Jake takes the cake

All Terra lent me a Kona Jake to play around with.

As you can see, it's a cyclocross bike. OK, in lay man's terms, it's like a road bike that can accomodate knobby tires. It's shod with 700x35C tires - wish my nice, fat Maxxis Ignitors fit in there, but alas, no. Riding with drop bars takes getting used to. Oh, it also has gears! I tweaked the bar position for a more trail-friendly riding position (read: more upright). Which means my hands would be positioned on the brake hoods. Yes, you read it right. Trail-friendly. Cyclocross bikes can take to the dirt. So off I went to the familiar trails of Sta Rosa for some rainy-day action. I figure the narrower cyclocross tires will not get bogged down in the mud.

The short road ride to the trailhead was an eye-opener. The drop bars let me get aerodynamic, and the road gears made the tarmac roll by effortlessly. The Jake's fast, yet not at all twitchy like a road bike. The Shimano STI levers allowed me to shift without taking my hands off the brake hoods - the default position I chose when riding this bike.

Which is perfect, because I found myself shifting through the gears a lot - especially on the climbs. I was surprised by the sure-footedness of the bike on the wet roads and damp trail. Bunny-hopping over humps was not a problem, though the aluminum frame rides a bit harsh. My opting to inflate the tires a bit to avoid pinch flats surely contributed to the chattery ride.

Rolling terrain was fun, but the last section of trail in Sta Rosa is a long stretch of dirt road that goes downhill, with sweeping turns and blind corners to boot. I shifted into the big ring and hammered away, curious as to how far I can push the bike (and myself). Jake rides fast - and as I rattled my way downhill, I quickly realized its caveat. While getting up to speed is easy, slowing down isn't! Cantilver brakes and wet rims aren't the most efficient means of stopping, and after a few white-knuckle moments, I decided to brake waaaaay before the turns.

Road ride back to the car was fun! Nothing like shifting into the big ring, going aero, and putting the hammer down.

It's faster than the Monkey, for sure, but as for stability and confidence in the rough stuff, gimme the 29er anytime!

It's a novelty bike (wait a minute, someone said that of MY bike once)...but a fun ride just the same.