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Are Shimano Mountain Bike Wheels Worth Buying?
There was a day when nearly every Mountain bike had Shimano hubs and somebody else’s rims. Then prebuilt system wheels became popular and even Shimano had to enter the wheel business. But now days they just don’t have the market share they once had.

Mountain Bike Cassettes- Shimano or Sram?
When you look in the pro ranks, even Sram sponsored teams/riders have used Shimano cassettes and chains. Why? Sram cassettes and chains didn’t shift as well, and their top road cassettes were noisy and didn’t clear dirt as well (which has been fixed for 2012). But the Sram RED and 1099 and 1090 cassettes are works of art and weigh a lot less.

How to bleed Shimano disc brakes
While it seems difficult bleeding disc brakes is not hard. Really nothing much new is needed that you wouldn't already have in your tool box.

Mavic Wheels- Designed by the Marketing and Accounting Departments?
In recent times I feel Mavic’s products have really slipped in engineering terms. Mavic rims were once the only thing I’d consider for my Mountain Bike, and the Open Pro was the best road rim you could put on a road bike. Now however they seem to have added gimmick after gimmick until their wheels are starting to be nearly non usable.

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Classic Steel Mountain Bike Breezer 29er style

When you talk about classic steel mountain bikes Breezer has to be one considered. While Classic steel road bikes typically mean Italian, Mountain Biking started in the US and the old school classics all come from there.

Breezer was at the fore front of mountain biking, and his bikes had a cult following for superb handling and classic quality. Steel was Joe Breeze's material of choice, even if today commercial pressures now means there are carbon Breezers too.

But unlike many brands, you can still get a steel Breezer, and it is still an excellent bike. Joe has stepped up to the 29er size wheels, but his bikes still have that classic look to them. While old school Breezers had rigid forks and more horizontal top tubes, these modern 29ers still wonderful looking bikes.

The Breezer Lightening Pro 29er is a bike I'd love to have in my stable. It has the classic Breezer Blue/White paint job with matching white Recon fork. With the smaller diameter tubes than we see to with carbon and Aluminum frames this bike is a throw back in appearance to the early days of dirt.

Despite the big wheels and smaller tubes, the bike still doesn't look unproportioned. Joe's focus is always on handling, and wanted his 29ers to ride as well as his 26ers always have. The Geometry is a bit different to want you see on many other brands, and is designed to work when the sag in the fork is considered. 100mm is considered "short travel by today's standards, but with the roll over ability of 29ers is works well with a hard tail. The seat tube is a "slack" 72deg, but when the fork is allowed to sag under a riders weight it straightens to 73deg. Similarly the head tube angle is 71deg but when considering sag the real dimension is 72deg. This is step, but this is the classic Breezer layout which helps put the wheels under the rider more. 29ers are typically slower handling and feel heavier in tighter trails, but like any breezer the Lightening will feel as nimble and lively as any hard tail.

Despite the excellent Recon gold fork, the drivetrain is a little mid range. The X7/X9 shifter work well, but are a few rungs down on what Sram offer. Perhaps this spec was chosen because the higher end of the market that want X0 or XX are more race orientated and will be buying carbon or Al. Breezer have the the carbon Cloud 9, but again its not top end spec.

Braking is taken care of by healthy 180/160mm discs and Elixer 5 brakes. Big wheels need big brakes to get sufficient braking force at the outside of the big wheels. The WCS bronson tyres and Laser TCS trail 29er rims give a strong solid set of wheels, specially with 32 spokes. WCS on a Breezer again is a classic combination, and while 32 spokes might seem over kill and old school, 29ers need the extra support of the 32 spokes and aids with lateral rigidity.

The contact points are certainly not old school using a much younger brand. Oval provide the seat, handle bars, stem, seat post, and headset. Again not a stunning spec but respectful and functional.

So while the Breezer Lightening 29er Pro doesn't have the most top end equipment hung off a superb classic frame, it is a bike that a cross country riding enthusiast should consider. Steel is not on the radar of the racing set these days, but the ride of steel with the handling of a Breezer is sure to delight somebody who knows how to use a mountain bike and appreciates the qualities of a mountain bike not just the hype.



Tags: 29er

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