes, Truvativ stem/bar, Truvativ crank, and WTB wheels, tires, grips, and saddle. Faster shifting and more style to boot!

Rock Shox’s new Reba SL fork graces the front of the bike. New for 2009 are 32mm uppers adding a bit more stiffness in the fork. Stock on the handlebar, you’ll notice is the fork’s PopLoc remote. The tune-ability of the SL fork makes this a competitive component on any bike. Dual Air (upper and lower air chambers), PopLoc - Compression Lock Out with Threshold Adjustment and Rebound can be tuned to your liking.

RIDE:

The balance of SOK SRAM is unbelievable; meaning that the front to rear weight bias feels 50/50 when changing direction with the Stylo handlebars. This high level of steering input is due in part to the frame’s stiffness at the front triangle. Out of the saddle efforts are greeted with rocket propulsion and secure traction. And when your speed gets above 12mph, the bike is a freight train. The speed is amazing as it charges over small roots and rocks.

If you pedal the SOK like a road bike, it will roll like one. The profile of the WTB Exiwolf tires on the AM rims have a nice transition on the trails from corner to corner. With a larger tire footprint than a 26-inch wheel, traction in the turns is greater, as well as climbing traction due to the higher approach angles of the 29 inch wheels.

On double track trails, be sure to activate the PopLoc remote; firming up the Reba SL to reduce the amount of bobbing in the front end. In case you forget to release the Pop Loc, there is an adjustable blow- through threshold circuit in the fork. Just pull down on the rebound adjuster in the bottom leg revealing a handy hex key to adjust the threshold on the top right assembly. Consult the Rock Shox manual for further set up details.

Avid’s Juicy Seven brakes are easy to adjust to the rider’s reach and power. The pad contact adjuster is a twist away allowing you to dial in the point where the pads make contact during the brake lever’s throw.

RESULTS:

Something worth mentioning: the past few years at the Mid-Atlantic cross country/24 Hour Endurance races, more than ¾ of all the hardtail racers that are lining up at the starting line are on 29rs. We at Bianchi have developed a very affordable, out of the box race bike. Retailing at just over $2k, this is a bike that needs very few upgrades to make it a competitive, durable race machine. The larger wheels on a 29r are comparable to having a 1 inch travel dual suspension frame.

The name SOK? Italian for ‘stump’! Comfort, speed and traction all in one package.
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Will Mahler