Nope. Rode the rootdown this weekend. The E29 is on whistler getting the Ride Wrap treatment.
Jeeze Louise Ive Been Spoiled with my E29
Posted by: Ddean
rnayel - have you taken that puppy out yet? Cant wait to hear how the first ride goes!
I think that my first ride impressions will have you selling your 2014 E29 and Banshee to fund the purchase of a 2018 coil Enduro:
https://www.specialized.com/ca/en/men/bikes/mountain/endurocoil296fattie/133842
(spoiler, it looks exactly the same as the 2017)
I sincerely hope so but the sun is shining - get out there are ride that beast and report back!
Posted by: rnayel
ermaferkinggerd that is hert
Still no ride report rnayel?
My new bike itch has started up inexplicity given how much I love my Current mainstay the E29.
What say you? Wreckoning is calling my name!
Posted by: Ddean
Still no ride report rnayel?
My new bike itch has started up inexplicity given how much I love my Current mainstay the E29.
What say you? Wreckoning is calling my name!
So I undertook the momentous task of trying to fit some Hope Tech 3 V4 brakes on this bike, and boy was I in for a world of hurt (and delays). The stock braided hoses didn't fit through the internal ports, so I had to order some 5mm black hoses from the UK because the local distributor is out and won't resupply until the spring, and it took 3.5 weeks, then a week to get it into the bike shop for a bleed and back (I was able to mount the hoses myself - but couldn't manage to get all of the bubbles out of the system). Once that was done, Tony at Steed who worked on my brakes pointed out that I had the wrong adapter, so it took me another week to find a Hope H adapter for the front .... now the bike is complete! Hopefully this upcoming Saturday afternoon will be the inaugural ride.
I'll try to make time today or tomorrow to take a picture of the bike with updates (Eagle X01, Hope brakes & rotors, SixC bar and crank).
Wreckoning is a nice bike though.
Damn, that is a fine looking bike!
<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;">That thing is beautiful!!!</span>
Let’s see it good and dirty
Ride report. The Slaughter is complete rubbish in the snow. The semi-slick setup was completely inappropriate for riding Fromme today and I should have known better. I laid the bike down on a couple of occasions and have a bruised hip to show for it. Otherwise, wow, this bike is great. It doesn't climb as well as my last bike (Knolly Endorphin) but it also has 35mm of additional travel. It does descend with confidence and pushed me to go faster on a couple of occasions, which wasn't the wisest considering the conditions today (ice under fluffy snow).
I can honestly say that the Hope Tech 3 V4 are the most powerful brakes that I've ever used, and at one point I was really seeing why Magura specs a 2 piston rear and 4 piston front setup on their Trail Series brakes. I have a feeling that it's going to take me some time to get used to the power, for reference, last brakes were XTR Trail, previous 3 bikes had Shimano Saint M820. With the XTR, I could just pull on the brakes with authority and it would stop me, with the Hope V4s it shot me into a nose wheelie that almost ended badly.
Eagle X01 was nice but it's going to take me a few rides to get used to the firm actuation at the lever and light shift at the derailleur. I've ridden XTR 11 speed on my last 3 bikes (first with an XT 11-40 then with 11-46), and I think that I prefer the XTR to 11-46.
Wu dropper post: I was able to swap the standard dropper that came with the bike to a Wu dropper (Specialized's 2018 dropper with the tilting head) right out of the box, and let me tell you, it's a weird experience. There was definitely thigh rub when the bike is in descent mode due to the angle of the saddle, when going from descend into a flat section, it wasn't comfortable to sit down on the lowered seat and mash on the pedals to power through. I was immediately wanting to bring the saddle up for the pedally sections in order to flatten the saddle and then drop it back down for the rowdy sections. It's going to take some time for me to get used to this. On the steep stuff (not that there was much on my Expresso to Lower Expresso lap), the dropper performed exactly as advertised and the seat was in comfortably DH position.
That's all for now.
Last edited by: rnayel on Dec. 28, 2017, 10:12 a.m., edited 1 time in total.
Reason: added Wu Dropper experience.
Final weight on that bike? Looks very nice. Internal cable routing is another one of those 'innovations' that I could definitely live without for the reason you stated above.
Sounds like a successful first ride on an amazing machine in some tricky conditions!
You probably didn't hit any steep stuff given the snow. I will be interested in hearing your report once you do!
Posted by: shoreboy
Final weight on that bike? Looks very nice. Internal cable routing is another one of those 'innovations' that I could definitely live without for the reason you stated above.
Thanks, rides nice too. Final weight, I'd guess around 30-32 pounds, although I haven't put it on a scale. As for internal cable routing, FU internal cable routing, having to swap the braided hose for a 5mm black hose was the worst time waste and money waste I've yet experienced since I began biking (second only to the 2008 Marzocchi 66 ATA that I rode from 2008 to 2010, that fork was an expensive hot F'ing turd, no matter how much money I put into having it rebuilt and looked after by Naz, it never worked as advertised or as well as the coil version that replaced it once they finally crash replaced" it). I'm not bitter, I'm just sporting non matching brake hoses.
Sweet looking ride , not sure I would like that dropper . I tend to ride certain trails fully dropped and sitting on that angled saddle would be weird feeling IMO . What are you thoughts on the rear coilover shock ??
Posted by: DemonMike
Sweet looking ride , not sure I would like that dropper . I tend to ride certain trails fully dropped and sitting on that angled saddle would be weird feeling IMO . What are you thoughts on the rear coilover shock ??
The post is going to be something to get used to. If it doesn't work out, I might swap it for something else, options are limited for the 34.9 ID though.
About the suspension (both are coil), the thing is that I didn't really notice them. I set both the fork and the shock to open before starting the descend and that's it. I think that it's a good thing - I don't remember it feeling harsh or soft or bottoming out - it just seemed to work. Granted I didn't take on the toughest trail, it was a relaxed lap of Expresso but the suspension performed admirably. Landings were smooth, trail chatter was smooth, no arm pump, no lower back fatigue. I look forward to taking it out for multi-lap seymour and cypress days to really get the suspension working.
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