2012 Specialized Camber Comp 29r

It has been almost 2 weeks since I took my bike into the bike shop. It seems they sent the wrong suspension part, so I started bugging them about a loaner bike. So yesterday right at 6 pm,as they were closing.  Parish the Manager of the “Bike Peddler”  loaned me a test bike. This is a 2012 Specialized Camber Comp 29r- large model.

I came home and grab my stuff and Tony. Tony is my future son-in-law and new Trail Crony.  It was getting late and we ran up to Lambert Park for a quick ride. I had to switch peddles as I ride clipped in. Tony doesn’t own any of these type of shoes so he just rides regular pedal. I put him on my Giant hard tail, which in its self is a great bike.

The Specialized Camber Comp 29r(pronounced=twentyniner) is an amazing bike. It has 10 inch disc hydraulic  brakes, 29 inch wheels, Fox racing shocks front and rear. Has bi directional shifter’s  and a frame geometry that sits you up a little more than my Stumpjumper. It only has 2 crank gears and 10 cassette gears(gears on the rear wheel), so that gives you twenty speeds.

This bike felt right, from the start it was smooth and just seemed to walk over the rocks so much better than a 26 inch wheel system.  I was riding around most of the time in 3rd or 4th. This bike seems to have a lot of power. It just wanted to go. The standup pedal was even more impressive as I didn’t seem to get to strained while I peddle up some nice rocky inclines. There were a few technicals on the trail that I never felt real comfortable taking my stumpy or my hard tail over so I would just go around them.

Not this bike it seemed to almost have a mind of its own and said “NO, you will ride that technical, trust me I can handle it”. So I said, “giddy up”. Wow, a bike that was just plain their for me. I never felt any uncomfortableness about it. I was one with this bike and it was my first ride on a 29r ever. I had talked to the sales people at the Peddler in American fork and this seems to be the next best thing in Mountain biking, this bike is fast and agile!

I was told that it might not be as agile a 26 inch wheels set, but I haven’t seen that yet. I will keep my eyes open for that possibility on my next few rides, so stay tuned in. This bike retails for $2800. There are some other models priced higher, including the Pro Carbon 29r for $8300. That is for the die-hard who wants it all and wants it now. I’ll just stick with the model I’m on. It weighs about 28 pounds, red, black and charcoal in color. This is a great bike so far and after first ride I would buy one.