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Well, we went from Pittsburgh to the New Hampshire Off Rodeo and all I can say is (and I’m sure this applies to any Bronco Off Rodeo) YOU HAVE TO GO! I’m serious. Book it and go, you won’t be disappointed.
Luckily I had some extra airline and car rental points so my son and I made the trip and boy was it worth it. As background, I’ve taken my Jeep and wheeled in Colorado, Moab and did the Rubicon Trail and my expectations for this were actually kinda low and those expectations were exceeded. I was like “it will just be some dirt roads and Bronco sales pitch”. I was wrong. If you even remotely get the chance to go to any off rodeo, go. Whether your an experienced off roader or a newbie go because you will love it.
So, my thoughts and takeaways:
The Broncos. They are simply amazing! So great to see them live in every color and trim, they had like 30 or so there. Some MIC but mostly soft tops. Almost all trims represented. Almost all Sasquatch but a few BL on 33s and a few 2 doors. All of us attending were blown away by the capabilities. The best part is they show you how to use everything and you actually get to use everything - front and rear lockers, front lockers on their own without the rears (looking at you Jeep), trail control (loved this, it’s kinda like cheating), 1 pedal, trail turn assist, 4 high, 4 low, cameras, you name it. And this is not just ‘use trail turn assist here on this one solitary spot’, you have many chances all day long (7 hours of wheeling, yes that’s right) to use it whenever you want. Now having gone to off Roadeo, I am sure most people who get a Bronco will not go to one and therefore are way less likely to use this stuff/tech because they haven’t tried it off road and ‘played with it in different scenarios’.
The Trails. Wow. I was expecting some basic dirt trails but we did everything! Steep hill climbs and descents, granite slabs, rock gardens, tight forest trails, mud holes, and pucker factor level off camber. Great views as well (but you are in the trees a lot as this is east coast wheeling). The one call out for New Hampshire I picked up on is weather. We did some pretty tough obstacles but if it was wet or raining, the guides would not have taken us on these hard obstacles and they have other (read easier) trails they take you on. A few occasions I heard the guides say “we wouldn’t have done that if it was raining” Remember, this is on a granite mountain, with a lot of rocks and trees right on the edge of the trail. So if you slide even a bit, you’re likely gonna hit something. But luckily for us, today was a great day weather-wise, a;though it sprinkled once around 5:30pm (yes, and we were still wheeling at 5:30pm).
The People. The guides and staff were amazing. Knowledgeable, down to earth, helpful and patient with those newer to off roading. The attendees were also amazing. In our group we had experienced off roaders and new people and everyone was great. I think the realization we are part of a lucky group of folks who will have a Bronco brings everyone together. Plus they sheer giddiness of everyone who is now more excited as they are loving it all day long.
The Agenda. Again, wow. I do not expect this much time wheeling. We got there at 9am for our scheduled 9:30 start. My son and I left there at 7pm (so that’s 10 hours for those of you bad at math). Out of those 10 hours, we were ON TRAIL about for a solid 6 and 1/2 to 7 hours. We did 2 and 1/2 plus in the am, had a quick lunch and then 4 hours after lunch. Just blown away. And with all that time we got to try everything the Bronco had on all kinds of terrain.
The 12 inch screen. Sorry mid peeps but I am so glad I got this on my order. In the morning we wheeled a BL with mid and the afternoon we choose and OBX with high (as I wanted to wheel with the big screen and no sway bar disconnect as I have a WT on order). Why is the screen so important? Because the Bronco hood is really big. And that means it’s hard to see what’s right in front of you and the screen helps a ton. And, the screen just looks great and makes the dash seem even more amazing. I was the only 1 in our group to choose a Bronco with a 12 inch screen for the afternoon and everyone wanted to see it and was jealous (although most had it on their order). Also, I connected my phone and it worked amazingly well.
The sta bar disconnect. It’s super nice to push a button and get a little extra droop. Having wheeled both today (a BL w Sas and a OBX w Sas) it’s great to have it but I’m totally comfortable without it on my WT (but I do plan to get quick disconnects so I get the max articulation possible, even though it may be 2 pins to pull and not a button). As mentioned above, we did some pretty gnarly trails and every single non BL got through every single obstacle the BLs did. This is a credit to how good and capable the Bronco is with front and rear lockers (and good spotters).
The food. The dinner was amazing. Dinner is in the Off Rodeo base facility (which is just for Off Roadeo and not a shared part of the base lodge). I’m not a crazy foodie but I like decent food and dinner was awesome. Also, everyone enjoys dinner as your recapping the day, sharing stories and excitement and the guides join you, who are now your friends but the end of the day. Lunch was a plain box lunch (meh) but the great part of lunch is you take the ski lift to top of Gunstock Mountain and eat on a deck overlooking the Lake Winnipesaukee and the NH maintains. Not the same view as Moab but pretty darn nice for east coast. They give you great snacks and water, as much as you want.
The tops. The soft top flipping up is nice and easy. Putting it all the way back is easy too but does block entire rear view mirror. The rear windows are all wavy, this is for real. The hard tops we saw were good but the 2 I looked at closely did have some small sections where I think water would intrude and start to separate the layers. I’m pissed about the MIC delay but I’m glad they are correcting this.
