hungrytiger
Likes Dirt
OK, I have quite enjoyed reading the other threads about people's spitfires, so I thought I would post mine up. Its still a work in progress and family stops me spending any more than I otherwise would, but I think I've invested the cash in the priority components at this stage.
I came off a remedy from the last 4 years, so the natural progression would really have been to go the rune; but after a fair bit of research I opted to go the spitfire instead as it seemed to be capable enough for the trails I ride (mostly lysty and silvan in VIC, with the occasional trip to falls, Beauty, youies, buller etc). I'm not really any sort of extreme rider, but the bit I like best is going downhll and some techy stuff thrown in, so thats really what I was looking for.
Only done 2 rides so far, but these are my initial impressions:
For future I intend to put a couple of spacers in the inline shock so it ramps up a little towards the end (mines a 2014 so it didnt come with them).
One tip I have for anyone with this frame is to secure the back cables on the small brace between the seat tube and down tube, then you route them through rear triangle on the inside below the top linkage, this keeps them well out the way and it does not seem to interfere with the suspension. Most people seem to route them on the outside for some reason.
So anyway, I'm glad I didn't go the Rune in the end, the spitfire seems like the perfect bike for the riding I like to do.
I came off a remedy from the last 4 years, so the natural progression would really have been to go the rune; but after a fair bit of research I opted to go the spitfire instead as it seemed to be capable enough for the trails I ride (mostly lysty and silvan in VIC, with the occasional trip to falls, Beauty, youies, buller etc). I'm not really any sort of extreme rider, but the bit I like best is going downhll and some techy stuff thrown in, so thats really what I was looking for.
Only done 2 rides so far, but these are my initial impressions:
- Fireroads etc: it bobs a fair bit, more than the remedy did. One of the first changes I made was to dial in 5 clicks of LSC. But not really priority for me and the climb switch gets rid of any bob completely, so a minor point really.
- Climbing Technical: just staggered by the amount of traction I was getting going up some reasonably tight and rocky switchbacks. Its no lightweight whippet, buts its by far the most capable bike I've had in terms of putting down the power in these situations.
- Regular singletrack: Good, no issues here. Got it on the middle setting with the flipchips currently. Nice and poppy off little jumps and rollers.
- Downhill: An absolute stormer. Its often said, but this thing just begs you to go faster. Yesterday I PRed all the downhill sections on my local tracks and by some measure. It felt fast at the time too. If it does that before I've even started fine tuning things then I'd say thats a pretty good start.
For future I intend to put a couple of spacers in the inline shock so it ramps up a little towards the end (mines a 2014 so it didnt come with them).
One tip I have for anyone with this frame is to secure the back cables on the small brace between the seat tube and down tube, then you route them through rear triangle on the inside below the top linkage, this keeps them well out the way and it does not seem to interfere with the suspension. Most people seem to route them on the outside for some reason.
So anyway, I'm glad I didn't go the Rune in the end, the spitfire seems like the perfect bike for the riding I like to do.