First Ride

Got out for a nice relaxing ride on slightly muddy trails. This is my typical "new bike", or "changed something and want to test it" ride.

Riding it 5" rear, 4" front cuz I was too lazy to mess with it.

Fit: Unbelievably, I felt a little too stretched out. Time to get out the 80mm stem and non-setback post.

Suspension: Super plush. Sag checked out okay, but I blew through the rear too easily, so I needed to firm it up, but forgot the shock pump. So yeah, super plush.

Fork: Unbelievable that this is the same chassis I sent to White Bros a couple weeks ago for a damper change. Night and day, way better, uber plush, tracks great. For anyone on the fence, the new Fluid forks ride great. The prior IMV damper sucked for me and I am glad I ditched it. Felt like a lot more than 100mm.

Frame: Sorry to say this folks, but I think my Lenz is stiffer. No Ventana is a noodle, but slight flex was noticable. Not a fair comparison because the Lenz has Flows (instead of Arches) and a TA 150mm rear wheel in its favor, so some component (maybe a lot) is the wheels.

Technical climbing was awesome as I have found on pretty much all 29" bikes. This little frame did a great job in tight techy situations with rock drops in the middle of switchbacks, etc. Sort of like driving an economy car around the city. Very responsive to hopping around and body english. I did notice the rear wanting to let go a little quicker than the Lenz. I made some tight switchback moves with ease that vex me on the Lenz, but failed a couple rougher moves that I usually clear easily on the other bike.

The front end felt nowhere near as heavy as the Curtlo, but not as light as the Lenz. Felt balanced.

At high speed, it felt a little twitchier than I am used to, but not necessarily unstable. You just needed to pay attention.

Lawn darted off several tech moves I usually clear with ease on the Lenz. Just about crapped my pants on another steep roll-off that I don't much think about on the Lenz. I felt the longer stays for sure in many situations. I never felt they added anything positive to the ride.

It shreds best on smoother, tighter radius curvy singletrack, which is definitely its element, the front just tracks nicely around corners in these situations.

I would say that in general, I like the Lunchbox more in almost every situation except:

Tight, slow, technical climbing
Tightish fast smoother singletrack

Which is a fancy way of saying this is a very nice XC bike. It is a good bike, much better than the Curtlo it replaced, but without the visceral love reaction I get from the Box.

I think I will ditch the 5" rockers and commit to 4" in order to gain a lower BB and slightly slacker HTA as better fits this bikes purpose. There are rides where I'm sure it will outperform the Lenz, unfortunately, they are mostly the tighter woods trails you find back east.

This is a very first impression, and is likely to change as I get the thing tweaked to my liking.

Just reaffirms the fact that all bikes are compromises, you just have to find the compromise that suits you best. My comparisons to the Lenz are like comparing a Salty to a Terremoto, or Spot to an RFX. There really is no comparison, and one frame or the other will appeal to you based on your needs.