New Gear from Shimano and Pearl Izumi

Shimano
2 x CN-HG94 XT 10 speed Chains

• I'll clean these real good and put Lubriplate Mag-1 grease on them.  I'll give more details about this when I do it.

2 x SM-RT81 XT 160mm Ice Tech Disc Rotors

• At the cold temperatures and given the rolling resistance of the low pressure in the tires and the snow I don't see over heating being an issue with the brakes. However in my training rides and when I get home I will give the brakes a good workout. I like how the ice tech rotors have worked on my mountain bike and when I get back from the South Pole I will replace my mechanical disc brakes with some SLX hydraulic brakes. I haven't had problems with the Shimano hydraulic brakes in the -15º F temperatures and so I think the hydraulics are good for use here in Utah.

1 x SL-M670 SLX Dyna-Sys Rapidfire plus shifters

• I think people use other shifters on fat bikes because they are worried about being able to shift wearing gloves/mittens. I have found that even large gloves and mittens have worked for me with the Rapidfire shifters. Sometimes the big mittens interfere a little with the shifting, but have never been a real problem for me. I'm not even going to consider thumb shifters, yuck! I tried twist shifters and didn't like them. When going over technical conditions I end up accidentally shifting with the twist shifters. For me the Shimano shifters have a great feel to them. I like the dual action shifting that allows shifting with the finger or thumb. I find that I use both depending on the trail conditions and hand position.
• I will clean all of the grease out of the shifters and replace it with Lubriplate mag 1 grease. I get a lot of old bikes in the shop that have shifters that don't work. The problem is the old grease gets gummy and the pawls don't spring into place. Cleaning out the old grease fixes these old shifters. I don't want to have that be a problem in Antarctica. I could just degrease the shifters and go with no grease at all, but I am thinking that some grease will prevent the super fine ice that blows around from getting in and freezing the pawls and preventing shifting.

2 x RD-M786 XT rear derailleur
1 x FD-M676-D SLX front derailleur
1 x CS-M771-10 11-36 XT cassette
1 x CS-6700 11-23 Ultegra rear cassette

Pearl Izumi
Performance + Race Optimized = P.R.O.

1 - PRO Transfer Zip Neck LS Base layer medium weight
1 - PRO Transfer Long Pant base layer

• Tried these (pants and top) out last night. Very nice feel to them. I like the flat seams for preventing chafing.

1 - PRO Barrier WxB Hood

• I think I will attach some velcro to the base of the hood and too the jacket so I can attach the hood to the jacket. Also I am getting a fur ruff from Alaska. It will come with a zipper so it can be attached to hoods. I will either add a zipper to this hood for the ruff, or I will replace the zipper with velcro and put velcro on this hood and the hood of my parka so I can move the ruff to whichever I am using.

3 - Elite Tall Sock black/red

• I usually wear white socks, but mountain biking gets white socks pretty ugly looking quickly from the mud and dirt that they get on them. I am using these socks for the next month before I go since they won't get dirty looking. I like how they feel on the feet. I don't feel any seams and they fit nice snug to the feet without constricting. I sleep in my socks and these worked well for sleeping where as with other socks I have used I wake up with the socks cutting into my feet and legs because they don't stretch or something.

3 - Elite Tall Sock white/black
3 - Elite Thermal Wool Sock

• I have a pair of these I have used in the past. Great socks, but my older ones have a few cheatgrass seeds stuck in them. The cheatgrass seeds stab the feet and hurt, and getting them out always ends up pulling some of the wool fibers with them. It will be great having new wool socks that haven't had cheatgrass seeds stuck in them. 

1 - Select Barrier WxB Pant

• The seat area has nice durable fabric that should help it have long wear. The winter pants I had previously wore out in the seat area.

1 - PRO Thermal LS Jersey
1 - PRO Barrier WxB Jacket

• Love the feel of this jacket. Nice and windproof. Waterproof also, but this will not be an issue in Antarctica. It has some nice vents that can be opened to regulate temperature as I ride and closed when I stop. 

1 - Select Barrier Balaclava - Medium

• I like how this fits my face. It is important that I don't have any skin exposed. At -40º and 30mph winds frostbite is almost instant. I feel this is going to be a great piece.

1 - PRO Barrier Balaclava - One size

• Has a bit more of a windproof appearance.

1 - Select Thermal Jersey

• This jersey is a nice fleece material. It seems it will add more warmth than the PRO Thermal and give me some layering options.

1 - Pearl Izumi - mittens 

• My hands seem to get cold easy. The wind seems to cut through most gloves and mittens that I have used and my fingers get cold. I still need to try colder temperatures but so far these gloves have worked well. I tried one day putting latex gloves on under the mittens. My hands were nice and warm, but all wrinkled from being soaked in sweat. I will have to try again with a conductive glove and then the latex gloves.

1 - Softshell jacket. 

• I have been using this for about a year. It has a spot that I melted when I was wearing it while using a Dremel tool and sparks were hitting the jacket. It also has a cut in one sleeve from a crash trying to clear a wood feature in the Eagle Mountain bike park. I have worn this for countless hours both on and off the bike. I love this jacket. I like the chest pocket with the little port for headphone wires. It is nice to have the wires go under the jacket and balaclava to my ears. That way the wires don't get caught in the brush as I am biking.