it’s been a bike that I’ve used – and enjoyed – a lot more than I expected it to.
Yep I can totally relate to this. I bought a Nukeproof Solum on a whim earlier in the year from CRC in one of the sales.
I love it! It has improved my pump track / jumping technique a lot. Still fairly rubbish at it overall mind you.
Another thing that I’ve found as I have got older, is that my usual XC/trail riding is not really improving any more…and if I am honest is maybe even going a bit backwards slightly in terms of speed, as I get older/slower.
The great thing about starting right at the beginning again with a different sort of riding is that there is so much scope to improve at so many new things. The mind boggles what to work on really.