I took delivery of a 2010 Jake the Snake last week and had a great off road explore on Saturday, followed by my tarmac commute today. I have completely fallen in love! What a machine!
I've had a road bike before (Condor Italia) but this is so much more compliant. I was amazed at the speed I could carry through rocky/rough sections of doubletrack without feeling pumped in the arms or death-by-vibration. SO much faster UP the forestry roads than an MTB and only became a chore on the steepest sections as I could do with a couple teeth off the inner ring for such sections of trail (36/46 up front, road cassette at rear).
Then today on tarmac it eats up the flat and soaks up the terrible potholed roads around here with ease. My old flat bared slicked rigid MTB was less forgiving I'm sure.
When I was in the LBS sizing up the bike, the manager said how he and the owner both really enjoyed their cross bikes and it reminded them of the olden days of MTBing. I completely understand what he was getting at after my first off road ride. I'm now seeking out more exploratory rides and not only thinking about singletrack. I'm sure it will be a hoot around the trail centres too but I've not tried that yet.
Can't stop grinning. I've cut the bike stable down to the Jake the Snake and an ST4 and I feel I've got everything covered. I'm even going to get a second set of aksium wheels with GP4000s and some clip on aero bars for the local club 10s.
