Pint-Sized Gnar Shredder
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: Somewhere between heaven and hell
Posts: 3,549
Bikes: '09 Jamis Komodo, '09 Mirraco Blend One, '08 Cervelo P2C, '08 Specialized Ruby Elite, '07 Yeti AS-R SL, '07 DMR Drone
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Don't get too brand exclusive based on your road bikes. I have a Specialized Ruby road bike and figured that meant the Specialized Safire mountain bike would be a good fit. On paper, it looked perfect. In practice, it was the most awkward bike ever. It looked like it fit, and it was okay if I was riding in a straight line on the street, but as soon as I tried doing anything fun with it (and that's the limited fun you can have in a parking lot test ride too...I didn't even bother finding out if I could demo one), it felt freakin' weird. Basically, I didn't like how it felt as soon as I moved out of a neutral position. Don't take that to mean that all Specialized Safires are trash though...just trash for my body proportions, I guess.
The trails are too hot to ride in the early morning and in the evening too? I would think trails would be better than the road because of shade (unless they're completely exposed). I prefer mountain biking in the summer...but then again, I've never ridden SoCal (or anywhere quite that far south).