I took my new bike out for it's maiden ride at Madrone Trail this morning and here are some of my observations, since I've never ridden a full suspension bike before today:
- I need to lose weight. The bottom bracket clearance is listed at 13 inches. When my 230lbs of voluptuous man flesh is sitting on it, the clearance is considerably less.
- The geometry of this bike is very different from my hard tail. The wheelbase is longer to begin with; when I sit on the bike, it stretches even more.
- Because the wheelbase is longer, my center of gravity is different, so my climbing ability was adversely affected because the front wheel kept lifting off the trail on climbs.
- After about an hour, I changed the front fork and rear shock settings to give me a firmer ride (less bouncy). Although I felt less like a low-rider, the front would still lift somewhat on climbs.
- If your technical riding skills are limited, this bike won't help you overnight. Maybe eventually, but not overnight. Although I am not an expert rider, if I was less experienced, I could have gotten into serious trouble because this bike is FAST on downhills. At one point, I was feathering the brakes on a downhill and the front wheel came up a bit, causing me to drift and slam by head and shoulder into a tree. My shoulder is a little sore, but it could have been much worse.
Overall, I think I'm going to LOVE this bike; I just need to get used to riding it and change my riding style to better utilize its strengths.
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