Moving on up (review : On-One Scandal 29er)

For a long time now, @twinklydave has been riding a 29er, so has pretty much every endurance racer I know!

My first experience of a 29er was not the best, a Specialized hardrock comp 29er, it was horrible like riding a Raleigh Bomber, it was a dog on the climbs, slow and unresponsive when pointing downwards, not for me then! complete and utter waste of money!

I was working in the Highland of Scotland when Jason (@terrahawk) pulled his brushed alloy Scandal 29er out of the back of a van, my eyes bulged at it's beauty, the I need one of those chip in my head went into overdrive, Jason's 1st in the singlespeed cat, and 5th overall in the race made the chip explode!

When the plan was being hatched i did have some worries, will it by like my current hard tail (cove Stiffee FR) a good mile muncher that can handle jumps, tight twisty single track and massive drop off's!

The Scandal arrived, was built in a reasonable 10 hrs (spec below) then off to do a lap round Clough lead mines route in Rivington, at first it felt tall, and I noticed myself braking harder than usual into corners, I soon found that I could shift my weight about and carve into the corners, the grin was starting to expand across my face. Climbing felt easy even on loose surfaces, but I knew it would do this! when it came time to point the bike downwards the first thing I noticed was the acceleration, damn its fast, I started to pick up speed sitting further back over the rear wheel this felt like the most natural thing in the world, cutting through the woods like a monkey on crack, when I arrived at my first water bar, the words "are you sure" boomed into my head, I had landed perfectly before my brain could make me hesitate and followed up with "where's the next one?"

I have not ridden my Santacruz Nomad for a while now because this bike is bringing me so much joy I cant put it down, why did I not get one earlier? Maybe because of a journey into the unknown, or the fear of change!  As bikes go this hits all the right buttons for me, A beautiful finish, nice weight and swap out drop outs (available in anodised red and blue) the only downside that I can think of ......... its made me want/need a Titus El Guapo!!!!!

Spec

Frame : On-one Scandal 29er V2 21" super raw

Forks : Rockshox reba RL with pop loc

Wheels : Fulcrum red power 29 SL

Brakes : Formula RX 180 rear 2003 front

Bars : Raceface atlas fr

Stem : Raceface Evolve 90mm

Grips : Odi troy lee designs lock on

Headset : Superstar tappered T4 (would have preferred the on-one mixer but only avail in white/black)

BB : Hope Stanless steel bearingd

Crank : Raceface Atlas AM

Pedals : Crank Bros Candy 2

Shifters/mechs/casette : Shimano SLX 9 Speed

seat post : On-One Twelfty 

Seat Clamp/Skewers : Hope

Seat : Specializes Avatar

Tyres : Maxxis Crossmark