Ride Report - Long(ish)
Well, I took the Soma for its first foray off road this morning. I chose a trail that I was very familiar with so that at least I had a gauge from which to go by. Just to give you a heads up, the Blue Mountains just west of Sydney (AU) is basically sandstone. The trail, The Oaks, is pretty well known around these parts and quite popular. Thanks to some rail works, it was fairly quiet as most riders come by train.
The Oaks has a mixture of fire trail and singletrack, and the trail can vary between super rutted and quiet rocky to road-like smooth. It can be fairly sandy but due to some rain a few days before, the sand was nicely packed down. Thank you Mother Nature!
Anyway, after my friend dropped me off near the trailhead, I headed off with a sense of trepidation. I haven't ridden a while due to injury and I was going from a fully suspended 26er to a fully rigid 29er. Although I am feeling okay now, I'm sure that tomorrow morning my shoulders and arms will hate me. Time will tell.
I rode with the idea of "listening" to the bike, sensing how it handles, feels and responds to my input. All I can say is that this bike excels in every aspect. Climbing, descending, tight stuff, open stuff, it was too easy. I was so happy I had a stupid grin from ear to ear afterwards. Having not had any other 29ers to compare it to makes it hard, but compared to my other bikes (FSR XC and DB Axis Pro) it eats them for breakfast.
This bike begs to be ridden fast, especially uphill. I was quite surprised by this although I shouldn't have been considering everything I had read about 29ers. I would have had to use the granny gear on my previous bikes riding this trail but with the Juice, it wasn't required. Acceleration was not a problem. It was probably a shade slower than my old 26ers but barely noticeable. Once up to speed though it was no contest. The Juice kicks butt.
It rolls over objects a lot easier than the other two and compared to the Axis Pro, which had True Temper OXII tubing, the Tange tubing on the Juice feels a lot more compliant, but not flexy in any way (I weigh 95kg/210lbs). It soaks up the corrugations and stutter bumps nicely. Steering is instant of course and it didn't take much to change lines. Totally expected though, considering the KM fork. Not once did I consider that the steering felt 'slow'. Toe overlap did not once enter my mind.
For this ride I used a combination of Exiwolf wire bead up front and an Ignitor out back. This seems like a good combo for me and the type of terrain I am riding on and not once did it feel sketchy. Steering and grip felt very assured. I will need to play with air pressures a bit to find out what suits me best - it was just under 40psi for both tyres - but I'm happy to tinker for a while to find the best pressure.
My only gripe about the bike - and this is really nitpicking and has nothing to do with the frame or fork - is that I would prefer a wider bar. I'm currently using an OEM Specialized bar taken from my old FSR. It's 580mm wide and felt narrow on the bike. I felt I couldn't get the leverage I really wanted during the ride. A bar 600mm or slightly wider would be perfect, so it will be time to start hunting around for something along those lines.
Overall, I am totally stoked I got this bike and I can see it staying with me for some time to come. As for "listening" to the bike, it was music to my ears. I can't wait to get out again and confirm everything I have written here. It fits me great and I'm totally comfy on it and as I get more and more used to the fully rigid set-up I'm sure it will only get better and better to ride. There's no way I could go back to 26ers now.
