New whip....

So, after two years and many happy miles I decided to part ways with my Niner SIR 9 and go for a custom Ti bike (all the kewl kidz are doing it, doncha know?). I had narrowed down my decision to a builder, regrettably the builder got a little busy, and I began freaking out over delivery times (plus small builders had been dropping off the face of the earth with deposit $) and lack of communication and decided to scrap the custom thing and go with a stock frame. I chose to stick with Ti, and Paragon sliders as the EBB on the Niner, although functional, left a lot to be desired as far as fit/adjustment was concerned. Cue Vassago Cycles and their Optimus Ti for 2008. The price was great, although I'm not a big fan of Chi-Ti I liked the interaction with the company and they have a dedicated sales force unlike some of the one man shows I've heard nightmares about. The irony is that the wait time was about the same as if I had gone custom, maybe 2 weeks quicker.

The ride: So for the first ride, I always take the new steed(s) to the Madrone trail primarily because it's close to home, but it's also a wicked trail. It's a bit on the short side (but so am I) of course my current level of fitness doesn't encourage much more than this trail. The ride was very nice, the handling was responsive. I really could tell the difference in the shorter A-C fork, which was good and bad. There was a noticable creeking under load, I can't tell if this is a BB thing (Current Crank & BB to be replaced soon) or the chainstays being a little noodly, or the PMW's bedding in.

Conclusion: Overall it's tough to make any conclusions just yet. I still have a lot of adjustments to make, and I'm even thinking of getting fit properly to save some time and frustration as my freetime is limited for riding.

Stay tuned for more ride reports and developements, and more pix since I now have a dedicated biking camera.