Is anyone driving a Fordbidden Druid V2?

Oh that look very nice @sharkattack, looking forward to the build pics and ride report.

I’ve done as much as I can since junior’s bed time. It looks like a weapon already.

Couple of issues. Steerer is too short but I have a really tall top headset cover which I can swap for something flatter.

I just remembered I need a new olive and barb for a Code RSC and if I can’t get one at the LBS it’ll slow me done for a few days.

I have 2 of these things…

It’s a flush grommet thing for the internal routing but they’re both gear cable size. I think I’ve been sent a wrong piece but it’ll be quicker to drill it out than replace it.

So I’ll be digging in tomorrow morning and maybe pedalling it around. This time tomorrow night I might have Post Traumatic Internal Routing Disorder.

It’s in one piece. The brakes aren’t great, they need some attention. Everything else is fine.

I just went for a blast around the streets near home so I can’t give you a full review.

First impressions are good. The size and shape is bang on, it’s a nice place to sit and I span up a few steep hills no problem. It feels light, sprightly and agile which is exactly what I wanted after a few years on bigger enduro bikes.

I might go out tomorrow with some tools and a shock pump and dial it in a bit.

That’s so nice! And these v2 Druids are really well reviewed – I think the upside down Horst link is a great way to do the high pivot without such extreme chainstay growth and brake squat.

The gloss black Lyrik is a nice match with the frame finish (sparkles or not)!

Thanks, I’m lucky I had a bike which I could use everything from. I’ve only bought a chain and a £3 olive and barb.

I found a another review…https://theradavist.com/forbidden-druid-v2-review/

I haven’t read it all yet, it’s very wordy. But again, it’s overwhelmingly, almost unbelievably positive.

What height are you? It’s an S4/XL, right?

It’s an S4 and I’m 6’2″ with my Five Tens on.

Oh that is very nice @sharkattack that’s going to be allot of fun!! 😁

185cm on an S3 here for reference.

Still enjoying the Alps on mine, the big bike isn’t really even getting a look in this trip.

Im doing the classic of wondering, with a couple of sets of wheels & swapping out between the air & coil shock, this could be a middle & big bike solution for most of my riding & racing.

Another week out here yet & off to Finale in September, which bike will win out…

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Is that an Intend shock? What’s it like?

Is that an Intend shock? What’s it like?

It is. It came with it (and some others) so I’ve not had a huge amount of time on it to be honest, I chucked a coil on for going away.

Ill swap back when I’m home as I think with a bit of messing around with the air chambers it could be close to a coil in terms of feel.

Thanks both, I’m 185cm also, thinking the reach on the S3 is shorter than I’d like, hard to know

How do I know what my chain line is? There’s 2 different mounts for the idler. One marked 52-55 and the other is 55 only.

I’ve got a regular cable operated GX Eagle.

measure centre of frame to centre of chainring

I still haven’t ridden it yet! I had Junior all day yesterday and today I’m ‘working from home’.

I did weight it though. It’s 15.5kg. That’s almost 2kg lighter than the 141. This is without any ‘lightweight’ parts as I don’t have any. This frame is the first piece of carbon fibre I’ve ever had. Obviously I’m tempted to go all in with rims and bars etc. That will have to wait, but lets see what’s around on Black Friday!

Two issues. My frame is missing the rubber chainstay protection. I thought it might have gone missing in the shop somewhere but Biketreks confirmed that it should should have been glued on at the factory. They replied early Sunday morning to say that they’ll have one shipped out asap.

Also, my shock is squelching. All the adjusters seem to work but there’s a bubbly, frothy, squelch at the start of the travel and a pronounced hard spot. This seems like cavitation and as an ex-Fox X2 owner it makes me nervous. I’ll try to get a video later.

I’m bringing back the Druid thread in case anyone is interested in them.

What prompted me is that I just noticed that my bottle bosses are on the wonk. The lowest one is really rough and needs an M4 tap running through it but I don’t have one yet. While messing with it I noticed that they weren’t lined up very well. On measuring it you can see it’s about 10mm out of line. Now as manufacturing faults go, it’s not disastrous but now that I’ve noticed it it’s really bugging me. With all the frame jigs and stuff, how do they even get this wrong? Unless every one is like this. I’ll get a picture later if anyone cares.

Anyway, I’ve actually ridden it a few times now. I’ve had it built since August but I had a few trips booked that were more suitable for the other bike so I’ve been riding that more. Now that I’ve smashed it down some very familiar trails I’ve got some opinions about it.

It’s properly rapid! Now, in the past I’ve always been overbiked, so this is the lightest, shortest travel bike I’ve ever had and maybe that’s why it feels so spritely. I did take the edge off the speed and efficiency quite a lot when I switched from my worn out Schwalbe’s to brand new Kryptotal’s which are heavier and stickier. But away from the local loops and into the shitty, chunky trails, the Continental’s are far superior.

I haven’t even gotten into setting it up yet. I just set the sag and left the compression wide open. The rear end is magic. It’s not that if feels like it’s got more than 130mm travel it’s just the action is amazing. It gives so little feedback through your feet, it feels like it’s not doing anything. I didn’t realise how good it was until I got to some familiar trails which I’d ridden hundreds of times on lots of other bikes. Everywhere that I expected it to start feeling crashy, it just didn’t. It’s also the quietest bike I’ve ever ridden. The silence combined with the quality of the rear suspension makes it feel unlike anything I’ve ever ridden.

