Another Aussie Ventana

This ElFuego landed Downunder about a month ago:thumbsup:
Frame; 18inch with 3.5inches of travel
Forks; Manitou R7 Platinum SPV
Shock; Manitou Stype SPV
Brakes; Formula Oro K24
Driveline; SRAM X9
Wheels; DTSwiss 4.1 with 240 hubs.
Tyres; Maxxis Crossmark
The bike is owned by a friend of mine but I managed to take it for an extended ride yesterday around my favourite trails, I'd say aggresive XC, Gap Creek, Brisbane.
Well what can I say, it's one hell of a bike. My usual ride is a XC hardtail with the same front fork, R7 Platinum.
Obviously I found it better at decending rough trails, dual suspension and hydro brakes help there, it was it's ability in twisty single track and pinch climbing where it most impressed. I've never had a bike cranked over so much or get in and out of corners so fast.Crank the pedals on pinch climbs in or out of the saddle was just so solid and it's ability to get me out of trouble was amazing. Keeping the power down over rough terrain and powering out of corners compared to a hardtail was fantastic.
Only one complaint, rear grip under brakes, but that may have been me not used to Hydros'.
I can diffinately recommend one of these to a XC club racer who's got a few dollar to spend, and go with the Manitou SPV system if you don't want to mess around with handle bar lockouts every time you want to accellerate. Me, I'm just going to have to wait until next years tax rebate, I'm not sure if I can borrow this one too often.