The next good test of the SJ 29er was at the Blue Hills Toys Ride. As has been strangley traditional(coincidental?), almost every year happens to be a snow-ride. Rain the day before turned to snow overnight and the 3-4" powder on the trail was just the right consistency for traction. The wet stuff underneath didn't have a chance to ice up. Perfect!
I brought the bike over in the Jeep, with the rear bench seat down and the front wheel off the bike. I inserted a disc-brake wedge in the caliper so I wouldn't have to worry about accidentally squeezing the lever and all that.....
Specialized has this new axle/QR system that I was unfamiliar with, but I was able to figure it out on the spot and get the wheel off and back on just as easily as the old-school QR.. the only thing I miss is the little springs that center the QR on my old wheels, but my guess is there's a good reason for leaving them out of the new design. The fast guys that I met in the parking lot were chomping at the bit to get going, so I had to catch up with them, but had no trouble with that. The crew was a good eclectic mix of older riders on an equally eclectic quivver of Titanium, steel, and aluminum hardtails, and lightweight fullies.
We had a good romp in and around Tucker Hill, only about 40 minutes of riding, but enough to get a feel for the bike, and the snow. The bike really picks up quick when I want it to. I still miss my sus. seatpost, so that will be the next ride. But the stock post/seat didn't cause me any pain later in the day...
The bike climbs as good and better than most 26" hardtails. Downhills I will have to report on drier trails, as I was very tentative, not wanting to re-injure my wrist or anything else. And most of the downhill shots were fairly tech, which I usually shy away from anyways. We cruised back to the VC in style and prepared for the next ride...
The next ride was with the middleschool bike club. I led them around a mostly doubletrack 8-mile loop. Gotta love those disc brakes! Every other snow ride I have ever been on I've had to deal with v's or canti's and the fact that neither work in snow slush and ice.
This ride was a slower pace based on safety and the fact that some of the adults on the ride weren't as experienced, so we took our time. I had a few chances to drag it up to speed, but one thing I noticed was that it felt like I was hydroplaning anytime I really hit the gas. One downhill shot on a very familiar trail I almost careened out of control, but the bike magically righted itself just as I thought I was done. The stronger gyroscopicity of the bigger wheels, perhaps? My theory is that the stock Specialized tires, being kinda minimally knobbed, fill up with snow and, at speed, considering the stickyness of that particular snow, didn't shed quickly enough to keep any traction. At slower speeds, no problem, with the psi of the tubeless setup at around 25. I still would try a slightly wider, knobbier version.
The ghost-shifting to granny was still an issue. Maybe my thumb's too big...
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