I just couldn't hold it

If giving up on geared bikes to ride a singlespeed is considered a case of drinking the Kool Aid, then what is it called when you go back? And if you not only go back to a multi-speed drivetrain, but throw in 29-inch wheels and 5 inches of travel front and rear, what have you done with the fruit-flavored beverage?

Whatever you call it, it's been done - I added a Stumpjumper FSR Comp 29 to the stable yesterday. I spent this morning installing the pedals and dialing in the cockpit, then took it out on a familiar loop at the local regional park just before sunset. Whee! Now, what I'm really looking forward to is taking it to trails I've avoided because of gradient, altitude, or terrain - places I'm just not strong enough to tackle on a singlespeed. Or at least I'll take my new ride to those places after I've picked up an adapter to attach the 20mm thru-axle Reba to my 9mm-sized roof rack - this bike is just too tall to fit in the back of the pickup under the shell.

And I have to admit there was an intermediate step here. I built up a geared hardtail last summer and was very pleased with myself for having cobbled it together on the cheap. At least I was pleased until the clearance-priced RockShox Tora fork started leaking oil from its damper after less than 50 miles of riding. Apparently, it's a common problem and the fix should be under warranty, but I still found myself wanting for an all-day ride sort of bike.

I should mention that this whole new-bike thing required a road trip to DNA Cycles in east Mesa, as there are essentially none of these bikes to be found for sale in Tucson and no ETA on when there will be. The desire for near-instant gratification was colliding with the socially-responsible act of shopping local. It turned out the shop was 5 minutes from my old college roommate's house and was, in fact, his LBS. So I did shop local, just not local to me. Anyway, my friend stood by while I did the test ride, then while the techs did the final prep on the bike, he and I went for some grub, a bit of reminiscing, and a damned good couple of beers. I usually dread visiting the Valley but this was a great trip. It was so great that I wasn't even all that mad when I dropped the new bike against my truck and gave the frame its first little paint chip.

I suppose what's next is to take some photographs and get the full-on new bike pr0n spread started. All in due time.