Rode a 5-spot last weekend..

I was up in Tahoe and rented a 5-Spot to ride on the Flume Trail.. I have a Blur (xl) with a Fox 100rlc at home so here are my thoughts:

5 Spot - Romic ; Fox Vanilla RL

You never know if things are set up right, but the mechanic swore the 5 Spot was set up for a big guy. (230 lbs+)

The Flume trail has a five-mile double track climb up (+- 1000 feet) from the trailhead before starting the single track. The 5 Spot did not climb like the Blur. I spin reasonably smoothly, but it felt like Bob was sitting on my sholders the whole way up. When I needed to stretch and stand up, I thought someone had put a trampoline beneath my bike.

When the trail turned to level single track, and gravity stopped attacking, the 5 Spot felt better, but it lacked the crisp handling of the Blur. To me it still felt less efficient transferring pedal strokes to forward motion.

On the final section, the trail gives back some of the potential energy stored on the climb up. The 5 Spot finally came alive. The longer travel became useful, and the slower steering showed more merit, and it was finally fun. The 5 Spot launched off the water bars and landed sure footedly. Compared to the Blur, it was plusher and slightly more stable in the loose nasty stuff.

Overall:

Climbing (Double track) - Advantage Blur
Rolling single track - Advantage Blur
Loose Downhill Section - Advantage 5 Spot.

I was will not be selling my Blur and buying a 5 Spot anytime soon…