I’ve only taken it to proper trails a few times so far and the dominating factor has been the weather. I was covered head to toe in mud at the weekend so I wasn’t agonising over bike setup. I’m going to take it somewhere hopefully dry and rough as hell, with a shock pump, and see how much I can improve the feel. Or, I’ll find something I don’t like and report back.

Only complaint so far is lack of rear tyre clearance. It’s very tight with a 2.4 in there and annoyingly I’ve now got some redundant 2.6’s in the garage. Oh, and now the wonky bottle bosses.

So far, so good.

That is imo one of, if not the best looking high pivot bike I’ve seen.

Noice {insert Italian hand emoji here}.

Thanks. Does it make me a tart that I’m currently looking for a black pump so I can lose the silver/gold Lezyne one?

Silver/Gold sets off the decals on the bike IMHO – keep it.

Very much love the looks of these bikes… the name alone just begs for a Pigs x7 soundtrack and a rip through the woods on an autumnal day

Here’s a decent picture of it freshly cleaned in an unusually tidy garage…

This is how tight the tyre clearance is with a 2.4. I imagine it’ll be a nightmare in proper mud. Luckily my recent rides have been wetter than Atlantis so not too claggy.

This is hard to picture but the bottle bosses are definitely closer to the drive side of the bike. The bottom one more so. Whoever drilled the holes that day must have been distracted.

Thanks. Does it make me a tart that I’m currently looking for a black pump so I can lose the silver/gold Lezyne one?

Absolutely. Lean into that shit, it’s ace.

Still really rating mine, so much so, I sold my big bike when I came home from the Alps as it’s mostly redundant. I have left the coil on it to be fair, as it just rides really well with it & don’t see any reason not to run it. I have another short travel bike with an air shock (Tallboy) and an XC bike so am happy with a slightly burlier build on it anyway.

It’s close to being the ideal UK bike for me. I’ve ridden it down some disgustingly steep stuff in Morzine, some blown out rough DH tracks, raced some enduros on it (and won) & done some general day to day riding with it & never felt the need for anything more.

Be interesting to see how it goes in proper clag with that tyre clearance. My sentinel has what I thought was ok mud clearance but at the mini enduro last year the back wheel locked slid at one point with mud on a downhill bit. That’s with a Kryptotal 29×2.4. Never had that happen on any bike before. It was gopping out though.

Yeah, I’m liking my DV2 in 29 flavour. Such a composed little bike and a great allrounder.

I have to agree though. The tyre clearance is not UK friendly in 29er guise. I run a 2.4 Dissector. I wouldn’t be so keen to switch to a DHRII. There’s not much clearance on the seat and chain stay bridges. The mud and debris certainly pile up there.

I’ve seen a couple of instances on other V2 frames where the filth gets dragged through and over time removed the frame protection and in some instances the paint.

For me this is something to keep an eye on and make sure the wheels out and that area cleaned and checked post ride.

Not sure I’ve got any water bottle screw alignment issues, although the lower one felt grotty even though it was new/unused.

I must admit, there’s loads of reviews and content stating how quiet it is. Yet ever since I got it there’s chatter. Which I think is the cables in the top tube. Although I recently added a small amount of housing damper (as it’s a serious pain to do with very little space to do it) and that’s still not worked. Six months on and that’s a work in progress.

I’m going to line the inside of the frame with insulation tape around the tyre before loads of gritty mud starts getting dragged through there.

Then after a muddy ride I can inspect the damage on the tape rather than the damage to the paint or the carbon.

I’ll look for a narrower tyre if I need one.

I’ve set the shock up according to Forbidden’s recommendations. My sag was miles off!

I’ll bet out on Monday somewhere hopefully.

My sentinel has what I thought was ok mud clearance but at the mini enduro last year the back wheel locked slid at one point with mud on a downhill bit. That’s with a Kryptotal 29×2.4

Same tyre on mine & it’s not what I would call spacious, but mine did not clog up at the same event. It’s similar to my old Megatower in terms of clearance & the frame protection does get ripped up. No actual damage to it though (EX471 rim if it makes a difference to tyre profiles).

I made reference to a particularly sticky day in Morzine where it was completely overwhelmed, but then every single bike I saw was the same.

In terms of noise, I pull the cables right in the frame & clamp them down & like others, it’s silent.

I went to Devil’s Elbow yesterday. It’s by far the chunkiest, tech trail I have close to home. It was so good I did it 3 times even though it’s a killer push back up.

If you don’t know, it’s full of massive rocks, big steps, small drops. There’s a slow bit, a fast bit, and it’s really easy to get spat off line. I’ve been down here on a few different bikes now and the Druid is up there. I wish I could have my previous bike and ride them side by side.

I took a shock pump and ended up at 265psi with bang on 30% sag and it felt mint. Light and lively like a short travel bike but taking big hits like a champ. It’s really bizarre. Every time I’m expecting a big slam it doesn’t come.

Also, it goes up hills acceptably well, even with my rattly lungs and jelly legs.

Oh, and the real reason I wanted a new pump apart from the colour is that I’m sick of the Lezyne one unscrewing valve cores. This one still has a hose but it clamps rather than screws.

Much less chance of spraying my jizz all over the woods now.