I recently got another bike, a Leader Fox Sonora MTB.
This post “explains” how that happened…
About a month back, my Canyon SpeedMax self-destructed 😒
During one of my usual loops, the fork broke…
Luckily, I was riding at low speed, as I just passed a cattle guard (prone to getting a pinch flat) and it was going uphill back onto the dyke I was riding.
Paula had to come and pick me up but I still needed to walk about a mile to get to the pickup point with a bike in pieces.
Not easy on cycling shoes…
I contacted Canyon and made an appointment to bring it in so they could inspect it/what had happened.
But not before May 24th 🤐
They then took another day – not counting Ascension Day – to tell me that the cause was an older and a newer – the fatal – rupture in the construction.
The good news was that it would be replaced under warranty, the bad news that this could not be done before…
…June 21st 🤬
(The parts arrived within a few days.)
Needless to say I was (am) a little frustrated, which usually results in an impulse shopping spree 1.
I mean, I still have my Domane to ride on, but that’s fitted for the mountain expeditions and not really suited for my pancake flat backyard polder.
I did have nice “fondo” in the hilly south of my country on it, though…
Anyway, we attended an “Open Day” at my local LBS the week before.
This is the only LBS with at least some knowledge, just enough so that I do not have to go down south every time I have a bike issue.
Walking around the – immense – venue, I saw a nice looking mountain bike at a reasonable price point.
This Leader Fox Sonora (Series XC) is, at 600 Euros, 100 Euros cheaper than just the fork for my Canyon…
I’ve had a few Bulls in the past and in fact, one of those is still in our shed, but I never really got to do any mountain biking, although I did some “cyclocross” and beach rides.
Not counting that Bulls, this Leader Fox Sonora would be my N+3 bike 2.
I have my Trek, this Canyon and the Sensa permanently on my Tacx Neo 2T, not to mention that Paula rides my van Tuyl and has her own Cube permanently on her Tacx Neo 2T.
But it is still bike S-1, as Paula agreed with the purchase and I will sell the Sensa 😎
I could pick it up a few days later and on Monday the 28th, I took it out for a spin.
Nothing spectacular, just adjusting some things and getting used to it, riding some of the “under construction” roads – basically sand, rocks and a lot of holes – in the new quarters of Almere and some farm tracks (grass/dirt).
At the time when I last owned a Bulls, there were no real MTB trails to speak of around Almere and those were not more than knee deep dirt and mud tracks for over 10 months a year.
There was – and still is – a descent/proper track in Lelystad, but it’s 25 kilometers just to get there. Good warming up and/or I could go there with the bike in the car, but still…
However, there now are some 55 kilometers of (connected) trails in Almere and last Thursday, I headed for one of those.
As it turned out, “Braambergen” actually is the most difficult trail we have here, not counting the “Kotterbos” swamp trail to the north-east of the city.
I didn’t quite follow the track as I have to get used to these “mini” signs that point you in the right direction 😂
On Saturday, I took the Leader Fox Sonora out again and headed for an easier track (labeled “average”) called “Kemphaan”.
Again I rode around like a headless chicken for while, until I got the right trail.
As I had mounted my GoPro, I recorded my attempt or most of it – the missing part is (also) asphalted.
Having no experience on single trails like that, I didn’t do that bad, I think.
It’s the original recording. If you dig gauges, play this one:
Sadly, after I rode the transfer track to another trail (“Beginbos”), the bolt on the through axle came off, resulting in an abrupt ending to that adventure 3.
I got home on it, because as long as the axle stays in, you can ride. Slowly…
I’ll have a chat with my local LBS, as it looks like someone dropped the ball during assembling the bike. Either that, or there’s a design flaw.
Which would be a pity, as I otherwise (really) like this Leader Fox Sonora, even if I’d never heard of the brand before.
And I obviously need other power pedals, as the Assioma’s I have are fine, but Look cleats are not the best for riding a mountain bike if you need to get off it and end up standing or walking in the mud…
1 Not really, but I didn’t want to break anything else. Besides, that “Open Day” was on May 21st 😂
2 If you don’t know what N+/S- is or don’t want to read the article: N+1 is the ideal number of bikes for a cyclist, where N is the number of bikes the cyclist already owns up to S-1, where S is the number of bikes at which point the cyclist’s spouse leaves them…
3 In case you’re wondering: I didn’t notice this until my wheel started to make squeaking noises as it rubbed the frame. I back-tracked the part I had done on foot but the needle in a haystack thing worked its magic…
