TL:DR – by eck, those Pole fellas (hi Leo!) have got it sussed. XL 140 evolink is LUSH.

BRAAAAAP! on anything techy and downhill.

WHOOSH! pedals along and uphill beautifully with no bob, but a lovely active suspension (really remarkable) that negates the inertia sapping rocks and bumps and doesn’t get hung up.

Perhaps most interestingly Barney also was quite right in his review of the 158 a few issues ago: just tip it into tight corners/switchbacks, downhill or up, and it just whips around. I don’t understand that feature, I really don’t. But he was right – just tip it in, let off the brakes or give a wee accelerate, and… whhiiip! it’s around. So much fun. I’ve ridden plenty of bikes, and this feature is just uncanny.

In general, it absolutely smokes any full sus I’ve had before (2007 stumpy, Ventana El Capitan, NP mega (x2), 2015 stumpy Evo, Tallboy (briefly)), suspension tune is perfect for a 115kg guy, and it fits!

As you may have seen, I’ve been wanting a bike with ‘normal’ components recently rather than current somewhat unreliable 29+/full fat on 150/197 hubs, but the right geo – considered an emergency Hello Dave (but decided another HT was a bit daft), bird AM9 (stack a bit too low, SA a bit slack and it just didn’t talk to me which is sad as Bird are lovely to deal with), Cotic Rocketmax (told me it was a no go for my weight), or Geometron (sooo close, but they are just too expensive).

Pole were also actually really good to deal with – shipping got stuck a bit due to Christmas and Brexit, but they communicated well and immediately, everything arrived perfectly, and they seem to be getting their CS act together in a major way. 🤞

Sold my gravel bike (sorry, too boring), sold 2 other unused bikes in the shed (too small for son, girls not interested in Gnar), sold some old camera kit, made the purchase.

Other wee notes: Deore 12spd is bloody lovely, a complete bargain, and feels better than my XT 11spd; Verdict and Judge tires are ridiculously good; brand X dropper 200 is not as nice as One Up 210 in action. Hunt wheels seem good – fast pickup. Mezzers are very nice, hope they hold together!

Glad to hear your story had a happy ending.

Regarding the magic cornering, does it have longer chainstays than you are used to? I’ve found that can help bikes corner with less effort.

Ahhh, that spot is familiar…

Sweet looking bike, there’s a near identical one locally already. 🤘

happy ending indeed 🙂

@chakaping – I don’t think they are longer, maybe a wee bit.

Matt – haven’t seen another here, need to meet its sibling, hope the owner is getting on with it well!

How much does that bike come in at in wgt out of curiosity just trying to see how it stacks against the new privateer 141 and commercial tr… ta

Looks cool..Is that a purple stem 🙂

Purple head. long, stiff, black Pole. nothing to see here. Its pronounced Poh-Lay in Finland apparently.

Any chance of a sideways pic?
I’d like to add it to the list of bikes I might buy one day.

Hi how do you rate the hayes dominion a4 brakes? What brakes did you have previously? Thanks

If we are putting in photo requests, could we have a sideways photo with the seat up at normal pedaling height and down?

Thanks!

Bike looks great

Will do sideways pics, saddle up and down – I will state for the record that it’s not got the most… flattering profile. Like me! ugly but functional.

My Saddle height is 850mm from centre of BB axle to top of the saddle BTW, in case thats important to anyone.

The Dominion brakes I bought back in June, transferred over from HT to the new ‘good’ bike. So far, with organic pads they are amazing, with Sintered they are **** phenomenal. I am a very big lump, so super impressed. 203mm rotors both ends. All the modulation of Hopes V4s, but with significantly more actual stopping power without having to grab great fistfuls of brake. Better than XTs which have that horrible ‘WHAM’ initial bite, but then on really long steep descents I found you still had to grab fistfuls to actually slow down/stop. Better than Guide RSCs, which I actually really like, but the Hayes feel a lot more purposeful at each stage of braking, with better anchors out power with less finger strength required.

Really, they are lovely. Needs the thicker Hayes rotors though, which are also good, but is a bit of a pain and adds to the cost. However, I still use Hayes rotors on the other bike from 2007 – they seem to last forever!

Thanks for your views on the brakes.

You mentioned:

BRAAAAAP! on anything techy and downhill.

How do you find it on flatter/flowy trails?

Pretty interested in one of these but not sure if it would be too much for anything that isn’t steep tech.

@afrothunder88 – TBF, I’ve only really ridden it on pretty uppy-downy sort of trails so far.

