Yup.
I joined the rest of the world and bought a complete. After showing off the pictures of my new bike, people posted comments, like, "This is not a Dion bike..." or "I thought you were too hardcore for full suspension..." Ha.
Honestly, I've been riding pieced together frankenbikes as long as I've been into bikes. I've never owned a high-end complete, even when I was a kid. I guess my last few completes were bought online, but I've never bought myself something off the floor like a normal human. I've never got to enjoy "free maintenance and repairs" from the shop. I've always done it myself.
I spotted this thing at Sports Basement in Sunnyvale, Ca. after having lunch at our usual Vegetarian Asian restaurant. I really wasn't "looking" to buy a bike, just browsing. I've had, in the back of my mind for a few months now, a thought to consider picking up a full suspension bike - to be more exact, a trail bike. Something that rails the flow. I mean, I've been riding these rigid bikes or hardtails for so long now. The last FS bike I had was a Motobecane DS Comp. Not a bad bike, and at times I regret selling it. Oh well.
Sports Basement is a sporting goods store with a good bike shop, but it leans more towards the roadie and townie crowd. The MTB's look like they've been sitting on the floor for some time, and if they were shelter dogs, they would've been put down by now. The two that caught my attention were the Ibis Mojo and the Cannondale Jekyll 4 ("The Jek" is what I call it). The Mojo was a lower end build of a high end bike: through axle up front with a 9mm QR in back, XT and SLX components. The Jek is an X7 build, through axles both front and back with the Cannondale proprietary Fox DYAD RT2 rear shock and a RockShox Sektor TK coil fork up front.
I what initially got my attention of the Jek was the price. It's only a year old and it was marked down from the MSRP of $2,700 to $1,800. Dude, I could afford that - just got to let go of a bike or two to offset the purchase.
The Mojo was $2,750. That would take a little creative maneuvering of money and selling more than what I feel comfortable with. Plus, after riding the Mojo (they only had a medium) - it felt small to me. the Jek is a large and fit me much better.
For shits and giggles, I test rode a Cannondale Scalpel FS 29'er. Um, no thanks. 26" wheels for a trail bike. Thank you.
With a 10% discount and a purchase of some Crank Bros. Candy 2 pedals, I was out the door with a brand new bike. As wiped out as I was from my buddy's bachelor party the night before, I took a nap and went for a test ride.
Ride 1: Feeling it Out
It was everything I expected. Full-Suspension is just weird for me. So many levers, adjustments to be made, finicky settings, etc. I took the suggestions of what people were saying online about the DYAD RT2 shock and set it up accordingly. What resulted was a plush ride, but serious pedal strikes - so the shock was too soft for what I need it to do. The front fork is way too soft for me and needs a firm spring. That will come soon, and I'll report the results of that on my 3 month review of the bike. Because - as it sits with the medium rate spring for lighter riders - I don't think the bike is "there" yet.
Fit, color, graphics, ergo's... all very nice. The bike climbs as I thought it would - slow'ish, steady, not XC speed at all. But what really surprises me is the flat-out speed it possesses. I feel this might be a result of the lateral stiffness and rockin' the big ring (yes, it has a triple) is not a knee injuring activity. One would think that the Hans Dampf tires it comes stock with would resist rolling, but they seem to work very well with this bike.
Ride 2: Adjustments and Fine Tuning
Again, I struggled with the full-suspension. This time, I was dabbing all over the place, having to walk sections I normally would glide right over and just having a frustrating day. It was also 96�, windy and dry. I had not played with the suspension settings on this ride, and I was experiencing the same issues with pedal strike.
I flipped the stem and lowered it slightly. The stock set-up felt like a beach cruiser.
I played with tire pressure, lever reach and seat post height. Between the heat, poor traction and with the past weekend starting to catch up with me, I didn't have much of a ride, but counted it as an "adjustment" ride.
Ride 3: Getting better - The Fireroad Test
Many of us, if not most, have to deal with fireroads in some form or another. Personally, I hate fireroads - but they are a part of MTB'ing and unless you're getting shuttled up the hills or if you only ride singletrack, we must sit and spin up these things.
Coyote Peak Tower climb at Santa Teresa County park is a decent climb. It's steep, long'ish and sits at around 1,200ft. of elevation (although the elevation gain is 600ft. and is 3 miles long). It feels worse than 600ft.
This day of riding, I did play with the rear shock settings, and set just a few steps below the manufacturer recommendations. That made a huge difference - very plush on the rocks and rough, and efficient for the technical climbs. I cleared everything as I normally would.
The DYAD rear shock has two positions: long travel and short travel. There is a bar mounted lever that allows the rider to toggle between the two. I have played with this setting and discovered that the short travel is pretty much good for fireroads and extremely non-technical riding. When things get slightly rough, the long travel provides better traction and more pedal efficiency.
For the fireroad climb, I set the rear to "short travel" and deployed the dual-position (DP) feature on the Sektor TK fork which lowers the fork from 150mm to 100mm. I also locked it out.
To my surprise, the Jek motored up the hill without issue. I thought the weight would play into things, but I really didn't feel it as much as I anticipated. The bike also didn't wander - but that could be attributed to the lowered fork. There were no traction issues, even in the loose stuff.
I was +/- 1mph slower on this bike up that climb than my 6lbs. lighter, On-One Inbred 29'er with XC wheels. This was to be expected, but I was surprised the climb wasn't worse.
Positives, Criticisms and Upgrades
Pros:
- Great bike fit. This varied between riders, but this bike, off the floor, fit me perfect. Just a few minor adjustments and I was very happy.
- Fox DYAD RT2 rear shock: sweet design and great feel.
- Ride quality is stable, efficient and great lateral stiffness
- I broke all my downhill personal records on the first ride!
Criticisms:
- Limited adjustability of the stock RockShox Sektor TK fork: You must replace the spring tuned for your weight. I am 200lbs, and the medium spring it comes with makes the bike squirrel'y dive'y and just not a pleasant ride. Handling is compromised without getting this dialed. I have the firm spring on order and looking forward to getting it dropped in.
- Weight. My bike is 32.58lbs as shown, but will likely be over 33lbs after I do the upgrades. However, the geometry and ergos help in this regard and you don't "feel" the weight as much as you'd think you would.
Upgrades:
- The immediate upgrade I did was the handlebar. For a trail bike, you would think Cannondale would stock this with a nice, wide handlebar. But instead they give you a 680mm handlebar. I swapped out their narrow bar with my wide Answer DH riser bar the afternoon I bought it.
- Bash guard. Just a safety precaution, but with the triple, I wouldn't want to come home with a bent chainring. The MRP bash guard is en route, and will add the extra protection needed for big logs and rocks.
- Dropper post. Found an X-Fusion HiLo dropper post on eBay for $140. While the reviews are mixed on this post, I think it will add a dimension to descending that is greatly needed for my trail bike. I have always been against dropper posts, but now, after riding a true trail bike, I can see the point.
I will update the review of this bike as time progresses. I hope this helps some on the fence about the Cannondale Jekyll 4.
Source: http://www.dionridesbikes.com/2013/05/i-got-me-new-bike-this-time-not.html
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