11 October 2011 - 9:08Weapon X Impressions

So I got a solid amount of time on my new Niner WFO over the course of the weekend, a fairly complete tour of Sterling Valley on Saturday, and a little bit of everything at the Kingdom on Sunday. I used every feature of the bike, which worked perfectly with one exception.

Since Irene came into our lives here in VT, many of us have not had the opportunity to keep those maintenance rides in, meaning the fatness is taking over. My legs felt like crap all weekend, with my bum knee acting up most of Sunday afternoon. That did not detract from the amazing rides that were had though, it was hard to not have a good time.

So, back to the ride. As expected, the bike climbs well. I knew it would, as I never had a problem with the way the Honey Badger climbed, with the exception of the floppy steering on steeper trails. The TALAS fork definitely fixed that. A simple twist of the dial, and the front end drops a little over an inch. I even rode it in the reduced travel mode on a few level sections of trail between climbs, and found that the bike was still manageable.

getting the right angle

I definitely felt that the Angleset was living up to my expectations as well. The bike had a quickness to it that was unlike it’s predecessor. I need to find my angle finder so I can confirm the actual angles I have, but in my head, I think my experiment was a success. There was a little bit of creaking coming from the headset on bigger bumps, so a phone call to Cane Creek is on my to do list today. No other niggles there. The bottle opener was put to good use as well post ride.

shockingly good

I’m still dialing in the shock pressures. I feel like the ride is a little harsh still, on both ends. Upon setting the sag where it is “supposed” to be, I was at 90psi front and 170 rear. I ended up letting some air out and at 85/150, I still feel like the bike glances off bumps rather than soak them up. Still have to do some fiddling there, but overall, I think I am pretty happy with the Monarch rear shock. There are 3 settings, much like Fox’s Pro Pedal on the RP23. These settings are much easier to use on the Rock Shox with a simple flick of the blue lever. Settings are for the “Gate” which basically means how quickly oil can pass through the damper under compression. The gate runs Open (-) to Closed (+) in three clicks, and that  is a nice way to do it, although I found myself running the shock all the way open most of the time.

stuck

The seatpost was the only sticking issue with me. Literally. The post would go down all the way, but would only come back up half way on it’s own. I was able to pinch the seat between my legs and pull it up the rest of the way, but that is not how it is meant to work. Rock Shox is replacing it for me, as there were some problems with earlier models of this post. Besides that, the action was smooth and easy to use. The Match-maker handlebar remote is a nice feature, and keeps the cockpit nice and tidy.

I was thoroughly impressed with the Tioga tires, separate review on those forthcoming!