I don’t see why it wouldn’t be good – its not flexy or floppy (I think it would start to get a wander with 170 rather than 160mm up front however), you could set up the suspension for more ‘pop’ than ‘plough’, light wheels and fast tires and it would be OK. possibly not its intended application however, the chunkier and meatier the terrain the better I think.

For those that requested, @jkomo & @tall_martin are these OK? Bars at a bit of a funny angle which might not help, but should give you an idea.

Sorry, no idea on weight, don’t have scales. I would say: heavy.

Final shot just for bike porn purposes.

Thanks!

It’s always good to see what other xl bikes really look like. Especially the ones with the steep seat tube angles.

I’m tempted by a pole, after years of riding around on a cove stiffee I’m sure I can cope with the jokes 😜

Have heard some real mixed reports of pole and their bike so good to see you are enjoying it. There are quite a few riders that had the switch to geomatrons instead. The frame still looks small for you with the seat at full extension

mattvanders

Have heard some real mixed reports of pole and their bike so good to see you are enjoying it.

I don’t think there have been too many criticisms of the bikes themselves, in terms of how they ride, most people rave about the bikes on that front – it’s the warranty/CS side is where Pole have let people down.

Bike looks great, Big Scot, enjoy. (username checks out, looking at that seatpost height 🙂 )

The revers arch on the fork looks much less wierd with the mudguard fitted too.

@tall_martin – I think the seat angle could be steeper. It’s 78, but once sagged, esp going uphill, I think it might be more like 76/77 which is not so dramatic now (but still it feels just steep enough).

@mattvanders – yeah, it was the Pole price reduction, and availability, that dropped it into my price range so I thought “**** it”. Had all the bits ready to go on a new frame, been looking for 5 months or so at the ones mentioned at the beginning. Fingers crossed it’s OK.

Geometron I looked at sooo hard, they are so nice to deal with. But way out of my price range. Have ridden an XXL G something-or-other at Ard Rock a couple of years ago (the last time it was run 😩) , but unless you go to a 32er or 36er, once you get above 190cm tall with long legs, 29ers all look a bit oddly proportioned. (IMHO, YMMV etc etc)

FWIW, this feels bang on. its 535mm reach FFS, there ain’t much longer!

big_scot_nanny

@tall_martin – I think the seat angle could be steeper. It’s 78, but once sagged, esp going uphill, I think it might be more like 76/77 which is not so dramatic now (but still it feels just steep enough).

Don’t they get steeper when sagged? Fork and shock compressing are both rotating you forward slightly

“Don’t they get steeper when sagged? Fork and shock compressing are both rotating you forward slightly”

Shock compresses more than fork because we run equal or more sag on the shock vs the fork, and the shock sag happens vertically but the fork sag on the diagonal (~9mm vertical for 10mm of fork travel). And then once you’re putting uphill there’s more weight on the shock than the fork so the fork sags less and the shock sags more.

It’s hardtails that get steeper (by a lot) under sag. Full-sus bikes get slacker unless you’re running much more fork travel than rear travel and running the fork notably soft.

I bought a second hand mk1 g16 which is good but the g1 with all its extra adjustability is next level bike (as well as price which is the main limiting factor for me). There’s are not many frames with reaches above 500 and not be an xl. Privateer is definitely one to look at but again not the adjustment present in the frame. The pole looks good, be interested in long term review.

Looks great but that rear shock placement makes me wince ! Maintenance nightmare !

chiefgrooveguru

It’s hardtails that get steeper (by a lot) under sag. Full-sus bikes get slacker unless you’re running much more fork travel than rear travel and running the fork notably soft.

Full suss still gets steeper versus their static numbers, just a less dramatic effect versus a hardtail

“Full suss still gets steeper versus their static numbers, just a less dramatic effect versus a hardtail”

They don’t, and I already explained why. Read it again!

chiefgrooveguru

“Full suss still gets steeper versus their static numbers, just a less dramatic effect versus a hardtail”

They don’t, and I already explained why. Read it again!

I read it. I think it’s wrong. Sit on a full-suss with a rigid fork. Is sag moving the seat backwards (slacker) or forwards(steeper)?

I’m with @chiefgrooveguru. You’re very wrong, @honourablegeorge. And the point about the rigid fork… Nah mate.
Also think about the rear wheel path. It’s forwards and up relative to the BB. Slacker.

I’m seeing it now. In my defence, I’ve just finished a second fourteen hour day in a row

13 hours of work and 1 hour of arguing online? 😉

Would happily swap to 13 hours being wrong online and 1 hour work right now.