profaine
13-10-2005, 08:21 PM
I thought I would post this topic in general mtb because internal hubs may soon be on all types of bikes?! (if you believe the hype??)
Basically I took the new IT1 for a ride around the LBS so i though some of you may be interested in my thoughts?!
First thing I did was pick the bike up with one hand at approximately halfway up the top tube, now it was heavy! how heavy though? as a bit of indication I have an Avanti D8 and it was marginally heavier (the shock on the d8 is roughly in the area that the transmission on the GT is). However, pick the bike up at the seat and the rear wheel felt incredibly light! The overall balance was just that of a dh bike.
Taking the bike for a ride and changing gears was an experience! Changing up you did not even notice you had changed gear (apart from the obvious change in ratio) there was no sound or feeling, only the gear selector and the change in ratio told you. However, changing down you could just feel a little bit of 'friction' (you could just feel something that told you that you were changing gears). Pedalling and changing felt a little weird, I cant put my finger on what, it just felt like something was being pulled, hard to explain! I think though anywhere other then a bike shop floor you would be hard pressed to notice this phenomenan. What i could feel was that the back wheel felt incrediblly light when pedalling! Now this might have been an effect of the suspension or something but thats what it felt like!
From the bounce around the bike shop it is hard to get a real gauge of the suspension feel (same with most aspects of the bike really!) however the fox 40's were super plush, infact they felt plusher then the rear end but obviously it wasnt set up for me or anything, it did feel smooth and progressive. When you pedaled as the manager said; "it's like a hardtail" i felt this was a very accurate description. The manager also popped the bike into a wheelie/coaster and had it sitting on the rear wheel nice and easy! (this could have been due to skill but i would like to give it a go myself and see what its like)
Final thoughts? Might be difficult to work on unless you have good mechanical skills/tools, check with the manual on that one! Cant wait to ride one down a track!! (which will hopefully be soon when the test bike arrives, I will keep you posted if your interested!)
Any questions?
Cheers Profaine
Basically I took the new IT1 for a ride around the LBS so i though some of you may be interested in my thoughts?!
First thing I did was pick the bike up with one hand at approximately halfway up the top tube, now it was heavy! how heavy though? as a bit of indication I have an Avanti D8 and it was marginally heavier (the shock on the d8 is roughly in the area that the transmission on the GT is). However, pick the bike up at the seat and the rear wheel felt incredibly light! The overall balance was just that of a dh bike.
Taking the bike for a ride and changing gears was an experience! Changing up you did not even notice you had changed gear (apart from the obvious change in ratio) there was no sound or feeling, only the gear selector and the change in ratio told you. However, changing down you could just feel a little bit of 'friction' (you could just feel something that told you that you were changing gears). Pedalling and changing felt a little weird, I cant put my finger on what, it just felt like something was being pulled, hard to explain! I think though anywhere other then a bike shop floor you would be hard pressed to notice this phenomenan. What i could feel was that the back wheel felt incrediblly light when pedalling! Now this might have been an effect of the suspension or something but thats what it felt like!
From the bounce around the bike shop it is hard to get a real gauge of the suspension feel (same with most aspects of the bike really!) however the fox 40's were super plush, infact they felt plusher then the rear end but obviously it wasnt set up for me or anything, it did feel smooth and progressive. When you pedaled as the manager said; "it's like a hardtail" i felt this was a very accurate description. The manager also popped the bike into a wheelie/coaster and had it sitting on the rear wheel nice and easy! (this could have been due to skill but i would like to give it a go myself and see what its like)
Final thoughts? Might be difficult to work on unless you have good mechanical skills/tools, check with the manual on that one! Cant wait to ride one down a track!! (which will hopefully be soon when the test bike arrives, I will keep you posted if your interested!)
Any questions?
Cheers Profaine