Fork You.

As noted previously, I've needed a new fork on my mountain bike. But because I've been trying to save money and pay things off, and with how slow work has been, I've been holding off on buying one until I knew for sure I could comfortably afford one. Well, that time came this past week with the arrival of the deposit refund from my old apartment, and I went and bought this:

A Marzocchi 33 TST2. Not the best fork available, but it was affordable, and worlds better than the SR Suntour XC60 that came on the bike when I bought it. I have nothing against the Suntour, for it served me as well as it could for the ~5 years it's been on the bike, but... to be honest, it wasn't that great to begin with. So it is on its way to the long urban trail in the sky. (the dumpster.)

Anywho, upon recieving new fork, I set about installation, and applied lessons learned previously. All in all, it installed nicely, and looks nice on the Giant, which, due to the fact that the new fork has "Bomber" all over it in big letters, Exegete suggested that the Giant be re-named to the B-52. I like it.

Of course, as soon as it was on, I took it on a test ride out to the Soldier Loop trail. I'd only ever ridden it with Henry, and Henry being a full rigid cross bike with road gearing, I wanted to see how much more fun the trail was with suspension. The answer? Lots!

Having never had a suspension fork with actual damping and lockouts, (not including motorcycles) I've never known what it's like to be able to just let the bike roll over obstacles and absorb the majority of it, instead of me absorbing most of the shock in my arms and legs. I think mountain rides are going to be much more fun now.

Other thing of note... the Soldier Loop trail runs right by the Pine Mountain Amphitheater at Fort Tuthill towards the end of the trail. As I rolled closer to the amphitheater, I could hear loud music growing louder. Finally I stopped alongside the trail a few hundred yards away to take a breather, and listened to George Thorogood and The Destroyers doing sound checks. What a great way to finish up the ride.

Mileage: 12.2