So last weekend I built this up…

I rode it a few times (3 times, totalling 70 miles offroad) in the first few days…

And now I’m writing a few words about it, given that I’m one of the very first in the UK to ride one, and some of you may be interested to hear my thoughts…

The spec is:

Evil The Following Frame Large
MRP Stage Fork @ 140mm
LB 30mm carbon rims on DT Swiss 240s hubs
SRAM X1 mech, shifter & chain
SRAM X01 cassette
SRAM XX1 crank
SRAM Guide RS 180/160 brakes
Hope PF41 BB
Reverb Stealth
Truvativ Jerome Clementz 750mm carbon bar
Gamut Cillos 40mm stem
Pro Turnix Saddle
Ergon GE1 grips

For the record, in over 20 years of riding, as you would imagine I’ve ridden a huge variety of bikes, some of them rubbish, many of them mediocre, but some of them pretty bloody good. I’ve found that most full suspension designs I’ve owned or ridden are seriously flawed in one way or another, but I’m yet to see or feel that flaw with the Evil yet (Emperors new clothes? I hope not!).

To start with, the bike staggers me how quickly and effectively it climbs! Coming from a guy who’s owned a Maverick Durance for years (and that Monolink design is well respected as a climber’s bike) the Following would give nothing to the Maverick on a climb. I’m sure the bigger wheels make a difference here of course, but then I’ve been riding 29ers a while now, and I’ve ridden some 29ers that are pigs uphill too.

On the descents the bike is something else! And I don’t mean “it’s good for a 120mm travel bike” or anything like that. It’s just really damned good, full stop. I’ve ridden it on all the trails so far that I took my Whyte T-129 to when it was new, and crucially the Evil not only feels better on the descents (on the climbs the Whyte would be left for dead!), Strava backs it up with data that I’m usefully quicker on the Evil!

Why’s it so good? I think that good geometry is key. I knew in the low/slack mode it would descend well, especially with a 140mm fork, but I was shocked how well it climbed. I thought to get it climbing OK I’d be having to flip the link, shorten the fork, and get the HA a good 1.5 degrees steeper or so. The suspension feel is nice and playful, but by no means plush. Crucially though, as is normally the case, the faster you go the smoother the terrain feels, and the Evil really pushes the pace up because of the confidence it inspires! One of my favourite DH trails in the Forest of Dean has a drop into a gully, followed by 2 sharp 90 degree left hand banked turns that you pick up pace on, that then fires you onto a straight with a roughly 4ft high ramp built onto it. I’m quick enough to hold my own, but I’ve always been a wheels on the ground kinda guy, but for the first time I sailed off this ramp at speed, landed about 15ft away on a very smooth transition, and felt like some kind of god as a result! 🙂

I’m not a fan of pro pedal settings on shocks FWIW, my opinion is that they’re not a proper solution to the problem of making a bike pedal well. I flicked the pedal setting on my shock for all of 5 seconds on one climb, I felt the bike felt too stiff, traction would be compromised, and as I experience as good as zero bob anyway, I’m happy that I have a bike that the pro pedal is totally redundant on. IMO suspension should be as active as possible at all times, and a good engineer (this is the first DW design I’ve owned, I suspect it won’t be the last!) will use chain growth, pivot placements and axle paths to make the bike pedal well.

As for setup. I’m probably a bit different to normal in liking very active suspension setups, I’m not afraid to bottom mine once in a while. That said, I’ve been running 220psi in the shock which is definitely a touch soft for my weight, gonna try 230 then 240 next. Rebound wise, probably a bit faster than most. Mine’s about 1 or 2 clicks from the half way point iirc, most people would run 2 or 3 clicks more than I do normally is my experience.

For a while now, I’ve been mostly riding Hardtails. Since realising that I prefer (good) 29ers to smaller wheeled bikes, my previously much loved Maverick hasn’t been used. I’ve tried a number of FS 29ers but not felt any of them had what it took to be genuinely good enough as an all rounder to replace a HT. So last year I bought a very nice 29er HT (Kinesis Sync) at the start of the season, rode it for 12 months and loved it. Then I saw the Evil, and realised it had the potential to be the FS bike to stop me being a HT bore… It’s worked! Just wish it had arrived sooner…

The weight of it is a crucial part too. I nearly pulled the trigger on a Banshee Prime at one point a few months ago, but it’s a 9lb frame including shock! The Evil is just over 6lb, I’ve weighed it. My full build including pedals is 28lb on the button including reasonably beefy tyres. I’m pretty happy with that, as it’s certainly built to take some abuse…

The Bike is running 170mm cranks, which I have used for years now. More for my knees than pedal clearance funnily enough! That said, the BB is low, but no lower than I’m used to. I’ve found it took a while but I adapted your riding style a while ago anyway for low BB bikes, learned to pump the bike more, and pedal less through the techy sections. Certainly the Evil hasn’t posed me a problem yet in this respect.

Some people have been asking about the fit. I’m 5ft10, and I chose a Large and a 40mm stem. I have no doubt I could ride a medium too, but I’d need a 55-60mm stem and a 420mm Reverb with a lot of post exposed. I’m happy on the large, so far the bike hasn’t felt big at all. In fact, it feels pretty nimble still by 29er standards. In fact, crucially for many, it doesn’t feel like a 29er, it feels like a very sorted 650b bike with more speed and grip than you’d rightly expect!

Anyway… In a bid to put this bike through its paces, and see if it really is the best all rounder on the market today (which is why I bought it as I believed it could be), I’m doing an XC race on it tomorrow, and will be going to Bike Park Wales on it on Wednesday, having already ridden it round my local trails and taken it on some of the Gravity Enduro stages I raced a couple of months ago in the FoD.

INRAT

So, do you like it? 🙂

I’m not a fan of pro pedal settings on shocks FWIW, my opinion is that they’re not a proper solution to the problem of making a bike pedal well.

I am, because…from what I gather…as soon as you design a bike to pedal well you invariably compromise it’s ability to give you grip.

Seems like a great bike though!

INRAT

So, do you like it?

It’s good… VERY good… Still at the first impressions stage I’m aware, but this really is one bike that lives up to the (enormous) hype…

The bike is also a huge talking point! People (that realise what it is) stop you wanting to talk about it…

I am, because as soon as you design a bike to pedal well you invariably compromise it’s ability to give you grip.

A topic of huge debate (elsewhere), without going too far I’ll agree to disagree with you. It’s the engineer’s holy grail though, getting a bike to pedal well, descend like a demon, have huge amounts of grip and all without relying on propedal shocks.

Seems like a great bike though!

So far so good for sure!

Personally, I think electronic shocks are the way forward – seeing as we are going electronic everything else (if you really can’t be bothered to push a remote….the one for the Float X is brilliant). With good shock design you don’t have to then make compromises.

Lovely looking bike for sure! Hope you enjoy it!

This applies a little bit to all 29ers…but it’s a bit wrong looking to me…

I’ll read it in the morning – it looks great though.

It’s the least wrong looking 29er I’ve seen. Do prefer the red one though.

Now a Video clip would be most pleasing… 😉

OP did you ever ride the Uprising? Just wandering how the two compare if you did? I actually prefer the agility of 26 inch wheels

Nice that. Hopefully Evil are over their QC woes too.

It’s a fine looking bike and i bet it rides well but to give any review [i] merit, i need to know if the rider is capable of actually testing a bike and not just some bike geek firing buzz words out to sound impressive. So i too would like to see a video (or at the very least, pics) of you and the bike in action.

Yeah! My first double post 😀

I’ve found that most full suspension designs I’ve owned or ridden are seriously flawed in one way or another

I’ve found the ones I’ve ridden mostly fine. This thing will surely blow me away and make me quicker on all terrain!

I’m not a fan of pro pedal settings on shocks FWIW, my opinion is that they’re not a proper solution to the problem of making a bike pedal well.

My bike (VPP) runs really well without pro pedal, it runs better with propedal in some situations, it’s a benefit and helps in a lot of situations especially when you are going for it.

My old Nomad pedalled shite in low gears, the Single pivot Heckler was better.

Not that it actually matters, I wasn’t racing, and I doubt it really slowed me up significantly anyway (you’d think it was the only thing that mattered about a bike the way some folk go on about it).

It always made me LOL how propedal is used on VPP etc designs which are meant to pedal well.

Hopefully Evil are over their QC woes too.

Indeed! I’m with you on that one, as I’ve put my money where my mouth is in a big way.

OP did you ever ride the Uprising? Just wandering how the two compare if you did? I actually prefer the agility of 26 inch wheels

Sadly not, I nearly ordered on a couple of years ago though but couldn’t justify it financially. I’m mega happy with the Following though so far, and if the new 650b version of the Uprising that’s mooted for later this year follows suit, it will be worth waiting for too!

i need to know if the rider is capable of actually testing a bike and not just some bike geek firing buzz words out to sound impressive.

Playing Devil’s Advocate for the moment, how do we know anyone is capable? I’m far from the best rider out there, but I’m not the worst either. I’ve been riding for 20 odd years, and I’ve ridden a LOT of bikes, I know what I like and what I don’t like. I have my own biases (as does everyone) for sure, but wouldn’t go as far as misrepresenting anything.

Put it this way, I’ve met bike industry journo’s that I would consider not very accomplished riders that get paid to report on the products they’re testing. I also know guys that are incredible riders but put them on a bike, and they wouldn’t be able to tell you anything about the way that it rides, short of that it pedalled, stopped and turned when you asked it to.

