I've been toying with the idea of a full suspension bike for a long time. You see, this isn't exactly a cut and dry decision for me. I've only really owned hardtails, except that Y3, but we won't mention that experience. Ten years, nothing but hardtails. In 1998 I bought a brand new Trek 6500 which I loved until I bought a 99' Homegrown and in 02' there was that brief jaunt with the Bianchi Grizzly. I've never really wanted any more bike. I love the rigid, light, effortless ride and never really minded the bumps. They've always climbed up anything I pointed them at and got me down the other side in one piece, but I couldn't help but think there must be something to this full suspension thing...
Lately I've been riding a completely rebuilt 06' Trek 6500. Keep in mind, this bike's no slouch. You see, when you work in a bike shop you're constantly pounded with new and shiny... The 65' really isn't much more than a Trek frame with stock Bontrager stem bar and seat post and a host of carefully selected parts. But that frame was the key. Of all the bikes I've owned, those two Trek 6500's were the best riding bikes. The current one best by far. In no way am I telling you that this is the best bike you could ever own... just that for me, it rides amazing. So, you see, I didn't need a new bike and only sort of wanted one.
Last Spring our shop ordered in an 07' Trek EX 8. A beautiful bike, Fox suspension and a decent drivetrain and I flirted with buying it for almost a week. That is, until our Trek rep dropped off the new literature for the 08' full suspension bikes. At first glance the new bikes looked pretty but nothing spectacular, then I start turning pages... Active Braking Pivot? What's that? Full floating shock? Why would you do that? Well... Trek claims that the ABP help eliminate brake jack, which is more easily explained as brake forces that interfere with the suspension doing it's job... long story short... typically grabbing a hand full of your brake causes your suspension to be less active. They've gotten around this issue by moving the rearmost pivot into the rear axle path. Yeah, I know sounds crazy... Secondly, that full floating shock? On most suspension bikes the shock is mounted to the mainframe at one point and the suspension linkage at another, not so on the new EX... it's fully suspended within the rear linkage. This was done to create a smoother, more plush feel in the 5" travel rear end. All this intrigued me, but didn't really scream buy me either.
Last week our shop received it's first shipment of 08' EX 8's. We built them that day and noticed that there was a new size, 18.5... the old 17.5 always seemed a bit small and the 19.5 stretched me out, so I grabbed the new bike and bolted for the door. All I can say is that in the parking lot and in the surrounding urban environment the bike was amazing. It absorbed large hits with ease and with the rear shock in "propedal" mode it climbed pretty well for a 5" travel bike. 30 minutes of riding it and I had to take it home.
So far the EX 8 has performed admirably at Southside, a little slower in the flats and on the climbs but point it down a hill, chute or drop and wow... The other day I traveled to Paris mountain and rode trails that I'd never rode before, basically guessing tire pressure and suspension set up and rode quite well with a group of seasoned riders, until I got that pinch flat in the dark... at least I was almost out... I did notice that it's pretty decent at climbing really rough stuff too, you know the nasty rooty stuff that hard tails usually have to run really low pressure to get up...
So now I have a full suspension bike and for the most part it's pretty awesome, I have to admit. It's not the fastest bike in the world, but it does make riding rough terrain a lot easier and besides, when I feel the need, I still have my 6500.
