It was 8 years since I purchased my Cannondale Super
V 900. Man that thing was cool. It looked different,
but awesome. You have to understand, I was coming from
a 1983 Schwinn High Sierra with a Scott Shock; the first
production Mountain Bike with a pretty crappy shock
(by today's standards) as an upgrade to the curved aluminum
forks that came with the bike. When I walked into The
Bike Shop in Anchorage Alaska 8 summers ago, I was ready
for something with a lot of suspension. My friends thought
I was crazy. "Full suspension??? Who rides full
suspension? You won't be able to climb . . yadi, yadi
. . ." What's
really funny, is that we thought the 2 inches on the
front and back was suspension! What a long way bikes
have come.
8
years later, I'm at a Kranked III presentation on the
Utah Valley State College campus and looking at the
display of a bike with 6 inches on the front and 5 1/2
on the back; 3 times the travel!! This thing for all
intensive purposes is a motorcycle. It was the coolest
looking thing I'd seen in 8 years. I had to have it.
Luckily my Uncle Visa was able to cover me until I could
earn the $$ needed for the beast. Still
paying off my Uncle, but I got my Big Hit. The first
entry into the downhill scene by Specialized.
What
I liked most the bike first off was the inclusion of
good components. This bike came stock with a Marzocchi
Junior T. Bomber, Hayes Disk brakes, Vanilla Fox (coil-over)
rear shock, and XTR components! Even though the FSR
line had a lot of rave reviews, I still was a little
skeptical of the bike comparing to the handling capabilities
of my Super V or the more expensive and modern Cannondale
Jeckyl.
Ok,
I fell in love with the suspension. When you have that
much, it's hard to complain about anything else. The
bike felt good, but different. It was a totally different
riding position. After years of being laid-out on a
large cross-country frame, it was difficult to adjust
to sitting upright.
After
a few rides I concluded that the thing does not handle
like a cannondale on tight singletrack, and it took
some head angle adjustments to help me feel more comfortable.
Nonetheless, rock gutters, drops, and steep hills in
general were eaten up by this bike. Bottom line: I can't
ever go back to less travel.
)
