I’ve got to tell you, we’re getting some great weather here in Southern California. A group of us took advantage of the weather and went out riding this morning. We chose the always fun Fullerton Loop.
I rode my X-Cal while a good friend of mine got to try out the new KHS Tucson. He normally rides a 26″ aluminum bike so the Tucson is different for him in that it is a 29er and it has a steel frame. Most of the parts spec on the Tucson is similar to his 26″ mtn bike.
I just wanted to share with you some of his impressions on the bike:
– the bottom bracket is very strong. He felt that the Truvative Blaze crankset and the Truvativ Howitzer Splined outboard cartridge bearing bottom bracket made a very good pairing. It seemed to him that it was solid combination.
– the steel frame exhibited flex that his aluminum bike normally does not have. This seems to be a sought after trait in steel bike frames.
– he likes the 29er wheels. hehe
– he feels faster on the 29er. Maybe it’s the momentum or the ability to roll over small obstacles, but he definitely feels faster on the 29er than on his 26 inch bike.
– if he was in the market for another bike, he’d be willing to pay a bit more for a 29er with the same parts spec as a 26″ bike.
I also went to the LBS after the ride to tune up my X-cal and have some work done to it (you’ll find out soon what was done) and a couple of the mechanics took turns riding the Tucson and commenting on it. One of them, who used to race an X-Cal and just bought a Salsa Dos-Niner to race felt that the geometry of the Tucson was very similar to his new Dos-Niner. He liked the Tucson.
Just some quick impressions I thought you might be interested in hearing. If you’d like more info on the KHS Tucson, click here.
