Beer, Bikes, and Snow

In my previous post , I described the ups and downs of owning a 29er and the phases I went through either loving my mountain bike or hating it.  For almost a year now, I had been talking to Jay at Halter's about getting a new ride. Last spring, Jay mentioned a 650b or 27.5.  My first thought was "no way...I can't ride smaller wheels".  I also didn't know much about the whole smaller-wheel movement.  What bikes would be available? Who had them? I did some research and read some reviews.  People were liking them.  I still wasn't convinced. Over the summer, a few friends (short and tall) who tried the 27.5/650b told me they loved it - and a few actually bought new bikes.  Now I was really curious. A few weeks ago, Halter's got in a demo of the Giant Lust - a women's specific full-suspension...in my size.  Jay offered to let me take it and try it. While Mother Nature hasn't been the most forgiving with weather and snow, I managed to get a fe...

I decided to break this post into two parts.  The first post will be some background on my previous bikes and riding history.  The second post will be my actual thoughts and review of the Giant Lust 27.5. My first mountain bike was a Cannondale Jekkyl - a full-suspension 26er.  I got the bike at the Velodrome bike swap, knowing nothing about bikes.  A friend helped me pick it out - it seemed great at the time.  I was new to riding all together - and that is when I found MTBNJ . My first mountain bike - a Cannondale Jekkyl 26er I had been riding about a year when I started to really notice 29ers.  I heard all types of great things about them - like "you can roll over anything" or "the bikes just make sense".  Some friends were starting to "taste the coolaid" and I wanted in. I didn't really do my homework, not knowing too much about bikes, but I thought I wanted a full-suspension.  I ended up with a Gary Fisher Hi-Fi Deluxe.  When I...