Well I took it out for a bit more of a proper spin today. Looked like it was going to be cancelled when hailstorms started pelting down 10 minutes before I finished work. Luckily it had stopped completely before I got the bike out of the bike shed.
Got to
halfords and put some air in my forks, feels a lot better straight away.
The bike rolls very quickly on the path, and also on the trails. There's some bits where you have to go over roots with some relatively steep drops on the side, and on my old bike it used to always nearly kick me out. That didn't happen on this bike, and I felt a lot more confident in tackling things. The brakes are much, much better than old my bike. The longer bars take some getting used to, It's not light compared to an XC machine, but it's a lot lighter than my old MTB, despite the extra 40mm of travel, and the bigger wheels and wider tyres.
All in all, the bike is fantastic. I can't wait to get it onto some more technical, bigger trails.
That looks stunning. I'm going to the factory tomorrow to size one up and do a test ride around Swinley forest. Can't wait.
What tyres did you go for? can't quite make em out? I've only ever had Schwalbe tyres so know nothing about the Maxxisa range but was thinking Ardent 2.25 rear and either a High Roller or Minion 2.3 on the front - thoughts anyone?
Ardent 2.2 rear and High Roller 2.3 front, same as you're considering.