Hi guys , I’ve been fancying one of these for a while now , anyone have some real world experience of them good or bad , also what sort of weights are possible without spending loads on bling bits ?

Cheers
Ian

16 months and counting. it’s the longest any bike has been in my ownership for a lot of years.
weighing in at 32lbs on my non calibrated luggage scales. have had it under 30, but feels better in its current build.
have been all over the place, riding all sorts of terrain both home and abroad, and never found it lacking.

get one.

Sounds promising , what build did you have for sub 30lb ?

Any one else have any input ? There must be more el guapo riders on here than this .

Yep I’ve got one, had it for nearly 18 months, 1×9, coil shocks front and back, reverb with Hadley hubs on flow rims, think it weight about 33lbs feels great, good both up and down, prefer it to the banshee rune and speak enduro I’ve had previously!

So would 30lb be easily achieved with air shocks front and back and xt/slx mix ?

I would have thought so, it’s a fairly light frame, particularly coming from the rune which rode like a tank! I could save weight elsewhere too, like the cranks are saint and the wheels are mid range weight but mine feels good and not much of a burden to climb with but could easily go lighter, think there is a thread on mtbr talking about El guapo builds under 30lb

Thanks for that ,I’ll see if I can find the thread .

Interesting – what is the El Guapo good at? An all-rounder?

Yeah I’d say a good all rounder, pedals pretty efficiently similar to the 2006 enduro I had, coil dhx with pro pedal! Comfortable and manoeuvrable downhill, requires a bit more control than my rune did which was more or less point and shoot, but a good bike for days out, most ridden in the peaks with some welsh and Scottish trail centres and Aston hill.

I’m only 20mins from bike park wales so that’s where it will be used most if I get one .

Lucky you, it’s on my list for 2014 but I’d have no hesitation taking the el guapo there

Thought I’d find more owners on here than this to give their experiences .

I really like the look of one of these to replace my Wolf Ridge, apparently they’re getting a bolt through axle very soon.

There have been a few posts over the last year so think there are a few out there, check my history because I have normally commented. I run a 10mm thru axle anyway so a 12mm option would be a great deal stiffer.

The 29″er already has a 12mm bolt through IIRC, so it’s not a huge leap.

Have they sorted out the bb issues on the latest version ?

They never seem to have them in stock in medium ccdba…. 🙄

Both myself and Bro have one…his is Medium mines large he gets quite a bit of pedal strikes due to low BB..i dont though…we run with a 160mm fork thinking of juicing it up to 170mm..
its done everything ive thrown at it…
wales All of surrey hills area stuff…both Ups and Downs..

my Bro is running Shortcage Rear Mech and 30T wide / narrow Ring..
Hes just got back from Afan/FOD and said it Climbed like a Boss…

Its on the heavey side…about 33lb…its a good thing im all powerfull… 😉

I love mine…I’ve had it for 7 months..
you cant really get a better (new) frame for the money in my opinion

im running a superstar 10mm bolt thru….and paired with those Spank Spoon32 rims…its plenty stiff enough

How tall are you ? I’m 5’11” and thinking about getting a large as I currently ride a large motolite .

There were a batch that had too much bb drop but I think they sorted that out! I ride a medium and am 5’10”!

Im and ex stumpjumper, and santacruz blur LT owner.. and I love everything about my el guapo V2. Its properly good! cable routing could be better, otherwise its perfect, I cant think of much I’d swap it for..

CCDB air shock probably helps make it to be honest, but its an amazing thing.. I wont be parting with it any time soon.

Ignore the tosh about bb height.. the low bb is part of what makes it handle so well, apparently there were a few that came wrong, and were sorted by on-one, but its just another issue blown out of all proportion by the interweb! if you want a load of ground clearence get and cross country bike! I do get the odd pedal strike, but its aways down to my poor foot position not the bike!

Its a very stiff frame, I have a 10mm qr in the back of mine, and I cant see a bolt through axle making any difference to be honest.

medium here and I’m 6 foot.. but only 31 inside leg.

i run large…6ft with 34 inside leg.

I’ve also got one, I built it back in January and I really couldn’t be happier with it. Very confidence inspiring bike. Mine is a small frame and I’m 5’8″. Originally it weight just over 30lb with a 150mm Fox fork but I’ve since beefed it up to a 170mm solo air Lyrik and fitted a reverb so it’s probably closer to 32lb now. You won’t be dissapointed if you get one. Oh and I’m yet to see another one out on the trails 🙂

Thanks for all your replies guys , think I’ll go for a large as I’m 5’11” with 33 1/2″ inside leg and knuckle dragging long arms . Just got to get a bit more cash together 1st unless some one wants to sell me theirs 😉

Do we expect the v4 to be released after the current stock is all sold out, or will the v3 be restocked and sold for another season you reckon?

I’m debating whether to get one of the last ones remaining now or wait a bit to see what Titus/On-One might have up their sleeve. I won’t be riding much if anything during the winter either way but I’m impatient when it comes to bikes so not sure I’ll be able to hold off.

Managed to find a new one at a good price , do they take an external headset or are they integrated ?

Ian

Finally built up and ready to rip , off to bike park wales tomorrow to put it through its paces , here’s a pic

I borrowed an El Grapo for a trip to Scotland to ride all of the 7 stanes a couple of years ago. I was impressed with how well it performed all round, climbed we’ll for a big bike. I had an intense 6.6 the year before that that climbed like a pig in comparison.

I still think it’s overkill for most trail riding in the UK, if you’re building a bigger bike for bike parks or the Alps then yes, otherwise I’d look elsewhere.

Mines mainly going to be used at bpw and cwmcarn . Depends on how you ride I suppose .

Anyone know if theres an updated one on the way? I emailed on-one as they seem to be low on stock so was wondering if they were waiting for a new version but not got a reply yet.