Wednesday, July 26, 2006

2002 Specialized S-Works FSRxc

Farqui recently commented on how fortunate I am to own 3 top notch bikes, I realise he is right. I have been lucky enough to pick up some good second hand buys, apart from the Turner,

The FSR was my first quality MTB, I had a rigid steel Townsend for many years while the kids were growing up and then tried several Saracen bikes which looked good, but were often a bit heavy. It was about this time that David started getting more into bikes and after reading the mags I decided that a Specialized Enduro was the bike for me, so I set to looking for one second-hand. No luck though, but then I came across a 2002 FSR, which I presumed would be equally good. Got to be honest and say I did not really know what I was buying, but I well remember the look of disbelief on Ddave’s face when I brought it home! From Saracen to S-Works was a bit of a jump!It had been built from a frame and came with an odd range of kit, forks were Rockshox Duke U-Turn, Specialized Cranks with old fashioned toe clip pedals, XT Changers, narrow 317 rims with XT twin pot brakes and very odd saddle! Original spec would have included Rockshox SIDS, (Too flexy for me), XTR and rim brakes for lightness.

It was a real delight apart from the Rochshox forks, which I soon ditched for a set of Fox 80RL’s bought from the States. The saddle was replaced with a WTB and that was about it. So I now felt I could take on some proper trails with confidence and took it to Cannock, Afan as well as some local stuff.

As I became more adventurous it became clear that, unlike the Enduro, this frame was not built for rough stuff and thus the Turner was ordered with the FSR becoming a donor for many of the parts. I was going to sell the frame, but found that depreciation on mountain bikes is far worse than cars; similar frames were selling for so little money I decided to hang on to it.

Recently, with various upgrades on the Turner I realised recently that I almost had enough bits to put it back together; it just needed brakes and shifters. Ddave suggested some cheap V-Brakes, but then came up with some LX Discs. A set of new LX changers off Ebay completed the list.

Although there are no really light bits in the kit list, I was pleased to find that the FSR came out under 28lbs, (5-Spot is 31lbs). As the Turner was suffering gear shift woes again I decided to try the FSR at Woburn and found it a delight in terms of how nimble it is and the climbing ability using lock-out – less intimidating the 5-Spot! I am sort of hoping that my daughter will use it when she is a bit older, but in the meantime it will get the odd outing on less technical trails. Oh, and there is one more thing I should mention in its favour, it looks an absolute stunner in the Works colours – and like the rest of you, I am a sucker for looks.

Here's a Specialized link to the frame and you'll find some photo's here.

Specification
Frame: 2002 Specialized S-Works FSRxc Team Red/Pearlescent White (75/90mm Rear Travel)
Wheels: Mavic 519
Cranks: Shimano Deore Square Taper
Brakes: 2006 Shimano LX Hydraulic Disc
Changers: 2006 Shimano LX
Rear Mech: Shimano XT
Fork: Fox Float 80RL
Rear Shock: Fox Float RL
Bars: Truativ
Stem: Ultra short Raceface
Grips: Specialized BG
Saddle: WTB
Seat Post: Thompson
Wheels: Conti

1 Comments:


Farqui said...

It's true, you are a lucky blighter.

I've never really checked out an S-Works before and she's a true tart, esp. with her bright painjob ;)

You certainly ride her well. Although you seemed a little surprised by the lack of travel up front on some of the dips around Woburn recently. But then again, the 5Spot has been pampering you for a while...

Hehe, so you don't consider acquiring the 5Spot from the USA a bargain? Tsk, you KNOW how much they cost in Blighty.