This is the personal blog of Paul Petch a self professed outdoor addict, reformed graphic designer, picture taker & IT geek living in Christchurch NZ. While you are here why not subscribe to my tweets, Flickr, RSS and Vimeo?


Bontrager Paragon 29er – First ride

I took the Paragon to the South Downs today for the first proper ride, just west of Findon to be exact. Weather conditions were about as perfect as they get, 27 degrees, no clouds, no wind, dusty trails.

Seeing as I’ve already ordered Ergon grips and wider bars I don’t really need to mention how bad the stock stuff is. But the steering really does wander and the rubber grips feel awful after a little while. Other than that the Paragon is a really sweet ride.

I have to say it’s amazing how smooth a suspension fork and 29in wheel makes the front end. Even with that really smooth ride the fork and head tube are still plenty stiff enough. This has to be one of the most effortless bikes to lift, keep stable and land smoothly I’ve ever come across for a XC bike. Not that I do much jumping but my last few bikes were pretty poor in that respect. The 185mm front rotor is a nice touch that helps deliver loads of braking power, even though the brakes aren’t fully bedded in yet. I don’t know exactly what Sram have done with the X.9 group over the last few years since my last Sram geared bike but this lot feels loads smoother and faster shifting. In the future I might have to change the tires but at the moment the large volume gives a comfortable ride and the XDX performs well enough on dust covered bone dry trails. On the whole I think this is a very fast and capable bike, can’t wait to try out the new bits this Sunday.

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Related posts:

  1. Singular Swift single speed 29er – mini review
  2. Kona Unit 29er – ride two
  3. Ergon GP1 Leichtbau grips review
  4. Kona Unit 29er – a 750km update
  5. Bontrager Race Disk tubeless wheelset – long term review

This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 9th, 2009 at 12:02 pm and is filed under Bike & Gear Reviews and tagged with , , , , . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

7 Responses to “Bontrager Paragon 29er – First ride”

  1. Paul says:
    September 9, 2009 at 12:05 pm

    I have to say that with the reflectors etc removed and out in the “wild” that bike looks sweeter than before :) Infact. with the Charge seat- it looks kinda retro….very nice indeed. SRAM stuff is fantastic eh…..and good to hear that the forks feel so smooth. I suppose matched with the bigger tyre- it is comfy as up front.

    Good to her that your first ride was such a blast too. 27degs? UK? what is up with that place of late? that temp is crazy! Let’s hope you have an Indian Summer with weeks of happy trails on your new stead.

    Great stuff bro :)

    Reply
  2. LordOnOne says:
    September 9, 2009 at 9:26 pm

    The weather has been a bit of a diagonal split, the south east has been getting pretty good weather for most part. The rest of the country has been getting rain, more rain, just a little bit more rain and oh look…80mph gales in Scotland. The met office should never have said we‘re “odds-on for a barbeque summer”, the moment they said that the country was doomed! :)

    Reply
  3. Antoine says:
    September 13, 2009 at 10:13 pm

    Nice bike and photos, makes me want to go out and ride. That’s a crazy-shaped top tube on there.

    Enjoy that weather. I think if I added-up all the daily temperatures of the time I spent in England it would equal 27º.

    Reply
    • Paul says:
      September 14, 2009 at 6:13 am

      I had not even noticed the top tube shape. I bet it feels quite rigid while seated (ooo-er).

      I never experienced temperatures “down South” like recent years when I lived in the UK. I hear air conditioner sales have sky rocketed!

      Reply
  4. LordOnOne says:
    September 14, 2009 at 7:04 am

    Tell me about it, Gary Fisher seems to go as crazy as Giant when it comes to tube shapes. You should see the dropout/brake mount, it’s so overbuilt it makes the brake vibrate. Still the ride is nowhere near as harsh as my old Cannondale M600 26er.

    Reply
    • Paul says:
      September 14, 2009 at 7:27 am

      I suppose coming from the Singular- the alloy will feel harsh compared to the steel buzz? Hopefully, once the UK “wets up” again for winter you will not notice the stiffness of the frame all thanks to natures suspension- MUD :D

      I bet it accelerates like a goat on energy drinks though……

      Reply

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