Got some time to finally post on here!
Took the Canfield Nimble9 out of the garage only to find out I had a flat.
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Used the imtbtrails search function to find out if there's a simple fix and sure enough, almost everyone here had the same answer.
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Here's the fix!!!
Now I got me one of them Carbon Canfields!!!
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Says here there's 155MM of travel out back. (Pivot bolts also says Revel Bikes...).
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First day (Sat.) went to Laguna for its maiden voyage. Hit Lizard, Stagecoach. Rear was bouncing like crazy and had no grip at all. Totally bummed but soon realized the bike shop gave me some loaner wheels to try out and seated the tires which was at 30psi
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Deflated to 20psi and it was glorious. I'm actually more impressed with its climbing prowess with a bike with this much travel. Climbing up that first part of Willow was a lot easier than it should be. The rest of the climb was nonchalant, meaning I actually enjoyed the scenery and didn't even think about the climbs, wow!
It was almost as if I wanted to hit TnA just to climb back on Willow (Kind of). I felt good after the second Willow climb, so it was off to Old Emerald. Had to control my speed here since I have another business trip in a week and can't afford another injury
. Climbing out from Emerald Canyon Rd. there's a nasty loose and steep section that I would normally spin and sputter out. Probably the honeymoon phase but it griped went up and over like an off-road steep hill competition.
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Second day (Sun.) I wanted to see how well it does on longer consistent climbs. Geo is not super aggressive for this much travel, actually the closest would be the Ibis Ripmo if I had to compare to another popular bike. Bikes that are good at decents usually get uncomfortable after 2.5 to 3hrs. Started at Whiting and then up and over to Old Camp to Luge and back again to Whiting. First part of Old Camp had that nasty marble size gravel but if you stay seated it would just climb with no problem. It's not an XC pace type of climb but it definitely has a nice anti-squat where it digs in and moves forward. Best part on this bike was the technical step ups where I would normally have to get out of the saddle and lop (is that a word?) over the obstacle but the magical "CBF" lets you just spin up and over without that feeling a branch just went between the spokes.
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Hands didn't hurt from being too forward. Back didn't ache from leaning over. Great geo for some longer riders, thumbs up from me here.
Third day (Monday/today). Called work and played hooky. Told them I need a chill day. I'm also still in honeymoon phase (with the bike of course, lol!).
Hit Aliso and mixed the climbs with the steeps. This consist of Cheater Cholla to Mental. Up Mathis to Car Wreck and then to 5 Oaks.
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There's a sign at first part of 5 Oaks about trail work being done. Sure enough a young couple was there at the bottom putting in some new pavers where it's roped off.
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Went up Cholla to Rockit.
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Legs felt good so I went up Cholla again to bomb down Lynx.
As a side note I'm on a learning curve trying to ride with flats after 15+ years of clipless. It's been a wakeup call to see that I was so dependent on my jumps and hops. Even on some of the technical climbs my foot would come off the pedal. I'll stick with clipless on the hardtail but want to be more well-rounded and will use flats on the full squish.
Got back home and it was time to wash the bike and put it way but wait, what's this??!! The glue on the chain protector is coming off, also my first paint chip??!! Grrr!!!
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These fixes are getting insanely expensive, LOL!!!
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All jokes aside, the Revel Rail29 is a very, very, very composed bike. At 160MM Front/ 155MM Rear it better bomb down like a bat out of hell. I'm just more impressed on how well it climbs.[/ATTACH]
