It's been awhile. A long while. I'm a little conflicted about this, while I think my crap is interesting not sure anybody else will. So not often motivated to write. But here goes, you can always just click somewhere else. I've been busy with work and spending more time wrenching and riding than writing about that stuff.
When I last posted I was just getting used to my lovely orphan, the full-suspension Morewood. My initial impressions were positive, but there was indeed a learning curve. Took a little getting used to the geometry. My brain - butt interface kept mistaking the plush for a soft surface and told me to ride like we were on sand. Got over that. Then when I thought things were going well and comfortably Strava was telling me that we were slow. SLOW!?!
Seems that my hardtail reaction to the rutted, rooty trails around here is to go up a gear and stand and stomp on the pedals. This bike was cushy enough that I spent much less time stomping like I used to. After a bit more reprogramming of my cyclismic attitude, this thing rips. It's extremely sure-footed and as the 27.5 cliche goes very tossable. You can throw this thing down the trail and it will get you to the other side.
Current setup is a Rockshox Reba RL 120mm up front, with the OEM Fox RP2 controlling the rear. The brakeset is the SLX setup that I brought over after upgrading on my last frame. They work perfectly and there just isn't a reason to change. The drivetrain is also 10s era SLX, shifter, derailleur and crank. An inexpensive but effective Fifty-Fifty 1x chainring made the conversion from the triple easy; they included mounting hardware and a chainring bolt tool. Oh, the almost tiny cassette? It's the 12-28 that I was running with the triple. It will be replaced, but for now I don't feel any urgency, none of our trails here have been steep enough to mandate a change. So it will happen whenever it either wears out or I start riding more of the Black Diamond trails that require it.
Liking the Nobby Nic tires a lot. They roll nicely and just chew a path through sand and leaf litter (our two main trail surfaces here). The wheels are pretty much just place holders at this point. The rear is an entry-level thing that came on my old Schwinn that continues to work fine but weighs a bunch and bores me. The front is a fairly sexy little hub from a clearance sale at the
Bike Hub Store laced to a Sun rim with cute red nipples for extra speed. A future post will be all about the wheelset I'm building up now.
Feel free to hit me up with any questions or review requests. My opinions may be idiosyncratic and apply only to my riding and trails but they are honestly my observations and opinions not regurgitations of something I read or heard.
Here's a couple more pics:
