I always suspected that these types of publications give preferable reviews to whoever buys the most advertising space but this one takes the biscuit. As a Dixon owner I am obviously biased but what I see is a bang up to date bike with stunning attention to detail, top quality hand build, top quality hardware, rides like a 160mm and has a fantastic linkage.

MBR marked it down on such things as a stem that is too long, a bottom bracket that was too high (they printed the incorrect height anyway and it’s real height is the same as most others in class), made vaugue reference to the linkage being similar to Treks ABP when everyone knows DW has the patent and Trek ripped his idea off but the absolute classic comment of the whole thing….”The medium is 15mm too short”….SO BUY A LARGE THEN!

Shameless.

Ooooh I shall rush out and buy that immediately.

I can’t ride mine for a bit due to this:-

OUCH! Come on then, tell us how you did that, side impact into a sharp rock is my bet.

They slate the altitude too, saying you can’t run 2.2 rubber queens due clearance issues but I have them on mine. Also slated for bit having the “latest” advancements. First time I have bought MBR in a while and it will be the last.

Funny because they do some smart things like testing all bikes with the same tyres, but then harp on about stem lengths and stuff like that.

Think they gave the Foxy a bit of an unduly hard time lately too.

I don’t think it’s down to advertising-led bias though, they just seem a bit fussy and inconsistent.

Similar to the mbuk seatcollar qr reviews – marking one down cos if was heavy – there was about 15g difference between the heaviest & lightest on test….

Typical crap MBR review that. And why would you fit a 90mm stem!?!

duir – Member

OUCH! Come on then, tell us how you did that, side impact into a sharp rock is my bet.

You’re a genius! Yep it was on Snowdon Rangers path. Just a standard OTB really so I was a bit surprised to manage to do that. I think my weight came down on that side and wrapped the seat stay round some rocks. Also snapped the rear brake hose at the same time so I had to walk the rest of the way down!

to be fair i think dirt gave the foxxy a biot of a bashing too

But at least Dirt recognise that most enthusiastic riders will have their own favourite bars/stem/tyres etc.

What did they not like about the Foxy? I can only remember them slagging the tyres off.

Typical crap MBR review that. And why would you fit a 90mm stem!?!

duir – Member
OUCH! Come on then, tell us how you did that, side impact into a sharp rock is my bet.

You’re a genius! Yep it was on Snowdon Rangers path. Just a standard OTB really so I was a bit surprised to manage to do that. I think my weight came down on that side and wrapped the seat stay round some rocks. Also snapped the rear brake hose at the same time so I had to walk the rest of the

I knew that kind of damage straight away, in 08 I went sideways into a pointy rock on my Cove Shocker at Fort William and the damage to the top tube looked like yours. Not a fast crash and a very tough frame but it still dented. I got Argos Cycles to strip, fill and respray the dent, it came back like new. Are Freeborn going to do you a crash replacement rear?

WHy do people always suppose that bike journalists are incapable of having an honest, informed and unbiassed opinion? If I came to you and accused you of being corrupt in your job, you’d be pretty insulted. So why is it OK to throw around insults like bike journo’s are in hoc to the advertisers?

You also need to remember that that they are reviewing the bike not the frame; while they are pretty good at making tyres consistent across test bikes, I think they have to draw the line somewhere.

There is a strong argument to say that the latter might be a better way of doing it, but then they would be writing for a different audience; one that was only ever going to buy a frame and then custom build and that’s not who they write for.

Are Freeborn going to do you a crash replacement rear?

Think so. Just waiting to hear back about it. Hopefully can just get the seat stay bit. It’s bent, not just dented. Nothing wrong with the other bit.

I take magazine reviews with a pinch of salt now. Dirt seem ok, but the others are pretty poor. Bike radar is laughable.

They said it has a 135×12 rear too. Tut.

The final nail in MBR’s coffin (for me) was a few years ago when a shock review commended the Fox RPWhatEverItWas for having a very wide range of tunability based entirely upon the number of clicks on the dials…

I could have put this down to irony, but the pictured 13yr old who seemed to be responsible was probably too young to have seen Spinal Tap…

Chris I think I remember the article you’re referring to. It was done over a series if I remember. I also remember that for that series of articles they worked with a chap called Luis Araiz from K9 Industries who put all the units on a dyno in order to measure their performance empirically.

Just ridden today with one of the journo’s from MBR. I opened up a conversation regarding the testing which they complete on every bike. We were still chatting about it two hours into the ride. Those boys are all class riders who have been riding and racing bikes for 20years + each. I believe they are doing a good job with the stock bikes and give a fair opinion based upon that. Changed my view.

MBUK gave the dixon 4.5 out of 5 this month I noticed while having my morning dump, FYI.

Weird. I read that article yesterday & didn’t get that impression at all. So I just read it again.

Yeah, they mentioned the high BB for a bike with that much travel. With regard to the suspension, they mention that it’s similar to Trek’s and then explains the differences – they aren’t saying one is better than the other just explaining the differences.
I took the comment about the medium being 15mm too short to mean that all other aspects of it were the right size so going up to a large wouldn’t work. It also ties in with the comment about the stem being too long, but not compensating for the short TT.

They marked it down for being high & a bit short. I suspect they also marked it down as it has no ISCG mounts. They also mention in the conclusion that it was expensive for what you get, which probably lost it a point.

The comments about the Rocky Mountain are also pretty valid I reckon. They basically say it’s outdated, expensive for what it is, and rides more like an xc bile than an all mountain bike.

A lot of mbr reviews do seem a bit weird, but this one did actually make sense.

I’m very happy with my Dixon. I’ve had it about 3 months now and ridden it around local trails and out in the Alps, its a very adaptable bike that pedals well and can take a lot of hammering too. I wouldn’t stick a 90mm stem on it and I find the Large long enough at 6’3″ but sizing is a strange thing anyway. I would agree that the list price is a lot, I think mainly because Freeborn were looking to price it at a premium over the Spitfire for warranty reasons. I don’t know if I’d want ISCG mounts to be honest, I haven’t had many problems with dropped chains and the frame probably builds up best around 30lbs with a double chainset. I have 36 Floats at 150mm and I wouldn’t want the forks any longer, and the rear clearance isn’t huge.

Mr Mills you must’ve landed on that to do the damage?!

Duir, you state it rides like 160mm. What travel is a Dixon as I prefer a bike to ride like it’s actual travel?

Its 145mm. It soaks up a lot of punishment going down hill which is probably what he is getting at. It pedals very well if that is what you are concerned about.

Oli – this is STW. You can’t give out opinions based on real life things like riding with journos!

Dirt seem ok,

Dirt just love everything they ride, even when they hate something they play it down untill it’s replacement comes out, the yeti 303-DH being a prime example.

On the other hand there’re very few bad bike out these days, no ones going to turn upto the next Mega/Avalanche Enduro/NoFuss/etc on a Pitch and be written off with no chance of winning by someone on a more boutique bike. Flawed bikes exist, but probably in a much smaller proprtion than flawed riders!

Mr Mills you must’ve landed on that to do the damage?!

Yep I think my weight came down on top of it. I’ve got some 160s on the way to fit to mine once I’ve replaced te seat stays.

It must’ve done. Mine got bounced through rocks a couple of times in France, the paint is fragile but the frame itself seems very solidly built. I am glad I went for the 36s, the back tracks very well and the 32s I had on the Spitfire wouldn’t have balanced the bike out as nicely.