| Rode Sumas Mt. above the vineyard. It was my first logging road climb on the Cannondale Jekyll, so I paid a lot of attention to how it the various options performed.
Ended up spending most of my hard climbing time with the front shock locked and the rear shock on -- the "hard nose" effect. On less steep sections -- or where the road was rough and rutted -- I turned on the front suspension too. Otherwise, I turned off the rear when I got on smooth road with a good surface.
I had 1750 verts after an hour of climbing, compared to 2000 verts at my best last summer on my Specialized Stumpjumper FSR XC (when I wasn't in as good shape as I am now). So my Cannondale Jekyll is definitely slower on the climb (although it will get a little lighter still), but a LOT faster on the down.
The descents on the Jekyll are like a drug. I've never ridden down the south side of the mountain as fast as i did today. The disk brakes and long travel suspension swallow humps and holes that I would have had to skitter over on the FSR XC. Toward the bottom, I began to get some modest air off the water bars. My first impression is that the Jekyll is more stable in the air than the FSR XC.
Approximately 2300 verts.
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