Today, a guest post from 国产吃瓜黑料 senior executive editor Michael Roberts.
Iknew before I ever got on thesaddle that I鈥檇 appreciate the reduced weight of the MC-1鈥攂uilt up it was just19.4 pounds鈥攂ut I didn鈥檛 think I鈥檇 drop my two local friends, who were used toriding at elevation. As any road cyclist who鈥檚 converted to carbon can tellyou, a stiff frame is a responsive frame is an efficient frame. I felt like Iwas ten years younger.
What I really didn鈥檛 expect was tohave so much fun on the downhills. I started off a bit tense, trying to remindmy knees how to perform like they did back when I rode a fully rigid steelYeti. I quickly realized, however, that a featherweight hardtail makes up for lackof cushioning by being remarkably nimble. The MC-1 was so easy to control.After years of riding full-suspension bikes, I鈥檇 grown used to just pointingdownhill and letting the shocks do the rest. Suddenly, I was choosing my waydown trails again on a bike responded to my every twitch. Within a few minutes,I realized what I鈥檇 been missing: Damn, I forgot how fun it is to steer! Granted, I was on a singletrack with relatively few bigdrops and I only weigh a buck fifty myself. If I was a 225-pounder on Vancouver鈥檚North Shore, who knows how the MC-1 (or my backside) might have faired. But forcross-country riding, I鈥檓 sold.
Well, sold on the idea, at least. Jackal bikes aren鈥檛 cheap. The new boutiquebrand, started in Santa Fe last year by Jonathan Jakle (Jackle-Jackal, getit?), specializes in built-to-order rides. After seeing so many friends buyoff-the-rack road and mountain bikes, then replace half of the components,Jackle says he figured there was a niche for company that could help customersget exactly what they want, full assembled, from the get-go.
On his website, you cancustomize everything, you鈥檙e your handlebars and seatpost to the chain andcolor of your cable housings. I worked with Jackle to build myself up arighteous tester, with a Rock Shox Sid Race front fork and just abouteverything possible made of carbon. The total price tag was鈥cough, cough鈥$5850. That鈥檚 a hugely expensive bike, of course, but onpar with other high-end carbon mountain bikes. For all that coin, Jakle sayshis clients get a bespoke bike and the kind of personalized customer servicethat a small company can provide.
As for the brand鈥檚 prospects, hetells me he鈥檚 happy with his growth so far, though he won鈥檛 share numbers. He鈥檚been focusing more on road frames but hopes to introduce a 29er sometime thissummer. And for now, he鈥檚 forging ahead with his Web-based business model.
We鈥檒l see if he can hang on in analready crowded market, but you gotta like his philosophy. 鈥淚 want my customersto get a bike that has been created by them,鈥 he wrote me the other day. 鈥淎nextension of their body and a reflection of their personality.鈥听听
鈥擬ichael Roberts