Tuesday, June 12, 2012

In lieu of a rant...

I am too sleep deprived to make my rant about toptube vs front center make any sense, so I'm letting discretion be the better part of valor and just posting some unsolicited praise and a couple of pictures from Marco instead...

Got it put together pretty late last night and rode in this morning. Still gotta cut brake lines.

I was able to do some looping around MM so nothing big, but man, I think I really like it a lot. That front fork going from 95 to 120 really changes the way the bike sits and rides. At 120 it feels great going down, and at the lower setting it feel nice cruising along on flatter stuff and climbing.



Also jumps super fun, I love how it handles, it's almost like it wants to fly. It feels really balanced in the air..take-off is super natural and I don't have to work to get the rear wheel where I want it landing or really any time honestly. I love it. Tight turns feel nice too which I didn't expect. It's actually kind of wierd because it feel like it handles "quicker" but the front end still feels nice and solid. the front feels really planted which makes it feel super confident. That fork feels pretty plush too, I need to dial the air pressure a bit more. I think it works a TON better than the old fox fork. the descend setting sets it up super plush and coupled with the 120mm long travel setting it makes it feel like butter on the downhill.. I am still figuring out how I like it set for flat and uphill for flat dropping the fork to 95 kinda feel weird, but I think i am just used to my old bike.



The front end feels stiffer too, not sure what that's from, but I feel like when I pull on the bars nothing moves, I can just pull. I love it. My old bike flexed a lot when I pulled on the bars.

After work I'll go for a spring brook loop run. I already can't wait. I'll send a nice pic. I took some already but they are all wonkey and the brake hoses look retarded..

Thanks again, Marco

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

While Marco's bike is very nice, I would like to hear the top tube/front center rant, please?

the technIAn said...

Ditto. With so many focused on trail figures the past couple of years, as well as most everyone focused on ETT lentgh, my most recent bike was built with a heavy focus on front center.

It took a while to realize what the builder wanted and what I wanted/needed. In the end the builder was right and I knew I had to listen.

My previous observations of how I ride and geometry features I liked were helpful, but I am now on a bike with a ETT that is the shortest I have ridden in years, but fits great.

the technIAn said...

I as well would like to hear the rant (after you have gotten some sleep).

I realized during the build of my last bike that front center defined the ride quality I was looking for in conjunction with ETT (not all ST and HT angle).

The ETT was almost non-negotiable. I know the builder would have changed it had I pushed, but the bike would not have been what I needed while being inside of the builder's desired parameters.

Probably too much to ask, but I would love to see the drawing for this bike.

dicky said...

Shame.

I came here for a rant. I was in the mood...