Jeff Jones

Has anybody any experience of a Jeff Jones Steel Diamond frameset and Jones Truss fork?
I’d be interested to hear your opinions. Especially on the fork.
Thinking of getting one as I really love riding my bikes rigid now.
Cheers.

The steel truss forks are great, compliant but very direct, a much nicer option than the standard unicrown fork

To me they are the real highlight or both the Diamond and Spaceframe, but that’s just my opinion…

owned a diamond with a unicrown and now got a space frame, brilliant, bikes. Best rigid ride and to be honest probably my favourite bikes that I’ve owned in 20 odd years of mountain biking. Truss is a bit stiffer fore/aft than the uni crown and quite a bit lighter, but both have the same offset so steering is the same really, just marginally less brake flutter and a bit more direct in big rocks with a truss. Oh and truss looks more “jeff” so that get bonus points as well 😀

Mine

Still yet to ride her in anger. Very neutral for the two shake down rides I’ve done locally but time/family and weather are against me getting on the trails. Soon though :O)

needs a fat front timbur or a rabbit hole and 29+ knard in the front 😀

all mine at some point

Will try a 2.4 up front and tinkering with a 1/2 fat at some point but no need to rush :O)

I’m 10 miles from Biff so no need for too much KNARL. We’re southern boys don’t you know 😛

All that^^^ attention in such a small space.

I bet it caused some kind of attentiondefisit over the rest of the midlands.

tazzy – don’t happen to have a Rabbit hole and Knard spare do you or are you waiting like the rest of us….

needs a fat front timbur or a rabbit hole and 29+ knard in the front

My Knard is in the post ;)). – the suspense is killing me !!

If your already a rigid fan – then you’ll love the Jones. I run a fat front on the downs regularly.

waiting gil, still waiting! like the look of the 26 x 4″ knard for summer fat front fun as well

Looks like the most expensive and ungodly way to achieve a stack attack.

All that^^^ attention in such a small space.

I bet it caused some kind of attentiondefisit over the rest of the midlands.

I believe tollah suddenly developed a migraine as the attention vortex shifted briefly from the FOD

*puts hand up at the back of class*

“‘scuse me Mr, what the chuff is a ‘stack attack’?”

Cheers guys. I really like the look of them and the way they are described to ride sounds exactly like what I’m after. Bothy Bikes in Aviemore apparently have a test bike. I’m going to go and see if I can have a spin and then make my purchase there. Is there something unique about the size of f/r hubs sizes required and the headset needed with the truss fork?
Do any of you guys use the H loop bar? How do you find it in comparison to a normal straight/riser bar?
Can one of those HUGE front tyres be fitted into the standard bike? What advantages do they give?

does anyone have direct experience of ti spaceframe vs steel spaceframe?

135mm front hub. Your choices are a Jeff Jones hub or a Pauls Whub. Other than that you have to bodge something.
Headsets are a bit simpler. Cane Creek do a range that fit. Normal headset with an extra compress washer (not 100% sure on description/name) You can use two top halves of a Hope headset I believe. Jeff obviously has a pimpy one made by CC you can buy.
Huge front tyres are 26” fitted onto Trials rims I believe. The selection of dwellers above know more than me about that.

front hub is a 135 so a jeff hub or a paul components whub are the daddies. Cane creek do a specific headset for jones to work with a truss fork, but if you look on jeffs website he lists all the headsets that are compatible.

Fat fronts are wicked, run at about 8 psi and just watch rocks get absorbed like a hungry amoeba into the mass of tyre without any fork dive or suspension friggery. get the pressures wrong and it’s like riding an angry space hopper through a mine field.

ridden a ti space frame and compared it to my steel. other than the big weight difference, the ti feels more active (twisty) in the rear. the steel is a bit more direct on the pedalling but not quite as feather bed. both brilliant and I’m not disappointed that i could only afford the steel. Would still have a Ti for pimp factor though 😀

Thanks timbur. Your build looks like what I hope to be going for.
I’ve run my current steel frame rigid for over a year now and can’t see me going back to suspension anytime soon. Love the direct sharp handling and feedback you get from the whole ride. Reckon that’s why I shall go for the Jones that has been build specifically to be rigid.
I actually can’t wait to try one out.

Just got my diamond frame and unicrown fork built up, first ride I was very impressed with it and looking forward to giving it a good hammering soon. 8)

The fat front will fit on any Jones – they are designed for them, and they’re Jeff Jones’s preferred choice. I run a fat front 95% of the time. They give great grip, provide some nice cushioning and generate great confidence. They require a special 135mm front hub, Jones or Paul make them. rim size, 65 or 72 mm is best, larger rims mean you can run lower pressures (for more cush) and maintain stability. I believe there is now a choice of headsets, look at the Jones website for details, well worth giving Jeff a call – he loves talking about bikes.

Can’t say I’ve felt much twist in the rear triangle on my Ti Spaceframe, can’t remember ever having a ghost shift for instance…..

can thoroughly recommend loop/h bars – I find them very comfy- a normal bar ruins my wrists now!

