Concentration Fading Fast

She uttered the magic words in the car last night. The words any mountain biker loves to hear from the one they share a checking account with. "I guess it does make sense for you to get a second bike." Ahhh, just typing those words and knowing she said them makes me all warm inside. Or is that just the coffee? Nope, definitely the thought of bike shopping...

I've spent the past two years beating the hell out of my Giant NRS C2 and while I'm in no way looking to retire that bike, I know there is little chance of it withstanding the punishment of what I have planned for the coming year. It already has over 2000 very hard miles on it -- the bike is a carbon-fibre xc bike and I don't really ride it in the manner it was designed for -- and while I'd like to try and sell it, it makes more sense to keep it for the muddy, foul-weather rides. This way I'll be able to keep the new bike in prime condition.

So what am I looking at getting? Haven't quite made up my mind yet, but I'm strongly leaning towards the Ellsworth Evolve 29er. Or possibly the Intense Spider 29er. I'm very interested in testing the new 29er's out as I think those big wheels will not only be a lot of fun on rooty, technical trails, but I think the extra cushion and greater momentum will really come in handy during TransRockies and some of the other endurance races on the calendar for 2007. I'm not completely sold on the 29er though. If I go traditional 26-inch wheels, then I'll likely get an Ellsworth Truth, Intense Spider XVP, or Santa Cruz Blur. We'll see... basically I want a good 4" travel bike that can handle the tight twisty stuff, but also be able to handle a bit more "trail riding" than my 3" travel NRS.

The jury is still out though. The Ellsworth Evolve doesn't release at retail till mid-December. Thanks to a local BBTCer who works at the Seattle REI, the store now carries the Ellsworth line of bikes and I may be able to get one in to demo/buy by year's end. This way, even though I won't likely take it on singletrack till the spring I'll be able to get 10% back from the purchase as part of the REI dividends in February. And that and our other purchases this year will go a long way towards buying Kristin's kayak.

In the meantime, there's so much to think about. Components, wheels, fork, paint colors, etc., etc. I feel like a schoolkid daydreaming about what Santa might bring...

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Nice to see your wife supporting you and you returning the favour when she goes back to school. My wife talked me into getting a road bike at the beginning of this year and then later trading my old Rocky hard tail in for a Santa Cruz Blur XC (you have to try one out) all to support my recent interest in adventure racing. Unfortunately my riding partner has bailed on doing the Tranrockies (maybe in 2008).

Doug Walsh said...

Thats a great link Maarten. The only thing better than getting the A-OK to buy a new bike from the Mrs, is having the Mrs. drive you to the store as a surprise. That's sweet!