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Berry Sampled Dirt

Posted by Patty Fri, 28 Sep 2007 04:19:00 GMT

Actually, Berry sampled Bikes at the Dirt Demo at Interbike. Here’s his cool report:

On Tuesday I rode the Dirt Demo at InterBike, actually out at Bootleg Canyon. Great weather, not too hot. Plenty of bikes, trails & other entertaining riders.

My main goal was to ride the three main 29rs I was interested in to compare them, & also ride whatever else Charles wanted me to, or was available.

I went for the Specialized Stumpy 29r first, as I felt that would make a good baseline; I was familiar with that suspension & ride quality.

The Stumpjumper FSR 29 was shod with the new The Captain 2.0 tires, which will more or less replace the Resolution in their tire mix. It rode well and hooked up in the dry, rocky conditions just fine. The bike was very good, my first time on a 29er, & I liked it almost immediately.

It had a Rock Shox Reba up front, which I liked alot, which suprised me. I’ve been a fan of coil and/or Fox for a long time, so liking an air sprung Rock Shox is something new. I wouldn’t hesitate to spec it on a 29er of my own.

The 29ers I rode were all very stable. They roll over bumps of all sizes noticably better than a 26”. I have a poor sense of balance & get “twitchy” at low speeds—the 29ers compensated & made for a smoother ride for me. 29ers are made for G-outs, WOW! You can roll them faster, with more confidence than with a standard wheel/tire.

Next up was the Turner Sultan, my primary objective & potential front runner for my own quiver. I schmoozed with Jarett, the sales manager at Turner, & he spent a little more time on the suspension set up than I got with the Specialized.

The Sultan also had a Rock Shox Reba up front, RP23 rear. Plus it had the Nevegal 2.2 tires front & rear, which REALLY hooked up. On that bike with those tires & felt I could ride anything, easily. The bike ROCKED! For me, it was better than the Specialized, though not by a large margin. I think the tires & suspension set up made most of the difference in the perceived ride quality. Both are clearly good bikes.

Next up was the Niner Bikes R.I.P. 9, well regarded in the MTBR 29er shoot out. It also rode well, this time with a Manitou Minute up front, which I also liked. The bike was shod with a knock off of the Nevegal, not sure of make/model. The R.I.P. 9 had all the great ride characteristics of the previuos two, with the added benefit of being more affordable.

I went into this biased towards the Turner & that didn’t change. Realistically they were all very good bikes & with same components & careful suspension set up, they would all ride very well; the differences were minor. The R.I.P. 9 is the best value, the Turner is the most expensive (and the best looking to me with the bronze powder coat), and Specialized nails it in between.

I also rode an Ibis Mojo, one of the finest rides I’ve ever had. Either the suspension just happened to be perfectly dialed for my preferences or the bike rides better than almost any other I’ve ever been on. Sooooooo smooth! I had to think about it to be aware of the suspension working; most of the time the bike floated under me like a magic carpet sucking up the trail & letting me just enjoy it all. Very impressive!

Ibis reports the frame and rear shock weighs a mere 4.93 pounds, and the bike can be built up at less than 22 pounds, with a crazy 5.5 inches of rear travel.

One overall take-home lesson for me was to be remined how much I hate trigger shifters! My bikes at home are all equipped with twist shifters.

All the bikes came with either XTR or X9 triggers; I found the X9s to work more positively & reliably. The XTR wouldn’t always give me the third cog on a shift; the lever would not engage the teeth every time at the end of the stroke. This happened on at least two bikes.

As Charles reminded me, the XTR had a lighter touch, but that didn’t make up for its disappointing response to my inputs. The X9 gave me what I was expecting each & every shift, and costs a fraction of the XTR.

I also rode an ASR by Yeti, a 24# short-travel cross country race bike. The one I was on had issues. It was too small for me & it was my 6th bike of the day. I was tired. All that & it was the only short travel bike I rode that day, or in the last year, so my experience was not so good.

I will try to write more later on things I saw or learned at the trade show.

Berry