And The New Test Bike Is...

Well, school's out, and you know what that means:

I'm riding early!

In fact this morning as the sun was just peeking over the horizon I headed over the George Washington Bridge and once again encountered a "pesticide"-related road closure:

It's not unusual to find the so-called "River Road" barricaded, and it's common practice among cyclists to disregard them.  However, I've been riding on River Road for over 20 years, yet only now do I seem to be encountering closures due specifically to spraying.  Maybe it's just bad timing on my part, or maybe it's a vast conspiracy.  Either way, this time I said "Fuck it" and kept going--right past the pesticide truck as it was in mid-spritz, by the way, and I'm pleased to report I feel totally fine with no adverse affects whatsoeaeeiarEOEPWOIAR....U9HE.

In other news that you'll no doubt find far more interesting than my Fredly endeavors, I finally received my package from Jones Bikes, and here's what I got!

(Relax, I only got one bike.)

Yes, it's the new Jones LWB Complete!  Last year Jones introduced the SWB Complete, which is what I've been riding (and loving) for the past year, and now he's offering an inexpensive, ready-to-ride version of his LWB bike.  And I got one to test!

So what's the difference between the SWB and the LWB?  Well, here goes:

• "SWB" stands for "Short Wheel Base," "LWB" stands for "Long Wheel Base."  So the LWB has...a longer wheelbase!
• The SWB comes stock with 27.5+ wheels; the LWB comes stock with 29+ wheels
• When ordering the LWB you can opt for a smooth tire setup or a knobby tire setup (I went with the latter)
• The SWB comes in black; the LWB comes in black or red!  (But I got black)
• The SWB sells for $1,799, and the LWB sells for $2,050

With regard to that last bullet point, first I'll say that I've had absolutely no issues with any of the components on the SWB.  However, the LWB does feature some upgrades.  For example it's got a SRAM Eagle 12 speed drivetrain, whereas the SWB has a Shimano Deore 10 speed drivetrain.  It's also got a cartridge bearing headset versus the SWB's caged ball headset.  The tires on the LWB (whether smooth or knobby) are also tubeless ready, whereas the tires on the SWB are not.  (Though in a flagrant disregard for my own safety I've been running mine tubeless for many months now, and apart from some pesticide-related delirium I'm doing just fine.)  And oh yeah, the rims on the LWB have eyelets.  I may be missing other parts differences, but these are the ones that were most obvious to me while assembling the bike yesterday.

"So relatively minor component differences aside, what's really the difference?  Which one do I buy?"  Well, I haven't actually ridden the bike yet!  Also my kids are out of school and my wife has a business trip coming up so this thing may be taunting me for the next few days.  But rest assured once I've got some time on it I'll report back and do my best to articulate the differences.

In the meantime, here's a photo of the two bikes side-by-side:

(Photo: Elliott Weiss)

Please note I've preemptively replaced the saddle, but other than that (and the pedals) the bike is as I received it.

Anyway, until I've actually ridden the thing for awhile it's all speculation, but I am extremely excited to see what this thing can do.  There are lots of roots and rocks around here and on paper this looks like it should handle that sort of terrain with aplomb--maybe even two plombs!

I'll keep you posted.