23 October 2021
Drifting along to the Arboretum on my new Tumbleweed.
This new bike has been a very long time in gestation. I first placed my order for the build with the wonderful folks at Commuter Cycles in Brunswick, VIC. in early May. Covid made it a long time sourcing components.
I decided to ride along familiar trails to the hills in Canberra’s lovely Arboretum, climbing up the single track to see how this new Tumbleweed bike compares to my trusty e-Mountain-Bike. Climbing was slower of course without the power of the e-motor. However, I had plenty of gears. Most of the hills were taken in 4th, 5th, and 6th gear using the Rohloff. I rarely selected lower than 3rd. else my legs were spinning at too high a cadence. It felt comfortable, and the more I rode the more confident I became.
I’ll need more practice dialing in the gears with the twist-shift for the Rohloff. As many Rohloff owners will tell you, the shifting between 7th. and 8th. was a bit tight. Something I expected will take a little time to wear in. So nothing to be perturbed about. The shifting is not indexed. So some skill will need to be acquired.
My new bike is a joy to ride. It steered through fast downhill corners like it was glued to the single tracks. Love the stability and control of the Jones handlebars. Pretty soon I was jumping off little humps in the track and pumping through berms. With its shorter seat stays and lighter overall weight, it is far easier to mono and bunny hop than my e-bike. The fat tyres (3.8″) seem to soak up almost as much of the bumps as full-suspension does on my e-MTB.