Ya, finally, first ride! It occurred to me...I haven't ridden a "new" bike that was mine...2012 I think. Anyway
First, I must say that I have been riding my old scalpel for 5 years...and quite frankly, I love it...Even though mine is beat to death and many of its parts have 13,000 miles on it...including the lefty...But other than it getting worn down, I really havent had this feeling like "omg, I need something new and improved" as I did back when I used to torture myself racing a hardtail back in 08-09. I was actually more worried that they were going to screw this bike up and make it all fun, no XC....2 years ago I talked to Matt Timmerman and Jeremy (cant remember his last name) who are cannondale engineers and brought a couple of the prototypes to the Stewart 45 race...Jokingly I was saying to them..."The current bike is the best XC bike I have ever ridden...not sure how you are going to make it better, but please dont screw it up.
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Getting on it...you sit and feel a little different on it than the old scalpel...The front wheel more out in front and you feel more like you are on a trail bike than an xc bike.
First part of my ride was along the river, which is super rooted...but mostly flat....This to me is why you ride a FS XC bike...just pedal, as hard as you want, your back doesnt mind...I sit in my seat and drink coffee, the suspension takes care of the bumps. But this section jumped out at me. This 2.0 wow, it is SMOOTH. I know its a little heavier than the old XLR, but its just in a different league in terms of feel and how it deals with small bumps.
There is a small rise that has some roots, at speed you can jump it...I dont really like jumping the old scalpel...it just feels a little awkward...Steep head angle, low bars....for me, I dont like it. This bike is like the complete opposite. I loaded up the rear suspension, hit the root and just popped over it as i would on my trigger...I just dont do this stuff on the old bike too often or as effortlessly.
Next is a flat and smooth section of double track...just pedaling it flat out...cant say I noticed much of a difference other than the wide bar and higher/shorter stem have me not in my typical XC pedaling position...But felt about the same holding the bike at like 20mph...Which is good, bc I dont care how good an XC bike goes over jumps, if it doesnt pedal well, its useless. Suspension didnt move that I could notice....
After that is a fire road climb...I tried the dual lockout...after about 50 yards, I unlocked it...Which was better imo. Cockpit is a little tall yet, but it felt just like my old bike uphill...fast, zero suspension bob, and when the ground is a little rough...you can pedal right though it...Rear wheel does not bounce around, move offline, or lose traction. This is why the dual lockout doesnt make much sense to me...I understand why they do it...many courses (not around here) have uphills that are perfectly smooth, so having the rearend locked is no issue...Plus, having two separate lockouts for the front and rear is a little much if you also have a dropper lever too.....But where I ride, I have very little use for it. When you are pedaling uphill, seated...this is when you want your suspension. If it is designed with pedaling in mind, you dont need a lockout. Plus, when you have the rear locked, all of those hit are still being taken by the rear suspension, but rather than the shock, now the bearing and anything else that flexes. This bike, like the old one, does not need a rear lock out.
Then I hit the white trail which is a series of fast flowy turns that im usually pedaling through most of...Loved my old scalpel here...some long sweeping turns that really test the front end grip. I had to remember I have been using my trigger alot lately with a 2.5 minion on the front...going back to a 2.25 RR...have to do it a little differently. Bike was great here, changed direction super fast...there is a spot in one of the turns that has a big root with a tire wide gap in it...with my old scalpel I can always change direction, rotate the the bike upright aim and hit that gap perfectly...then quickly return to the turn....its effortless...I did this trail twice...Once I shot this little gap like I would usually do...second time I just wheelied over it. That was something that I remembered...like it will do both well...My old scalpel, ehh...its ok, I never feel like its "playful"
Then finally I got to some more rocky and downhill bits....This is where this bike just parts company with the old scalpel. Its substatially better...the 2.0 vs the old XLR...Its just no comparison downhill....The XLR was unbelievable when you compared it to SIDs that were being made 5 years ago...And even though I still think its better than most of the XC stuff that is out there...this 2.0 is so rock solid, I felt almost as confident with it as I do with the 140 supermax on my trigger...which is like a motorcycle fork. On this peticular fire road section....with the old scalpel I have to go slower than i would with my trigger....Im not so sure with this bike. And like my trigger, I feel comfortable leaning back and jumping the bike over sections of rough trail. Its a really cool combination...bc the bike is ~9lbs lighter than my trigger, so I can really move it around easily.
Really I think they nailed the intention... The bike still does the xc stuff my old scalpel does, but it's now way way more fun downhill... I didn't get a chance to try it out in anything technical, I'll have to report back when I do. Only things I really would change is the lockout... And the bars is too wide.
I'll have more as I ride it in some other terrain... But so far, love it