My much beloved Super 8, which started me down the scary road of riding DH, is 15 this year. This bike has a massive history with me and my husband Darrel but although the frame is still solid everything else is showing a lot of wear and he needs repair after every DH race.
It's time for Granddad to put his wheels up and retire!
I'm going to be really sad to do this, I've learnt so much on this bike, we've been through a lot together. So it was always going to take something special to tempt me away from him... and that's what's happened.
It all started last Monday, when my lovely sponsors Fix Distribution posted an advert for a small DH bike on their facebook feed. I'd looked and shared it, not giving much thought. I knew the Canfield brand but had never looked into their bikes as over my price range. Dave however sent me an e-mail saying he felt the bike would be ideal for me, I looked into it a bit more, still on the presumption that like a lot of small DH bikes it would still be a bit on the large side. That night Darrel got the tape measure out and compared sizing to my Yeti and other bikes... the Canfield was tiny.. I did the normal watched You Tube videos, read reviews, even asked the gurus on Pink Bike what they though and all i got back was positive comments.
I spoke to Katie the owner of the bike loads on face book, she happily answered my questions and agreed to meet us 1/2 way between our homes at Cannock DH tracks
So after a very long week, waiting for the weekend to come. Sunday arrived.
My plan had been to ride down the tracks on Granddad and see how he responded then try the Jedi, however after sitting on the bike in the carpark, it felt such a perfect fit I was too keen to try him.
The first run down the red track was slow, the track had some steps that until you got close it was hard to tell if they were rollable or not.
2nd Run I really noticed the bike. Fit wise it was perfect but how it moved was unusual, not in a bad way but in a what the hell just happened way. I noticed that the forks were a little soft making pumping the bike harder, and tyres didn't like the odd sandy tracks.
At the bottom Dave played with the suspension for me, setting it up as best we could track side to match me.
3rd Run, I was sold. The difference in this bike to Granddad is amazing. Granddad responds best to me either going with him or man handling him. My 3rd run I committed to one of the small steps, pumped the bike and it flew, I landed totally noise heavy but rather than fly OTB I was able to move my weight back and felt the bike spread under me and keep forward momentum. Unlike Granddad, the more I worked the bike the more it rewarded me, pumping it into jumps it would ping happily into the air, off the steps it simply floated.
So I now have a new DH bike, one with brakes that work and that fits me.
I am going to be sad not to be riding Granddad, but would like to introduce you all to:
Jed - My new steed
Since he's arrived home we've changed the bars, 780mm were way to wide for me and Monday I suffered from sore shoulders. So he has some nice carbon bars up front, and hopefully soon a new spring in the forks. Will be fitting my faithful Muddy Marys on him before heading to FOD on sunday for a play on familur ground.
Would like to say a massive thanks to Dave from Fix Distribution for e-mailing me about the bike.
I spoke to Katie the owner of the bike loads on face book, she happily answered my questions and agreed to meet us 1/2 way between our homes at Cannock DH tracks
So after a very long week, waiting for the weekend to come. Sunday arrived.
My plan had been to ride down the tracks on Granddad and see how he responded then try the Jedi, however after sitting on the bike in the carpark, it felt such a perfect fit I was too keen to try him.
The first run down the red track was slow, the track had some steps that until you got close it was hard to tell if they were rollable or not.
2nd Run I really noticed the bike. Fit wise it was perfect but how it moved was unusual, not in a bad way but in a what the hell just happened way. I noticed that the forks were a little soft making pumping the bike harder, and tyres didn't like the odd sandy tracks.
At the bottom Dave played with the suspension for me, setting it up as best we could track side to match me.
3rd Run, I was sold. The difference in this bike to Granddad is amazing. Granddad responds best to me either going with him or man handling him. My 3rd run I committed to one of the small steps, pumped the bike and it flew, I landed totally noise heavy but rather than fly OTB I was able to move my weight back and felt the bike spread under me and keep forward momentum. Unlike Granddad, the more I worked the bike the more it rewarded me, pumping it into jumps it would ping happily into the air, off the steps it simply floated.
So I now have a new DH bike, one with brakes that work and that fits me.
I am going to be sad not to be riding Granddad, but would like to introduce you all to:
Jed - My new steed
Since he's arrived home we've changed the bars, 780mm were way to wide for me and Monday I suffered from sore shoulders. So he has some nice carbon bars up front, and hopefully soon a new spring in the forks. Will be fitting my faithful Muddy Marys on him before heading to FOD on sunday for a play on familur ground.
Would like to say a massive thanks to Dave from Fix Distribution for e-mailing me about the bike.
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