I was pretty bummed when I found the crack in my Bullit. It meant that both my frames had cracks in them. I was lucky enough to see on twitter that Santa Cruz was having a blowout sale, and I picked up a new Chameleon frame. I transferred all my parts from the old green machine to the new sleek, black frame. I also put the disc brakes from the Bullit onto the new hardtail.

Old green machine

New black hotness

The old parts transferred over nicely, and besides new brake pads, the only real parts I had to buy were a new rotor for the rear brakes, and a new seat post.

Then the new bike hung in my basement for a few weeks.

Yesterday I got it out for the first ride. I first took it out onto the streets around the house to bed in the brakes since this was badly needed, then I headed out to the trails for the first real ride. Of course the weather had turned sour on us. Wet, rainy, misty, cool, but no wind. Preactically perfect riding conditions 🙂

The bike rode great. It feels like a huge improvement over the old frame, but I can’t completely figure out why. It climbs better, while descending hasn’t changed. The ground clearance is just fine, it feels lighter while riding, feels more compact (maybe there is a shorter top tube). The bike just felt right. It brought a smile to my face several times.

View First Ride On New Chameleon in a larger map
Total distance: 10.87 km (6.8 mi)
Total time: 1:59:23
Moving time: 1:29:16
Average speed: 5.46 km/h (3.4 mi/h)
Average moving speed: 7.31 km/h (4.5 mi/h)
Max speed: 30.62 km/h (19.0 mi/h)
Average pace: 10.98 min/km (17.7 min/mi)
Average moving pace: 8.21 min/km (13.2 min/mi)
Fastest pace: 1.96 min/km (3.2 min/mile)
Max elevation: 287 m (941 ft)
Min elevation: 107 m (352 ft)
Elevation gain: 521 m (1709 ft)
Max grade: 21 %
Min grade: -33 %

Add in the wet conditions ride, my first in a long time, and it was a fabulous ride. Heart got a run in, and I ended up riding with a couple guys from the triple shot cycling club. They got me to thinking about joinging them on some of their groups rides. Could be a good way to get out more. We’ll see.