Evil Bikes – frame failures

There’s serious potential for brand damage to Evil there

I think they have done a pretty good job of that themselves over the years 🙂

I really suspect Americans wouldn’t say ‘mint’

It was the OP on MTBR who described the trails as ‘mint’. The response, genuine or not, is just repeating it.

Yorkshire you say? Any bikes brands around there?

Yep – guilty of saying “mint”

They were still mint this weekend. Spent a lovely day on and around the Col du Clandon 🙂

I say mint and in a southerner

it must of come as quite a shock

I believe the issue was impact damage from the wheel rather than impact from a stone. In any case I do wonder about the design or build quality of the frame. could it be that the layup has potential for one or two layers to be misplaced slightly resulting in a local weakness (particularly under compressive loading)? Maybe too many layers removed too quickly, or potential for one layer not to bond properly during curing. Anyway, not a very robust design from the OP’s experience, although hopefully the replacement he now has is up to the job.

Glad the OP had good backup from their LBS. I’ve had the opposite with a warranty claim (a LBS insisting it wasn’t a warranty job even after they’d been persuaded to send the part back and it had been replaced under warranty – weird!) so keep looking after those good LBSs.

When you’ve got a queue of middle aged men fawning over the brand and saying they’ll own one despite the problems then Evil/Silverfish don’t really have to improve do they?!….if they’re reading this thread they know they have guaranteed customers coming up regardless!….they must be laughing into their cornflakes.

There are definitely people who read the reviews – get tempted, then look at the ownership experience and walk away.
I did it with the Uprising (clearance and swingarm problems) and I’ve just had the same discussion with someone looking at the Following.
As someone else said – too many other good bikes to put up with that.

exactly the point AlexSimon nail and head!

so what do I know?!

precisely!

I would like to try a following but that means buying one and quite frankly it’s far too spendy at the risk of receiving piss poor CS.

”When you’ve got a queue of middle aged men fawning over the brand and saying they’ll own one despite the problems then Evil/Silverfish don’t really have to improve do they?!….if they’re reading this thread they know they have guaranteed customers coming up regardless!….they must be laughing into their cornflakes.

Just read some of the comments on here, the thread in general has put me off even if I respect Dave Weagle’s input into the suspension linkage….but comments like ‘i wanted one because they’re a boutique brand’….jesus wept, is this shopping for footballers wives?…it’s mountain biking, how about wanting to own a bike because it’s good at the job?…or because it can handle the rigors of actual mountain biking?!

If the brand has a track record of broken frames and poor customer service then stay away, not fit for purpose springs to mind….but then I don’t need ’boutique’ stuff in my life so what do I know?!”

Well said deviant, when you think how a broken bike frame could leave you with a long walk home or really spoil a mountain biking trip, or possibly cause an injury, I’m in agreement in wondering why people are still thinking about buying an Evil bike after all that’s transpired on this thread.

If people have enough money to be thinking about risking buying an Evil after this, I’d welcome some being punted in my direction. Buy a Cotic or a GT or a Giant or a Specialized or an Orange or a…

I’m in agreement in wondering why people are still thinking about buying an Evil bike after all that’s transpired on this thread.

you think they actually get taken out of the T5?

I would like to try a following

There a demo bike available in Droitwich I believe, not that far away from you (assuming I’ve got your location correct going by your history)

Pardon at the T5?

It’s whooshed over my head.

Think my first encounter with the Evil ownership experience was a dude at the endurance downhill… His goal for the day was to break his Revolt, so he could return it on warranty and get the carbon one, then sell it. He’d not ridden it much so he was worried it might actually be the only Revolt to outlive the warranty period.

Everyone else’s goal is to complete the maximum runs in 6 hours, not him, if he finished the race it was a disaster. I saw him pushing it down the hill after a couple of hours, mission accomplished!

I think the moral is, they know how to make reliable frames, as long as they’re really heavy steel hardtails. But with their reputation they need to go above and beyond to win back trust.

On their site it says Tech Crap. Made me laugh. Hope they sort it out if the bikes ride really well. 🙂

http://evil-bikes.com/

Volkswagen Transporter Type 5. the discerning MTBers vehicle of choice

(for the record I have one…, but not an evil)

Yeah, I too spotted the section called “Tech Crap” – that’s not a good term to use.

It’s a fine term to use.
Everything about their marketing, spirit, riders, industry connections, is great.

They’re basically a couple of guys who also run a design agency, a beer company, etc.
I think they know how to build a bike, but I also think that they get excited by designing, manufacturing and marketing and then get bored with the rest.

Yeah, I too spotted the section called “Tech Crap” – that’s not a good term to use.

I found it quite entertaining. Enough that I bought the bike. Oh how we laughed.

The Following was back in action this weekend thanks to HftH (my LBS), and reminding me what a stunning bike it is.
The original cracked rear triangle has been sent back to Evil for evaluation – I guess once they’ve looked at it they will decide whether or not to honour the warranty with the shop.

I found it quite entertaining. Enough that I bought the bike. Oh how we laughed.

PMSL 😆

We still need to have an Evil Gathering at some point!

VERY glad to hear you’ve had excellent service from your LBS and are back out on it again heihei… 😀

We still need to have an Evil Gathering at some point!

That sounds like a cracking idea

Surely Halloween would be an appropriate date?

I warrant that could be fun!

@heihei pleased to hear of your good outcome. Props to Head For The Hills.

We still need to have an Evil Gathering at some point!

Imagine the collective brown trouser moment when someone rides over and breaks a substantial twig.

🙂

I’ve been watching this thread relatively nervously. At this stage I’m hoping to buy an Insurgent as my next bike. This will be a while away, 2017. Fortunately this leaves me enough time to find out if they crack and if they do if the owners are looked after. If there’s much more hints of this kind of thing going on then I’ll be buying something else. And I’d rather not, because the Insurgent looks amazing and, more importantly, people who I respect who have ridden say it stands head and shoulders above other bikes.

I think it’s OK to want one of these bikes, but people who buy them do so by monitoring what’s going on with the frames that are out there. Hopefully they’ve finally got it sorted.

it stands head and shoulders above other bikes

You really believe that one bike is that much betterer than everything else available?

Gotta hand it to the Evil marketing engineers I suppose

with your record on bike destroying?

You really believe that one bike is that much betterer than everything else available?

He never said that, he said his friends said that.

It’s believable though, i’ve ridden a fair few bikes including a Nomad, and the Uprising is the better bike IMO.

He clearly believes what the respected others are saying though. “head and shoulders” implies that it makes every other option redundant

And I’d rather not, because the Insurgent looks amazing and, more importantly, people who I respect who have ridden say it stands head and shoulders above other bikes.

They are talking bolleaux.

It’s believable though, i’ve ridden a fair few bikes including a Nomad, and the Uprising is the better bike IMO.

No it’s not. And the latter is subjective. I’m sure there are plenty of people out there who believe the Nomad is a far better bike.

He clearly believes what the respected others are saying though. “head and shoulders” implies that it makes every other option redundant

Exactly. It’s mostly horse manure.

Surely Halloween would be an appropriate date?

Quite probably, though a little short notice for me I’m afraid…

When’s the next Friday 13th?

You’ve obviously ridden both then butterbean? What were your thoughts?

Just in case the haters are running out of fuel I’m also going to confess to being, as well as happy with my unbroken Following, a middle aged wheels on ground IT bloke who lives in the Surrey Hills and probably couldn’t tell one boinger from another in a blind test. There is a BWM in the family, tho it’s not mine, and I do fail in that I don’t and have never owned an Orange 5.

Cards on the table I say.

Lay it on lads, I can take it.

Audi? 😉