Kristy's 29er

Kristy ordered an On One Inbred 29er last week, and it arrived on Monday. We assembled it on Monday night, and Kristy has ridden it a couple times this week. Today I rode my On One 26er...basically the same bike with smaller wheels. Both are single speeds, steel frames, with no suspension. The 29er has a slightly higher bottom bracket, but the flat bars are about the same height as my riser bars.

Kristy even let me ride it towards the end of the dirt section. I've been wanting to try a 29 inch wheeled bike for quite some time now. I was going to try to be very careful during my first test ride, and note any subtle differences in the way the bikes handled. I thought I may even have to ride a section a couple times to notice something.

I ended up being surprised instantly though. The bigger wheels rolled over stuff much easier. Little bumps and rocks seemed to disappear. I still felt the larger impacts of course, since it has a rigid fork. Conversely, Kristy said my bike felt like a pinball...bouncing off every little thing in the trail. Kristy will be riding her Stump Jumper with some friends in Reno tomorrow, and has agreed to let me test ride the 29er some more. I can't wait!

Going Single!

I have wanted a single speed for a while now, but would I be strong enough to ride it? That has been the big question on my mind, so I decided to try out Jeff's bike first. So yesterday, we switched bikes. I rode the Inbred and Jeff rode my Stumpy. After we adjusted seat heights we were off. Other than the Inbred being a bit long, it was a nice fit. We did the RR Grade, an easier ride, perfect for my trial. We headed through town towards the bike path when Sandie asked me, "how do you like it?" At this point it was great, I was able to keep up with the group and felt comfortable pedaling. I was still apprehensive because the true test would be on the climbs.

On the RR Grade I was surprised to find that it was a little easier pedaling up the hills, as long as I charged them with a little speed. The front of the bike felt so much lighter than my mountain bike. This bike just wanted to fly up them. It was kind of exhilarating! I didn't realize how much difference a couple of pounds make on a climb. Felt like I was on my road bike, kinda sorta. I also found that I needed to balance a bit more, to get my momentum going on steeper sections of the trail. Usually, I would just down shift but that wasn't an option. I did miss my suspension a little bit on rocky sections, however I don't know that I would want to add any weight on the front. I really liked the front light. I even climbed a couple of hills, that I rarely make on my Stumpy. Amy and I had so much fun we decided to do the route again, as the rest of the lunch bunch went back to the office. We also ran into Kathy and Mike while on the ride, it was good to see them!

I had a blast! I can't wait to get my own.