I picked up my new race bike!! It's a Salsa Dos Niner. I bought it through Speegoat. A great experience all around with them. Picked a small frame, and picked all of the components. The bike came in at 23.5 pounds!! This is great as a 29er is usually a little heavier anyway. Compare this to my GF Cake at 29.5 pounds.
Took it for two short rides in horrible humidity, but didn't get a real feel for how it could do. Today I rode it out at Bavington. I rode the Month of Mud race loop, which I have ridden a ton of times. Last year at MoM my lat time was 1:01. Today my lap time on the Dos Niner was :54. I can only imagine that as I dial in the bike more and become more comfortable on it, I could reduce that time even more.
Why a faster time? Was it because the bike was a 29er? Probably several reasons.
1. My Cake was a little big for me, causing me lower back pain. Dos Niner was fit to me really well, almost no back pain at all! This allowed me to stay on the bike the whole ride without need to stretch.
2. Dos Niner significantly lighter which allowed me to ride faster and to ride up every single hill, which I had not been able to do on the Cake. This saved me a lot of time, not wasting time being off the bike pushing it.
3. Dos Niner's ride was smoother, even though my Cake has 5" of travel. I rolled over roots and logs, felt glued to the track and kept a higher pace the whole race.
Really looking forward to seeing what this bike can really do.
