So cutting to the chase, I’ve sold the Crafty. It was fun, but it was time to move on.
Largely the main reason for selling it was the lack of mud clearance with a 29er wheel in. I know, its not a 29er frame, so its not Mondraker’s fault, its just how it is. Round me, its muddy in the winter (and the summer often too) so having the read wheel clog up with mud and stop rolling meant I never rode the bike unless it was fairly dry, or I was riding somewhere mot muddy. That limited my bike time a fair bit.
I think the pivot shimming really had largely solved the constant pivot loosening, which was my second bugbear. I could like with the limited shock choices, owing to frame clearance, and I could forgive the slightly high BB (again, ‘cos of my wheel size choice).
Do I regret the “experiment”? Hell no, it was a blast and I really enjoyed the bike. I hope the chap I’ve sold it too (who is looking to use it with 650b+ wheels) gets as much fun from it as I did. I’m sure he will.
So whats replacing it? Well, two bikes. A Cotic FlareMAX and a Transition Sentinel. I’ve had the FlareMAX for nearly two months now, its nice and without having owned the Crafty I’d have worried it would be too long, its not. The Sentinel isn’t hear yet, but soon…
So that sit for this blog. I was shit at keeping it up anyway! Al, out.