The Full-Moto Superleggera

The Full-Moto after its diet

​As I’ve said in previous blog posts, I’m chuffed to bits with the Full-Moto – quite simply, it manages to put a silly grin on my face every time I ride it. It’s certainly not the fastest way to get from A to B, but it’s a whole lot of fun doing it!
 
The only criticism that I’ve levelled at the bike is its weight. This was primarily due to a lack of funds when I was originally putting it together as well as a desire to try out some of the latest mountain biking trends. The latter of these helps to explain the three-inch-wide tyres and 45mm wide rims that, while undeniably helping to smooth out the ride and provide almost inexhaustible levels of grip, did add a significant amount of weight just where you don’t want it. The bike felt overly leaden, missing some of that sprightly, agile feel that I wanted. Ultimately, these choices are all just one big compromise, and in this instance I felt like this had taken things a bit too far.
 
The other area of the bike that is dragging around a bit more timber than is strictly necessary is the Salsa fork. For the money I can’t knock it – a through-axle, boost spacing, tapered steerer mountain bike fork for not a huge amount of money. But the all-steel construction was never going to result in anything approaching feather-weight.

Easton Arc30 rims and Bontrager XR2 / XR4 tyres

So, changes have been afoot, with new wheels having been laced together and a wizz-bang carbon fork slotted into the headtube along with a couple of other more minor alterations. The wheels retain the old hubs, but now have the 30mm-wide variants of the same model of Easton rim that I was using before (with matching stickers!), wrapped in some Bontrager, 2.6’’ wide tyres replacing the old WTB ones, significantly reducing the bikes rotating weight. Upfront, the Kinesis fork proved to be shockingly light when I removed it from its packaging – maybe it’s just a sign of me getting old, but it really is incredible how light this thing feels.

Kinesis Maxlight Boost Fork

​On a slightly less thrilling note, the fork was an absolute pain in the backside to fit. The steerer didn’t taper quickly enough to clear the headsets lower cup, the top of the steerer was too large to comfortably accept my stem and the threads for the disc brake mount were clogged with resin. What should have been an enjoyable hour’s work turned into a number of nights swearing at various parts of the fork. Still, it’s done now and I think it looks great. But, for the money, I expected better.
 
So, to the scales of truth. The bike was previously weighing in at 33.6lb (15.2kg) without the pump and frame bag in the images. Now, the bike is at 29.1lb (13.2kg), so a respectable drop of over 4lb (or exactly 2kg). I’ve only just finished bleeding the front brake hose (which needed to be re-routed through the fork), so haven’t had a chance to turn the pedals in anger yet. But a few local rides will shortly be followed by a weekend away to Afan Forest and Bike Park Wales at the beginning of May, which will really help to show what sort of difference the changes have made. I shall report back once I know more.