Pastures new

This weekend marked something of a milestone in my biking life. After waiting since Monday, I finally managed to get out on my new mountain bike frame (with all of the appropriate bits attached). In fact, the bike was out on Saturday and Sunday. It takes a bit of time to fiddle and fettle with the new rear shock and get used to the bike after all.
The first noticeable difference from my old bike was the speed at which the bike turned. It seems incredibly quick to go from one direction to another. Compared to my old frame, it feels like the difference between a Honda Goldwing and an R1. Nice..
The second thing I noticed was the difference that the Pro-pedal shock makes. With the fork locked out and the Pro-pedal on, the bike is almost rigid on the flat, with just enough give at both ends to take out the big shocks. Both of those differences were immediately obvious, just on the road ride up to the woods. Once I got into the woods, more became apparent.
The trails were still muddy and sticky after days and days of heavy rain. The mud around Bristol turns into something like mushy fly paper after a bit of rain. The drag on the tyres is very noticeable to say the least. That being the case, it was difficult to judge whether the bike climbs much faster than the old one. It will need a dry trail to be sure. The bike certainly gripped well and shifted along the trail.
Once I was on the bumpy, rocky downhill sections I really noticed some big differences. The type of adjectives used in the mountain bike mags kept popping into my head – words like plush and composed. The new frame was a huge improvement on the rocky sections. The geometry is obviously quite different, which took me by surprise a couple of times. The whole package will take a little while to get used to and increased confidence will come along with it. I’m fairly convinced that I’ll be getting faster on this bike compared to the old one, despite the rear travel supposedly being less – it certainly doesn’t feel like it is though.
The one thing that came out of the biking this weekend was that I felt like an old geezer turning up at a club, wearing all of the right clothes, knowing all of the DJ’s but not being able to dance. I need to get my fitness levels up to the level my bike deserves!
Almost at the end of the ride on Sunday, I noticed that my chain was twisted a little in one area. Keeping an eye on it, I had already decided that I would be replacing the chain in the next few days. Then, just as I had passed a group of mtb’ers who had pulled over to let me through, I put the hammer down and within 100 yards the chain gave out on me. Fortunately I had a few spare links and a chain tool in my pack. It wasn’t straight forward though. Pulling off the trail into the “light rough”, I managed to drop both links and pins during the course of replacing the knackered bits and they weren’t easy to find again.
New chain arrives tomorrow and then I’ll be ready for Thetford next weekend.