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About two weeks ago I picked up a monocog flight off from ebay and I finally got a real ride on it today. Of course, because I am a brilliant planner, I haven't trued or replaced the bearings on the 650b wheelset this bike was destined for, so I ran the 26" wheels, which I haven't ridden in a year or two, and it came with a suspension fork, which I haven't used in years (excluding trips to AZ and CO and those weren't bikes dialed in the way I like to roll).
The ride was pretty fun. For the most part, I didn't notice much about the wheelsize- I did miss some rollover on some tech sections and once the back wheel simply stopped on what was a rut. The worst thing for me with the 26" hoops was the over the bar sensation on steep slopes. Overall the bike feels tiny with the little wheels, but it went away pretty quick on the trail.
The fork, a Manitou R7, was really great. On lockout I thought it did the ~2k fireroad climb almost as well as my rigid fork. Downhill, it spoiled me. I'm really used to picking lines constantly and after the first mile of downhill, I got lazy and just plowed through roots, rocks, whatever. Still, it didn't make me that much faster because the top speed is really limited to sight lines and I don't have the trail even close to memorized.
However, once the singletrack became more rolling, the fork began to irritate. When I stand up to clear uphill obstacles or climb, the bike bobs in the front when I don't have the opportunity to reach down for the lockout. I think I'm faster on the twisty rollers with a rigid fork.
I'll need to figure out when to use the suspension fork and when to use rigid. I'll have both dialed in with their own brake, so swapping won't take but a minute.
So I'm really stoked about the bike. The Monocog Flight is really beautiful and it is giving me problems I wasn't expecting- I don't want to break it. Or scratch it. Hopefully I can put a dent in it tomorrow.
The ride was pretty fun. For the most part, I didn't notice much about the wheelsize- I did miss some rollover on some tech sections and once the back wheel simply stopped on what was a rut. The worst thing for me with the 26" hoops was the over the bar sensation on steep slopes. Overall the bike feels tiny with the little wheels, but it went away pretty quick on the trail.
The fork, a Manitou R7, was really great. On lockout I thought it did the ~2k fireroad climb almost as well as my rigid fork. Downhill, it spoiled me. I'm really used to picking lines constantly and after the first mile of downhill, I got lazy and just plowed through roots, rocks, whatever. Still, it didn't make me that much faster because the top speed is really limited to sight lines and I don't have the trail even close to memorized.
However, once the singletrack became more rolling, the fork began to irritate. When I stand up to clear uphill obstacles or climb, the bike bobs in the front when I don't have the opportunity to reach down for the lockout. I think I'm faster on the twisty rollers with a rigid fork.
I'll need to figure out when to use the suspension fork and when to use rigid. I'll have both dialed in with their own brake, so swapping won't take but a minute.
So I'm really stoked about the bike. The Monocog Flight is really beautiful and it is giving me problems I wasn't expecting- I don't want to break it. Or scratch it. Hopefully I can put a dent in it tomorrow.
