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Has anyone ridden the new soft tails such as the trek procaliber or the BMC teamelite?
Just wondering how much more compliant they feel compared to a regular carbon hardtail? Bike reviews seem to suggest there is a difference but I wonder how noticable it is outside of bike-mag-review-world? Especially since the procaliber is only active when sitting down.
I've owned a Procaliber SL, which I'm thinking of selling, for a couple of years and find it rides really well and is comfortable for longer rides. Don't expect to feel a massive difference as the system is designed more to take the buzz out of the trail rather than absorbing obstacles so you have to treat it like a hardtail. You do get less of the bum bounce which you typically associate with riding a hardtail. You don't feel it robs you of any effort when laying down the power.
Not ridden the BMC so I can't comment how active the rear end is over obstacles and when pedalling but it seems an interesting option although if I were to go down that route I'd rather go FS with a Trek Top Fuel.
Interesting, thanks. Its something I've been mulling over for a while, I'm not planning on changing in the immediate future (no cash!) but I think it could be the best way for me when i do. I'm not mechanically minded enoguh to deal with full sus maintenence but my back does complain sometimes when its really bumpy!
The main reason for me choosing the Procaliber was that I use it on the road as well. In fact over the past year, most of its use has been road and gravel based. If I using as intended for off-road use only I would have gone for the Top Fuel.