# First 585 Ultra Riding Impressions!



## MCJ (Oct 8, 2002)

I now have two full rides in on my new 2009 585 Ultra so I'm am now an "expert" to comment on its ride characteristics. The frame is everything I was hoping for and then some. It is very stiff laterally but still retains a lot of good vertical compliance for comfort. Its not as comfortable as the ti/carbon Lemond it replaced but it is so much stiffer its a great compromise. The front end stiffness is fantastic and I really notice it when I'm coming off a high speed descent and hit a bridge, you know the crack at the start and end of a bridge. Usually the Lemond would kind of twitch and I would feel the frame flex. Its a feeling I get on the mountain bike when I push the frame too hard, its not easy to describe but you can definitely feel the frame "move". The 585 is very stable, I feel much more comfortable/confident making quick moves, accelating, climbing, descending, etc. Overall very happy and if future rides indicate anything else I'll try to remember to post.


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## ewitz (Sep 11, 2002)

'stiff laterally but still retains a lot of good vertical compliance for comfort'

Read a lot of magazines?

Pretty cliched


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## MCJ (Oct 8, 2002)

Cliche or not it was stiff but not uncomfortably so, a properly tuned bike can easily be both. My old Calfee Tetra Pro is another example of a bike with all day comfort but didn't give anything up in the BB area for sprints or climbs. That being said, tire pressure, wheels, and tire construction have just as big an influence on ride comfort as frame construction.


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## ewitz (Sep 11, 2002)

I'm just saying it's become a cliche.. and as a 585 Ultra owner I would agree with most of what you say, but..'The front end stiffness is fantastic' is not one of them.

Perhaps stiffer than what you are used to. Going between my Time (VXRS) and my Look I am always surprised howmuch stiffer the front end of the Time is. Probably why the 595 moved to a tapered steerer is for the stiffer front end.


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