So i too would like to see a video (or at the very least, pics) of you and the bike in action.

Quite probably the only person who’s ever deemed me worthy of filming on a bike is my GF! I don’t own a GoPro or the like either. All any first person MTBing video I’ve ever watched on youtube/vimeo etc. has confirmed is how tame it looks when it’s caught on camera!

There’s a good few vids online of Luke Strobel (Evil’s pro DH rider) putting a Following through its paces to be fair, I can definitely confirm he’s a lot better rider than I am.

FWIW did a fun cat XC race on it today, probably wasn’t the best bike for the (fairly smooth, and also quite muddy) course, but it didn’t disgrace itself at all. It definitely pedals very well, 2.35″ Hans Dampf’s aren’t ideal for an XC race though, especially as they REALLY hang on to the mud!

Strange comments most full-susses are flawed and this one is not??I thought the biggest flaw in any bike was the rider Hmm.

It’s a fine looking bike and i bet it rides well but to give any review merit, i need to know if the rider is capable of actually testing a bike.

From what I’ve seen of the OP’s riding he’d make a great “bike industry journo” to put it in his own words.

Or to put it in my words all typing and no trousers. 😐

I thought the biggest flaw in any bike was the rider Hmm.

I quite agree…

Strange comments most full-susses are flawed and this one is not??I

You have to remember that this is my subjective view. My opinions are not facts. So far, my opinion is that this one doesn’t posess any of the flaws that have put me off many other full sus bikes in the past. That is not to say the next person will share the same opinion to me, we’re all different. But as you can probably tell, I like the bike a lot!

Just to add to my post.
I’m not trying to insult bike journo’s.
The three I’ve met have all been quite capable riders…
The OP very much less so.

Lol, nice back pedal on both counts.

Does being aa good journalist come into it or is it just riding bragging rights?

4 rides in on my Following.

I agree with Mark.

Which is getting a bit tedious.

There’s a lot going on in the design, it’s quite bold, what you’d do if you were a small brand willing to take a risk on not satisfying the box ticking mass market. It works, the whole is greater than the sum of the parts.

It’s a world class trail bike.

Put good stiff wheels on it, get a 51mm offset fork, and get the internal routing tubes taped down before the BB goes in.

Then hang on.

This thing will surely blow me

Given the OP’s enthusiasm, that might just be true! 😛

Long review of a murdered out gnarpoon by a ‘wheels on the ground rider’….hmmm

-nah-

This thread is serious WTF? central.

Why bother giving everyone a thesis-worth of your ‘opinion’ on your new bike. Granted. It may be a nice bike. I think you could’ve left it simply at that and a few pictures.

Not this only partially obscured ego spaff fest… 😆

Long review of a murdered out gnarpoon

More of a slack angled trail bike to be fair (it’s a 120mm travel 29er after all). Hence its appeal to me as I’m far from a descending god, having never laid claim to being one either, but its pushing me to go faster and faster on some trails that are pretty familiar.

Off to BPW in the morning, lets see how it fares there!

It’s a world class trail bike.

You see, this is the thing that seems to puzzle most people about the bike… It’s not a Gravity Sled, though in the right hands it’s capable of doing a passing impression, and it’s not an XC race bike, though again it pedals well enough to embarrass a number of lighter, shorter travel bikes.

These guys liked it, so much so they names it their Trail Bike of the year 2015 before it was even commercially available!

[video]https://youtu.be/qTOL6C4-7ZQ[/video]

And this vid gives a little insight into how the bike came about.

[video]https://youtu.be/h1BN4M1hCY4[/video]

This thread is serious WTF? central.

Seems STW never changes!

Man buys (much anticipated) bike…

Man gets asked (a lot, to the point of people stopping him on the trails) about how his new bike rides…

Man takes the time to give some insight into his personal experiences with said new bike, for the potential benefit of anyone else interested in the bike…

Others (that haven’t ridden the bike) chime in, clearly knowing best!

Why bother giving everyone a thesis-worth of your ‘opinion’ on your new bike. Granted. It may be a nice bike.

A few hundred words is at best a mini review in anyone’s books. A Thesis was 10’s of thousands last time I checked with a friend that was writing one.

I think you could’ve left it simply at that and a few pictures.

Given on MTBR forum there’s well over 125 pages of people largely asking for info and opinions on this bike on one thread, me taking the time to give a little insight into it given how rare they are in the UK at the moment, isn’t really a problem is it? If so, you have the option not to read it just like everyone else!

I think it’s a great review of a great bike.

I’ve always found dw link bikes to climb well. They just seem to dig in and find traction.

