Paul Petch

Marin Wolf Ridge ride 1

I could not resist taking wolfy up for a spin today even though it was quite warm at 30degs and the legs were still feeling a little tender from Saturdays epic. Before I set out I had one last check over that all the bolts etc were tight and then moved onto setting up the sag. I noticed that the Pikes were very sticky compared to the buttery Fox at the back- but put it down to the seals needing a good work out on the front end.

The road blast was bloody fantastic with the rear set to firm and the Pikes locked out and riding up Rapaki was a little slower than usual but the Wolf did it so well. It even responded well with minimal bob to some out of the saddle sprints to help stretch out my legs and the traction was awesome. I just concentrated on pedaling… and let the rear take care of the rocks. Infact I bordered on enjoying the climb which is a first as I hate fire road climbs at the best of times never mind when it has 600+M elevation and 30degs too.

From the climb it was obvious that the Pikes were just to firm, the bars needed rotating forward slightly and that that this beast rode upwards like a bike of less weight and size :D I had to keep checking that the forks were set to 140mm as the geometry made it feel like my 100m Cove….. I could not believe it.

Anyway, Instead of 120+ and 110- (as recommended by Rockshox) I set the Pikes to 100+ and 90- which worked to balance up the front and rear very nicley. Maybe once the seals have been broken in I’ll increase the pressures.. who knows.

I continued up over to the small road blat to Castle Rock and I admit it felt a little odd compared to the hardtail. I was running an easier gear and soon found the 70mm stem to be a little long with 140mm travel. When I dropped the fork it was better, but then the bottom bracket height lowered considerably and pedal contact with rocks was the outcome. Once I had got used to its characteristics, the grin just got bigger and bigger and I absolutely nailed the rocky sections at considerable ease compared to the Cove :D Interestingly the slackness of the bike did not feel that extreme. I think this is because the Cove feels very slack even with a 100mm fork and I’ve been riding it for sometime now.

The climb upto Castle Rock on the road was not a problem again…. I was amazed to see that I was in a similar gear to the hardtail, and I even got out of the seat at certain points without to much bob. The Castle Rock decent was mind blowing on this thing… and it felt like it was over so quickly too. The Wolf just rode over everything in its path…. I loved it. The stem length once again did cause the front to under steer at times though- but I suppose it was a good thing as it slowed me down a little bit and added some caution to the first ride :D For the next ride I’ll be putting a shorter 60mm stem back on for sure and as for the Hayes brakes…. first impressions are that I like them…. so lets see.

Once more the road climb to Greenwood was fantastic. Then the best section on Port Hills (in my mind anyhow) totally opened up on this bike. I was going that fast at points that I had no choice but to take lines that I would have never considered on the hardtail…. and it was fucking awesome :D I got to the bottom and could not believe how quickly I had got down there and the grin on my face was permanent!

I even managed to ride back into Sumner on the Captain Thomas track and enjoyed it…..I absolutely flew down and rode more of it than I have ever done so before today. I love this bike.

This weekend has been one of the best in a long time…. a true epic with mates, lots of sun and a new bike. Good times.

Hello there! If you are new here, you might want to subscribe to the RSS feed for updates.

Related posts:

1. Marin Wolf Ridge ride 2
2. Marin Wolf Ridge is here!
3. 2008 Marin Wolf Ridge- a change of plan
4. Wolf Ridge ride 4 & 5
5. Marin Wolf Ridge for sale…

This entry was posted on Sunday, November 16th, 2008 at 3:05 pm and is filed under Bike Rides and tagged with marin, port hills, Trails & Rides. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.