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First tentative pootle around the neighbourhood
As some of you may know, I had a nasty dislocation back in March that required a shoulder reconstruction in May. Not as nasty as CB's crash, but not trivial either.
Today, in between rainshowers, I took the Jekyll out for a gentle ride around the neighbourhood to stretch the legs and check out the upgrades I put on the bike over winter:
* 2009 130mm Lefty PBR fork
* Manitou Swinger 3-way shock
* Bontrager tubeless conversion kit
* Ignitor 26"x2.35" tubeless both ends
* New middle ring, chain and cassette
* New DMR Wing Bars 31.8mm x 640mm wide
* 100mm stem to suit
* Ditched the bar ends
Jumping the bike off a curb brought a jolt to the shoulder (and some pain) and a thought "shoot, that's harsh" ... until I looked down and realised that I'd left the fork locked out from the climb up Allambie Road. The good news is I can report the PBR fork has a blow-through valve if you forget you've left it locked. D'Oh!
I confined myself to riding around the industrial area carparks, a little stretch of single track I found on some wooded vacant land, and the firetrail next to the Allambie water pipe... and it felt bloody good. 
The jolt to the shoulder reminded me I've a way to go yet before I'm good for proper trail riding, but it was enough to whet the appetite again and the upgrades to the bike felt NOICE!
C'mon, shoulder - hurry up!
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Yeah, the new Leftys are much better than Jekyll vintage, eh?
I'll bet it was nice to be out... take it easy
... but it seems that the newer fork has better slow speed damping compared to the old FFD coil sprung unit I used to use. Pumping up hills out of the saddle no longer feels like I'm pedalling a pogo stick. The Manitou SPV rear shock helps here as well.
On the other hand, it doesn't seem as plush over the small bumps. Maybe this is the compromise? It's possible the spring in the old fork was one grade too soft so it may not be a fair comparison.
Further riding will tell. But so far, yes, an improvement.
The upgrade to a 31.8mm bar from 25.4mm is noticeable too. That's where the exercise started, but the scope of the project kinda... grew
Hey Hawkeye
Good to hear you're getting back out again. I'm still a way off but hoping I might be commuting this side of Christmas ( propbably wishful thinking, but the bus journey is driving me crazy and the weight gain is costing a fortune in new clothes !)
Hope the recovery keeps on track and remember to keep the rubber side down.
CB
... tell me about it.
Normally I wear 31-32" jeans. Had to buy two pairs a few weeks ago, and I couldn't get into anything smaller than 34's. I've grown 7-8kg.
I know it will come off, but I need to make haste slowly - six months of almost complete inactivity has left ligaments and tendons quite weak... need to be patient and not go too hard or long or I'll aggravate old injuries or even create new ones. Grrr....!
At least I now can make a start