Maverick Ride Report
This winter, I upgraded the front end of my Niner RIP9 from a Rock Shox Reba, to a Maverick DUC 32.
I was looking for something with a little more travel than my Reba, and something that was a little more tuneable. Over the last few days, I've been riding the RIP and trying to get a feel for the new hardware. So far, I've been extremely happy. The first few rides were my usual shake down trip out to the Stowe Town Loops.
Today, we visited Snake Mountain in Addison VT. Anyone that has ever ridden there knows that any equipment will show it's soft underbelly under the duress of the trails up there.
So far the only thing I want to change about the fork, is the high speed compression setting. It tends to dive hard under braking, but holy cow does this thing go where you point it! I used the travel reducer for the brutal climb up to the top of the mountain (it's a little over 1.7 miles with an elevation gain of about 900ft).
Everywhere else, the fork performed flawlessly. Not once did I feel it bind up or twist. There were lots of loose pointy rocks, steep roll downs and tight switchbacks on this ride. There were even a few spots where I chose to walk, and spots where I should have walked. There were even a few spots where I got lucky.
Treachery aside, the mountain itself is beautiful. You get to ride through hardwood stands, deer yards, giant exposed stretches of granite, cliff bands, pine stands, beaver ponds, streams and mud holes. I'm looking forward to riding down there a lot more this summer.
The most notable thing, was the post ride feeling. Or should I say lack of feeling. It's been a few years since we rode there, but normally a trip to Snake leaves you feeling like you've been through a meat grinder. Not so today. It was also the first time we had ridden there on 29ers.
Coincidence?
I was looking for something with a little more travel than my Reba, and something that was a little more tuneable. Over the last few days, I've been riding the RIP and trying to get a feel for the new hardware. So far, I've been extremely happy. The first few rides were my usual shake down trip out to the Stowe Town Loops.
Today, we visited Snake Mountain in Addison VT. Anyone that has ever ridden there knows that any equipment will show it's soft underbelly under the duress of the trails up there.
So far the only thing I want to change about the fork, is the high speed compression setting. It tends to dive hard under braking, but holy cow does this thing go where you point it! I used the travel reducer for the brutal climb up to the top of the mountain (it's a little over 1.7 miles with an elevation gain of about 900ft).
Everywhere else, the fork performed flawlessly. Not once did I feel it bind up or twist. There were lots of loose pointy rocks, steep roll downs and tight switchbacks on this ride. There were even a few spots where I chose to walk, and spots where I should have walked. There were even a few spots where I got lucky.
Treachery aside, the mountain itself is beautiful. You get to ride through hardwood stands, deer yards, giant exposed stretches of granite, cliff bands, pine stands, beaver ponds, streams and mud holes. I'm looking forward to riding down there a lot more this summer.
The most notable thing, was the post ride feeling. Or should I say lack of feeling. It's been a few years since we rode there, but normally a trip to Snake leaves you feeling like you've been through a meat grinder. Not so today. It was also the first time we had ridden there on 29ers.
Coincidence?
posted by mandy at 7:21 AM
1 Comments:
How's that DUC32 working out for you now that you've been riding it a while? I'm considering it, but I've seen some nasty reviews.
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