First Ride

Today I took my first ride. I went to Marsh Creek State Park to ride my usual mountain bike route.

I put my bike on my roof rack. I use the Swagman SG64720 Upright Roof Rack.
http://www.bikerackshops.com/SG64720.html It is strong, simple and cheap at only $50. I the drive down to the Chalfont Road parking lot I then ride the white trail to the gravel roads to the dam, down the hill trail and back again. I then pickup the Blue Trail then back home. It is about a 2 hour workout.

I met a rider named John on the first gravel road hill and we road together for the rest of the ride. John had a full suspension Santa Cruz but was interested in my 29er.

I really did like the ride of the Motobecane Fantom 29. The trails were snowy and muddy but I felt like I had good traction. I was able to ride over most of the obstacles that gave me trouble before on the old Mongoose Pro.

Because I did not have the proper seat post yet I could not get a comfortable, efficient ride, so I can't count this as a good test.

I also noticed that I could not shift into the big front chain ring. This was not a big problem because I have never used those gears on these trails. I will adjust the front derailleur to take care of this later. I also noticed that I NEED FENDERS. John had fenders on his Santa Cruz and hardly got splattered. My back was completely covered in mud.

When I got home I hosed down the bike. A lot of people advise against this because you might force water into bearings etc. I think its good to keep the bike clean and I am careful not to use a high pressure jet spray. I will also lubricate the chain before I ride again.

I did notice another "issue". The saddle is a WTB Speed V . After I cleaned the mud off the bike I noticed a brown haze on the seat after drying. The seat surface has a slight texture. I even used orange cleaner and it still dried to a slight brown haze. I will see if any other cleaner does better or if I just need to clean it a couple of times. The saddle is not very expensive as it is only $20 at wheelworld.com. Here is the WTB webpage: http://www.wtb.com/products/saddles/recreation/speedv/