Evil Insurgent

Purple!

The integrated chain routing is pretty interesting.

I’ve been waiting to see what companies manage to do with the new-found freedom from front mechs. This is the first one to really catch my eye.

I can’t believe they called it that. God Bless Murrica!

Is the chain meant to be that close to the swingarm?

It’s potentially my next bike, so I’ve been dying to see what Evil could do with 650b, but that chain thing looks wrong – even unweighted it seems to be dragging on the chain stay – which is only going to get worse with more sag?

Don’t like the name either, I think it’s in bad taste – and I rode a Cove!

Seen a few pics of this on Evils Facebook page too.

Im keen to see more details about this. I think it has 160mm travel. I dont quite see the benefit of the chain guide, it doesnt look like it will add much chain retention protection – but what do i know.

There are holes for internal cable routing. Also the tyre clearance Looks like it could have been better in that pic.

Luismi (Evil rep in Spain) emailed me saying they had moved production to a new facility so hopefully no more paint cracking.

Should have been called the knievel.

Whilst im here, check out my Uprising

Yes i know my fence needs painting, my grass needs burning, my drainage ditch has the wrong type of stone in it and my tyres dont line up with the rims and i have the wrong type of weeds in my border.

Surely the clearance will be a bit better sagged?

Britney White looks like such a boss!

chain thing looks wrong

Does seem to be on the smallest cog though.

looks like an expensive mistake

I don’t get the insurgent offence, but then I don’t watch the news.
It’s a word in the english language, could be used in combination with zombies and sounds pretty in-keeping with the Evil naming history.

Re the chain guide. The more I look at it, the more I wonder if it’s just a bolt-on item and not really integrated in the way I initially thought.
Would need a photo from behind or in front to see for sure.

if its not a bolt on unit why has it got bolts and bolt holes?

Whatever it is its fugly

I can’t put my finger on it but something looks wrong with that bike. Like it’s a 29er front end bodged onto a new rear or…..something. I was hoping for something with a nicer silhouette at least.

I was very interested in this bike. My LBS warned me that they had problems and that the UK distributor aren’t overly helpful. This was then backed up from this post on MTBR which reinforced that I won’t be buying an Evil any time soon;

One week before Ireland EWS I had the dreaded thread go on the rear triangle and contacted Evil Europe expecting to get another one sorted out. I was polite and told them I had two EWS races coming up. I didn’t get a reply for 10 days until the distributor stepped in and had choice words. Anyway, that was end of Apil and they have told me they are not making anymore swing arms for the Uprising so basically ‘your problem’. So much for a three year warranty.

Excellent, my next bike if I’m able to afford it in 2017 and reliability reports from it and the Following are good now they’ve switched to the same factory as Santa Cruz. I like the chainguide thing, it’s guaranteed to work, no buggering about with spacers, washers, shims etc. And no internal routing except for the dropper- brilliant!

I’d prefer it not to be purple, though…

Thats’ pretty damming Wrecker – I read a piece on Pinkbike recently which tied into their new 29er.

Evil is only 3 guys really, and that’s changed about, I can’t find the piece now, but Dave Weagle was part of it, then wasn’t and is again maybe – I seem to recall Gabe Fox of Cove/Devinci fame is/was/is part of it.

Anyway, they’ve had problems from the start – they designed a (by all accounts) brilliant DH bike, made some prototypes which everyone loved – then took it to the far east and they did a crap job of building it and they ended up scraping the lot – it got so bad they were quietly buying back customer bikes to keep their race team in frames.

So they redesigned it in carbon, it was (by all accounts) even better, they made some prototypes which everyone loved, they went to another factory in the far east who did a slightly better job, but they still had some fail which they thought they fixed and they’re meant to be pretty robust now.

Then they made the Uprising – there’s two versions apparently, the first ones break a lot – like the story in your quote, they struggled to get warranties out – but they couldn’t get the parts – but they re-designed it and moved to factory number 3 and now they’re okay.

Anyway, the crux of the story was, they’re a tiny outfit – they do their best, it’s not their fault and everything is okay now – I bought it and was planning to get the 650b when funds allow (sometime near 2056 judging by the way my family burn through cash) but if they’re not honouring faults like that and simply saying “sorry, we don’t make that design anymore” or the like there’s not way I’ll get one – a new bike is a HUGE purchase for me – I haven’t had a new, new bike in over 5 years, I’ve been begging, borrowing and stealing bits to keep mine going for years – family comes first, so I’m not going to buy what amounts to a Beta Test and hope I don’t have to wait 3 months for a replacement part, if at all – I only have 1 bike, I will only ever have 1 bike, so no frame means no ride.

So they’ve move to their third manufacturer, and they’ve stopped supporting ‘older’ kit – Evil are back on form!

it’s not their fault

It really is

I like the chainguide thing, it’s guaranteed to work

You’re aware this is an Evil aren’t you?

P-Jay – was it NSMB[/url] rather than Pinkbike?

double post, sorry.

That quote I pasted is like a massive neon flashing sign saying AVOID.
Treatment of customers like that should not be forgiven.
I really, really like the look of this bike. Everytime I think “maybe it’ll be OK”, I just re-read that users experience.

@BigDummy, nah it was BikeMag found it – link below.

http://www.bikemag.com/features/exclusive-story-behind-evil-following/

It’s a compelling story, reading slightly between the line – perhaps they designed bike a bit too complex for high-volume mass production, it seems every new bike they make starts out brilliant in pre-production form, falls on it’s arse when they start selling and then gets redesigned.

