Woot! My Juliana just came in.

[Nick]

Thanks, ladies -- I agree that the color is really nice. It looks even better "live" than on the Santa Cruz website pics.

Well, my inaugural trip ride had a bad ending -- as you'll see from my other thread. This was my first time going clipless with the Candy 3 pedal, and I had a couple of falls, the second one being quite nasty. But, I think I'm OK. Bruises I can handle... So, this was all due to the pedals, at a near standstill, and not the bike's fault.

Once clipped in, smiles, the Juliana handles beautifully. I did my easy loops rather than the more challenging trails - in order to get a feel for the bike (and learn to ride clipless). The Juliana's twin brother is the Santa Cruz Superlight, and she certainly feels feather light compared to my hardtail (which isn't a heavy bike). She is very nimble and responsive -- I could feel the bike molding to cues from my core even before I made turns or nudged in a direction. I can feel a difference in the cornering and the handling from the Gary Fisher (which, though old, is a wonderful bike). Within one short loop around I felt comfortable in handling the bike.

It took me a couple of stops and investigation (following cables with my hands to find where they connect, lol) to figure out the gears -- the Gary Fisher uses a different type of switching mechanism. Once I knew what connected where, and realized that I had two switches per hand/gearset, I soon had her set her in comfortable gears. I didn't have much need for braking other than a couple of brief slow downs and my stops at the Jeep to practice clipping in and out (I did that between every loop). But, when I did brake they were remarkably silent and smooth.

It'll take me a while to get used to the "bouncier" feel of full suspension, as well as the additional height fs gives on the bike. And I'll have to see if I stick with clipless or go back to a flat pedal... All in all, really pleased with the Juliana. She was voted 2011 editor's choice of women's trail bike by Biking Magazine: http://www.bicycling.com/mountainbik...kes?page=0%2C3