Hope HB.916 first ride review: The Perfect Bike?

Seven grand! You can get a Santa Cruz with middling spec suspension and brakes for that!

Oh, wait…

NAh, that carbon does indeed look incredibly naff.

I'll read all this later but it's on my shortlist.

Tom Howard
Full Member
Seven grand! You can get a Santa Cruz with middling spec suspension and brakes for that!

Oh, wait…

When Tom Howard mentions the price you know there's a problem.

Does that £7k build as pictured, i.e. with the Ohlins etc?

Very bling finish, possibly too jazzy for me, but desireable all the same. IMO not as neat looking as the Deviate Claymore.

When Tom Howard mentions the price you know there’s a problem.

For clarity, the problem isn’t Hope’s pricing…

Does that £7k build as pictured, i.e. with the Ohlins etc?

Yeah. No. Spec is higher, according to Hopes website, you get X01 gears. #internetrummaging

Stunning! I want one. Can't afford one, but I want one.

When the lottery started years ago, I always used to say the first thing I'd do is go to Blackpool if I won, to buy a TVR. Now I think I'd go to Barnoldswick!

The Hope <span class="skimlinks-unlinked">HB.916</span> is one of the nicest looking bikes we’ve seen for quite some time

Cirtainly from the hope stable imo - but it's still not a particularly attractive bike, again imo...... As with all hope design it's a bit utilitarian for my tastes 😜

The dampers (journo speak for fork and rear shock) are both from Öhlins and I ended up running them completely open. It did take me a little while to get them to come to life, as it were. Basically, they felt really harsh (almost stiction-y but not) until I reached a very healthy amount of sag, circa 20% fork, 33% shock. I’m sure faster/better riders than me may like them run less sagged but I think it’s worth saying that a lot of mortals should experiment with running significantly softer pressures than they usually do on other brands’ dampers.

Can you expand a bit on this. You had to run all the damping circuits wide open ie minimum damping high, low, rebound, compression, and run lower than expected pressures in order to get the suspension to perform smoothly . And suspension performance was still controlled?

Seven grand! You can get a Santa Cruz with middling spec suspension and brakes for that!

Oh, wait…

Pinkbike comments section is over there --->

All that beauty and still an ugly bottle cage... Should have been a fidlock (though appreciate the difficulty if it's a hacks' review-bike being passed around...)

All that beauty and still an ugly bottle cage…

bottle cage with no bottle in it always looks naff.

stick a STW branded bottle in it for the photos. Free advertising if/when the photos end up circulating the internet.

@vinnyeh In a word: yes. It's something to tinker with if/when we get the bike back in. I'd like to have got to the point where things were 'too open' and then dial back from there (mainly for reassurance). Stay tuned basically.

Would be what I'd buy if I had the money. Lovely.

Totally biased here, but it is a rather good bike.

Running the -1deg top headset cup in mine, and I am shocked at how well it turns in the twisty stuff - thought 29ers were meant to be unwieldy barges, but this thing rips. Tried it as a mullet and it climbs easier as well.

As for the price and all that, plenty of people do dentist cosplay and buy Yeti's - they are just daft money, and the 916 comes with the choice of an Ohlins coil or air shock, which aren't exactly cheap. £3600 for a frame set, £6k for a bike minus groupset or £7k for an Ohlins/XO1 build is a lot, but not the most expensive these days.

And carbon weave? At least it's not paint over filler.

nice bike but the weight if correct is a bit off-putting, 15.9kg! My Ripmo is 2kg lighter.

Looks stunning, I'd be hard pushed between the raw carbon and the chameleon paint......

Every review of the Ohlins mentions how heavily damped they are to the point where it effects traction. I'd probably run a Zeb if they're as good as my Lyrik Ultimate which I'm very happy with.

15.9kg?! What happened to full sus bikes getting lighter. 30lb always seemed like a good limit to me, but 35lb? jeez I couldn't cope with that in my old n feeble state.

Chameleon is lovely and you can still see the carbon weave through the paint. But it is an extra £500.

Geometry trumps weight every time in my experience. A bike that fits and is a comfortable place to sit is much nicer to get around on than a very light bike with old school geometry.

What happened to full sus bikes getting lighter.

Stopped being a thing about 10 years ago.

£500 for the chameleon paint, when compared to getting it done aftermarket, is a bargain.

Good or bad geometry, you still need to pedal it uphill.

The price of top spec bikes is pretty daft. I've just bought a motorcycle for less than that !

I’ve just bought a motorcycle for less than that !

Is it ‘top spec’? As in would be competitive racing on the world stage?

It looks tidy, but I prefer the look of the Deviate Claymore...more.
It's a shame there's no mullet option on the Deviates.

15.9kg?! What happened to full sus bikes getting lighter. 30lb always seemed like a good limit to me, but 35lb? jeez I couldn’t cope with that in my old n feeble state.

I think the 30lb "limit" went out the window when bikes became 150mm travel FS 29ers with dropper posts and proper tyres, not 80mm travel hardtails. It was always a bit arbitrary as a "I'm not spending £2k on a bike that weighs more than an entry level one" sort of way.

