Rain again on Friday and Saturday left no choice but to head to the
Pinelands. Not what I wanted for baby's first steps, but in spite of
the 2" of rain the trails were dry and hard.
It was just three of us who showed up. I guess everyone else spent the
day in. It was a little chilly but otherwise sunny when we started out.
I honestly didn't know what to expect from the new ride. Would it
handle as nimble as the 1FG? The first thing I noticed was that I felt
higher. I must of been because one of the low branches I usually go
right under hit my camelback. No big deal, but the extra 3" on the
wheel definitely have an effect. The second thing that got me was that
the bottom bracket seems a little lower than on my other bike. Just
means I have to remember to keep the pedals in the middle when coasting.
As for speed, the baby is fast. You do cover more ground with each
tire rotation and you know it. The biggest surprise was the handling.
Can I still move as fast through the tight twisty singletrack without
wrapping myself around a tree. I had an equal number of people tell me
that handling would suffer on a 29er as those who said I would not
notice. I actually thought it was a little quicker and stiffer in the
turns. Probably because the roots were no match for those behemoth tires.
The one thing that kind of disappointed me were the two 1 1/2 foot drops
we go over on this trail. I really like flying off them on the 26er. I
wasn't going any slower, but the drops were almost unnoticeable. I
guess I'll have to find bigger drops!
I really enjoy the singlespeed thing and I think that the 29er has a
place in it. I think it will really shine on more technically
challenging trails (if it ever stops raining).
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