The pics:
Luckily I had some extra airline and car rental points so my son and I made the trip and boy was it worth it. As background, I’ve taken my Jeep and wheeled in Colorado, Moab and did the Rubicon Trail and my expectations for this were actually kinda low and those expectations were exceeded. I was like “it will just be some dirt roads and Bronco sales pitch”. I was wrong. If you even remotely get the chance to go to any off rodeo, go. Whether your an experienced off roader or a newbie go because you will love it.
So, my thoughts and takeaways:
The Broncos. They are simply amazing! So great to see them live in every color and trim, they had like 30 or so there. Some MIC but mostly soft tops. Almost all trims represented. Almost all Sasquatch but a few BL on 33s and a few 2 doors. All of us attending were blown away by the capabilities. The best part is they show you how to use everything and you actually get to use everything - front and rear lockers, front lockers on their own without the rears (looking at you Jeep), trail control (loved this, it’s kinda like cheating), 1 pedal, trail turn assist, 4 high, 4 low, cameras, you name it. And this is not just ‘use trail turn assist here on this one solitary spot’, you have many chances all day long (7 hours of wheeling, yes that’s right) to use it whenever you want. Now having gone to off Roadeo, I am sure most people who get a Bronco will not go to one and therefore are way less likely to use this stuff/tech because they haven’t tried it off road and ‘played with it in different scenarios’.
The Trails. Wow. I was expecting some basic dirt trails but we did everything! Steep hill climbs and descents, granite slabs, rock gardens, tight forest trails, mud holes, and pucker factor level off camber. Great views as well (but you are in the trees a lot as this is east coast wheeling). The one call out for New Hampshire I picked up on is weather. We did some pretty tough obstacles but if it was wet or raining, the guides would not have taken us on these hard obstacles and they have other (read easier) trails they take you on. A few occasions I heard the guides say “we wouldn’t have done that if it was raining” Remember, this is on a granite mountain, with a lot of rocks and trees right on the edge of the trail. So if you slide even a bit, you’re likely gonna hit something. But luckily for us, today was a great day weather-wise, a;though it sprinkled once around 5:30pm (yes, and we were still wheeling at 5:30pm).
The People. The guides and staff were amazing. Knowledgeable, down to earth, helpful and patient with those newer to off roading. The attendees were also amazing. In our group we had experienced off roaders and new people and everyone was great. I think the realization we are part of a lucky group of folks who will have a Bronco brings everyone together. Plus they sheer giddiness of everyone who is now more excited as they are loving it all day long.
The Agenda. Again, wow. I do not expect this much time wheeling. We got there at 9am for our scheduled 9:30 start. My son and I left there at 7pm (so that’s 10 hours for those of you bad at math). Out of those 10 hours, we were ON TRAIL about for a solid 6 and 1/2 to 7 hours. We did 2 and 1/2 plus in the am, had a quick lunch and then 4 hours after lunch. Just blown away. And with all that time we got to try everything the Bronco had on all kinds of terrain.
The 12 inch screen. Sorry mid peeps but I am so glad I got this on my order. In the morning we wheeled a BL with mid and the afternoon we choose and OBX with high (as I wanted to wheel with the big screen and no sway bar disconnect as I have a WT on order). Why is the screen so important? Because the Bronco hood is really big. And that means it’s hard to see what’s right in front of you and the screen helps a ton. And, the screen just looks great and makes the dash seem even more amazing. I was the only 1 in our group to choose a Bronco with a 12 inch screen for the afternoon and everyone wanted to see it and was jealous (although most had it on their order). Also, I connected my phone and it worked amazingly well.
The sta bar disconnect. It’s super nice to push a button and get a little extra droop. Having wheeled both today (a BL w Sas and a OBX w Sas) it’s great to have it but I’m totally comfortable without it on my WT (but I do plan to get quick disconnects so I get the max articulation possible, even though it may be 2 pins to pull and not a button). As mentioned above, we did some pretty gnarly trails and every single non BL got through every single obstacle the BLs did. This is a credit to how good and capable the Bronco is with front and rear lockers (and good spotters).
The food. The dinner was amazing. Dinner is in the Off Rodeo base facility (which is just for Off Roadeo and not a shared part of the base lodge). I’m not a crazy foodie but I like decent food and dinner was awesome. Also, everyone enjoys dinner as your recapping the day, sharing stories and excitement and the guides join you, who are now your friends but the end of the day. Lunch was a plain box lunch (meh) but the great part of lunch is you take the ski lift to top of Gunstock Mountain and eat on a deck overlooking the Lake Winnipesaukee and the NH maintains. Not the same view as Moab but pretty darn nice for east coast. They give you great snacks and water, as much as you want.
The tops. The soft top flipping up is nice and easy. Putting it all the way back is easy too but does block entire rear view mirror. The rear windows are all wavy, this is for real. The hard tops we saw were good but the 2 I looked at closely did have some small sections where I think water would intrude and start to separate the layers. I’m pissed about the MIC delay but I’m glad they are correcting this.
The pics:
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