Looking at a new frame and have seen both of these currently in the sales.

Chumba VF2 looks really very nice, but dont know much about them (apart from good reported customer service and a dodgy looking head badge!)

Ellsworth Epiphany – my dream frame when it first came out, but not as sure these days. Still v.tempting though…

My current bike is a 9 year old SC Superlight, which has stood up to plenty of abuse from Welsh trail centres, Peaks, Moors and even some Alps. Time for something that can be pushed even harder, without losing the fast and light overall feel.

Your comments on the above two (or alternatives) would be welcomed…

Jeez mate, the Epiphany all the way. Awesome bike. Had a go on my mates and felt really amazing. You can built them up anyway you want. Mates have dual air pikes on with mavic sx wheels and xtr elswhere. It is a machine I tell you!!!

The Ellsworth has a very good reputation, is well built and is also tried and tested. Seeing as no bike is for life, how much would you get for the Epiphany in a few years time? And the Chumba – Chumba who? It's something worth taking into consideration and by no means am I having a pop at the Chumba.

I sure Si will be here shortly…..

i never really felt that comnfortable on my epiphany. Its definitely a bit flexy and has crazy steep angles for a 5" bike these days. sold it in the end. if i was buying again i'd prob get an Orange 5 or cannondale prophet or something.

Only one bike made me stop in my tracks – Ellsworth Dare of yesteryear. For this reason alone I'd be tempted to go for an Epiphany.

How about a Moment? A lot lot stiffer.

if you've been so happy with the superlight then why not upgrade to a heckler?

I’ve had an epiphany for 3yrs now. Never considered changing it.
Perfect with pikes. Solid build and still only 28lb.

The obligatory pic..

I have a Ellsworth Epiphany and must say the bike is awesome, Ellsworth as a company and customer service is absolutely shocking.
I have just had to wait 6 months for a frame replacement. However they havent replaced both front and back triangles so now i have the 2010 front end on a 2009 back end. This is were i should throw toys out the pram etc but have been doing that for 6 months so just want to ride my bike now.

Ellsworth Epiphany old or new shape is a fantastic bike. the anodising finish on it is great and smoke is the fastest colour to have. Only available from freeborn(importers/distributers) so if anything goes wrong it has to be stripped down and sent back to them.

I snapped the rocker on mine. Freeborn were fantastic with replacement. 3day turn around.
Moomin. The rocker on yours looks like the old type. The type that snap! I think the newer stronger types are lighter coloured .. And a little heavier.

Is that for real, two people with almost the same user name with the same bikes, for a minute I thought this was one person talking to themselves 😆

I thought Chumba who when I bought my XCL but they are an estabilished business in the USA with a loyal following.

I like having a less well known brand don't see it as a negative and the key Chumba people in the USA are pretty accessible for information as is Si from Progressive, it all works very well indeed and it's a bit different.

If they were the only two bikes on offer, I'd probably go for the Chumba – just because of horror stories about Ellsworth like the one above.

I'd probably get something else entirely though, like this cheap Trance X frame.

Interesting thoughts – thanks.

I kind of knew there'd be more opinion on the Epiphany than the Chumba, even if some of this is about broken linkages (eek!)

The Chumba appeals because it IS different AND looks great (I'm a believer in 'if it looks good, it'll be good' aka shallow), but the little info that is out there suggests the Chumba is a good bike and rare.

Other bikes are either too common (nice Giant suggestion though chakaping) too pricey (discounted Intense Tracer/Spider 2 anyone?) or owned by one of my riding mates (Turner 5 spot, SC Blur) – cant be seen to be copying…

I suppose I'd like someone to really try and sell me either – probably over to Si for the Chumba pitch…

Moomin – Member
I have a Ellsworth Epiphany and must say the bike is awesome, Ellsworth as a company and customer service is absolutely shocking.
I have just had to wait 6 months for a frame replacement. However they havent replaced both front and back triangles so now i have the 2010 front end on a 2009 back end.

Wouldn't happen in Halifax!! 😉

I sure Si will be here shortly…..

never one to disappoint!

The VF2 is a very stiff bike and can be built light or as a tough trail bike and a little heavier if desired. I am about to stick a coil on mine and a set of fox 36 talas to see how that works.

Chumba have a good pedigree and history in the US, they tend to overbuild their frames and have very few failures. Warranty is 2 years, but they will always look after you long after that.

Well for the sake of balance I bought a Chumba:

It is a nice bike but there are issues.

1. is that its pretty active. It doesn't appear to suit the RP23 (I certainly have issues with getting a decent rebound without eliminating 'bucking' at mid speed and know someone else who has put on a coil shock instead which he says transforms the ride).

