The three of us biked, hiked and horsed around among the red rocks and desert plants. It's amazing to think this is the first time we rented a solo bike for E - he's so comfortable riding this strange terrain. The best example of this is the two pics of E and I riding into the same trench. I did it nervously at first, then he worked up to flying down into it, better than I could! In the long run, I'm in for trouble keeping up.
E was also interested in caves, climbing into any he could find.
I was able to try a SC Heckler, Kona Coil-Air and a Motolite. This was a good opportunity to try alternatives to my own bike, but I couldn't spend much time tuning them beyond saddle position. The Heckler felt the best, probably because it's most like my own Superlite, including a RockShox fork with lockout. The Motolite was probably the lightest of the set (including carbon seatstays), but the day I rode it we had thick, very fine dust on the trails, making everything slippery. The Kona ate up the descents very smoothly, but I pushed each bike up some climbs and the Kona earned the nickname "big pig" with its weight.
E was also interested in caves, climbing into any he could find.
I was able to try a SC Heckler, Kona Coil-Air and a Motolite. This was a good opportunity to try alternatives to my own bike, but I couldn't spend much time tuning them beyond saddle position. The Heckler felt the best, probably because it's most like my own Superlite, including a RockShox fork with lockout. The Motolite was probably the lightest of the set (including carbon seatstays), but the day I rode it we had thick, very fine dust on the trails, making everything slippery. The Kona ate up the descents very smoothly, but I pushed each bike up some climbs and the Kona earned the nickname "big pig" with its weight.
At the PR after we returned, I really enjoyed being back on my own bike. I am experimenting with slightly lower rear shock pressure to smooth my bike, a little like the rentals.
No comments:
Post a Comment