fastener was the rear axle nut/
spacer area. The nut is almost
recessed into the axle block,
so it was a challenge to loosen
and tighten without fear of strip-
ping the outside of the nut. The
wheels felt heavy and sort of
cheap when I swapped tires. But
nothing broke on this bike during
my abuse.
In use, the bike has some
massive advantages on a hard
enduro circuit. First is its silence.
Hard enduro has people on the
course. And nothing beats talk-
ing to people or hearing them
talk to you while you're trying
to race. You might hear it in the
video, but I ask the crowd not
to judge me if they can hear me
crying at one point. That sort of
fun is hard to mimic.
Next is the braking control.
With dual hand brakes, you are
free to dab your feet anywhere
and anytime. Off-camber down-
hill right-hand turn? No problem!
You have hand brake control to
slide the rear while your right leg
is on top of a rock. Stuck on a
hill? No big deal, just dogpaddle
all over the place and relax with
a hand brake for the rear. It really
does provide a bit of advantage
there.
The same thing is a bit weird
when you're trying to control the
bike's chassis. You're used to
using your foot to load the bike
with brake power—releasing it
as you apply footpeg pressure,
etc. Turning your brain off from
that is sort of hard, and I had a
few phantom brake-lever panic
moments in the big rocks!
The next advantage this bike
brings is sort of off the record,
but I'll come clean. I cheated at
this AMA-sanctioned event and
used traction control. I may now
be disqualified, but in the spirit
of testing the machine, I had to.
At first, I didn't know it was on,
but I quickly discovered it was
on once the bike refused to spin
the rear tire in some technical
rocks. As soon as I figured that
out, I used it to my advantage
and went full TC mode through
the slippery stuff. Luckily, it can
be switched off on the fly and,
from the second race on, I was
working that switch hard. Nasty
rooted hill-climb? Helllloooo trac-
tion control! It's cool but stops
your momentum once the rear
tire slips on rocks. So, it feels
VOLUME 59 ISSUE 41 OCTOBER 11, 2022 P91
