Had a blast riding the black beauty - the KHS ALITE 1000!

WANT A TEST RIDE? DROP A LINE AT - escapbikes@yahoo.in or ajd2k7@yahoo.co.in

Had a blast with this black beauty today, took her to the rocky uphill trail. This trail is a tough single track climb, off  Ponda - Belgaum highway, passing through mixed vegetation of cashew and wild trees and shrubs. One of my favorite trails!.

The uphill trail breaks on a lateritic plateau and picks up again on the other side for another kilometer or so, terminating at a private property with a small farm house and coconut plantation.

This is my first ride with KHS ALITE 1000

Here are the brief first impression notes:

The frame

The 6061 aluminum frame feels solid and light, the double butted top tube, the square chain stays and seat stays are the strengths of this frame. The solid and light feel of the bike pumped up my confidence level, the bike actually coxed me into riding the tough and tricky patches and I managed to do it!  

The downhill was real fun, managed to take corner the two sharp turns

Tires

The Kenda small block 8, 26 2.1 tires gripped the gravel and the rock equally well, the credit of riding uphill tricky patches with lose rocks goes to this rubber

Brakes

The BENGAL HELIX 3.0 HYDRAULIC DISC BRAKES worked just fine on the downhill, providing fantastic modulation and instant stops whenever demanded.

Shifters and Drive train

With Shimano Alivio shifters, Alivio front derailler and Shimano Deore rear derailler the shifting is crisp and smooth

Shocks

The RST Omega 100mm shocks with preload and lockout smoothed out the ride on the rocky terrain on the lateritic plateau.

Saddle

The WTB stock saddle felt comfortable, the ride was short, will have to wait for a longish ride to judge this one better.

The bike has a lot of promise. Detailed review  coming up, but I need to do some trails!