Went for a ride yesterday on a borrowed Trek Top Fuel 9.8. Thank you to Danny Lupold of Trek Bicycles and friend of over 15 years. I’m in the market for a new bike and this is the one I’ve had my eye.
It is a 1x and I wasn’t sure that would work for me, since I’m coming from a triple. I thought the difference might be to drastic.
It also has 29 in wheels, which makes a big difference, although I’m still the pilot, and the limitations are mine not anything I ride.
It came with a 10-42 rear cluster! Doesn’t 42 sound huge? It did to me. Although my old bike had a 22 small ring up front and this just a 32, and my already skinny legs have gone through the inevitable AARP atrophying – 10 sounds huge to me. But I was told it’s as important in mountain biking to have a 10 in the back as it is in music to have an amp that goes up to 11. And when explained like that, one just has to say – that’s brilliant.
The bigger wheels make the bumps smaller and it just rolls along. I had 25 lbs of pressure in the tires and probably could have had less, being that I weigh a stout 87 myself. What didn’t surprise me is I didn’t have a need for the 10 yesterday, or the 11, or the 12… But as I mentioned earlier, the bike is limited my this pilot…
To my surprise, the 42 was barely enough. I didn’t think I’d need it, but as it turns out, I could have used a 42.5 in some places when my RPM’s got down below 7.3. I guess if I rode more, I’d get stronger. That’s the way it used to work anyway…or I could just get a smaller front ring. That makes much more sense actually. Maybe put that 10 in the front…