65 or 72 mm is best

80mm FTW. 🙂

A beard is mandatory if you ride a Jones! 😀

The time it takes to save up for a Jones is beard growing time as well :O)

I use two upper halves of headsets (which was what mr tazzy sent me with his truss fork I bought off him)

But Ive also added to it a USE ringo star to take the slack out rather than use shims.

Works very well, and makes installation easier.

http://www.use1.com/product/000066/ring-go-star/

Lotto, if you already like rigid bikes you’ll love the Jones. Especially on anything tech or swoopy with jumps, the handling + design is so good it makes up for the lack of sus most of the time. If I went on another lift-assist holdiay I’d still take a susser, but I’ve ridden a steel diamond / truss combo for 2 weeks in the Alps and loved it.
The best thing about the bike is the geometry / ergonomics, then the truss fork, then the material. In that order imo.
Loop bar – yes, but I had one (an H bar) on my SS before I got a Jones. It was the bar that got me interested in his other ideas.
The Jones-specific wheel is worth the £ and think of all the cash saved when you’re not looking at shiny ADD-CTD kamisha equipped stuff each year as you have a bike that trancends all that )

The best thing about the bike is the geometry / ergonomics, then the truss fork, then the material. In that order imo.

I’dsay a Ti Spaceframe is all of those things wrapped into 1 complete well thought out package.

I would too, my steel diamond/truss is equally good just different, and a hell of a lot cheaper ) VFM, well I think the ti is £ well spent, still. Still get that ‘new bike’ kind buzz after riding it, had it 18 months now..
The steel’s stiffness is a benefit at times, there’s times when the smoothness of the ti SF makes me grin. ie the ti is the icing on the cake, the steel isn’t just a poor mans’s ti imo, it’s a different bike but still handles so well. Jeff Jones seems to make bikes that really have a reason for being rather than hitting price points like most bike ranges.

It’s a great set up: diamond plus truss. I like it.

Supply’s are pretty low on this combo right now.

Any thoughts between the steel spaceframe and steel diamond with truss? Is the spaceframe worth the extra cash over the diamond especially given that is quite a bit heavier too?

ridden a ti space frame and compared it to my steel. other than the big weight difference, the ti feels more active (twisty) in the rear. the steel is a bit more direct on the pedalling but not quite as feather bed. both brilliant and I’m not disappointed that i could only afford the steel. Would still have a Ti for pimp factor though

Ti Vs Steel Spaceframe, just as Tazzy says, I came very close to buying a Ti spaceframe just as Jeff announced they were doing the steel version. I’m so glad I hung on for the steel frame, the Ti one felt great and ws obviously lighter but I found it a bit “noodly” very comfortable but somehow a little to twisty, I’m not small though so guess this might have been too much for the Ti (6’4″ ~ 16st)

Now have a steel spaceframe with Ti truss fork and steel diamond with steel truss, both are excellent, the spaceframe is a little more comfortable and great for throwing around the diamond is great if you want to put a bag in the frame and camp out but the frame rides a little more harshly

I’m in North Yorkshire if you ever want a whirl…

Thanks gil, Ti not really an option for me anyway. If the steel spaceframe is a bit more ‘compliant’? that would probably swing it for me. Nice one having a Ti fork on there!! Is the spaceframe noticebly heavier than the diamond?
Hoping to get a demo with Biff a bit more local to me, but thanks for the offer.

…to be honest the weight is hardly noticable

Have the Ti front end on the spaceframe kind of balances it a bit I guess but the diamond has got a great big Nate in the front of it 🙂

Is the spaceframe noticebly heavier than the diamond?

yes it’s heavier, but with a bit of weenieism and pimping you can still get a respectable weight, I’ve got my fat fronted steel SF down to 26 1/2 lbs and with a couple of kit changes sub 26 will be no problem. It’s never going to be a waif, but for me there’s no weight penalty for fat fronty all day in mountains play.

my diamond was not quite as weight weenied (had lovely things like phil woods hubs in the rear which are chunky man, and a normal 120 tpi nate, not the super light version) and that was mid 26’s as well.

Thats a very respectable weight indeed. Singlespeed I pressume!?
ps we are ‘talking’ on ‘one cog’ facebook too! 🙂

No danglers on my bike chap! and yes we probably are, welcome to the proper tribe of SS buffoonery, where boobies, beer and bikes are not dirty words to be hushed up and reported by PC hand wringing gearie wall flowers. 😆

Steel diamond with truss here – echo what taz says really. Ride is comfy, stable, direct – other bikes feel almost ‘wrong’ now in comparison. Ridden recently with bikepacking kit on and it was still great at descending. I’d like it to be a tad lighter, but it is no heavier than other steel 29er frames.

I have not yet tried a fat front…

Could people please stop talking about Jones now? I really want a play on one. Actually I don’t, I might end up selling a kidney to buy one

Am I correct in saying that “one size fits all” for the frames?
Do you play around with layback/straight seat post and length of stem to find what suits an individual best?
How does the EBB arrangement work? Do I need to purchase a square taper BB?