Well, I picked her up today for our first date. I decided that instead of making her try to set a <acronym title="Google Page Ranking" style="border-width: 0px 0px 1px; border-bottom-style: dotted; border-bottom-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); cursor: help; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); background-color: rgb(250, 250, 250);">PR</acronym>, I would spend some time getting to know her and discover her likes and dislikes and what turns her on and what shuts her down.
She may like long walks through the park and the feeling of a cool breeze or she may just like to be held and cuddled. On the other hand; she may like it rough and just blast through gardens, or maybe she’s just a biotch and likes to be beat on.
I took it slow and easy for about 3 miles and all my fears of a 29’er vanished quickly.
Tight switchbacks: no problem.
Tight high speed corners: took them faster than I ever have.
Small jumps: felt long and awkward on the first 2 or 3 and then felt completely normal.
Short, technical climbs: Took them like a scalded ape.
Long climbs: NA, I live in North Texas
Downhills: I still live in Texas but on the downhill’s we have, I have never felt so fast and in control.
Rock gardens, roots, logs and ruts: I thought someone removed them as I didn’t seem to really notice them anymore. This is where I always thought that a 29’er would shine and the only place I thought it would shine. Boy have I changed my mind on that.
The CVA suspension had the best feel to it of any bike I have ridden. All and all, the bike just seemed so balanced and perfect. The XX1 was dead quite and shifted so smoothly. It didn't even seem like there was a chain on it.
The SID fork also did a good job although I set the pressures wrong and bottomed out several times. I forgot my number one rule, of bringing the shock pump with me, on my first ride.
I absolutely loved the SLR wheels, they seemed very stiff and spun easily and made about the right amount of noise to my ears.
Now the one thing that my LBS and I argued over was the brakes. I have always loved Shimano and wanted XTRs. He wanted me to try Magura. He finally talked me into the MT6, with the understanding that he would switch them out to XTRs, if they didn’t work for me. To my surprise, when I picked up the bike, it had MT8’s on it with no upcharge
With time running low and me eager to hit the trail I didn't do a bed-in procedure and just started riding. I was cursing these darn brakes for the first 4 miles. They were squealing like a pig, had no power and I was blowing through corners. At mile 5, they became my favorite brakes and were silent with good stopping power and great modulation.
I couldn't be happier with the purchase of this bike. It really did have me smiling from ear to ear the whole ride. It turns out that she likes to be beat on and when I downloaded my Garmin, I had just set a new personal record, on a 12 mile loop, by a little over 4 minutes.
Oh and the final weight loaded up was 23.46 lbs
