so much FUN!

While Saturday was about the kids, Sunday was about me!

I headed out to Fisher Farm for a Niner Demo hosted by The Cycle Path.  On the way to the demo I noticed that TheMutt was behind me... what perfect timing!  That was until TheMutt used some local knowledge of the roads that my garmins apparently couldn't figure out, so he beat me there.  He made up for his sneaky driving skills by introducing me to Mike from Niner.  I guess knowing a douchebag pays off... I mean an "industry insider douchebag."

Anyway, this day was about ripping around on way fun (expensive) bikes.  The first bike I took out was the JET9 RDO.  A full suspension carbon bike that will run you $8699.00.  This was my one and only time to ride such a beast.

Can you say a bike is too fun?  I don't think a bike can be too fun, but this one comes damn near close!  Fast?  Why yes, it was so fast.  So fast it had me hitting jumps and catching air all over the place.  Seriously, I was hitting things faster than ever, I had never gotten so much air out at Fisher.  But, I might have got a little too fast out there.  The front tire was a little soft and it burped as I was landing on a turn, causing me to slide out.  Luckily I had my pump with me so I could get things back up and running.

I loved everything about this bike... good thing I'm not in the market for a full suspension bike.  This thing would be the ultimate race bike.  It had the perfect geometry for me, loved the aggressive stance it had me in.  The bike just begged to go faster.  With it being carbon it was so damn light!!  I was flicking it all over the place and it was right there with me.  The suspension had me floating over every rooty mess out there with little effort.  I couldn't find a fault with it at all.  It handled all aspects of the trail with ease... and speed.  Always with speed.

TheMutt caught an action shot of me as I first hit the trail with the JET9 RDO
 - bluriness isn't the camera operators fault, that is just how fast I was on that thing 

Next up I had to try the RIP9 RDO.  Another carbon full suspension bike, but this one had a bit more travel (120-140 up front vs the 100-120 on the JET9 RDO, and 125 in the rear vs. 100 on the JET9 RDO).  The RIP9 RDO comes in at $6499.00.

Honestly, I wasn't into this bike as much.  As soon as I hit the trail something felt off (later TheMutt noticed that my fork was almost locked out... so that might have been the cause of some things...).  I just didn't feel as in control of the bike as I did with the JET9 RDO.  Totally different stance on the bike.

I felt like the bike took the bigger hits better, but for the smaller normal trail stuff I felt more chatter with the RIP9 RDO.  Again, that may have had to do with the suspension set up (which I didn't think to check).

I felt slower on this bike, but when I compared my times on both bikes they were pretty close... so that actually might be saying a lot there.  A bike with a less aggressive stance, more travel, but almost as fast??  I did have to stop and address the front tire on the first ride, so that likely skewed my times a little... but still, this bike was fast.  I could see this one being a TON of fun out in the mountains, but just wouldn't be my cup of tea for the majority of trails it would see time with around here.

Such a fun day.  Big thanks to Mike from Niner for hanging out for the day and letting us play with his toys.  Thanks to The Cycle Path for hosting, and cooking up some hot dogs...

I guess that was the theme for the weekend... bikes and hot dogs - the kids have it right after all!!