I test rode this bike at a recent demo weekend. Had it for at least 2 hours riding all my local cheeky stuff.
1st up was the CTD/compression damping lever with notches on it. It only took me 30mins to realise that just leaving on Climb or maybe Trail was best bet. Descend was too soft for liking.
Bike was very very good at descending. Felt so planted. Jumping was stabile and gave me loads of confidence. It soaked up the trail very well. Loved it.
Climbing was fine, in fact great for a 160mm bike. Bike was light’ish, but not especially so I thought.
Trail riding on general flatish singletrack whilst pedalling was where I was having problems, and did so also on a Stevens bike I tested. It must be manufacturers keeping BB very low nowadays. I had loads of pedal strikes, lots of sparks and surprises for my mates behind to contend with. Even just pedalling on level ground/fireroad, I could noticeably see how close the pedals were to the ground. Yes the shock was a little low on PSI, and I did get through the travel a little too easy, but surely this is beyond the limit of how far manufacturers go with low BBs? It really let the bike down IMO.
Not that I could ever afford one, but it was really a lovely bike, with 1 major flaw, I couldnt race it/pedal it where I needed too. My 170mm cranks and more PSI may have helped a little. Bike was a small and had my nano’s on.