I have never claimed to be an aggressive or even a great mountain biker, and I questioned even getting on the Jekyll 4; doing so was getting out my comfort zone, to say the least. The Jekyll is Cannondale's entry into the Enduro category, and like everything...well many..ok some things get more versatile as they try to get more specialized. When Jason at BlueZone shamed me into taking the Jekyll by appealling to my skiing knowledge and explain that the Jekyll is like a Cochise and rides the way a Cochise skis...not that that is a bad thing. Those of you who know me, would I choose a One Oh Something as my daily driver? Probably not, but I was willing to take it out for a couple of hours of playing in the dirt (which is turning to dust here in Tahoe).
Ok, many here do ski a One Oh as their daily driver, but as I alluded to above, not me. With that said, like the Cochise, I didn't hate the Jekyll 4, it just wasn't for me and that's fine. Knowing what you don't want is as important as knowing what you do. I will say, like a Cochise, it was actually significantly better than the Enduro class I have tried in the past. I expected the Jekyll to eat up rocks and undulations in the trail with its suppleness of its 170mm fork, but what really surprised me was how well it climbed with its short rear stays and the Gemini shock, something the previous Enduros were seriously lacking. I ventured over to a part of Alder Creek that I really didn't think I could handle prior, a section of Cinnamon Twist's uphill that has at least 20 L/R switchbacks. The only time I went up this section prior was on the Moterra. I was really surprised that the 65° long travel fork held as well as it did and steered around the switchbacks with ease.
While I thought the Jekyll was good, it was not what I was looking for in a bike. Where it has the downhill expected and its ability to eat up rocks and other things that might be on the trail, it isn't the right bike for me. From the Cannondale collection, the Trigger 3 is the one that has spoken to me so far -- well, that and the Moterra. Speaking of the Moterra, when I was returning the Jekyll to BlueZone, I took another short spin on the Moterra, and damn, it is still fun. I did talk to another well-respected cyclist from the site on the phone today, and he was extremely intrigued with the Moterra and e-mountain bikes.
As I started off the thread, I am not the litmus test for the better and more experienced riders on the site. I am still learning the modern bikes, and it has been about 20 years since I was fully immersed in bikes, but we hope that we can help a few clarify their bike buying decision (or perhaps muddy it).
