As I may have mentioned before, getting a bike these days seems to be somewhat of an obstacle in and of itself. It seems that the manufacturers are limiting production to closely meet demand. Seems reasonable, right? What that translates to, however, is that if you didn't earmark a bike early on, you may likely have a hard time locating one. That was the case here but the good folks at CycleLoft helped me out. They were not only able to locate the only existing bike left on the east coast but were able to get it for me and also help me out with a great deal. This isn't the first time that they have helped me out. My previous Specialized Epic was another excellent score from CycleLoft from which I benefited greatly in my racing endeavors for the next few seasons. I've been fortunate to have had and continue to have many folks offer to help me out in the past. The people at CycleLoft have offered to do so without asking, repeatedly, a gesture for which I am sincerely grateful.
We picked the bike up on Sunday afternoon and I took it out for a quick shakedown first run Monday. My overall impression is, as expected, very nice bike. The rear suspension seems to have improved a bunch over that of my old bike. The Brain compression/hit adjustment seems to work much better and the bike gives good suspension feel without taking a pedaling hit. Overall rigidity seems very good and the bike feels stiffer laterally than my old Epic, which was a little flexy in the BB area when standing and pushing hard. I suspect the combination of the BB30 and oversized BB junction, the 12mm through-axle rear hub and oversized front axle help this. I was super impressed with the handling. It actually seems more precise and quicker than my old Epic, which absolutely surprised me. The wagon wheels maintain momentum really, really well over bumpy and rough terrain. That is, I think, going to be the biggest plus. Couldn't tell how it climbed as my legs were junk from the weekend but it seemed fine. At fist I thought the BB was higher that my current Epic, which had me stoked. Then I smacked my pedals a couple times and realized it was the same, California style BB height.
Only other thing is that the SRAM X-9 rear shifter pod has a sticky return spring on the downshift paddle which doesn't return back after the shift. I noticed it on the stand but though maybe it would loosen up on the ride but it didn't seem to. Not sure what the fix is or how serviceable those pods are but the Loft told me to bring it in, which I did, and Brad got right after it and fixed it for me. Excellent service.
I'm anxious to see how the bike moves when I have better legs driving it. Of course, I'm also really interested to see how it and I for that matter, makes out at the races. That story will be forthcoming. For now, I just need to get some time on it and get the last few adjustments made.
2 comments:
I gotta put the flat bars back on my MTB. I miss my bar ends, especially SS.
Funny, I was just thinking the other day how I don't miss bar ends at all and in fact, wondered what the hell I was thinking back then. I do like them for their 'bark-buster' function though, especially with wide bars :)
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