I've been riding a geared, full-suspension 26er mountain bike for three months now. It is not ridiculously heavy. It is not lightening fast. It has nine different gears, which are eight more than a singlespeed, and two fewer than the latest trick componentry. Its suspensions is around 140mm, which can handle most trail things but not, I imagine, massive hucking. It seems from my inexperienced view to be a competent but uninspiring machine.
Despite its stolid capabilities, I struggle to feel comfortable with it.
My new bike has 26" wheels. A few die hards laugh and say a good rider can ride anything, but this logic is obviously flawed: Yes, the fittest rider in any group can ride the lowest-performing bike, but we can't all be the fittest rider: Most of us have to be clustered around the mean. That's science, folks. If I'm in pretty-much the same shape as everyone else, and if I'm working 3% harder than everyone else on a group ride, I'm slowly but surely going to get left behind when they're cruising but I'm redlining.
Do I need to throw everything in the bin and start over with a 29er? If I hit the gnarly tech, do I need to throw the 29er out and get a full suspension fatbike to keep up?
This bike has a front fork that has a clicky thing on the left, another clicky dial on the right, and a knob on the bottom. And before every ride, it must be pumped to some magic pressure that I'm supposed to estimate using a chart, then adjust for optimum results. Only, I have no idea what optimum feels like, so I just set it and I try not to touch the dials.
The rear shock has a lever, a knob with three positions, and again I'm supposed to pump it. I try to remember to fiddle with all that before every ride, but how much time, exactly, are you supposed to spend setting up your bike before riding?
I used to put a lot of time into getting my tire pressures right. It seemed to matter a great deal when I was on a full rigid. Now I kinda sorta pinch 'em and go. But I feel guilty that I haven't taken my digital gauge out in a long while. I'm obviously doing it wrong.
The pivots on my bike are a weak point, I've read you're supposed to change them every season or two. Does August-Spetember-October count? How will I know if they need replacing?
I used to grab my singlespeed and go. I had fun getting it as light as unreasonably possible, and the only "trick" components on it were its hiflex seat post and the rotor chainring. It had 26" wheels, but being only 17 pounds, it made up for the lack of roll with its ability to dart up hills like a startled jackrabbit.
I'm still waiting to discover something the new bike does as well as the old one. Some one thing that makes me grin so hard my face aches after a ride. Something that will make me look forward to playing with all of its bits and pieces and knobs. But for now, it feels like it demands more from me than it gives back in return.
I don't have a thing against suspension or gears. I can easily imagine coming to a bike like this down a different path. Had I been riding a singlespeed but constantly fell behind on hills, I imagine I'd absolutely love getting gears and suddenly being able to keep up with my friends. Or if my regular stomping ground was rocky gnar like Ontario's Agreement Forest, I could easily see how being able to sit down for the aprés ride beer and wings without an aching back would make me love full suspension.
I suspect that I'm not the right person, that I don't spend any time in this bike's sweet spot. Maybe I would understand its value if I was more of a marathon rider. Riding over a root means dddley to me on a 1.5 - 2 hour ride, but after four hours, perhaps the difference between full rigid and full suspension would be the difference between comfortably gripping the bar and having hands swollen to the point that they strain the seams on my gloves.
I don't know what it would take to love this bike. But right now, I don't love it, and going riding is beginning to feel like a chore. I'm sneakily glad for the shorter days and colder temperatures. I don't feel so guilty when I skip the weekly rides.
Something very similar happened to me too. I loved my old bike: long weekend rides across all kinds of road were a weekly adventure for me. The size was all wrong for me though, and it was starting to hurt my back. So I bought a new one, one that was properly fit for me.
However, new bike and I never really hit it off, mostly because its drivetrain system was acting up all the time (no matter what mechanics and I did to get it to work well). Like you, I tried to love it and failed. Its been relegated to a commute-only role for the past 2 years.
If I could do it all over again, I'd immediately sell it to a friend that was interested and get a different one. The extra money spent would've been worth it to preserve my love and passion for cycling. But I'm not giving up yet - I have my eyes set on another bike now. Maybe this time it will work out - maybe I will find true love again :)