The Ogre Gets More Hideous

My ugly green T-Bolt has gone through several evolutions. In each evo, it gets uglier. What started of as an entry level full sus, morphed into a bit of extreme XC or trail, then...of late, became the most hideous form of ugly green ogre to date. Can it live up to it? Or is it just a curse casted by the jealous fairy godmother?

The Green Ogre - T-Bolt Evo 2.25

THE FORK...

Before...

RS Revelation 409. 115mm, dual air

After...

Marzocchi Bomber 55R 2008. 160mm travel, coil with air preload and rebound

The front legs of the ogre stretched after spending some time in Lord Farquaad's torture chamber, evoking Lord Farquaad's envy for he had tried variuos ways to increase his shortcoming but to no avail. The 115mm RS Revelation 409 taken over by its Italian counterpart, a 160mm Marzocchi Bomber 55R. The white color of Marzo is not really my liking, but...when the legs were offered at a price you can never find anywhere, who would wanna decline?

Now, the height increased. Getting on it is much difficult. Head tube angle slacker. Wheelbase extended. Compounded further by the huge offset of the dropout. Lower the saddle and you'd feel like riding on a Harley.

Fumbled with the setup at first. Made worse by busting my shock pump in the process. First outing ended up in disappointment because it was too soft. I didn't set the air preload properly. And...these funny Italian's markings on the rebound were confusing. The + (plus) sign means slower rebound, while the - (minus) makes the rebound faster. Bummer! I went out on first outing with clunking noise when tackling the terraces of Tuan Mee.

Some serious browsing and getting lost in the WWW that night brought new revelation. Owww..shucks, not that Revelation, just revelation about the Marzo 55R. I laughed at myself. For 2 reasons - Jubilation for the revelation..and self ashame for my silliness. And all the browsing was not futile... A satisfied ride followed. Terraces of Tuan Mee felt rather different with the long legs. Woo...hooooo...Errr...but it come to climbing, arrghhhh...my legs gotta work extra hard. Well, you can't have everything, can you?

THE WHEEL...

Atomlab Pimplite with Novatec hub

Atomlab Pimplite in closeup. Atomlab says "it's tough as hell". Have they been to hell?

Novatec front hub. Dual purpose. For quick release and 20mm through axle.


Novatec rear hub. Could run as normal quick release or 10mm bolt on axle.

I have been itching for this atomic power for quite some time. Holding the urge within was not easy. Only recently, the last piece of the coin, made the amount complete. I broke my piggy bank and joyfully marched to the bike shop for it. The white Atomlab Pimp Lite that I wanted was out of stock. I had to settle for black. Then a quick rush for the matching anno red Novatec, which I already checked out in the morning. Just my luck, the only set available was already sold. Next delivery will be in a week time. I had no choice but to grit my teeth and wait. Waiting...something I'vee been quite good at. It took another fortnight before the wheelset is completely built...

Spec of the PimpLite taken from Atom Lab website.

• WIDTH : 28MM WIDE
• LOGO : NEW ANODIZED LOGOS
• MATERIAL : 6061-T6 ALUMINUM
• SEAM : PINNED SEAM
• COLORS : BLACK, WHITE, RED, OR GREEN
• SIZES : 24" X 32 OR 36H, OR 26" X 32 OR 36H
• NIPPLES : USES ATOMLAB TORQUE NIPPLES
• APPROX WEIGHT : 24" = 546g / 26" = 630g

Novatec is very innovative in coming up with 4-in-1 hub. This single hub can do-it-all, well at least in terms of features. A swap of some components here and there can turn this hub from normal quick relase to 20mm through axle. Magnificent. But, typically, they wouldn't bother with proper documentattion. Duh!!!... Ironically, because of that, I can't tell what model of Novatec hub I am running now. It's not indicated any where...So, if you find the hub I'm using is fascinating and you feel like having a set yourself, just go to the bike shop and tell em "I want the hub Kelolo is using...". Double duhhhhh...