Picked up my 29er+ bike yesterday. I came close to purchasing a Workswell WCB-M-078 Chinese carbon frame, which is a close copy of the Stache, but in the end decided to give the Trek a chance. Since I was able to do some demo rides at the trails before purchasing, I was able to know how the bike rides before shelling out the cash for another bike. I wouldn't think the Workswell bike would be very much different, but not having the opportunity to ride one, I stuck with what I knew. When looking at the purchase from a cost value point of view, the Stache 7 hit a pretty good sweet spot, after the discount the purchase price was $2,160. I could not build a Workswell bike for that, and I liked that I could get the bike quicker and start riding it this week.
Ride Report As I have discussed in other posts, the ride a 29+ bike offers is not like anything else. The bike rolls super smooth and when it comes to rooty, rocky sections of the trail, you just pick a straight line and roll over anything in your path. Unlike my "skinny" tire bikes, rolling over roots and rocks just doesn't slow you down much at all. I don't find myself weaving around on the trail dodging obstacles because I don't need to.
Another noticeable difference with the big tires is over loose downhill gravel road sections. Where my 2.4" tires would slide around and not give me much confidence that I wouldn't wash out and have a bad day, the big plus tires grip the loose stuff and allow me to go faster with no nervousness. Truly confidence inspiring.
In tight sections, the Stache felt great, very maneuverable in the tight bends and around trees. I just can't find much fault with this new big tire size. No tire squirm like on a fat bike.
Towards the end of the ride I met up with two guys, one on a 29er full suspension, he's 15 years younger than me and in much better shape. I not only caught him on a long uphill gravel climb, when the trail turned and got really fast, I stayed right with him. I had no room to pass so I stayed close behind until I just plain ran out of breath keeping up with him. I think the bike, with it's immense amount of grip, allowed me to carry speed into corners that he couldn't. It was a blast following someone else on this bike through fast trail sections, knowing I had so much more grip than he did. Again, very confidence inspiring. All I can say is if anyone has the opportunity to ride one of these, give it a try, you may end up liking it as much as I do.
I need to get the tubes out, the bike shop said they would have done it for me but the new Chupacabra tires can be difficult to air up tubeless until they have had a few rides on them. The Sun Ringle Mulefut rims come tubeless ready with valve stems. Each tube weighs like a pound so that will help get the bike down to 28 lbs easily.
I've talked with Peter about getting some 50mm carbon 29er wheels with DT Swiss hubs but am undecided if I want to spend the money right now or consider getting a set of 40mm x 27.5" wheels to try with some 2.8" tires like Patrick and Sportinggoods have done.
I'm off now to take the Stache on a second ride this afternoon. So far, I'm lovin' this bike. Here are a few pics from yesterday:
The big tires barely fit on my bike rack. I can barely close the hold down straps around each of the tires.
On the trail.
