In other bike news, I thought I'd go back a while and report on the bikes I rode out at the dirt demo during Interbike.
The first bike I rode was a Santa Cruz Blur LTC. I went out wanting to ride some carbon 29ers, hardtail or full suspension made no difference to me. It's been fun- as I've been riding mountain bikes more and more, I've gotten better at noticing the differences between things- tires, wheel size, braking, etc. I'm not great at it, but I've come a long way from a few years ago when I first started.
I'm not good enough that I could really give you guys a great review of things (if you want that, go here), but I can report on what I rode and make y'all green with jealousy.
Here's me doing awesome things with the Blur LTC. To be honest, when I first rode up on this drop I put on the brakes and was like 'Uh UH.' After looking it over, though, it wasn't so scary. (I made Cale go first with the camera, and he took this cool photo).
I got a 26" because the 29er Tall Boy wasn't available. I really liked it, and it seemed stable over most rocks. I think if I were riding in the Midwest over a lot of rocks and roots I would have noticed the difference in wheel size more. I liked how zippy it felt.
Oh! I almost forgot- at the Fizik tent they let me borrow a saddle from their display, their new women's saddle, the Fizik Vesta. Very nice. It seems to be a lot like the Vitesse, except there's a cutout. I'd have to try it out for a twelve hour race or something, but it could be a winner. I haven't found my perfect saddle yet, but this one could be it.
Since we were out in the desert and it was windy and gritty, most of the brakes sounded awful, and some didn't perform so well. Here, a Trek guy explains about brakes. I'm sorry, could you point out that piston in the caliper again?
On the second day, I finally got my hands on a TallBoy, after waiting for about 45 minutes to get it. I enjoyed the bike, but after waiting for so long (my choice, and not Santa Cruz's fault) I was in a bad mood. That, and the 100 degree weather couldn't have helped. Nevertheless, here's a picture of me looking happy.
I rode a couple of Cale's bikes as well, a Gary Fisher and a Raleigh with XX (which he was dying to try). Cale really liked the Fisher. When I tried it, I found it kind of uncomfortable- we like different riding positions, and that bike was set up particularly well for him. I like to be stretched out a little, he likes to be more upright. That said, the Fisher climbed wonderfully.
Well, that's about all there is to report about dirt demo. Interesting fact: I sucked down as much water as I could all day, and yet when we got back to the hotel each night, I had lost about six pounds. Yikes. I can't imagine doing a race or endurance event out there.
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