Nice. We'll see what the future brings. I don't want to sink any money into it really...put 16 miles on it already though and nabbed a KOM I created 2 years ago (only 17 people have done it)...but that felt good.
I view riding this mtb on the trail as a way to really grind lower cadence and get my muscles stronger...I'm pretty much always in a gear or two lower than where one would normally be.
So far I've been on the stock saddle (just too narrow for how cushy it is). But I can tell it's just not fitting me, I get that pressure feeling in the middle -- I ride a 155 Romin or a 143 Toupe. I put my 143 Toupe on so next time I take it out we'll see how that goes.
I have an old 155 Targa I can fall back on if the more upright position doesn't lend itself to the Toupe feeling nice. I already feel weird having a lightweight racing saddle on it that was not too much less than the bike itself lol. -- I did bring my spare tube.
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At first I considered the Crave and the Rockhopper, then checked out a Felt in 27.5, but something about the 29ers just looks/feels right and so I took this for a spin and loved it. It's set up is similar to my old Cannondale mtb.
It was nice hitting the path and not worrying about what I was running over.
A lot of people fault this Hardrock's front fork but I absolutely love it. I just pull up the slightest and can climb up onto 8" tall object just from un-weighting the front suspension. I've got my preload set to pretty much the exact middle.
The derailleurs seem solid and shift smooth -- a lot of people complained about jumping in some of the reviews I read, but I think they're shifting under heavy load or something because I was honestly surprised at how crisp the shifting was. Ultegra will feel like crap if you don't know what you're doing. You can really rail this thing hard and it feels agile and quick for a 33 (34?) pound beast.
Anyway, here's an updated pick (non drive side)...with new saddle...and the fit pretty much dialed in. The saddle may need to come up 1cm (maybe back 1cm), not sure yet since I think this toupe feels a tad lower than the stock one at the end of the day. We'll see.
I know what I should do -- buy a new black Rib Cage II -- because my Roubaix is stuck having 2 red Rib Cage I's for the time being...And get a new mini pump, and put my old one from my road bike on here. If I got a flat today I was going to have to wait for someone with a pump...or walk back.