Wow... Superlight Demo Ride

MountainPete

...if you don't want to read all this, just skip to the last big paragraph!

I managed to get the Superlight demo bike out on a ride this morning. I have never ridden a full suspension bike in my life before, so I wasn't really sure what to expect. The first couple of km were on roads to get to the trails and it all felt very similar to my hardtail.

The first climb was a bit of a disappointment - I couldn't really feel much of a difference in anything. For all I could tell it was my dear old hardtail with gears that weren't quite as slick and things in a sligthly different place. However, I promised myself to give it a chance. The rear shock had Fox's 'propedal' feature engaged; I decided to flick the switch to 'full squish' mode and see if that made any difference.

And what a difference it did make! The bike really came alive from then on. I raced around every trail and became more and more daring as time went on. I don't know whether this is a feature of the Superlight, most full suss bikes, or this Superlight in particular, but I found that I was able to let the rear wheel slide around sharp corners on a loose surface. As soon as I stamped on the pedals, somehow that rear wheel found a ton of grip and shot me off in the right direction. This was definitely a totally different way to ride a bike. It climbed hills like no other, too. I found myself in a completely useless gear a couple of times whilst starting an ascent and somehow the rear wheel didn't spin out - it just kept climbing. The harder I pushed, the harder it climbed.

As I covered more singletrack, the faster I pushed myself - I really enjoyed the extra 'control' I felt I had over the rear wheel. Sharp berms were a particular delight to ride - the faster I rode them (and the harder I peddled) the more grip I felt I had at the back.

I am sure the propedal feature in the fox shocks is a very good one, but I think it needs to be set up more to my liking for me to get used to it. I decided that it needed to 'give way' a lot earlier than it was, but I couldn't really be bothered to faff around with it whilst I was riding. Besides, I was enjoying everything feeling very smooth!


I am no bike tester. In the four years that I have been mountain biking I have had two bikes. The first was a 'full suss' sherman tank from halfords (which I had for the best part of 6 months) and I currently ride a 2006 GT Aggressor 1.0 which has been heavily pimped out over the years. What I would like to ask is whether the handling features I described above are unique to the Superlight, or are they general handling features for most bikes in the full suss world?

All I need to do now is save up!!!

Thanks for reading (I hope it wasn't too long!) and I would love to hear your thoughts.

RealMan

I'll try to avoid saying how its tourdefrancehalfraudsadvertesque skidding the back wheel around corners in this.

Oops. :oops:

Anyway, sounds like just had better tyres maybe? Although obviously the superlight is a better bike, and rides better, and the shock allows the rear to go over stuff smoother, allowing you more grip on the back as well.

Sounds like you had fun though. Maybe just try out a few more full sus bikes, and form your own opinion. Handling is bit of a dodgy area, everyone seems to think differently about everything.

MountainPete

RealMan wrote:

I'll try to avoid saying how its tourdefrancehalfraudsadvertesque skidding the back wheel around corners in this.

Lol!

I was wondering whether the tyres had much to do with how it handled, but I guess I'll just have to find out for myself.

Thanks for the reply!

paul.skibum

Pete - glad you found a bike to test.

I have an old model Heckler and I think your description is similar to my findings to - the bike has a kind of squat and fire quality through corners where as the susp sinks in a little with weight and compression through the turn it then decompresses (?!) as you strat to pedal and propels you through the corner - I believe it is a common feature of single pivot bikes and one of the reasons so many like the handling of bikes like the heckler, superlight and the Orange 5.

Save up and get it ordered!

Where did you test it by the way - if you got it from Mountain trax did you go to Swinley or somewhere?

MacAndCheese

Hey Mountain Pete, Where did you demo ride the Superlight? wasn't anywhere in the south east was it? I'm trying to choose a new frame and this is on my shortlist.

MountainPete

Paul - I'm glad I'm not alone in the way I found it handled! I actually got a Juliana (which is exactly the same as the superlight) from Mountain Trax. It was a tad small for me but it had quite a long stem on and they moved the saddle back a bit so it didn't feel too bad. I was tempted to have a blast around Swinley, but instead I stuck in the training areas to the east of Farnborough/Frimley green (and out to Deepcut). I ride there fairly regularly and thought I'd be able to test the bike a bit better seeing as I know the trails better there than in Swinley.

MacAndCheese - I am more south than south east, but I got the demo bike from Mountain Trax (www.mountain-trax.com) just south of Reading. If you check out the Santa Cruz website here (http://www.santacruzbikes.co.uk/bicycles/demos/) it will tell you all the different bikes around the UK they have for demo. If you are a smaller guy like me, then it is well worth checking the list for Julianas as well as the Superlight. Although the Juliana is the 'women's' version, it is exactly the same as the superlight, just in smaller sizes.

MacAndCheese

Thanks Pete, as it turns out I am a smaller guy - 5'7" and that is one of the issues I am having, I need to work out if I want a small or medium, (I currently ride a 16" Kona that feels a tiny bit undersized) I assume you mean juliana just for the test ride - good idea. Thanks for the link.

MountainPete

The Juliana I tested was a 'small', and it was a bit too small. If you find the Superlight on the Santa Cruz website (www.santacruzmtb.com this time) you'll eventually find a 'sizing' button. Click this and it will give you a guide to the Superlight sizing. I am 5'7" too, and given that I thoght the small Juliana was a bit too small, I think a medium would probably suit me best.

Oh and yes - I did mean the Juliana to test rather than to buy. I know it's the same bike, but I would prefer 'Superlight' written on my bike than 'Juliana'!!

MacAndCheese

Thanks again for the advise, I had been looking at the sizing charts and comparing it to my Kona (well done to kona for still having there 2006 sizing info on the net btw)...However the more I try an think "will half an inch here or there make any difference?" the more I realise I just need to fine one and ride it!

MountainPete

MacAndCheese wrote:

...the more I realise I just need to fine one and ride it!

Those were my thoughts exactly!