Brand New Mountain Bike!

As many of you know I love to ride bikes, road, cyclocross, whatever. My true love with biking really started with mountain bikes. Every year my focus is always off-road, but I’ve been on the same aluminum for about 6 years and it was starting to get all sloppy. I was fortunate enough to finally get a new rig through Trek and let’s just say it’s a big upgrade.

This year I’ll be riding a brand new Trek Elite 9.9. Haters are going to hate,  but it’s a hard tail 26” bike, so it’s basically a rocket ship with pedals. It has a full XTR group, XXX Carbon wheels, and a Fox fork among other goodies. Check it out!

I gotten 3 or 4 rides on the bike and have finally formed my opinion. It almost doesn't feel like a mountain bike to me, but this is a good thing. It is a world better than the alloy rig I was on last year, to the point were I can't even compare. So I think of it like a road bike, it's that stiff. The 26" wheels allow the bike to be thrown around, but it has the stability of a bigger wheel thanks to a longer wheel base. It handles really well on the big open stuff, but when I first rode it I noticed it didn't like the tight stuff as much as I was used to. After looking into I found that the steeper head tube angle is the difference and I was able to get some of the handling back by moving the saddle back.

Beyond that the shifting and brakes blow me away. I am still getting used to the braking power and I had to forcefully switch to one finger braking. The Bontrager components are solid and reassuring, even though they are carbon. I am a little disturbed by the white grips. People with acute OCD should never have white grips  because I clean them constantly. I put some XTR pedals on which I am also very happy with. They really lock you foot in, but are still easy to unclip. They do have trouble with mud, but i never unclip in races anyways...hopefully.

Next thing on the list is to get her set up tubeless and ride a lot. I'm looking forward to Iola where I hope to make a serious impression on the established top of the field. This new bike is a big leap towards that goal!

3 out of 3 women on spring break agreed, this bike is sexy looking. They also agreed it was less sexy when I was on it, but what do they know.

It comes with a full XTR drivetain and brakes. The stock 11-36 cassette is way too big, but it was nice to have out in NC.

The front shifting is incredible. this is due to a crazy stiff crank and close gearing ratios. I basically treat front shift like I do rear shifting.

The Fox Factory series fork has the Kashima coating which makes a noticeable difference in performance. I have to run the setup a little stiffer to accommodate.

XXX wheels with the stock XR0 tires. A solid race day combo

XTR brakes were another thing I had to get used to. The extra stopping power has actually changed the way I ride.

The best part of the whole bike.