Lance & I hit up the Consumer Bike Demo Days at Southridge in Fontana, CA this past Saturday. It rained pretty hard all night on Friday but I continually checked the weather.com and knew that there shouldn’t be anymore rain by 9am.
KHS tent
When we rolled into Southridge, the skies were cloudy but no rain. Thankfully Sourthridge race course dries up very quickly and, because of the rain, the trail was more ridable than normal.
I had two bikes on my mind and Lance was up for anything (thanks Lance).
KHS Flagstaff
We first headed over to KHS and I checked out their new Flagstaff, a full suspension horst link 29er.
Still dirty from Interbike
Enough clearance for WTB Exiwolf 2.3’s up front and in the rear
Horst link can be seen in the back
I don’t have much to report on this bike because it wasn’t my size (KHS doesn’t have a Large Flagstaff yet) but I am glad I put in some seat time on it. The Flagstaff give me more confidence as compared to riding my hardtail 29er on the Southridge course and the horst link was very plush. For the price ($2,000 complete) and what you get, there is no competition in the full suspension 29er category.
Turner Sultan
The 2nd bike I rode was the Turner Sultan. You can’t just glance at this bike as the blue really calls attention to itself. The Sultan uses the Turner Rocker suspension design.
Turner guys took a few minutes to dial in the bike for me
Cables fit under
Ready to rock & roll
This bike was my size and dialed in to me so I do have a couple of quick impressions. I thought this bike fit me really well. The geometry is just a good fit for my body’s dimensions. The frame was pretty stiff and the suspension was very nice. It definitely gave me confidence in some of the more technical parts of the trail. Lastly, I found that the front end of the bike did not pop up on me as much as my hardtails do.
If you get a chance to ride a demo day, I’d highly recommend it. The guys at the booths were very accommodating. Also, a suggestion I heard from more than one person: bring your own shoes & pedals. Other then that, leave the rest up to them.
