![]() The first hardtail to bring the party to wagon wheels is back with a vengeance. But yeah, it works fine for me as it is now.BLEMISH OPTIONS AVAILABLE: Learn More 29" WHEELS // HARDTAIL // 130MM FRONT Though as I pretty much always leave the saddle low, I would have been fine with the integrated seat tube clamp. Eventually I removed from material from the clamp, from the gap so that I could clamp it tighter. The clamp is for aluminium frames which have a thicker wallthickness so this one wouldn't clamp properly in its tightest setting. You can see some blue rim tape under the seat tube clamp. I only had it that high to be able to clamp it in the workstand. The pictures were taken just after I assembled the bike so I'm running different tires and the saddle is a good lot lower than in the picture. Sometimes I'm surprised with what I can get away with, chasing people on full suspension bikes on a trail I don't even know. Yeah, for me it is perfect! Cornering is easy enough (the low top tube gives me lots of room to tilt the bike even with the cranks level, which was my requirement for dropping that top tube this amount) and at higher speeds it is just point and go. I have to add I'm running 26" wheels and their wheels were bigger, could have been a factor too. I don't care too much about the pedaling efficiency but I do care about pumping the bike. But it got me wondering, do full suspension bikes respond worse to pumping than hardtail bikes do? If so, then that could be a huge advantage of hardtails. I don't question their skill though of course they may not have same urge to pump the bike over the terrain. Silly enough, last weekend I noticed that when rolling with others on full suspension bikes (Starling, Santa Cruz, Cannondale) I was going the same pace gently pumping and coasting whilst they were pedaling. And then you're dealing with recurring costs of the shock, bearings etc.īut yeah I get that rear suspension does have some advantages that a hardtail lacks so it may all be worth it. Which a couple of years later, they have a better version of. A big part of the money goes into the development of the suspension design. A full suspension bike on the other hand. It doesn't go creaky (or at least nothing frame specific) so yeah it seems like a good investment. ![]() Heck, I can't imagine ever parting with it. If one just a tad better makes you happier, why not? I paid a bit more for custom geometry, my favorite color, I see no reason to keep it for well over a decade. Hardtails are quite versatile so (depending on how many other bikes you have obviously) you can end up riding them loads. One additional step I took was using Frame Saver to coat the frame internally. If Chromag showed up with a good susser, I'd probably buy it tomorrow to have a two bike quiver again, but for now I'm so happy with my Rootdown, I won't consider adding another bike. After years of riding Gary Fishers and Treks, which have all been great bikes, but common, I like being there on something different. Its nice to be at the trailhead with a bike that no one else has for once. To be fair I've only delt with Ian or Seb at Chromag, but those guys have been super easy to get ahold of and have taken great care of me. Ian at Chromag didn't have any issues with me adding additional bottle bosses on the seat tube, and said he wouldn't argue a warranty claim as long as the frame didn't fail at the new bosses. External routing and full length housings make it a snap to work on. I thought it'd be a system shock to go from carbon back to steel, but honestly the bike rides so nice that I don't miss the extra stiffness of the carbon. ![]() I tend to run a little less sag then is usually recommend, so it probably feels pretty similar to the 160 fork at race sag.īike is stiff and feels great. I'm using a MRP Ribbon set to 150mm, which is in the middle of the 140-160 suggested fork range. I'm using a 50mm stem with 765mm bars and with my longish torso/arms for my height it works really well. Of course any more dropper would be useless since my seat is basically on the post clamp when it's down all the way. The seat tube is longish (47cm to the top) and with a 29" inseam (I got stubby legs) my 150 dropper is only sitting about 20mm above the collar, so unless I got a dropper with a smaller top seal head, I'm limited to the 150mm.
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