As I was riding this weekend on the Lev, I found myself thinking about something that had not crossed my mind for a long time. Smaller wheels. I had actually become aware of the bigger hoops as I was riding. Odd, not sure why, but there I was, wondering if the magic was over? I could feel the slight bit of extra resistance when turning. The thought of a Yeti 575 was romancing me, whispering in my ear.
Then I came upon an old friend riding his Cannondale hardtail 26er. If anyone needed a 29er, he does. At 6'5", he looked like he was on his kids bike. Right away he is asking about the 29er thing, how is this and that, etc. So we swapped bikes and turned up an old doubletrack trail. I was immediately struck by how nervous and odd it felt. The first patch of sand I almost fell over trying to ride through it. The front wheel began to dart around and dig in. Everything felt harsh. On the return down the canyon, I felt like I was riding a road bike with 125psi in the tires.
Well, this sucks!
My buddy kept saying how smooth it was and on and on. He is convinced. Me too.
Romance. Who needs it?
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"Please don't let me die."
11 years ago
1 comment:
Yeah, that is interesting. I think it shows up more on hardtails than FS though.
I had a decent Specialized hardtail for years. I used to throw it in the trunk, whip it out at a moments noice to ride anyting interesting that I saw. Well, I ended up giving it to a young aspiring XC racer. I just couldn't accept that ride anymore. Harsh, as you said....nervous.
Well, I still miss that "trunk bike" idea, so I have a line on a 29"er bike dubbed The Big Folder that Don, aka "Shiggy", Person has designed. He says once prototype II is done and passes muster, I'm on the list. Trunk bikes are cool! Just not 26"er ones.
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