Went for a little ride yesterday. Parked low, I really struggled climbing up to the top of Quantocks.
However the bike was awesome, its light, chuckable, climbs really well and i've got more grip - places where my hard tail would spin I found a breeze, and it has better traction through the gloopy stuff too.
I did a fairly short 7 mile loop in the end with a few sections of fun n fast riding. On the fastest section someone just let their dog stand in the middle and did nothing, however without that i'd have probably pushed my limits. This thing is fast, scarily so, and its fun.
Also found a jet wash on the way home, £1 I can get the majority of the gunk off before a final clean / relube at home.
I do have a full size workshop stand, but I just bought a little £6 one for use next time when cleaning, so I can spin the chain and run a brush against it and not soak the garden chairs everytime I go out! I used a citrus degreaser to clean the chain and cassette, and relubed with a proper bike oil!
Aside from getting my own fitness up to where I'll enjoy the bike more, the only thing I have to do is tweak the gearing as its not too hot up around the biggest cog at the back when using the granny ring (vendor had mentioned this, I just didn't do it). I haven't touched the shocks yet as the guy roughly weighed what I do. However looks like theres a bit of room to let some out.
On with the pictures!
Some shots just before loading onto the car.
new clamp and seat from my hard tail
having a rest part way up hodders combe
at the ruined cairn on higher hare knap (followed by the super fast descent back down to hodders combe car park mentioned above)
back at the car