2. I have made the mistake of reading the Chumba forum on MTBR.com where the Chumba head honcho there seems to dig himself into a hole every other thread. It doesn't help!

3. Si seems to have a different price every other week. Its now £150 cheaper than I bought at (which was to supposed to super introductory offer so yeah that pisses me off). He needs to settle on a price or else you'd be better waiting a month or too for it drop even further. That said he has been very helpful when contacted.

I had a Titus Motolite which I got ironically enough after going to get either a superlight or another heckler. I feel much more confident on the Chumba (but its a 19" medium over the large Titus so also that might have to do with it). Also ironically I got the Titus while finding out about an Ellsworth (the Titus shop refused to do an E after having virtually every frame they sold come back and have hassle over warranty issues….)

I'll hold off a ringing endorsement of the vf2 until I try a coil shock myself though.

Just my tuppence worth.

MH

Metalheart, i understand you are a little fed up with the current price, but i gave the best price i could to you at that time. Chumba offered me a number of frames at a good price to try and get a few into the UK market, hence the special offer this month.

Email me tonight and i will try to sort you out with some goodies

I had an Epiphany and overall liked it a lot*. The issues with the magnesium rockers breaking are long since resolved so you shouldn't have any issues on a new frame. If you buy second hand however then make sure the rockers are the new type or the old ones have been swapped over. I never had any problem getting mine changed after almost a year from Freeborne.

* The BB is very high, the top tube really long and the angles steep – so I rode it with short stem, saddle forward and loads of sag in the shock. For this reason I eventually sold it and bought a more traily bike.

I've a 2005 Ellsworth Truth. The best bike i've ever had. light fast comfortable.

The Chumba appeals because it IS different AND looks great

I know I'm biased but I'd have to agree. That Ellsworth rocker is ming…

😆

mooman – Member

I snapped the rocker on mine. Freeborn were fantastic with replacement. 3day turn around.
Moomin. The rocker on yours looks like the old type. The type that snap! I think the newer stronger types are lighter coloured .. And a little heavier.

Have been assured that the rockers are ok (think i checked on the MTBR Ellsworth forum)I bought the bike in March 09. In Scotland in a fortnight so should give them a good testing.
Freeborn were quick on posting out etc but dont have any sway with Ellsworth in the USA and basically worked by emailing them and waiting for a response, if they arnt carrying it in stock then you are at the mercy of Tony Ellsworth.
My biggest gripe was after waiting 6 months would be that they would give me a full 2010 frame(this was promised by Ellsworth but hey dont hold your breath with them)

Artillerydave – Member

Moomin – Member
I have a Ellsworth Epiphany and must say the bike is awesome, Ellsworth as a company and customer service is absolutely shocking.
I have just had to wait 6 months for a frame replacement. However they havent replaced both front and back triangles so now i have the 2010 front end on a 2009 back end.

Wouldn't happen in Halifax!!

Scaffolding tubes 😆

moomin – I don’t want to worry you – but the rocker on yours is the old type. And they do snap. The newer type have never snapped – as far as I’ve been informed anyways.

I prefer the position of the bearings on the old type rear end epiphany’s than that of the new models. They are on the inside now, rather than on the outside and out of the way of more mud etc.

The top pic is of the newer rocker .. lighter coloured
The bottom pic is of the original rocker that snapped .. the darker coloured type like yours.

i had an epiphany for a bit. a bit too light really for my clumsy approach but great fun nonetheless. it was the older one designed for 130mm forks so i put on pikes to slacken it a little. it really did go like shit off a shovel, especially cos i used spd's which i normally detest but they just seemed to suit the 'spin through anything as fast as you can' feel of the bike. much more of a trail bike than an all mountain bike but thats what the moment is for. as someone said above, you can do a sensible strong build and still get it sub 28lbs. i flogged mine cos i was starting to go way beyond what it was designed for but it was probably the best xc trail bike ive ever owned (compared to the white 46 and the yeti 575 i had before it and the blur 4x and orange 5 i had since. they have all been a little more 'big stuff' capable though)

Just been looking for info on this and if you look at the rocker hole just behind the shock mount mine has been milled out very small leaving alot of material leading upto the shock mount like your top pic. Going to chase it up as new rockers were supposed to be fitted from 07/08 onwards

superlight, I bought my current bike on the strength of an MBR Bike Test in 2007. They were all built-up with identical components to rule out any differences there. The test included a Turner 5 Spot, Ellsworth Epiphany, Orange 5 and Cove Hustler. The 5 Spot and Epiphany scored 8/10, the Hustler and Orange 5 scored 10/10. At the time I owned a 5 Spot and was very pleased with it. However,I was curious as to how good the Orange and Cove must be to achieve those scores. Not long after, I had the chance to test ride a Cove Hustler at Llandegla which I know very well, so could let loose without worrying about my test route. The result was the purchase of a Hustler (secondhand 2006 model frame) which I still ride every week, and enjoy as much now as the first ride.

