I have ridden the Trek a couple of times on the rough trails of eastern Kansas. And the verdict is in. It is a totally different animal than the twenty niners that I'm used to. The first and most dramatic difference to me is the descending. It is very confidence inspiring on a technical downhill, and makes it easier to stay over the back of the bike. I'm not sure if its just the size of the bike or the length of the stem, but I am able to descend off the back of the saddle much easier. I like it. I think I'm going to try setting up the 29 with the same feel, shortening and raising the handlebars. Its that good.
The trails that I've ridden, Camp Alexander and the Melvern trails, are some rock havin' bump-fests. The Trek dually rides them well, I haven't taken both bikes out to say which I like better, but its definitely ridable. I felt that I actually had fun at Alexander, something I don't think I have ever had.
As far as climbing goes, since the bike has gears, this just increases the difference between it and anything I'm used to. I feel like I can mash a big gear up hills or I can spin up with a high cadence, both feel pretty fast. I don't think that the suspension soaks up too much energy. If anything, I'd say the overall (through ups and downs) energy output is less and the times are the same or faster. I'm still trying to get used to everything, though.
We race at Melvern tomorrow, so that should show how I stack up in the expert catagory... Something else that I've never done.
I'll try to get a pic of me on the new bike up on this thing.
1 comments:
And you did fantastic! I think it was the bike you used on the last lap though.
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