New Ride

[Greg]

Sweet, Jeff. Gonna have trouble keeping up with you now...

 

[o3jeff]

I wouldn't say I am any faster, just enjoying it more.

 

[bvibert]

You seemed to be hanging in there pretty well last night Jeff.

 

[tjf67]

Nice looking bike. Congrats

You will not be able to climb noticably faster but you will smoke the hardtails on the downhill and bumpy flats.

 

[MR. evil]

The transition from the HT to the FS was very little and started to notice the advantages of FS right when we hit the trails as it smoothed out the ride a lot. With the FS it make climbing up things A LOT easier since it is keeping the rear wheel to the ground instead of bouncing around and even the down hills are nice now without the body taking the abuse. I also noticed very little bob in the rear suspension so it doesn't feel that you are losing any energy through that.

The components are a lot smoother and precise when changing gears and the disk brakes are just awesome, minimal fade and quiet even through the wet and mud. It came with a wide set of handle bars on it and originally thought I would hate them, but am starting to get use to them and the extra stability they seem to give so I plan on giving them a couple more weeks and decide if I want to trim them down or not. They do kinda suck going through some of the tight twisty areas last night, but I didn't clip them into any trees so I guess they aren't that bad.

Overall I am very happy with it and more than met my expectations. I am glad that I did ride the HT for a bit to learn on and maybe should of rode it longer, but this thing makes the ride a lot more fun. The only thing that I don't care for are the tires, they don't self clean and are really slick on the roots, but those are easy fixes and I might put the tires from my old bike on it.

Now I am really looking forward to the next ride just to get out and play some more on it!

Stick with the wider bars, they will really come in handy during low speed technical sections of a trail. The extra leverage really helps. As for tight trail sections, start using body english to weave through the tight spots. I wouldn't put the tires from you Ht on your new bike. I imagine your new bike has much wider tires than your HT. Also, as long as you sit in the saddle when riding you shouldn't notice any bob. The chain tention of a single pivot FS like yours will keep the rear end from bobing. But if you stand and pedal you will notice the rear end moving. .

 

[bvibert]

The tires spec'ed for the new bike are 2.1 where the tires that were supposed to come on his old bike were 2.0, not really a hug difference. I'd be willing to trade some width for better traction...

 

[o3jeff]

Visually they appear to be no wider, but will check the sizes tonight.

 

[o3jeff]

What are the advantages/disadvantages of the wider tires(2.5)?

 

[MR. evil]

my preference is a wider tire up front (2.4) and a slighly narrower tire in the rear (2.25).

 

[MR. evil]

What are the advantages/disadvantages of the wider tires(2.5)?

2.5 is a bit on the large side. but the advantages are better traction & deformation over objects. But they are also much heavier, and additional rotational weight in the wheels is the type of weight most noticable in a bike.

 

[gorgonzola]

Nice Ride! Those Lefties will never cease to freak me out a bit - I don't know if I could ever bring myself to ride one, but for purely aesthetic reasons!

 

[MR. evil]

Nice Ride! Those Lefties will never cease to freak me out a bit - I don't know if I could ever bring myself to ride one, but for purely aesthetic reasons!

I am the same way. Something about it just looks structurally wrong. But all the reviews on them are great! But I still don't know if i could own one.

 

[bvibert]

Nice Ride! Those Lefties will never cease to freak me out a bit - I don't know if I could ever bring myself to ride one, but for purely aesthetic reasons!

I am the same way. Something about it just looks structurally wrong. But all the reviews on them are great! But I still don't know if i could own one.

I've thought the same thing since I first saw them. After hearing all the reviews I want to try one. I won't be buying a new bike anytime soon anyway, but I'd consider a Lefty if I were...

 

[o3jeff]

Riding you don't even notice it, but like I said when you are stopped, it is the oddest looking thing.

 

[gorgonzola]

hey and you don't have to take the wheel off to fix a flat! i wonder if they'll ever do an asymmetrical chainstay like you see on sport bike motorcycles?

 

[o3jeff]

After having the bike out for two rides now, I have to say the tires it came with(CST Caballero) are very non aggressive and overall are pretty shitty. We ride a lot over roots and rocks and they are forever spinning out sliding across the roots.

Anyone have tire recommendations. I looked at a couple websites and they probably had 75-100 different tires to choose from and don't know what to really look for, some are foldable, Kevlar, etc. The wheel width is 23mm and looking online they say you can put up to a 2.30 on it. The factory tire is 2.1 wide. Also should I use same size front and back?

 

[Marc]

Check out Kenda and WTB. Both make a quality tire you can usually find for the right price. Don't get too hung up on sizes. I try and stay around the 2.1 - 2.2 neighborhood just so I can use a variety of tube widths in a pinch if necessary.

 

[MR. evil]

After having the bike out for two rides now, I have to say the tires it came with(CST Caballero) are very non aggressive and overall are pretty shitty. We ride a lot over roots and rocks and they are forever spinning out sliding across the roots.

Anyone have tire recommendations. I looked at a couple websites and they probably had 75-100 different tires to choose from and don't know what to really look for, some are foldable, Kevlar, etc. The wheel width is 23mm and looking online they say you can put up to a 2.30 on it. The factory tire is 2.1 wide. Also should I use same size front and back?

For size I would go with 2.25 to 2.3 (bigger is better). I will also put in a nod for WTB tires. I am currently riding the Moto Raptors and they are a good all around tire. The only issue that they don't shed mud that well. Remember that tires are a personal preferenece. Just read reviews on MTBR and you will what I mean. For any given tire half the people will love it and half will say it sucks.

If you ever plan to convert you wheels to tubles with Stan's kit or Ghetto style like I did, make sure you get a tire with a steel / wire bead instead of a kevlar bead. If you plan on running tubes get the kevlar bead as its easier to put on a wheel and lighter.

 

[gorgonzola]

i'm running maxxis high roller 2.35's (with tubes) and am likin 'em alot for an all around tire. i see a lot of kenda nevagals out there on the trails also. i also like panaracer fire xc pros 2.1 for a cheap tire on the hardtail to goof around on - again a pretty decent all around tire

 

[cbcbd]

Dude, nice bike! but yeah, I'm also in the "looks like a 3-legged dog" club... sure he can catch that frisbee and chase after cars just like the other dogs... but something looks off


And about tires... roots, especially wet roots, are very hard to gain traction on. Sometimes I have found its just a matter of knowing when to pedal or when to go easy as to not spin out on certain terrain... but in any case, I'd keep your old tires around... you never know when you might be going on some mellow ride or taking the bike on some rail-to-trail with your honey - much better to switch tires for those rides and save your good ones for the gnar gnar.

ride on... ride on...


oh yeah, I've had Maxxis Minion DH 2.35 and have treated me wheel... yeah, its really personal preferences.