Explosif Revisited

ExplosifLately

I’ve had the new bike for a while and thought I’d share some thoughts and experiences.

 Fork: I bought the SID largely because I was trying to build a light bike. It took me a while to get the thing dialed, and I have come to believe that RockShox’s air recommendations are a tad on the high side and that this particular shock came with too much compression damping. I’ve rectified both of these issues and am very, very happy with this item.

Drivetrain: XX1= Blammo. I’ll confess that I had some reservations about this move as I’d been very happy with my former Shimano stuff, but XX1 has far exceeded my expectations. It works perfectly. My only complaint might be that it’s a bit pricey, a complaint that appears to have been addressed with X01.

Brakes: I did the Magura thing largely just to try something new. I was happy with the Avid brakes on my previous mountain bike and have been very impressed with Shimano’s latest stuff. Instead of going with equipment that I knew would work, I tried Magura’s MT6 setup… and there were issues, some of which were setup issues (don’t cheap out and try to use your old Avid rotors; the Magura rotors are thicker and work better) and some of which were process issues (learning to get them bled correctly). Somewhere along the line I contaminated the pads, either from the old rotors or a bleeding mishap. I installed new pads and bed them in the night before a race and BANG! Everything clicked, and the brakes worked marvelously. Like really freaking good. I confess that there were dark moments when I thought about chucking this system and bolting on some SLX brakes, but I’m now very satisfied and can recommend Magura brakes with confidence. Looking for something really light and maybe a tad off the beaten path? Here you go.

Wheels/Tires: I’ve had this setup for a while, so nothing shocking here. Stan’s are probably the best deal in tubeless wheels and Schwalbe makes mighty fine tubeless ready tires. I remain very satisfied.

The Whole Package: I’m not the best setup artist on my own stuff. I tend to go out and ride with my friends, think about what I might change, do nothing, go ride with my friends again and think about the same changes. This time I actually took a shock pump and an assortment of stems on a ride or two and slowly got the bike where I wanted.

As I ride more and more bikes I have a greater feeling for what feels right and what does not. However, I lack the technical chops to articulate what it is about one bike that makes it feel better or worse than another. I also think my thoughts should be taken in context — I’m not a gifted mountain biker. When I first rode a stock steel Explosif outside of Bellingham last year, I thought, “This is the most confident I’ve ever felt on a mountain bike.” That same feeling is strong when I ride this bike. Confident and frisky. Those are the two words I’d use to describe this bike.

It’s a keeper.