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Doing Hard Time Cam McRae |
After a long hardtail history I reluctantly opened my wallet and my mind and bought a Santa Cruz Bullit. For over two years the Bullit was my only off-road chariot. This new world had me going faster, bigger and more confidently than ever before (think Steve Austin after some tinkering) but there were some elements missing. There was a time when as often as not I would ride the 20 km from my home in Vancouver to one of the three North Shore mountains, climb to a trailhead, bomb down and then limp home. I wouldn't do this every ride but I did do it weekly at the very least. I missed the purity of that kind of riding - the liberation of leaving the fossil burner at home.
Since that time I have moved my dirt-loving ass closer to the trails I love and I no longer have a great distance, or any bridges, to traverse to reach some of the best riding on earth. Unfortunately, I usually ride bikes at that only see the Weight Watchers side of 40 lbs when missing a wheel. That coupled with 13-15 inches of squish meant I was driving to the trailheads.
When I noticed a Gazzoloddi 3.0 growing around my midriff I decided it was time to get myself a hardtail. I didn't want a dirt jump-specific bike with a 69.5° head angle or a Ritchey p22. I was looking for a tough trail bike that could withstand my inelegant hucking and also be suitable for the occasional epic. I settled on a 2001 Norco Torrent frame and I gradually built it up to be an unsuspended bastard cousin of my big bike, complete with 8" Hayes, a bashguard and flat pedals. It was just what I needed, or so I thought.
| I may have been baptized a hardtail rider but I soon realized my big bike sins couldn't be washed away in a heartbeat. On my first rides I kept hooking the rear wheel up and, with a tired five-inch Marzocchi Z1 QR20 up front, I perpetually felt in danger of endoing. I kept trying to convince myself that doing time on the hardtail would improve my skills so I would pull it out like a hair shirt and do my penance. I got to the point occasionally where I didn't despise being without the Vanilla RC tonic but if ever I was riding with a fast group or going somewhere special, like Squamish, I would opt for a full squish rig. |  |
That was until this fall. Manitou sent us a Sherman Slider dual crown fork with 6" of travel to test. At first I had it on a Specialized Big Hit DH but I had the wrong top crown and, because of the reverse arch, the combination didn't work. When the drop crown arrived I decided to try it on the Torrent. A few of my buddies had put dual crown forks on their hardtails and they raved about the set-up. These were better riders than I though and I didn't think the fork would lubricate my conversion.
On my first ride it seemed like everyone was slowing down to go my speed. Normally I couldn't stay with fast riders on my Torrent but all of a sudden I was up with the fully suspended pack. What was even better was that I was having more fun than I had enjoyed in eons. In fairness that poor, four-year-old Z1 had been through the wars, but the Sherman transformed my hardtail experience. About the first thing I noticed was that I was carrying much more speed through nasty corners. The stiffness of the fork allowed me to lay the bike down at angles I never before approached and that pace would help me through subsequent sections. I started choosing my hardtail just because it was so much fun. A couple of my riding buddies even suggested I was going faster on the hardtail than on a long travel bike.
A funny thing began happening to me because of my transformation: I would get lost. I was choosing lines so differently that I would fail to recognize sections I had ridden dozens of times and I often had to hike back to a missed fork in the trail. I also found myself moving differently on the bike and being much more dynamic. The effort to have the rear wheel avoid sharp and nasties that a DH bike would devour had me moving with a nimbleness that I didn't realize I possessed. The good old days were back!
After a long stint in hardtail school I headed up to Squamish with a big group, riding a Specialized Big Hit DH. I had a great day but I didn't recall comparing the feeling to my hardtail because I hadn't ridden those trails in so long. A few rides later I was back on the big bike on a familiar trail on Cypress. Without realizing it I was launching things I hadn't previously and I was carrying speed like never before. The dually seemed to be floating over the trail and finally I was getting the heavenly rewards for my penance.
I really hoped this was a new me and that I had learned some stuff on the Torrent that would stay with me on a big bike. I feared this would not be the case and that, like altitude training or blood doping, the effect would wear off after a short time and I would need to recharge. My next ride on a DH bike confirmed my fears and I was back straight-lining sections and being lazy in the saddle.
One thing is certain, though - I am now hooked on the hardtail and if I am ever stuck with access to only one bike it won't be an easy decision.
Photos by Cam McRae
