Woo Hoo!
Got out on the trails yesterday, finally. Took the demo Paragon out, it's not my bike, but it'll do. A few factors came together to make it one special ride. First off it was nicest day we've had yet this year, by far. Secondly the bike was rocking, the new geometry is a huge improvement over last year's Fishers (and I liked last year's Fishers...what's better than pizza? More pizza!).
Thirdly and lastly, I found new (to me) trails which are sweet, real nice singletrack which begin just five minutes from my house. It used to take me a whole seven minutes to get to the trailhead, now I have two more minutes of dirt time. Finding these trails was like that dream
(I think everyone has this dream, this one and the one about missing the last step and getting that "I'm falling through space feeling") where you notice a door in your house you never knew was there and it opens into a huge room or another world or something entirely crazy. I couldn't believe I'd never realized these trails were there. Now if I could just bottle that amazing feeling of discovery, that giddiness...I could become a millionaire and go ride my bike full time.
The bike feels like a whip, you forget you're on a 29er. The front end snaps up over logs, it handles tight, twisty, turny stuff way better then it's ancestors. As is the bike weighs 26 Lbs, but with a couple upgrades it could be a sick race machine. It don't look too bad neither.
The detractors of the 29 thing talk about slow acceleration due to the increased rotational weight of the larger wheel. That argument only holds water if you're going slow. Throw the chain onto the big ring, get on top of that gear and nothing is going to slow you down enough to make you take notice of the weight of larger wheel. Rail into a corner at speed, let it all hang out and you'll realize the benefits of the larger contact patch damn quick. Woo-Hoo!
Thirdly and lastly, I found new (to me) trails which are sweet, real nice singletrack which begin just five minutes from my house. It used to take me a whole seven minutes to get to the trailhead, now I have two more minutes of dirt time. Finding these trails was like that dream
(I think everyone has this dream, this one and the one about missing the last step and getting that "I'm falling through space feeling") where you notice a door in your house you never knew was there and it opens into a huge room or another world or something entirely crazy. I couldn't believe I'd never realized these trails were there. Now if I could just bottle that amazing feeling of discovery, that giddiness...I could become a millionaire and go ride my bike full time.
The bike feels like a whip, you forget you're on a 29er. The front end snaps up over logs, it handles tight, twisty, turny stuff way better then it's ancestors. As is the bike weighs 26 Lbs, but with a couple upgrades it could be a sick race machine. It don't look too bad neither.
The detractors of the 29 thing talk about slow acceleration due to the increased rotational weight of the larger wheel. That argument only holds water if you're going slow. Throw the chain onto the big ring, get on top of that gear and nothing is going to slow you down enough to make you take notice of the weight of larger wheel. Rail into a corner at speed, let it all hang out and you'll realize the benefits of the larger contact patch damn quick. Woo-Hoo!
You ready for this? I'm going to be racing this bike (starting tomorrow) at the next couple Root 66 races. A geared bicycle, what? Not quite sure how I'm going to deal with it. Suppose I'll just have to go out there and have some fun and see what happens, oh darn.
1 comment:
Sellout....
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