I love new bikes!

Unpacking fresh bikes is like christmas around here - especially when they're the kind of bike you'd like to swing through some singletrack on! Like that spangly new Rocky Mountain Slayer 50 placed strategically right in front of you when you walk into the shop... I've been around to look at it from my office a couple of times since Ian assembled the beauty. Mmmm. That'd be fun in tokai this afternoon for sure. Actually any of those new Rocky Mountain bikes would be ace!

Anyhoo - Saturday I swung my leg over my new Intense Spider bike - which if you speak to me nicely is available to demo... I've ridden a couple of Jeff Steber's wonders but this is the closest I've come to saying this one's mine (which is weird cos as a bike shop owner I have a shop full...) but you know what I mean. After having a number of Spiders sold from under me I hope to hold onto this one long enough to feel like it's an extension of me on the trail. And it's got a lot to live up to considering my 5" travek Kona Coiler Limited Edition has been my steed of choice for the last couple of injury infested years! My Coiler is so custom specced with just the right bits that it's performance is just like I want it - getting a bike to that place of nirvana can be a journey of extreme satisfaction.

To keep myself injury free this year, and rebuild my dissappearing base fitness, I opted for a lightweight XC bike. The Spider is the king so here we go...

My first impressions are that this bike certainly doesn't feel like a 4" travel XC bike - it's got an awesome progressive feel to the suspension that it fools you into thinking there's more travel there than a paltry 4". But make no mistake - this is the best climbing bike I have ever ridden - hardtails included! I'm climbing out of my skin - and I love it! It's not nervous on tight singletrack or over rocks - quite stable and friendly for a performance oriented mountain bike.

I'm off to Tokai again this afternoon to satisfy the urge for more singletrack. Wowee - I'm like a kid with his latest toy!