Saturday: 16ish mile ride. Good first leg to stretch out the legs and then lots of up/down/technical riding with a few creek crossings and steep switchbacks, followed by a sweeping descent that begs for little braking.
The bike felt great! The TM is a stronger climber than the X-6 was (with the fork at any length). The front end was easier to keep on the ground, especially around uphill switchbacks. On the way down, the rear end felt very smooth, this was running both 5 clicks of compression and 0 clicks compression on the PUSH'd shock. (FWIW, PUSH removes the PP functionality - it is hard-wired based on rider weight/style. The PP lever then becomes a straight compression dampening function.). The performance of the shock is in line with what you expect from PUSH - it felt snappy on acceleration on the flats with minimal compression dampening, but wallowed a bit on the steeper stuff. Then again, I wouldn't sacrifice an active rear suspension for anything, so the bit of wallow is completely acceptable. The geometry is definitely a bit more drop-friendly; it took almost no body english to get the front end up while approaching ledges, just a slight tug. I didn't notice the longer wheelbase. Standover was fine (although close - but the wife says that it can only save us money on a vasectomy). BB height was noticeably lower (both in feeling just a bit lower and a couple pedal strikes in sections that I hadn't had before).
I did start to cramp a little early on in this ride (been off the bike for a bit and didn't bring electrolytes), but made it back to the car without becoming a writhing heap of flesh on the trail.
Sunday: 7ish mile hilly ride.
I was toast from Saturday - it had been a month off the bike and I didn't feel it until about mile 3 of this ride! I was messing with the compression settings on the Lyrik and it cost me a climb...and a subsequent fall (I made it up the ledge, but got stymied by a rock on there and rocked back as a result of too much compression dampening...well, rocked back and fell to the downhill side of the hill). The bike came out a-ok. So did I.
I made a couple of climbs that I used to not make consistently, so this is in line with the better climbing stance. Dropped a couple of things I usually roll, so that felt nice too! Still getting that lyrik dialed, mainly b/c the low speed compression dictates the range of high speed settings.
All in all, I am stoked to have the new build. I was pleasantly surprised that my first complete build went so well, I got it all put together in about 4 hours and everything functioned correctly, save a squeak in the front brake. Nothing is more confidence inspiring than knowing that all of the parts are installed and functioning correctly! If there is a weight difference b/t this and the X (all of the parts transferred over), then I don't know it and didn't notice it on the trail.
There will be none of that...red bling is left over from the last build and will disappear over time.
