Went and did it.......

[mfgp]

Well, after nearly a year of research, I finally bought a new bike.  A Cannondale Jekyll 600.  I ordered it last week and it should be in by Thursday.  I'm stoked!  

Looked at all kinds of different rigs, including Specialized, K2 (of course), Fisher, Giant, Trek and a couple others I can't even remember right now.  The Cannondale scared me at first because of parts compatibility, but the new ones seem to be able to accept any parts that the others can take.  This one comes with a Maintou Black fork, which was a relief because I didn't want a Cannondale headshok type.  Any 1-1/8th in fork will work, in fact.  I was under the impression until recently that you were stuck with a Cannondale fork because of the huge headtube.  That's not the case any more.  

Anyway, I was looking more at XC rigs at first.  The Razorback was one of my favorites, along with the Specialized Stumpjumper FSR.  But once I rode the Jekyll, I realized that it was light and sturdy, and felt a lot like my 856, except a lot plusher.  I'm amazed at how light this thing is, given the beefy "all mountain" construction and 5" of travel front and rear.  Also, I live in Panama City, Florida, and the nearest K2 or Specialized dealers are hours away.  The Cannondale dealer is 5 minutes from my house.  That helped with the final decision.      

But I have no intention of selling the 856.  I like the bike too much to part with it.  You will still see me hanging around here.  It still rides awesome, and will work great as a spare.  The fact that it still rides the way it does is testimonial to the awesome construction of the bike.  It literally has thousands of miles on it, many of them fairly brutal.  

Anyway, I'm waiting patiently for my new bike.  I'm guessing I'll be in the saddle the majority of this weekend if all goes well.    

mfgp

[Matno]

Congrats! You'll love the Jekyll. That would be one of my top choices if I were buying a new bike. Of course, I also think the Lefty is the greatest fork ever made, compatibility notwithstanding.

[pedro]

My cousin and ridding partner, has a cannondale super v 500 I beleive it is.    One feature that amazes me is, how strong and beefy their single pivot construction is.  I have to service my evo and other FSR bike pivots regularly. My cousin has used his super V for almost a year and it shows absolutely no problems.   There was another person who shared this site that went the jekyll route and gave positive feedback about his jekyll.

[zulu]

  Way to go! I bet you cant wait to ride that new toy. Give a quick update on how it compares to your 856 after you break her in gently of coarse.
Enjoy!   [smiley=beer.gif]

[mfgp]

It was supposed to be in yesterday, or today at the latest.  Of course, it didn't show up.   [smiley=disbelief.gif]

Looks like I'll be riding the 856 again this weekend.  I was really hoping to break in the new rig.  But oh well, the weather is supposed to be in the low eighties and sunny.  Can't bitch much about that.  Hopefully the rig will be in Monday.  Certainly by Thanksgiving. [smiley=worry.gif]