First Paragon Ride

What a perfect day for a mountain bike ride at Mohican State Park.  The weather was very nice for a mid March day, it was 45 and sunny, and the trail was in great condition.  The water of the past couple weeks had drained away and left behind a grippy runway.

 Two Gary Fisher 29ers ready to roll.

It was mid afternoon when Ryan and I pulled into the parking lot.  I unloaded my new Paragon from Ryan's  trunk rack, ready for the first ride on my 29er.

About half a mile into the ride we stopped and I shed a layer.  The warmth of the sun through the leafless trees felt good.  In the opening, mostly uphill, section of the trail I was feeling benefit from the larger wheels.  The bike was rolling over roots with more ease than my previous 26" wheeled GF Wahoo.  I figure the plusher front fork on the Paragon also contributed to the better feel.

 Nothing like the first ride on a new bike.

As we continued through first five miles I was really liking several aspects of the new bike.  The hydraulic brakes are much better than on my Wahoo.  The new stoppers provided a solid feel with an ability to modulate braking force.  The larger front rotor and 29" tire patch certainly contributed to better braking as well.  I also noticed gear changes were less drastic than on my previous bike.  The Wahoo was 8 speed while the Paragon is 10 speed, and I could feel the smaller change in gear ratio between shifts on the Paragon.

 Ryan enjoying the warm sunshine.

At mile 8 we turned around to retrace our route.  Somewhere along the ride back I was noticing traction benefits with the Paragon.  I was happy with my tire choice and I think the new tires were certainly contributing to the traction combined with the larger contact patch of the 29" wheels.  On an uphill corner I stood up to pedal as I turned sharply.  On this same corner I often lost traction and had to put a foot down while riding the Wahoo.  On the Paragon I stood, felt a tiny amount of rear wheel slip, but then it connected up and pushed me through the corner.  Nice.

 Hey, my support vehicle showed up.

I'm sure there are plenty more things to discover about the new bike.  In spite of a dream the night before where I didn't notice a difference between the Wahoo and Paragon, there's a big difference.  And I like it.