Following an impulse bargin buy off the classifieds;

rear wheel with 819 rim going to be built ‘soon’.

yes, the grass needs mowing but it’s not stopped raining for long enough to do it.

Looking forward to a first ride and at least mud clearance at the front won’t be an issue;

My ‘none more accurate’ Aldi fishing scales have it coming in at 26lb which isn’t bad.

Never understood how people think they are ugly.
Me likes.

I’m coming round to it.

I think curvy seat tubes are far more common now than when this first came out so it’s not quite so much of a shock.

29 wheel on front, . . and it would be perfect

Shrek might want that back at some point…..

Every branch….every branch.. 😀

That’s sweet disgusting!

If you get ill looking at it, I could be persuaded to take it off your hands 😉

Shrek might want that back at some point…..

He’ll probably let you keep it to be honest.

Not my cup of tea but hey ho.

It’s not pretty but I think it looks pretty cool 8)

Never been bothered if a bike is ugly or not….function over form. If you got it on pinkbike I nearly bought it. Used to have one and they climb like a mountain goat. JE James are knocking the frames out at about £450.00…..also Maverick stopped trading earlier this year so you might have a collectors item..talk to Tim @ sideways if you need any advice…thats where i bought mine from..top bloke

got frame, fork and wheels as a job lot for less than £300 off the stw classifieds.

spoken to Tim and he doesn’t see any immediate spares issues so will just have to hope it continues.

I like that!

a mate of mine had one, all he did was complain that the front mech wasn’t designed right. 🙄
That’s engineers for you

I did um and ah about going 1×9 from the off but thought I’d give gears a chance and see how I got on.

Hi wwaswas, one of the guys I ride with has the ml 5??? and he loves it. Did the passportes this year and was the only bike not to clog with the claggy mud. I love it, you hardly see any about, but we did spot a bright red one at the Chatel bike park!!!
He has had some issues with the rear shock but stendec in Holywell sorted that out for him….
Those forks are just so cool too….

re: front Mech: I’ll ask him exactly what he did to it if you like – seem to remember he ended up with a 10speed road mech which worked a treat.

Am always amused by the talk of the amazing rear wheel traction on those bikes.

No wonder, considering the saddle is almost behind the axle…..

Am always amused by the talk of the amazing rear wheel traction on those bikes.

Have a go on one, see for yourself!

No wonder, considering the saddle is almost behind the axle…..

It’s not, it’s an optical illusion because of the seemingly slack seat angle. In reality the long(ish) chainstays and the normal(ish) 71.5 degree seat angle (when the saddle is at a normal riding height) combined with the brilliantly effective rear suspension system means they go uphill like no other! If the saddle was so far back, it would just wheelie all the time… I can go up climbs on my Maverick without fear of wheelie-ing that on other bikes I know I’d be battling with keeping the front down the whole time.

Don’t know what you haven’t tried! 🙄

re: front Mech: I’ll ask him exactly what he did to it if you like – seem to remember he ended up with a 10speed road mech which worked a treat.

They need a 10spd roadie braze on front mech anyway, you can’t fit an MTB one. It’s not ideal, but it does work as long as it’s setup well. And at least once it’s setup, it doesn’t need touching again. The R773 flat bar road bike mech is the one you want ideally, as it’s designed to work with normal trigger shifters, but a Dura-Ace/Ultegra/105 will also work but it will be stiffer at the shift lever due to a different cable pull ratio. Mine has the R773, it works fine.

spoken to Tim and he doesn’t see any immediate spares issues so will just have to hope it continues.

Tim has spares, John Atkins Cycles in Leamington usually do to, but the best guy to speak to is Craig Simpson off this forum. He used to work for Extra when they imported Mavericks, and he bought all the spares off Extra when he left and they stopped doing Maverick. I’ve not got his details to hand right now, but if you want them, drop me an email and I can find them for you.

There’s also Ethan in the US, the guy who until recently owned Maverick, and has now setup specialising in servicing and spare parts (and new improved modifications) for Mavericks. I’ll dig out his email again if you want it, he’s a brilliant guy. You email him, he responds pretty much straight away! He’s still madly passionate about the bikes too, and often hangs out on the MTBR Maverick forum (join, it’s brilliant) and helps out with queries and posts anything he’s up to regarding mods etc.

http://forums.mtbr.com/maverick/

I’m markyboy1980 on there… My Durance is probably the most photographed Maverick on there! 😉

Did the passportes this year and was the only bike not to clog with the claggy mud.

Tonnes of mud clearance on the front obviously, mud clearance on the back is OK too as long as you don’t run massive tyres, gets a bit close on the shoulder knobs, but if you run a 2.1 there’s tonnes of room. You can get a 2.4″ Schwalbe in if you like, but it’s verging on too big. 2.2″ Rubber Queen goes in fine with some clearance.

Anyway, looks good. Hurry up and post it on the thread on the Maverick forum on MTBR. Also, what’s its name?

If you have any further queries or I can help at all outside of hours, always happy to help another Maverick owner out so don’t hesitate to drop me a line. Been a Mav owner now for about 6 years in total, know a fair bit about them, including servicing etc.

Nothing wrong with that! That is a fantastic impulse buy. I love my ML7. For the front mech I use an Avid Rollamagig to ease the cable run. I also use XO gripshift which has given me no problems at all. What’s its name?

