ON TRAIL UPDATE (a drumroll please)
I dragged Luca on a ride on the only decent trail near Scotch Creek on Shuswap Lake. It's steep enough to be way out of his comfort zone but I told him to just ride the parts he felt comfortable on. On a couple of sections he opted to walk I yelled at him to leave his bike and I hiked up to ride it down. The first thing I noticed was that the Magura 4-piston caliper up front was incredibly grabby but also very powerful, which was a dangerous combo. I was able to feather enough to make things work but the bike felt a little sketchy otherwise. The short overall length and particularly the reach made it feel very small and scary for me. It fits him a little better but it'll take some getting used to.
I'll try some soap and water on the rotors in case they are contaminated but this may have just been a case of them being too new. Other thoughts include mulleting and installing an angle set, if possible. What the bike lacked in stability it partially made up for with agility. It also felt nice and solid, but I still opted to skip the nastiest line at the end of the trail on it, despite rolling it rather easily on my Yeti. The biggest sensation was that I was back to the days of being on top of the bike rather than within it like I am on a modern frame with a reach over 475mm.
There is more work to be done but I am not completely discouraged by the preliminary results.
July 8, 2021, 11:20 p.m. - Cam McRae
ON TRAIL UPDATE (a drumroll please) I dragged Luca on a ride on the only decent trail near Scotch Creek on Shuswap Lake. It's steep enough to be way out of his comfort zone but I told him to just ride the parts he felt comfortable on. On a couple of sections he opted to walk I yelled at him to leave his bike and I hiked up to ride it down. The first thing I noticed was that the Magura 4-piston caliper up front was incredibly grabby but also very powerful, which was a dangerous combo. I was able to feather enough to make things work but the bike felt a little sketchy otherwise. The short overall length and particularly the reach made it feel very small and scary for me. It fits him a little better but it'll take some getting used to. I'll try some soap and water on the rotors in case they are contaminated but this may have just been a case of them being too new. Other thoughts include mulleting and installing an angle set, if possible. What the bike lacked in stability it partially made up for with agility. It also felt nice and solid, but I still opted to skip the nastiest line at the end of the trail on it, despite rolling it rather easily on my Yeti. The biggest sensation was that I was back to the days of being on top of the bike rather than within it like I am on a modern frame with a reach over 475mm. There is more work to be done but I am not completely discouraged by the preliminary results.