So here we have the Tracer 275 that I've built up for myself, the first bike that I've built
myself in a long time, maybe three years, first custom build I've built myself in a
few years. I've built it a bit differently to how some people will build this bike,
people are encouraged to build it with a more conservative build you could say with
something like a Fox 34 and the air shock, yeah maybe with a double chain set and more
of a cross-country build but I had my eye on this build here for a little while, I knew
how I was going to do it and I wanted it pretty aggressive for doing more of the gravity
and juros and just having a bit more fun on so I stuck the Cane Creek double barrel
on it, I've gone for the 55 170mm fork and that's a 26 inch fork but it still took the
tyre alright, there's only a little bit of clearance and this is a fairly low profile
Schwold knobby nip tyre 225, I would like something a bit bigger but there's a good
chance I might have to nibble a bit out of the crown but let's hope I don't have to
take too much out of it, the envy wheels on Chris King hubs, they're pretty phenomenal,
today when I rode it it showed the tyres up, the wheels are so stiff and so responsive
they showed the tyres up pretty bad and tyre choice on a bike like this is important and
the choice of tyres we have is very limited so yeah a bit of a gutter really because I
would have liked to have put something like a 2.35 dual ply minion, maybe a max pro on
the rear or super tacky on the front, that would have been ideal but I was really struggling
for grip today on that but that's the way it goes and I'm sure this will improve as
time goes on, it's just like my old Tracer so if there's old Tracer fans out there,
Tracer one and I'm one of them, I love that bike, this bike has really gone back to it
so the angles are very similar, we've gone back to a 2.25 inch shock stroke on it rather
than the 2.5 inch shock stroke of the Tracer two and that's really livened it up so it's
got a really lively stroke, it's got a lovely little bubble to climb off of whereas the
Tracer two it did sink into its travel a little bit so I've found that today it was
just so lively and it was lovely, it's like getting back on my old Tracer but with the
bigger wheels it just rolled better and it was just lovely, luxury, they've managed to
brace the rear end really well on it, it's got this fantastic brace down there, it doesn't
give a lot of room for tyre clearance but I have to say that it felt so stiff and when
I pushed it into corners Jesus didn't ever sort of spring me out, it's at least an inch
longer than my old Tracer, my Tracer one and like I say with those bigger wheels, yeah it
just made the whole thing grip better and it was just like, it was there, it was controlling
and coming off of the 29er which I've been on for 18 months I felt this instant acceleration
and playfulness which I've been missing really badly so I'm really really happy with this
bike, it did my first impressions, they're going to last with me and I really can't wait
to get back on it again, the 29s are fantastic, they do the job so well, you find yourself
not really messing about with suspension tuning, not so much with tyre pressures, I've used
it this terminology before, the sheer might of geometry bulldozers, the fine setup, admittedly
I did start going for the compression adjuster a little bit more and trying to dial it in
a little bit more, more so than I ever would on the 29er, the 29er I just put a bit of
air in, this is Tracer 29er I'm talking about, I just put a bit of air in the rear shock,
roughly set the sag up and the fork was just there and there about but with 650B it does
require, compared to 29er a little bit more fine setup because you simply haven't got
as much rubber on the ground but all in all, yeah I really impressed with this bike and
the looks are just fantastic, you know it's the type of bike I want to go over, you know
1N cave I suppose, so there we go, Tracer 275, so thanks for watching our little bit,
bye.