Needs this black chain! 😡

http://www.probikesupply.com/kmc-x11sl-dlc-diamond-like-coating-black-black-11-speed-chain/?gclid=Cj0KEQjwkv-rBRDwoMLav-2l9KIBEiQAUTkDU6JFiS7ABE-7hbSw9SZbAtsQNuH8KxCnCozjrAI5HzMaAhoC8P8HAQ#

renton – Member
I think it’s a great review of a great bike.
I’ve always found dw link bikes to climb well. They just seem to dig in and find traction.
POSTED 2 HOURS AGO # REPORT-POST

This isn’t a DW-link bike. It’s a DW design (sort of) but it’s a single pivot with a linkage

I like it when people put reviews on here, and I’m grateful to the OP for doing so. People posting opinions on STW may or may not suck as riders, but I ain’t all that either. Unless they’re Peter Verdone level odd, it’s all grist to the mill.

I enjoyed Vernon Felton’s video about it also. It has much banjo.

🙂

Good work Mboy, review welcomed here I’ve been wondering about this little monkey and how it’d ride. Keep dropping into this and noticed the harsh cowd too.

Have you ridden any other VPP 29ers as a comparison?.

STW bellendry at it’s finest. It is slowly dawning on me how many numpties actually frequent this place.

Great review mboy and fair one for not rising to the bait. I love it when i am looking for kit and i do a google search and i can find informed write ups / reviews like this one. Usually they are to be found on MTBR .

Even online it takes a fair amount of commitment putting your opinions and ideas out there. Its not big and its not clever just taking shots at someone doing that just to make yourself better hiding at home behind a keyboard.

The bike is also a huge talking point! People (that realise what it is) stop you wanting to talk about it.

before your rare beast thread I’d never heard of it 🙂

Glad you like your new bike.

I know what you mean about FS bikes having flaws. I think it’s something about coming off the Maverick.
I tested so many bikes while I had the Maverick (ML7/5 for me), but never managed to find a good replacement until recently. I too hate shock switches for the same reasons.

Sounds like a really good bike. I just hope Evil can get big enough that their staff can become full-time and they can get on top of some of the past problems.

I knew that buying an Evil would be complete gamble for me, so I’m glad some brave souls have taken the leap!

Great review and well written.
I don’t really care about Marks riding ability. The fact he can tell two (similar) bikes apart means he’s got enough skill to make use of the bike.
I would love to read more rider owned reviews, rather than the bank rolled bike mags.

I’ve actually started looking at the bike. It appears to tick lots of boxes for me- weight, geometry, travel and wheel size. £2250 is reasonably good value for a carbon frame too, by comparison the Santa Cruz Tallboy Carbon is £2800.

I’m off to the US in the next few weeks and I can get a full X01 build with Pikes and flows for £3900 or frame only for £1660 (+ tax, etc…).

Any chance that one of you rides Swinley?

Man buys expensive rare bike.

Man is pleasingly flattered when others on trails notice how rare and expensive his bike is.

Man seeks further approval on, both his bike choice and consummate abilities as a connoisseur of bikes (for over 20 years, don’t you know) from STW, via a ‘review’ that is partly a barely-concealed exercise in self-flattery.

Man writes some bizarre comments in review relating to his subtle finesse in knowing the-only-true-way that suspension should be designed. And some other strange comments about crank lengths.

A few people point this out.

Others praise man.

I despise STW bellendery (is that even a word?) as much as anyone else, but – to be fair – there was a fair bit of that (IMHO) in the original review..

As I’ve said though – I’m sure it’s a nice bike – it certainly looks nice. Dark and black, with funny moving carbon bits and big wheels. I’m sure it rides as well as it looks.

Peace kids.. 🙂

Nice bike OP.
And thanks for taking the time to pop your thoughts on here.
Interesting stuff.
The fact its all black gets my vote. Looks great.

I love this idea that only expert riders should be allowed to review bikes. That might make some sense if only experts were allowed to buy them. In fact the only requirement for buying this bike is that you can afford it and guess what: the people who can afford it are not necessarily the people who spent their school days dicking about on bikes 🙂

Actually, despite the marketing guff, I suspect that the target demographic for these short but slack 29ers will be XC mincers. People who want a bike that will give them the confidence to tacke the bits of trail that currently scare them, but who don’t need lots of travel and want a bike that’s fast on the easy bits too (where they spend most of their time). In which case an XC mincer is the ideal reviewer. How can you tell me whether this bike takes away the fear you felt at the top of a descent if you’ve never felt that fear?

As for the length of the review; you don’t have to read it you know. If all those words make your brain hurt you can always jusat look at the pictures 🙂 Talking of which I still can’t help looking at the way the mud collects around the shock area on that last one and wonder how it’s going to cope with a British winter. But I look forward to finding out. In fact that’s the big advantage of these user reviews. The original post may be full of new bike excitement, but over time we get to see if that wears off.