I took my custom build
for its first off road jaunt today, and bloomin loved it. The forks will be lowered from 140 to 120mm, 20mm longer than the recommended 100mm, as I like ’em slack.
I’ve ridden full bouncers (Whyte 46, Cove G spot and a meta 5) for the last 5 years, this has been my first hard tail since my Giant terrago many years ago.
So… The frame, firm at the back, but not so bad that every root had to be negotiated out of the saddle. Once I realised that corners had to be taken tipped in, the handling worked too.
The hub, well it just worked. It doesn’t like shifting to easier gears under load, but neither did my mech. A quick lift of pressure and it shifts. Shifting down from 4th -5th takes alomst a whole pedal revolution too. But overall, in very muddy conditions, it just worked, everytime.
My gearing is perfect for me, 32-21. I can nearly spin out on the flat, but it gives me a nice low gear to haul my 16 1/2 st up hill.
I run it tubeless to combat annoying punctures on the back, and at 28lbs all in, it’s bang on my target weight for a 20″ frame. Verdict: surprisingly good!