Nothing wrong with that, I love my ML7. I recommend an Avid Rollamagig thingy to help with the front mech or use Gripshift (which is what I do). What’s it’s name?

Sorry bloody computer….

Thanks for the detailed responses. It has the road mech and seemed ok on a round the block ride – bit stiffer than a ‘normal’ setup but fine. I’m quite happy with the single ring on my Curtis so not worried about switching.

Bike is called Cosette and is from 29/12/2005.

Very nice… Wheels look a bit betamax

got frame, fork and wheels as a job lot for less than £300 off the stw classifieds.

I like it and at that price it’s a steal 😉

ps I love my ’05 ML8

Wow, a bargain! Lusted after those when they first appeared in the mag… Enjoy!

Definitely heard that name before on the MTBR forum, obviously been owned by a few people by now but good to hear it’s still going strong.

This is what we do to mavericks in the NW Alps

funeral pyre by rOcKeTdOgUk, on Flickr

Never understood how people think they are ugly.

The angles and proportions are all wrong…the lines are all over the place, I like the front & rear triangles to flow, so to speak. It’s an aesthetic horror show.

That said, it’d be a dull old world if we all liked the same things.

The lines are all wrong though, let’s just be clear about that 😛

Wheels look a bit betamax

26″ is the new niche wheel size – technically better but overwhelmed by the marketing hype for the larger alternative 😉

Following mboy’s comment

Craig Simpson: simpsonscycleservices@gmail.com

Helped me out with my SC32 forks, top bloke.

Nice looking bike BTW 🙂

Never understood how people think they are ugly.

Just a helpful tip for you. Never get a job where a companies future depends on your input with regards to aesthetics 😉

I’m a designer who is obsessive about the angles of thing being, well… just ‘right’, and just looking at that monstrosity sets me twitching. Its hideous! However, if it rides well, then who cares? 😀

First proper ride yesterday;

things I found;

1) brake levers could do with being a bit shallower angled.
2) I forgot to do up the pinch bolt on the RH shifter.
3) fork seems a bit reluctant to start moving but is ok after that. bit of air pressure etc tuning may be required.
4) it fits really well.
5) my usual Singlepseed, stand and stomp climbing technique may need a bit of moderation
6) I really like it – even in the slither and the mud.
7) looking down at those forks makes you do motorbike noises in your head
8 ) you can’t see the frame from the side when you’re riding it and it looks quite normal.

I’m a little concerned by the “climbs like a mountain goat” comments.

3) fork seems a bit reluctant to start moving but is ok after that. bit of air pressure etc tuning may be required.

How heavy are you? How heavy was the guy you bought the forks off? What pressure are you running?

Maverick forks, when set up right, are the total opposite of reluctant to start moving. The problem often occurs though when people have bought a fork that is setup for someone significantly lighter than them as the standard negative spring won’t be doing much at all if you’re much the wrong side of 12 1/2 stone or therabouts. The good news though is this is all easily sorted.

You may quite simply have just put too much air in also…

5) my usual Singlepseed, stand and stomp climbing technique may need a bit of moderation

Mavericks, more than any other full sus design, are quite forgiving of such aggressive climbing techniques. Though obviously it will still pay to be smoother and spin a lower gear more often, but when most full sus bikes break traction if you get out of the saddle and honk in too big a gear, Mavericks are very good at keeping traction I find.

How heavy are you?

just over 12 stone. I’m unsure if this is the right or wrong side of 12 1/2 stone 🙂

started out at about 100psi – dropped it to 90 half way through which seemed to improve things a bit – will go to 80 for the next ride.

yes, climbing wasn’t a problem even with the ‘wrong’ technique – got a couple of 3rd best Strava times on climbs which given the ground conditions was quite good. Traction was certainly better on stony/bare chalk areas than with the hardtail

how does the rear suspension work? is it URT or normal single pivot?

retro83 – Member

how does the rear suspension work? is it URT or normal single pivot?

it’s neither

Maverick Monolink

A fantastic impulse buy wwaswas. I think Mav’s look ace

it’s neither

Maverick Monolink

A fantastic impulse buy wwaswas. I think Mav’s look ace

Interesting, so a lower link a bit like Maestro or DW-L, except the BB actually floats on the lower link rather than the front triangle!

Think i need a go on one of these.

just over 12 stone. I’m unsure if this is the right or wrong side of 12 1/2 stone

started out at about 100psi – dropped it to 90 half way through which seemed to improve things a bit – will go to 80 for the next ride.

Sounds like they need setting up properly internally. I’m a few pounds lighter than you, I run 95psi in mine (with a host of internal setup mods to get them to feel how I like) and they’re as supple as you like all the way through their travel, and they’re also very controlled, and I can just about achieve full travel on the very biggest of hits I encounter. If I was running them at 80psi I’d bottom them out quite often!

Where are you based? If you’re anywhere near me (Worcester) you could come and try mine out to see how they feel. Can also help you set yours up properly if you wanted based on your requirements.

I’m in Hove so not too local. I’ll have a play with air pressure and monitor travel and see how I get on.

Thanks for the offer but if its still not ‘right’ I’ll probably get them serviced and tuned.

Nice bike. Do miss my ML7/5 with DUCs but the ML8 suits my current riding better.