I finally finished building the Hightower. Here it is:
Why, you may ask, did it take a month? A few reasons. One, I just don't love working on bikes that much anymore. And boy was this one a lot of work. Two, it was difficult to find time between riding and everything else I am responsible for. Sometimes those responsibilities involve swinging a sledgehammer or a pick or an axe and that leads to lack of enthusiasm towards standing in front of a bike stand.
However, the main reason for the month-long build was buyer's remorse as soon as I clicked the button to buy it. This isn't really the bike I need. I tend to ride where I live and very rarely drive to ride. I live in rolling hills and fairly mellow terrain. Even though my racing days are seemingly long behind me, I still like to ride fast. This is where and how I ride every day. A nice cross-country bike with more reasonable geometry would have been a much better choice. But here we are.
Five days ago I took it out for the first ride. It's different. Definitely different.
As I rolled out the door, the first thing that is abundantly clear is how steep the seat tube is. My Jones LWB is the bike I spend the most time on, and it has a seat tube angle of 71 degrees. Super slack and it always felt perfect to me. Now I am trying out 77 degrees and it felt weird right from the start, like the cranks were right under me as on a unicycle.
A couple miles from home I hit the first climb heading towards Beals Point. It's fairly steep in places and peppered with round river rock. I tried to power up it like I would on my hardtail, but the power simply wasn't there. I dropped down a gear and kept going. Then another gear. It was just really difficult to keep my momentum.
I poached all the trails heading towards Beals Point, mostly uphill, and it was fine. I even made it up a steep, technical section that I don't always clean on my hardtail. On the few downhill sections, I immediately noticed that a modern bike is ridden with a more forward bias; my hardtail "ass off the back" descending mentality would need some adjusting.
One thing I have always done going back to pre-suspension days, and maybe even BMX days, is loft my front wheel over everything. I don't even realize I am doing it. Maybe this came from necessity when we had rigid forks or maybe it's just because it's fun. I don't know. But the first time I did it on the Hightower the wheel started to come up, but the saddle hit my legs. This happened over and over again and it was frustrating. I am cool with having the dropper there when I NEED it, but I don't want it to be a requirement every single time the trail points down for a few feet.
As the ride continued I was continually surprised that I needed to drop down a gear or two on the climbs. I realize this bike isn't made to hit the cross-country World Cup circuit, but it was frustrating nonetheless.
Downhills and fast sections were admittedly fun. Once I started getting the hang of positioning, it was clear you can go fast on this type of bike. With 210 millimeters of dropper post travel I could get pretty low, and the traction is amazing.
I hit pretty much every boulder feature, even the one I always go around on my hardtail, and it was all ridiculously easy. That was fun.
I climbed up to the water tower, which is on a steep fire road, and had to drop into my 42T cog, a gear that I never use (let alone the 50T). Again, frustrating.
The singletrack downhill on the other side is steep (for this area) and a rutted out mess. The bike handled it without issue, but the lack experience on the bike kept the pilot from pushing too hard.
I arrived home and headed upstairs to take a shower. Even though my ride was only 25 miles, to my legs it felt like 50. I was really tired.
That night my legs started cramping and spasming like crazy—hamstrings, groin and hips. I have occasional cramping issues, but NOTHING like this.
The next morning I was walking around like an old bow-legged cowboy. Unbelievably sore, especially my hips. I went for a ride in an effort to loosen up, which helped, but I was so tired.
I took the next day off followed by two mixed terrain rides on my Jones bikes, and the hip discomfort started to fade. Today, five days later, I finally feel like myself again.
The human body is both prone to specialization and remarkably adaptable. Ride in the same position for a while and that will be the only position your body likes. But given time, you can also adapt to a completely new position. Six degrees isn't much in some ways (it's only 1.6% of a circle), but to your body it's a massive change.
Time for this old cowboy to get back on that horse and try again.
Later.
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