I can't comment on the Epiphany, but I do own an Ellsworth Momnent, which I love. But still does'nt fulfill the Allmountain roll of the Hustler.

Ex Epiphany owner here. It was a great ride, very light and nimble, but I found it a little too flexy for my tastes, especially in the Lakes. I had a Mk1 and the rockers did break, it was the magnesium ones that were faulty now replaced with the aluminium one.

Still got an Ellsworth Moment which is a great bike with an RP23 but was horrible with a dhx air.

Other bikes are either too common (nice Giant suggestion though chakaping) too pricey (discounted Intense Tracer/Spider 2 anyone?) or owned by one of my riding mates (Turner 5 spot, SC Blur) – cant be seen to be copying…

I'd discount all those reason for the simple fact your not looking at some awesome bikes regardless of copying/common etc. Seems a bit silly to me.

Hi Guys, Thought I'd reply to this one as there's a couple of things to clear up! I won't go into the big sell on the Epiphany but simply say that it makes for a fantastic, light, efficient and fast 5" travel trail bike. For more in-depth info please just get in touch, or come and try one out and let the bike do the talking 😉

Ok, rockers… The initial run of rockers were magnesium and yes we've had a fair few back broken since the Epiphany was launched in late 2005. I must stress that these mag rockers were only fitted on the first couple of production runs of Epiphany frames and all have been replaced under warranty for much tougher alloy rockers in the instance that we've had a magnesium one returned and I have personally made sure that this has happened either on the spot in-store or as soon as physically possible for customers further afield. The replacement alloy rockers 100% do not fail and only add a small amount of weight to the bike.

I'll apologise again to Ian (Moomin) (ref waiting 6 months for a replacment front section) as the wait was too long, but I would like to point out that when it became apparent that we needed to replace the front section in question I immediately offered Moomin a front section from stock, but it was declined as we didn't have any large smoke available, only ano black or blue. After that it was a case of waiting and waiting as Ellsworth had no MK1 front sections in that size and colour available due to the development of the MK2 frame and there was very little we could do but wait. We work a little more closely with Ellsworth than suggested but this genuinely was a no-win situation, something which I do everything possible to avoid if a problem does arise with one of our import frames and I think any other importer also would.

It does seem from the images that Moomins rocker is a mag but having had the frame back I can assure that it isn't. Some of the earlier alloy rockers were darker in colour than the later/current ones, but it's only the original dark full mag rockers that were problematic, but I'll happily change it for a lighter alloy rocker if asked.

If it's any help, Chumba frames are indeed rather nice. We did begin to import them for a while but due to certain factors we decided not to persue it, but we like quality frames and that they certainly are!

Thanks

Jim @ Freeborn

Had my since 2005, in that time the rocker and the chain stay have snapped. The bike covers Swinley 2 or 3 times a week so fair play. Its just getting the replacment parts that seem to be the biggest problem. The bike rides so well i have had people give it a test ride and they seem to instantly look like they have been riding it for years.

fivespot – Member
superlight, I bought my current bike on the strength of an MBR Bike Test in 2007. They were all built-up with identical components to rule out any differences there. The test included a Turner 5 Spot, Ellsworth Epiphany, Orange 5 and Cove Hustler. The 5 Spot and Epiphany scored 8/10, the Hustler and Orange 5 scored 10/10. At the time I owned a 5 Spot and was very pleased with it. However,I was curious as to how good the Orange and Cove must be to achieve those scores. Not long after, I had the chance to test ride a Cove Hustler at Llandegla which I know very well, so could let loose without worrying about my test route. The result was the purchase of a Hustler (secondhand 2006 model frame) which I still ride every week, and enjoy as much now as the first ride.

I can't comment on the Epiphany, but I do own an Ellsworth Momnent, which I love. But still does'nt fulfill the Allmountain roll of the Hustler.

Posted 10 hours ago # Report-Post

You bought a bike on the strength of an MBR test?! 😐

The Epi rocks, it climbs sooooo well on the techy stuff. My previous s-works epic wasn't anyway near as good on the ups. It’s a competent descender, there isn't much in the lakes I haven't had it down and it handles it all. I have had the issues with the rocker but freeborn have been brill 😉 and the new rocker is a totally different beast. Despite this there isn't another bike out there I’d rather have for the type of riding I do. Really is a fantastic bike.