BEN’S ROSE GRANITE CHIEF2 £2,872 (with upgrades)

Captain Ben’s been tweaking the Rose for a big-mountain pounding

The 10 weeks I’ve had the Rose for have gone something like this – six weeks of constant rain, mud and grit, followed by four weeks of dry, dusty spring trails, and not much in-between. Add in two enduro races, three uplift days and lots of messing about on jumps, and it’s been quite a tough start to life for this bike! On the whole it’s coped admirably, and it feels as tight and quiet as it did on day one. The only thing that needs attention is the rear wheel, which needs straightening out and possibly a replacement spoke or two.

Although it’s a capable bike, I wanted to make some changes to make it more suitable for the terrain I like to ride. First of all I took it to Sprung Suspension, who increased the travel of the RockShox Pike fork from 150mm to 160mm. To complement the longer fork and drop the bottom bracket back down to where it had been before, I also fitted some titanium offset bushings from Burgtec, giving me a head angle of 65.5 degrees – 1.1 degrees slacker than standard.

A trip to Gawton in Devon was the first time that I really started to push the limits of the Granite Chief. The steep, rocky terrain and large trail features are easily worthy of a downhill bike and I found myself bottoming out quite harshly. A larger volume spacer in the Fox Float DPS rear shock quickly sorted this out and meant the bike was held slightly higher in its travel without losing any grip in the first part of the shock stroke.

Next week I’m taking the Rose for a week of big mountain riding in the Pyrenees. Given that the 35mm-diameter Race Face bar and firm Ergon grips already feel harsh on the shorter runs we have here in the UK, I’ve fitted some softer Deity Knuckleduster grips that already feel more comfy and should help take the sting out of the longer descents.