Monday, April 19, 2010

Getting Familiar With the Bike

Able to do a longer ride on the new (to me) bike this morning. My impressions continue to be very positive. It is a little heavy, but the trade-off is it's bombproof. Strangely though, despite the weight this bike is incredibly nimble and maneuverable, more than any other mountain bike I have ever ridden. I think this is due in large part to the downward sloping top tube, making it easier to sway the bike around. With that comes a lot of confidence on technical sections where it's easy to move around rocks and roots, or simply launch off of them (big fun).

As I mentioned yesterday, the bike came with platform pedals. I thought this was odd at first, but I did some research and found that platforms are pretty common on freeride bikes. Big advantage obviously is not being trapped to the pedals and in one instance today, as the bike slid sideways on loose gravel I was able to quickly put my foot down I knew that was a plus. Had I been clipped or strapped in I would have definitely tumbled over sideways since it happened so fast. However, another time I launched off the edge of a bridge that had about a foot drop and as I landed, my foot came off. Thankfully, my shin was spared. So, advantages and disadvantages to both, but I may invest in some hybrid clipless/platform pedals so I can do both.

Foot continues to improve. The biking isn't aggravating it whatsoever, and I think my return to running date of June 1st might be a bit conservative, thankfully. May try a short run in mid-May but will play things by ear. Just glad I can at least bike until then.

Mt. biked 13.3 miles @ 8.9 mph/avg (21.9 mph/max)
Technical trails and fire roads.
Very hilly.
Upper 40s to mid 50s, partly cloudy.
Shorts, windbreaker (shed after four miles), long sleeved shirt.

1 comment:

middle.professor said...

The sloping top tube is to allow a really low seat, which is not so comfy for xc riding but can save the family jewels while jumping. As for pedals, clipless v. platform depends on what you want to do with the bike. If you're going to do much xc, clipless are really, really beautiful. There will be climbs that you simply won't get up without them. If your going to be bunny hopping on top of Triffit's car, platforms are good.