gothandy

Had a rest day on Saturday (Day 3), which was nice.

The aim of this ride was to try and push the Tallboy to the limits of what you’d expect from a 100mm FS XC/Marathon bike. I was considering doing Afan W2 but in hindsight this route definitely pushed my limits (if not the bikes). I’m pretty confident the Tallboy will fly around any of the South Wales man made trails.

The ride did not start well.

I realised too late on Saturday that I was running very low on rubber glue. This made me a little nervous, especially on a long solo ride, as I didn’t have a spare 29’’ tube, and my only real solution was to patch up the tubes in the case of punctures. Within the first half an hour a thorn in my rear tyre, meant I could test my theory that you I could use my 26’’ tube in an emergency. It worked fine and the 26’’ tube did the job for the rest of the ride.

Rather than follow the same route I’d done a few times before with mates, I decided to be a little adventurous and keep off road, where before we’d take a link road. This did not pay off and I needed to retrace my tyre tracks a couple of times.

So before I really got started I wasn’t getting in any kind of good rhythm, walking over rock sections my 5 year old lad could be riding, picking bad lines etc. etc. Then to make matters worse I hit the hike a bike section up Y Das. So now one and a half hours into a ride I was hoping to finishing in 3 hours (certainly less than 3.5 hours) and not enjoyed much of it, except the first set of climbs and bits of the single track.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/38354777

Thankfully things got a lot better once I was on top, and heading towards the reservoir. I was finding the 29’’ wheels let me pick a new kind of line where I could skim across the top of the larger rocks.  Who’d have thought those extra 3’’ would make that much difference. Also the VPP meant I could just keep on peddling through it all, must be averaging a good 18 mph over what was a much rougher track than I remembered. I also started playing with saddle adjustment which helped.

After the Grwyne Fawr Reservoir, came the fire road not surprisingly the Tallboy raced up this without incident. Again I went off route and hooked up with the single track on the ridge, this was a good move as this was easily one of the most enjoyable sections.

As the single track section got steeper I really felt the need for getting the saddle down, I really don’t suffer too much on my 26’’ Large bike as it is pretty easy to get my arse over the back, but being planted “in” the 29’’ wheels it was the first time I started to yearn for a adjustable seat post.

Now the final bit of road, before the climb, must admit to really looking forward to this part of the ride. The tallboy didn’t disappoint, and despite having to put my foot down once, on the hard left hand turn, I did feel like “next time” I’d clear it.

Now the final decent, and here I started to doubt the 100mm travel option, mind you this is the same decent when a few years earlier I saw a mate totally trash his original Spesh Enduro, so it might be a little unfair to judge the Tallboy so harshly. But this section did leave me wondering if I should consider 120mm fork and a adjustable seat post, but putting these on this bike … well it just seems a bit wrong.

http://twentynineinches.com/2010/02/25/santa-cruz-tall-boy-final-review-what-others-have-to-say/

Following the fettling on Day 1, Day 2 would be about riding as far as possible. Downside being a did need to spend a full day at work. So decide to string together a 22 mile commute route.

Things I expected to be good and were

• Climbing up the rough stuff … the VPP is just amazing … the stiffness on the backend means every ounce of effort goes into the up.
• Rolling along single track was as good as I’d hoped.
• Cruising along is great feels so fast.
• The lock out was very useful on road sections but didn’t feel the need to use it anywhere else.
• Main thing was how I felt so much less fatigued than if I was using either my hard tail or trail bike. I only really noticed this well into the ride.

… and of course some negatives

• Avid Elixir make a horrid high pitched squealing noise after a minute or two of not using them. Means constantly touching the front brake to stop it.
• I’m usually more than happy with an XT drive train, but the one on this demo bike isn’t right, gears a skipping. It’s also annoying the back derailleur is the wrong way round.
• Tyre choice is a challenge on the rocky corners, and so thin they are prone to thorn punctures. Had one already and no spare 29’’ inner tube so had to go old school and batch.

… and some things that I hadn’t expected to be good

• Doing the bomb holes up in the woods at Lansdown, the 29’’ wheels really rolled well, felt like I could easily pump them, much fun.
• Some of the downhill’s (especially the long one down the back of Lansdown) felt better on the 100mm 29er than the 140mm Cannondale.

At one stage of the ride, I was peddling in a big gear up a slight incline along a single track bridleway with trees either side of me. When a large bird of prey swooped into the tunnel made by the trees. I put in a little extra effort so I could match its speed. While following the bird I couldn’t help by compare the large wingspan effortlessly gliding along the trail, to my large wheeled bike doing the same.

I had another emotionally charged moment, when peddling hard through corner after corner, pushing hard, feeling so inside the bike. If I can regularly repeat that fleeting experience this bike will be worth every penny.

By the end of the ride I was getting pretty low on energy, having not brought along enough food but even though I was feeling rough the bike just kept flying along. It really gives me the confidence to tackle some big challenges.

Things I thought were good

• Grease nipples under the bottom bracket where it counts most.
• The cable routing looks really neat and has another set of lugs for a adjustable seat post.
• The raw carbon black is very nice.
• The shape of the frame is (in my mind at least) very pretty.
• The way the VPP rolls up and forward.
• The lock outs on the front and rear shock worked well (and well together).

Things I was not so keen on

• The narrow Easton XC carbon handlebars (but suspect most people will find these wide)
• The tyre tread on the block 8, luck it is so dry and dusty right now. Also found them prone to punctures later on.
• Initially at least the 70mm steam seemed a bit short (now not so sure as I ride it more).