I wonder if the final versions of the frames ride as well as the headline grabbing pre-production ones.

It’s a real shame for me, I love a leftfield option, that’s why I like Cove bikes, but they were always regarded as being bulletproof with the drawback of being a bit heavy.

That quote I pasted is like a massive neon flashing sign saying AVOID.
Treatment of customers like that should not be forgiven.
I really, really like the look of this bike. Everytime I think “maybe it’ll be OK”, I just re-read that users experience.

On the flip side i have had nothing but help from Luismi in Spain. i wouldnt hesitate buying another Evil.

I was hoping for something a bit nicer looking for their 650b bike and that chainguide just spoils it unfortunately. I was thinking this would of been my next bike too as I’m with P-jay in that I like a leftfield option for my bikes, having had a Cove and opting for a Banshee before they became so popular with the enduroists. May have to think about something else over this like a Knolly perhaps.

In regards to the previous issues the company had, I thought they’d fixed everything and sorted out all customers who’s bikes broke? I’m sure I’d read that somewhere although it did take a fair bit of time to get everything resolved.

I’m pretty certain Dave Weagle is back onboard at Evil as it’s his suspension design on the bikes.

I also wonder if this one will have more rear tyre clearance than the uprising.

I think that frame looks lovely! The chain guide is a nice touch too. I think it makes everything look more integrated. Also the purple looks great. Funnily enough I saw the 26” trail bike in the wild yesterday. The guy looked like he was having great fun!

I also wonder if this one will have more rear tyre clearance than the uprising.

I’m no bike designer, but I reckon that one of the benefits of have such wide chainstay (so much the chain seems to run the length of it rather than just cross over is to have more room for tyre.

Could be wrong though.

I think I’ll probably get one of the 160mm Capra, it’ll probably end up being about as leftfield as a Ford Mondeo at the rate people are buying them, but they get equally good reviews, have (at least now) very warranty issues and frankly at £2550 (at current rates) for the Comp 1, it’s a whole, well-specced bike for what will probably the price of the Evil frame. Going 26 to 650 for me means not much carry over.

If I get one I’d be buying it in America and budgeting £1k over the alternative, which would be a Canyon. This depends on how flush I am, the state of the £ vs $ and whether or not they’re cracking like mad.

I don’t think I’ve ever needed tyre clearance, except at races where you have no choice but to ride the trails presented to you. If the trails are that muddy I may as well be riding elsewhere.

It does look nicer than the Uprising. The paint finish on them looks good to me.

For what it’s worth, life so far is good with my Following. I was extremely frustrated at the time it took to arrive, and they could have communicated better on delays. But other than that communication with Evil EU (Luismi) and US was good, very open and honest about past issues and how they have rectified it.

I am very aware of the situation mentioned above, and I’ll be honest when the individual told me I was very close to pulling my order, but decided to stick with it.

I’d say it’s pretty understandable anyone put off by their past issues, but I’m glad I wasn’t. Make sure you don’t gamble on buying mail order or from another country, get it from a good LBS for support, and stick it on a credit card in case the shit hits the fan!

FWIW the clearance on the back of the Following is pretty good. I’ve run up to a 2.35 DHF on a 35mm LB rim with no issues, which is a pretty big tyre and to be honest on a bike like the Following I don’t see why you’d have much need to run much more.

DAYMN! There both rides, lovin the purple and brunette colourway.

But the model name, wtf!? couldn’t they be more inventive.

Look at all those lovely linkage pivot points and then think about the UK weather.

Look at all those lovely linkage pivot points and then think about the UK weather.

Well 3 of them (per side) are bolts, not linkages…

No more pivots that a 4 bar or the majority of other designs apart from a single pivot.

The 3 black circles on the end of the rear triangle (the purple bit) are just bolts that hold the flip chip mount on, you turn the mount over to alter the geometry.

(edit – Brant said it more succinctly)

Well 3 of them (per side) are bolts, not linkages…

No bearings/bushings in there?

No bearings/bushings in there?

None whatsoever.
They are for the flip chip that is used to adjust the geometry. If it wasn’t for the adjustable geometry the linkage could just be attached directly to the swingarm with no need for any bolts there.

Guide looks removable here. And besides, YELLOW

Ooh I like that yellow

That does look proper.

Looks nice! Chain is bit close to the chainstay though- I was thinking it would move further away when sat on but it won’t will it?

Never buying one. Ever. Oh. Hang on…..

My word that is a really pretty bike. Will it be OK? will it?

Awful looking bike! Massive complexity, terrible track record of snapping and other such failures. Pricey too. I just don’t understand why anyone would want one.

Awful looking bike! Massive complexity, terrible track record of snapping and other such failures. Pricey too. I just don’t understand why anyone would want one.

Awful looking – that’s subjective

Massively complex – it’s essentially a single pivot

Terrible track record of snapping – the bike hasn’t even been officially announced yet. The Uprising didn’t have a track record of snapping either

Pricey too – how much is it?

I don’t understand why anyone would want one – unlucky

Awful looking bike! Massive complexity, terrible track record of snapping and other such failures. Pricey too. I just don’t understand why anyone would want one.

Subjective, simple, questionable history for sure, not expensive compared to other similar high end brands……in fact never mind high end brands, you’d pay more for a Remedy or Enduro frame.

You missed the fact that the Delta link rides awesome. Regardless of how harsh the words of any previous owners were for the bike or the company I spoke to when deciding for myself, the praise for how it rode was universal. So just comes down to whether you believe past issues are behind them and if the risk is worth it for an exceptional riding bike.