And I'm not talking about any of you guys. I have been contemplating selling my DH and 575 to replace with an SB-66 and ARC.
In my process of getting the DH ready for sale, I swapped my brand new Easton Havoc bars over to my 575 and my Monkeylite DH bars to the DJ. I've ridden the 575 with a wider bar, but it was always a flat and didn't feel right. Just doing the hallway fit test it felt better, but not exceptional.
I also decided to take the seat off my roadie to see how it would feel on the 575. From '99-'06 I only ran Sella Italia Trans Am Flite Ti saddles; they fit just perfectly. After my back surgery though I was unable to get the correct rotation in my hips to use it anymore, so I put it onto my rarely used roadie. I've been riding the roadie a bit and haven't been having any numb issues, unlike my current WTB on the 575.
I had a chance to screw around with my seat height, angle and location. Settling with a slightly lower saddle height and sliding it a bit father back in the rails than I had been setting up with the WTB. I did all of this right before a ride, so I didn't even have a chance to parking lot test it. After my first little parking lot loop I raised the seat a bit, but rode the rest of the trail (an 8 mile loop) as I had set it at home. Climbing was great and those are two words that should never be combined. The descent was a totally different animal! It actually felt nimble and properly flickable.
It is really shocking how much getting the cockpit dialed in properly does for the ride. The bar I added is just under 2" wider, the saddle ~15mm wider and 20mm longer. I love how the new trend is wider bars for everybody, but the widest bars are now just getting to the same shoulder-bar width ratio that normal sized guys have had for years.
Now that this thing is finally dialed fully, I think I'm going to keep it and not buy the SB-66. The DH is still going though; I just can't justify keeping it. If I start riding DH again, I will be able to pick up a newer bike in a year or two for equal to what I can sell this for. I think I might just pick up another Look roadie and start knocking out the miles again. I've been wanting to do another tri...
In my process of getting the DH ready for sale, I swapped my brand new Easton Havoc bars over to my 575 and my Monkeylite DH bars to the DJ. I've ridden the 575 with a wider bar, but it was always a flat and didn't feel right. Just doing the hallway fit test it felt better, but not exceptional.
I also decided to take the seat off my roadie to see how it would feel on the 575. From '99-'06 I only ran Sella Italia Trans Am Flite Ti saddles; they fit just perfectly. After my back surgery though I was unable to get the correct rotation in my hips to use it anymore, so I put it onto my rarely used roadie. I've been riding the roadie a bit and haven't been having any numb issues, unlike my current WTB on the 575.
I had a chance to screw around with my seat height, angle and location. Settling with a slightly lower saddle height and sliding it a bit father back in the rails than I had been setting up with the WTB. I did all of this right before a ride, so I didn't even have a chance to parking lot test it. After my first little parking lot loop I raised the seat a bit, but rode the rest of the trail (an 8 mile loop) as I had set it at home. Climbing was great and those are two words that should never be combined. The descent was a totally different animal! It actually felt nimble and properly flickable.
It is really shocking how much getting the cockpit dialed in properly does for the ride. The bar I added is just under 2" wider, the saddle ~15mm wider and 20mm longer. I love how the new trend is wider bars for everybody, but the widest bars are now just getting to the same shoulder-bar width ratio that normal sized guys have had for years.
Now that this thing is finally dialed fully, I think I'm going to keep it and not buy the SB-66. The DH is still going though; I just can't justify keeping it. If I start riding DH again, I will be able to pick up a newer bike in a year or two for equal to what I can sell this for. I think I might just pick up another Look roadie and start knocking out the miles again. I've been wanting to do another tri...
