Since my last blog I have spent a couple more hours on the
Giant XTC 29er. So far I am really happy with it. On Saturday I got out for
about 2½ hours on local trails with Robin from AreUfit and Mark from Beeline
Bikes. After the snow on Thursday night the temperature has hardly dragged its
self above 0 degrees so the snow was still upto 3 inches deep and the backroads
still very icy. This was an ideal test really because the going was tough and
to maintain grip I had to stay seated for long periods to keep weight on the
back wheel. The ground was also frozen solid underneath the snow and was very
bumpy and unforgiving. Pedalling through the snow seems to require extensive
recruitment of back muscles to force the pedals around. You have to attack the
snow and go as fast as you can to try to stay on top of the snow. Once you sink
into the snow it is really momentum and energy sapping and you grind to a halt.
Despite all of this, my back stayed almost completely pain free which is a big
relief. It also speaks volumes about the benefits of the 29 inch wheel concept.
The last time I rode a hardtail I got significant pain very quickly resulting
from hitting bumps in the trail sending impacts through my spine. This might
also be, in part, down to the lay-up of the carbon in the frame improving the
shock damping characteristics of the bike. The other thing you notice in these
conditions is the sheer amount of grip available through both wheels. On
slippery climbs the back wheel stayed glued to the trail without slipping out
and the front wheel gripped tenaciously when braking and turning on compacted
snow. I am also sold on the idea of 2x10 gearing. During this ride I was able
to leave the bike in the big ring for most of the time and had the use of all
10 gears on the back. For racing this means less shifting from big to middle
ring when you are pushing hard and mean I can be on the power more of the time.
The gears on the Giant XTC Composite 29er 0 (the one I am currently testing and
almost certainly the one I am riding for the rest of the season) are a mix of Sram
X9 (cranks, shifters and front deraileur) and Sram X0 (rear derailleur) which
offers a good compromise of price, performance and weight. Although I have a
general rule that more carbon is better, in this situation everything worked
flawlessly so the only downside is the slight lack of ‘bling’!
There are a couple of things I will probably update as soon
as I get my own bike but all relate to the cockpit (so is a very personal
preference and what works for me might not be what the next person). I have
already flipped the stem and removed all of the spacers to get the bars as low
as possible but they still feel higher than I am used to because of the bigger wheels
so I will try a different stem to fix this. The bars are also significantly
wider than I am used to resulting in me frequently underestimating the size of
gap I could fit through. This might cause a few problems at my first race which
is notoriously tight and twisty! I will also change the grips to a pair of foam
grips at the lock-on rubber grips found on this and many other bikes are narrow
and hard and I find them uncomfortable. I will also stick some bar ends on to allow
me another position for my hands to sit in and give me more leverage on the
bars for hard climbing. Other than these minor changes the bike seems to be
ready to ride or race out of the box.
It looks like I have the bike for another week so hopefully
the snow will bugger off and allow me to hit up some more technical trails next
weekend and see how the bike handles that. Team-mate Franck is heading up to
the first round of the Midlands XC this weekend but I will be giving it a miss
in favour of some solid training miles and aiming to make my season debut at
the Gorrick race next Sunday.
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