And really, it's not (likely to be) a 2kg heavier frame, so comparisons like "it's 2kg heavier than......" is just saying ...... has lighter tires, air suspension, etc.

Good or bad geometry, you still need to pedal it uphill.

I have loads of times. I'd take a Geometron over an old carbon Stumpjumper for climbing any day regardless of the weight difference.

Yeah I thought the weight thing was yesterdays news, it makes very little difference unless you're regularly doing hikeabike or lifting it over gates.

And it's not just the weight of the bike, it's "system" weight - ie you and the bike and everything you're carrying. If you're 50kg then a 2kg weight saving on the bike is going to have a bigger impact than if you're 100kg. But losing 2kg of bodyweight will have the same impact as losing 2kg of bike weight (ignoring any rotating weight loss). And it's probably cheaper too!

Yeah, well I'm yesterday's news too. Means I couldn't lose 2kg if I starved myself for a month for one thing.
No way would a bike that heavy ever suit me, so... huh. Whatevs 😛

About the same weight as my Carbon Nukeproof Mega 290.

It matters more on a 120mm downcountry bike, but on a 160/170mm enduro bike, nah. Heavy is good. Heavy is reliable. 😁

At one point, it looked like World Cup DH bikes wer going to dip below 30lb; there was a fair few running around the 32-33lb mark.

That said, the evolution of bikes has been impressive and the HB916 has to be up there with the most droolworthy of steeds.

For comparison, my 27.5" zerode taniwha weighs about the same and though it makes you sweat that bit more on the ups, you're very much rewarded for your hard work when gravity is your friend

At one point, it looked like World Cup DH bikes wer going to dip below 30lb; there was a fair few running around the 32-33lb mark.

enduro guys are often using DH tyres, Zeb/38 arent much off a DH fork. And the downhill bikes are missing droppers and a massive cassette.

£ for £ I'd expect a DH bike to come in lighter than a true race ready big enduro bike.

At one point, it looked like World Cup DH bikes wer going to dip below 30lb; there was a fair few running around the 32-33lb mark.

Lots of people quietly backed away from very lightweight DH bikes when they realised how twitchy and unstable they became. There's also a lot people on the WC racing with lead weights in or around the BB area.

I think the 30lb “limit” went out the window when bikes became 150mm travel FS 29ers with dropper posts and proper tyres, not 80mm travel hardtails

Pretty much this, though I'd change that to read

I think the 30lb “limit” went out the window when 150mm travel FS 29ers with dropper posts and proper tyres stopped pedaling like somewhere in the linkage was zebedee on mdma

Even as a confirmed weight weenie I think much of the "heavy bikes are bad" comes either from received wisdom or terrible experience of heavy bikes that's 10+ years old.

Not to say light bikes aren't good, would I take an identical bike which was magically 1kg lighter, yep, in a heartbeat.
Would I take 1kg out of a bike by fitting different tyres, probably not.

There was a chap on the old MBUK/bike radar forum who reckoned to a have built a 29ishlb carbon 26” V10 when that first came out, loads of scale shots and no reason to doubt him.

He wasn’t racing on the WC circuit, as you might imagine…

Edit found him https://forum.bikeradar.com/discussion/12924035/my-santacruz-v10-5-carbon-custom-build-30lbs-page-2

Edit found him https://forum.bikeradar.com/discussion/12924035/my-santacruz-v10-5-carbon-custom-build-30lbs-page-2/blockquote >

What sort of self respecting weight weenie leaves the sleeve in a BB?

 

self respecting weight weenie

Lolz

Does everyone race enduro these days then? Or is it just the "perfect bike" for the wannabe?

Does everyone race enduro these days then? Or is it just the “perfect bike” for the wannabe?

No, but we're at the stage now where most 150-160mm 'enduro' bikes are good enough that they can be ridden all day on trail centres or in the mountains as well as thrown down an enduro race.

The hope wheels are still pretty weighty?

Lighter wheels can help make a bike feel a lot livelier

(I keep my weighty wtb wheels for uplift days and it's always great putting the mavics back on)

That lightweight V10 is surprisingly sensible.

Formula R0 brakes (bit weak) and carbon chain device are the only two issues that jump out at me.

Apart from that the tyres might be lightweight trail ones?

Does everyone race enduro these days then? Or is it just the “perfect bike” for the wannabe?

Anyone who has ever pedalled slowly up a hill, got cold standing around at the top waiting for their mates before heading down a trail/track/line on a map has I'm pretty sure ridden Enduro. If they're aware and annoyed they were slower than a random 17 year old they've never met down the same, I think that makes the distinction of a race.

Formula R0 brakes (bit weak)

Those things were like putting a stick in your spokes with all the subtlety too, at least, they were before they broke them with the silly race levers.

I notice that V10 thread ends as soon as the bike is finished. Not even a first impressions post. It's probably still sitting in his office next to his triple monitor investment banking setup. He tells clients about his DH racing career.