Well the Mamaba is finally together enough to ride it!
The bike was just built up last night and I still have to make a couple changes which ill go ahead and mention before people start commenting
The brake cables will obviously be shortened, the heavy wheel set is being replaced by silver (yummy!) Chris king hubs I am having laced up to mavic 819 rims wrapped in 2.1 UST Kenda Nevegals, the skewers will be silver Salsa's and I need to get a quick release clamp for the seatpost. The cassette has already bee switched to a 990 and I need to shorten the chain a bit. Other than that its good to go
So, I took the bike out for its virgin ride today and man it was nice! I thought it was going to handle sluggish due to the long wheelbase, but really took the twisty stuff better than expected! A very stiff frame with great geometry made it very forgiving and stable but not overall sluggish by any means. The suspension was what I really liked the most though. I am setting this up as a general purpose trail bike and wanted it built on the light side. Weighing a bit over 30 pounds right now I am hoping to be 29 or a hair under once the wheels/tires are swapped for the CK/819's/2.1 Nevegals. The suspension really served its purpose well for this. An EXCELLENT climber and very smooth rear end. While not the very plushest I have ridden, it is the plushest for a suspension that reacts with such authority as this did. Kinda of felt like what I would think of as the tightness of a 4" travel rear suspension, but the travel of a 5". Does not give that bottomless freeride feel, but you also wont get left behind your buddies. Exactly what I wanted and a good match for the 08 Talas RLC. With that said I only got half a good run in due to an issue so Ill update you guys some more when I get a bit more time on the saddle. I also may still need to fool with the suspension a bit to get it dialed in better. For now I love my Chumba :thumbsup:
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The bike was just built up last night and I still have to make a couple changes which ill go ahead and mention before people start commenting
The brake cables will obviously be shortened, the heavy wheel set is being replaced by silver (yummy!) Chris king hubs I am having laced up to mavic 819 rims wrapped in 2.1 UST Kenda Nevegals, the skewers will be silver Salsa's and I need to get a quick release clamp for the seatpost. The cassette has already bee switched to a 990 and I need to shorten the chain a bit. Other than that its good to go So, I took the bike out for its virgin ride today and man it was nice! I thought it was going to handle sluggish due to the long wheelbase, but really took the twisty stuff better than expected! A very stiff frame with great geometry made it very forgiving and stable but not overall sluggish by any means. The suspension was what I really liked the most though. I am setting this up as a general purpose trail bike and wanted it built on the light side. Weighing a bit over 30 pounds right now I am hoping to be 29 or a hair under once the wheels/tires are swapped for the CK/819's/2.1 Nevegals. The suspension really served its purpose well for this. An EXCELLENT climber and very smooth rear end. While not the very plushest I have ridden, it is the plushest for a suspension that reacts with such authority as this did. Kinda of felt like what I would think of as the tightness of a 4" travel rear suspension, but the travel of a 5". Does not give that bottomless freeride feel, but you also wont get left behind your buddies. Exactly what I wanted and a good match for the 08 Talas RLC. With that said I only got half a good run in due to an issue so Ill update you guys some more when I get a bit more time on the saddle. I also may still need to fool with the suspension a bit to get it dialed in better. For now I love my Chumba :thumbsup:
