A Very Rare Beast I...
 

[Closed] A Very Rare Beast Indeed... But they do exist!

 mboy
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[img] [/img]

Not mine (someone off here is going to be a very lucky man very soon, once I've fitted a BB to it and sent it to him) but I have fondled it... 3kg including shock for anyone interested!

If you want one... Well... Join the bloody queue! I've been waiting 3 months now, and mine still isn't here...


 
Posted : 27/05/2015 2:37 pm
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noice - hope you didnt dribble on it too much 😳


 
Posted : 27/05/2015 3:00 pm
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Wondering if theyve sorted out mud clearance.


 
Posted : 27/05/2015 3:18 pm
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Is it an Uprising?


 
Posted : 27/05/2015 3:20 pm
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^ thats a bit personal, he said it was just a fondle


 
Posted : 27/05/2015 3:21 pm
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Has it cracked yet?


 
Posted : 27/05/2015 3:26 pm
 mboy
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noice - hope you didnt dribble on it too much

It's had a wipe over since! 😉

Wondering if theyve sorted out mud clearance.

Depends what tyre you're happy running. A 2.25" Ardent fits with loads of clearance, a 2.4" will go in, but it's very tight.

Is it an Uprising?

Hell to the no!!! 8)

^ thats a bit personal, he said it was just a fondle

It almost caused an uprising though to be fair! 😳

Has it cracked yet?

No, and seems though none of the Yanks who've been running them for months (don't you just love how we have to wait!) on MTBR forum have cracked theirs either yet... Fingers staying crossed, but now they've switched to the same factory as Santa Cruz, hopefully all signs point to the good.


 
Posted : 27/05/2015 3:26 pm
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Yum yum that is tasty tucker


 
Posted : 27/05/2015 3:37 pm
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It is a thing of great beauty


 
Posted : 27/05/2015 3:37 pm
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Erm, what is it?


 
Posted : 27/05/2015 3:39 pm
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So the reports of 30-31lbs bikes are probably about right then?


 
Posted : 27/05/2015 3:41 pm
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mboy - Member

Depends what tyre you're happy running. A 2.25" Ardent fits with loads of clearance, a 2.4" will go in, but it's very tight.

They haven't sorted clearance then, by the sounds. That's a shame.


 
Posted : 27/05/2015 3:47 pm
 DezB
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There was one at the QECP Day Night enduro. A stunning looking, (so BLACK) bike and very different to everything else around. I wanted to love the looks, but couldn't though, all that gubbins round the BB area was just too much.


 
Posted : 27/05/2015 3:53 pm
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Looks nice but I bet the bearing replacement costs for an average British winter are going to be a bit on the high side


 
Posted : 27/05/2015 3:59 pm
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Erm, what is it?

The Following?


 
Posted : 27/05/2015 4:01 pm
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Dez is right. There's something Marin-esque (fugly) about that BB area. The main frame looks beautiful. The rear, not so much.


 
Posted : 27/05/2015 4:05 pm
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atlaz - Member

Looks nice but I bet the bearing replacement costs for an average British winter are going to be a bit on the high side

Should be the same as any other linkage full-susser really.

Still wouldn't though


 
Posted : 27/05/2015 4:06 pm
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Looks damn playful mind.

Wouldn't spend rrp on one though!


 
Posted : 27/05/2015 4:14 pm
 mboy
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Yum yum that is tasty tucker

Indeed!

Erm, what is it?

Evil The Following

So the reports of 30-31lbs bikes are probably about right then?

My Whyte T-129 Works SCR with a Pike, 1x11, Reverb and the like is 29lb, so a Following with the same build is likely to be under 28lb. Frame inc. shock was bang on 3kg on my Park workshop scales.

They haven't sorted clearance then, by the sounds. That's a shame.

2.25" with mud room is plenty to my mind. Yes, there are bikes out there that you can get a 2.5" tyre in the back, but then the stays will be quite a bit longer too.

Looks nice but I bet the bearing replacement costs for an average British winter are going to be a bit on the high side

If you're buying one of these, you're likely to have a HT to run through the winter too IMO. Certainly, mine will be garaged from about Octoer to March unless it's a perfectly dry/clear day and/or going to a trail centre like Llandegla.


 
Posted : 27/05/2015 4:56 pm
 mboy
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Looks damn playful mind.

Agreed

Wouldn't spend rrp on one though!

Some people are spending north of £3k on a new Yeti, SC or Intense frames, by which the £2299 rrp of the Evil looks a relative bargain. Of course it's still expensive, but there's plenty of people out there willing to part with the cash for one.


 
Posted : 27/05/2015 4:58 pm
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[img] ?oh=ed975eff2fae098f1a34a08fad8294f3&oe=55FD6804[/img]

yep that ugly 😉

[img] ?1421360173[/img]


 
Posted : 27/05/2015 5:11 pm
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hopeychondriact - Member
Looks damn playful mind.

Hardly; the wheels are several sizes to big to start with....

Looks like a fair machine though. Must be time for a new Sovereign soon aswell.


 
Posted : 27/05/2015 5:12 pm
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Got to say, for me, it's not that good looking a frame. IMO etc etc


 
Posted : 27/05/2015 5:13 pm
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@Mboy What's the wait for an xl in black (best guess if ordered now).


 
Posted : 27/05/2015 5:21 pm
 mboy
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@Mboy What's the wait for an xl in black (best guess if ordered now).

More frames arriving in a couple of weeks, so I'm told. Not sure there's any free stock in that mind!

I've got an XL on order in Black as it happens, ordered in provisionally for a customer who is now umming and ahhing about it. If you give me your email address, happy to send you a quote...


 
Posted : 27/05/2015 5:24 pm
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Luke dot Bateson at gmail.com


 
Posted : 27/05/2015 5:27 pm
 DezB
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Oh, is that the 29er one? I think the one at QE was a 26.


 
Posted : 27/05/2015 7:19 pm
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Having an undead in my room right now leads me to believe this will be a very special frame indeed. I could be interested once people have put a few miles on them!


 
Posted : 27/05/2015 8:06 pm
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Arrrrrrrhhh black on black the only choice.


 
Posted : 27/05/2015 8:28 pm
 LoCo
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What's the wait like on an XL in black Mark? 😉


 
Posted : 27/05/2015 8:39 pm
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Ross, please post pics of your undead! They are unreal!


 
Posted : 27/05/2015 8:40 pm
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Where are they made?

Is there a tax break on linkages?


 
Posted : 27/05/2015 8:50 pm
 DezB
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[i]Ross, please post pics of your undead! They are unreal[/i]

Is it this one? 😯

[img] [/img]


 
Posted : 27/05/2015 8:53 pm
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Mmmmmm tasty pinkalicious


 
Posted : 27/05/2015 8:55 pm
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Only too happy to oblige...

[URL= http://i1188.photobucket.com/albums/z405/Rosss46/IMG_2570_zpsdrmkz7pu.jp g" target="_blank">http://i1188.photobucket.com/albums/z405/Rosss46/IMG_2570_zpsdrmkz7pu.jp g"/> [/IMG][/URL]


 
Posted : 27/05/2015 8:56 pm
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As above - where's the new Sovereign? Just sold mine and regretting it already.


 
Posted : 27/05/2015 8:56 pm
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Grrrr what are the odds that Following is going to a middle aged wheels-on-the ground IT bloke in Surrey, with a Beemer on the driveway. All it'll do is ponce around at Walking Bottom and lean on the wall of the pub while he tends to his beer gut.

There is no justice.


 
Posted : 28/05/2015 1:39 pm
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Just happened to be in MuddyBum when there first lot arrived, they're very, very pretty in the flesh.


 
Posted : 28/05/2015 2:07 pm
 mboy
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Grrrr what are the odds that Following is going to a middle aged wheels-on-the ground IT bloke in Surrey, with a Beemer on the driveway. All it'll do is ponce around at Walking Bottom and lean on the wall of the pub while he tends to his beer gut.

There is no justice.

I'll bet you an Evil The Following frame it is! 😉


 
Posted : 29/05/2015 12:09 am
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No point, nobody can get them.


 
Posted : 29/05/2015 8:18 am
 mboy
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No point, nobody can get them.

Aha, that's where you're wrong!

I have 2 more scheduled to turn up this week... Just a shame neither of them is mine! :LOL:

Yours turned up yet?


 
Posted : 01/06/2015 6:21 pm
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Yes!

Yours?


 
Posted : 04/06/2015 1:38 pm
 mboy
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Tomorrow morning!

I'm like a Kid at Christmas... Mine is arriving along with z1ppy's Orange XL too, and good customer that he is, he's gonna nip up to Invisiframe (about an hour from us) to drop his XL off so they can cut a kit for it, and pick me up an L kit (in stock tomorrow apparently) and bring it back for me, so I can spend Friday night applying it.

I apologise to any of my customers now if I'm a little preoccupied with building my new bike at work on Saturday! Sometimes, needs must... 😛


 
Posted : 04/06/2015 10:09 pm
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Yay! And yay for zippy too!

I've never had a frame like this before, is Invisiframe worth the faff? I tend to take the point of view that it's a mountain bike and knocks are inevitable, so I don't get too precious about it.


 
Posted : 05/06/2015 7:14 am
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mine will be garaged from about Octoer to March unless it's a perfectly dry/clear day and/or going to a trail centre like Llandegla.

Anyone else think thats a bit sad ?


 
Posted : 05/06/2015 7:39 am
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Anyone else think thats a bit sad ?

Probably quite sensible considering the reputation of the brand 😉


 
Posted : 05/06/2015 8:10 am
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> Anyone else think thats a bit sad ?

Not in the least, it's an opportunity to ride your wonderful hardtail.


 
Posted : 05/06/2015 9:22 am
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mine will be garaged from about Octoer to March unless it's a perfectly dry/clear day and/or going to a trail centre like Llandegla.

This is my problem with the Following. I took my Five out to the local woods last night and it's now clarted in mud. If you can't ride it in June when can you ride it? In fact I've never really seen any correlation between the time of year and how mucky my bike gets.

Still, I'm sure it's a great ride and I hope all the owners enjoy them.

Does that mean there'll be a large T129 SCR in the classifieds soon 🙂


 
Posted : 05/06/2015 9:51 am
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I don't see myself just reserving it for truly dry days, which let's face it are in a small minority in Surrey, more that I won't use it in mud-plugging season. (Unless there's frost, when it would be fab!).

It's a bike at the end of the day, it's there to be ridden. But riding my HT is no hardship, I like that too.

But for someone wanting a year round all conditions FS, for schlepping around the Peaks or wherever in all kind of muck, there are probably better ways to spend the money.


 
Posted : 05/06/2015 10:16 am
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[img] [/img]

This was before the shop realised it wasn't actually mine and I'd been sent a medium rather than the XL I ordered....
Thankfully quickly rectified by Silverfish, my XL is now in the care of Invisiframe getting taped to within an inch of its life, can't wait to finally get it built, I ordered it nearly 5 months ago!

Mine will be a bike for riding, all year, none of this locking it up for the winter nonsense (sorry mboy!). Let's face it, if I was going to avoid taking a bike out in the mud in Scotland, I'd never ride it. I'd guess I might not use it for any real mud plugging escapades, but that's more because the hardtail tends to be a bit more "fun" to ride in that anyway, not because I'm particularly precious about my full sus.


 
Posted : 05/06/2015 10:46 am
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Hob Nob - Member

Probably quite sensible considering the reputation of the brand

Nah not really, if you've got a bike you don't trust you want to ride it a lot so it breaks in warranty 😉 But really, they do seem to have learned from all that and a 6.5lb short travel carbon frame should be tough as old boots.

(there was a dude with a Revolt at the endurance dh one year, his goal for the day was to break it so he could get it replaced with an undead, he was running out of time. Mission, somewhat inevitably, accomplished.)


 
Posted : 05/06/2015 10:51 am
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But really, they do seem to have learned from all that and a 6.5lb short travel carbon frame should be tough as old boots.

I think they have, in theory. I had multiple conversations with Evil and there is a recognition of all previous issues and they were also very informative about the steps they have taken to rectify past issues. New factories etc.
But that's all in theory, whether it's happened in practice is still to be seen, only way to find out about it is riding the crap out of it (or as close as I can to riding the crap out of something) and see what happens.

if you've got a bike you don't trust you want to ride it a lot so it breaks in warranty

+1, though I'd argue that if you didn't have trust in a bike before you bought it, you probably shouldn't be buying it in the first place!


 
Posted : 05/06/2015 10:56 am
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Being a Following early adopter is a bit of a punt to my mind. The value of your investment ...

I punted because I can't think of another bike that fits my bill (29er, versatile for xc-trail-all mountain, strong but not burly, not wallowing about in masses of travel) better, and of course @mboy's "gentle persuasion" and confident communication. And the Bible of Bike Tests review too.


 
Posted : 05/06/2015 11:14 am
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These looks fantastic. If only I had the spare cash.. some day.

mattjg - what are you doing with your Whyte T129?


 
Posted : 05/06/2015 11:20 am
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The Whyte is mboy's, not mine.


 
Posted : 05/06/2015 11:34 am
 mboy
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Mine will be a bike for riding, all year, none of this locking it up for the winter nonsense (sorry mboy!). Let's face it, if I was going to avoid taking a bike out in the mud in Scotland, I'd never ride it. I'd guess I might not use it for any real mud plugging escapades, but that's more because the hardtail tends to be a bit more "fun" to ride in that anyway, not because I'm particularly precious about my full sus.

I probably over egged the pudding a little there... My local trails don't really lend themselves to a full sus in the winter anyway, so I don't see any point slogging it around in mud for the sake of it. If I'm going anywhere firmer, it'll still get a good outing.

Also, to be fair, now I've got 1 (well 3 actually, see the pic) in my possession right now, have fitted a wheel and tyre to the frame and the tyre clearance is better than first anticipated. You can get a Hans Dampf in there with some clearance, a 2.3" Maxxis has plenty spare, and something like a 2.25" Nobby Nic or an Ardent will almost be lost in there!

[img] ?oh=395d535fe80a564d0304d5c810560117&oe=55F96AF4[/img]

Does that mean there'll be a large T129 SCR in the classifieds soon

Medium (yes, the Large Following and Medium T-129 are within a couple of mm of each other!) actually, and my GF is gonna ride it for a while. It's a shop demo bike too, it's off earning a crust tomorrow as it happens, and a few of my customers have been eyeing it up already.

I think they have, in theory. I had multiple conversations with Evil and there is a recognition of all previous issues and they were also very informative about the steps they have taken to rectify past issues. New factories etc.

Fingers crossed! You've got to remember that they've been riding these Stateside for 5 months or so now anyway, and I've not heard of anything majorly untoward. Couple of minor things reported on MTBR forums that were fixed very quickly under warranty, but nothing like total frame failures.

Being a Following early adopter is a bit of a punt to my mind. The value of your investment ...

I punted because I can't think of another bike that fits my bill (29er, versatile for xc-trail-all mountain, strong but not burly, not wallowing about in masses of travel) better, and of course @mboy's "gentle persuasion" and confident communication. And the Bible of Bike Tests review too.

Not a problem, glad to help. Like you I believe that the value is my investment, and as you can imagine, I've put a LOT of investment behind the brand! Nobody has until now, offered the bike that I really want. The Whyte T-129 SCR comes a close second (and it has been an awesome bike for the last couple of months), but this is the bike I really want! In this day of 650b this, that and the other, for a 29er FS to be kicking up such a storm both sides of the Atlantic like this one is is something else!


 
Posted : 05/06/2015 11:45 am
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It's not so much tyre clearance that would bother me. It's a lot better than the Whyte, for example. It's the way the shock seems to sit in it's own little mud trap. But only time will tell.

I know it's not what it was designed for, but this does seem like a good option for the nervous XC rider (like me). Light, stiff and efficient enough for all day XC. Playful enough for just messing about. Not so much travel that you feel overbiked on tame stuff, but loads of confidence when things get scary. Sounds perfect.

However, I only ever buy frames that are in stock and that I can get in a few days. By the time there are any large orange frames available I'm sure we'll have lots of user reports. Probably some winter ones too!


 
Posted : 05/06/2015 12:01 pm
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> Also, to be fair, now I've got 1 (well 3 actually, see the pic)

Following frames are like busses, you wait for ages then ...


 
Posted : 05/06/2015 12:04 pm
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I know it's not what it was designed for, but this does seem like a good option for the nervous XC rider (like me). Light, stiff and efficient enough for all day XC. Playful enough for just messing about. Not so much travel that you feel overbiked on tame stuff, but loads of confidence when things get scary. Sounds perfect.

Pretty close to my thinking, I also am a mincer at heart.

I fancied an FS and looked at what my mates are buying at the moment - 160mm 650b (Cube mostly) - but then I looked at what they do, hucking and gap jumping (not that the Following can't handle it), and realised there is no need so schlep around in a bunch of travel I have no use for.

Also I like 29ers.

I considered the Kona Process 111 - bit of an anchor for XC and not great value - and the Whyte T129 SCR - still not really happy about the tyre clearance. The Following is pretty much what's left if you want short stays, and the only choice I know of if you want carbon.


 
Posted : 05/06/2015 3:09 pm
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dry day mtb? I've heard it all now


 
Posted : 05/06/2015 3:14 pm
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inside every gloop glob is a dust particle trying to get out


 
Posted : 05/06/2015 3:48 pm
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While ths Following as a bike in it's own right does not hold any interest for me (too little travel, too big wheels) I wil be keeping a close eye on all this. I hope that my next bike, which is probably three years awag, will be the forthcoming 650b Uprising and I hope the Following is the frame where Evil have finally got their reliability together. Enjoy your bikes everyone and keep us updated on how they perform.


 
Posted : 05/06/2015 4:00 pm
 mboy
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I've never had a frame like this before, is Invisiframe worth the faff? I tend to take the point of view that it's a mountain bike and knocks are inevitable, so I don't get too precious about it.

Just started fitting the invisiframe kit to mine right now...

Got to say very impressed so far!

Not going to be too precious, but for the cost of the invisiframe kit versus the cost of the frame, it's a very small percentage to keep it looking better for longer.


 
Posted : 05/06/2015 5:41 pm
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Mine's ready too 😀
Still waiting for a few bits, namely XT 11 speed groupset and the right stem once I've decided on the right length, so using some second hand stuff and butchered stuff from my hardtail to get me up and running in the meantime.
[img] https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/weGCwyvw42EsE28rYVxZqfEVPv9iAnNF-Z71OzB0-eg2=w905-h601-no [/img]
[img] https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/7UwmfubQTrgHAeRr6bNjp9DOkiNBJVdXUHHTrtNbWlZn=w905-h601-no [/img]


 
Posted : 16/06/2015 11:53 am
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4 rides into mine, very happy with it. It's amazingly fast for XC and climbs (not what I bought it for or was expecting but a huge win), on the downs it sticks to the trail without sacrificing agility at all, gives everything back I put into it and is pushing me to raise my game. It's like having my familiar trails repackaged, freshened up, and handed back to me. Pick your line, as far ahead as you want, point and it goes.

The suspension is pushy and playful, it gives energy back with nice trail feel but the sting taken out and absolutely no wallowing. That's good by me but someone wanting a buttery smooth feather pillow feeling from their suspension would probably want longer travel and a different platform.

Despite the slackness the steering is plenty responsive, I think lateral stiffness and 51mm offset forks do a lot of that.

My medium build is 29 pounds, 130mm Pikes, XT 1x10 on Hope/Flows and Spesh 2.3 tyres.

A world class trail bike IMO.


 
Posted : 16/06/2015 12:57 pm