Blog - Reviews & Posts
Onyx Racing Products from Minnesota is introducing mountain and road hubs to the market that have been in testing for the last three years. They look to be low friction, noiseless, and built tough with roller bearings. Designed and made in USA with ceramic bearings from Japan. These will be a great product to check out!
Also so check out my video of Jim from Onyx presenting their hubs at: https://www.facebook.com/dirtmerchantbikes?hc_location=timeline
Not a mountain bike, but a beautiful bike nonetheless:
http://www.brooklynbicycleco.com/Driggs-3-Three-Speed-Bicycle-by-Brooklyn-Cruiser.html
Moto style! I love these!
My wife and I rode with Juliana Furtado, Jacquie Phelan and Keith Bontrager on a small (30'people) charity ride up the Nisene Marks fire road around Thanksgiving 2000. All three of them were so nice and a great example of the types of folks that you meet on a mountain bike. Keith chatted with up all the way up. I said hello to Juliana today and she remembered meeting up and the date of the ride probably better than I did.
[From the Shimano Tech Seminar on bleeding brakes]
Syringe Bleed -
Attach bleed syringe to the bleed valve on the disc brake calipers.
Attach the bleed funnel to the bleed port on the brake lever.
Pull brake lever & open and close bleed valve - shoots air in the valve into the bleed syringe.
Push in about of a 1/3 of a syringe of brake fluid at a time. Cycle the brake lever slowly to get bubbles out. Cycling the brake lever too fast tends to break up air bubbles into many smaller bubbles which are more difficult to get out.
Don't try to back pressure air out of the brake valve by pulling air out with the bleed syringe. This may actually introduce air into the system.
Don't overfill the system:
I had the G-Form pads on for 2 hours in the 90 degree heat. They remained comfortable and the G-Form guys assure me that these pads are as protective as much thicker, traditional knee and elbow pads. I'll look for more content on the G-Form pads tomorrow at the Interbike Expo. Apparently, their VP of Innovation has been know to wear G-Form elbow pads while whacking himself in the elbow with a hammer. I'll have video if I see that.
Being designed and made in USA is an additional bonus!
This was my last bike test of the day and it was a good one. Transition has changed from a single pivot design with a seatstay pivot to a Horst Link design now that the Horst Link patent has expired.
Climbing - 3 stars
The Patrol is a solid climbing bike, if not necessarily the best climber around. It's good enough that I wouldn't have any complaints about its climbing if this were my personal bike.
Descending - 5 stars
Transition bikes have a great handling balance and the Patrol is no exception. The Patrol has an eager, get up and go personality. Yet this does not compromise descending stability. It was really a fun feeling bike.
Cornering - 5 stars
The Patrol felt eager but stable in corners. I cannot overemphasize how fun this bike felt.
Summary: The Patrol was my second favorite bike of the day, lagging the Devinci Troy only in climbing ability. Fun feeling bikes are always nice to ride and the Patrol has fun in spades.
Rating Guide
5 stars - Absolutely outstanding
4 stars
3 stars - Solid performance, meets expectations
2 stars
1 star - Misses expectations by a wide margin
Transition uses a Horst Link rear suspension design for the Patrol.
I am really conflicted about Pivot bikes. Having owned a Titus Switchblade, I really want to like any bike that Chris Cocalis creates with Pivot. That said, I have never fully felt comfortable on a Pivot bike and the Mach 6 is no exception.
Climbing - 3 stars
With a focus on descending and heavier weight than many of the other bikes tested today, the Mach 6 was a solid climber, but by no means the best. The Mach 6's additional weight no doubt affects it climbing performance.
Descending - 5 stars
At least the Mach 6 is consistent in its performance. Descending feel was super solid and predictable, yet still fun.
Cornering - 4 stars
The Mach 6 is steady and predictable in cornering, if lacking a bit in liveliness.
Summary: The Mach 6 is a great descending bike at the expense of some climbing ability. It's baby brother, the Mach 5.7, is a super climber, but doesn't feel completely settled going downhill. Combining the best of these two bikes in one bike would make a killer bike, but other bikes that I rode today (namely the Devinci Troy and the Transition Patrol) actually get close to this ideal.
Rating Guide
5 stars - Absolutely outstanding
4 stars
3 stars - Solid performance, meets expectations
2 stars
1 star - Misses expectations by a wide margin
Dw-link suspension has an initial rearward travel to reduce suspension squatting.
In many ways, this is a different bike than the other bikes I've tested today. The Rallon is clearly oriented toward downhills and it shows
Climbing - 2 stars
Even at 5 pounds heavier than many of the other bikes I rode today, the Rallon was not a bad climber. The Rallon was a better climber than the Stumperjumper Evo 27.5 which I had maligned in an earlier review.
Descending - 5+ stars
I give the Rallon 5+ stars because it really is in a totally different league for descending than the other bikes I tested. When the trail turns downhill, the Ralllon comes alive and feels super confident in a way that none of the other bikes I rode today could match.
Cornering - 4 stars
Cornering on the Rallon could not be described as nimble, but it was super solid in feel.
Summary: The Rallon is a great bike for those willing to compromise climbing performance for a rock-solid descending feel.
Rating Guide
5 stars - Absolutely outstanding
4 stars
3 stars - Solid performance, meets expectations
2 stars
1 star - Misses expectations by a wide margin
Wow, I love this bike. It climbs well and feels both nimble and stable at the same time going downhill. It rides like a BMX bike with 140mm of travel. The Troy uses a Dave Weagle designed Split Pivot rear suspension design to minimize suspension feedback affecting pedaling and braking.
Climbing - 5 stars
The Troy feels super responsive to power input when climbing. (The alloy edition did feel less snappy perhaps due to a higher bike weight)
Descending - 5 stars
The Troy was able to feel both responsive and planted when descending. The feeling of the Troy was really confidence-building while remaining fun to ride.
Cornering - 5 stars
The Troy had a lively, responsive feel that was super fun to ride in corners.
Summary: Being lively and predictable is not mutually exclusive.
Rating Guide
5 stars - Absolutely outstanding
4 stars
3 stars - Solid performance, meets expectations
2 stars
1 star - Misses expectations by a wide margin
In many ways, riding this bike was my main event for today's bike demo event. In terms of specs, it is almost a direct match to the Turner Burner (140mm rear travel) bikes in my demo fleet. Also, with the number of Specialized dealers in the Seattle area, the is going to be the bike most commonly compared to the Turner Burner.
As this is what I see as the main competition to my demo bikes, I'm sure you won't be surprised to hear that I really didn't like the Stumpjumper Evo at all, but hear me out. These are the specifics on what I didn't like about this bike. Also, when reading my comments on climbing, keep in mind that I rode this bike after my legs were warmed up, but still fresh.
Climbing - 1 stars
I can really say why, but climbing on this bike felt super sluggish like it had a loaded diaper. Other bikes with similar rear suspension designs (Transition Patrol, Rocky Mountain Altitude) felt so much better climbing that I have to attribute the Specialized's poor climbing performance to something other than suspension design. Shock selection/tuning, frame geometry, bottom bracket height may all play a part. For 2014, I do know they repurposed a 29er front triangle for their 27.5" wheel bike. I am not sure if this is why this bike still does not feel good.
Descending - 1 stars
As dull as the Specialized felt climbing, it was the complete opposite when descending and not in a good way. I never got comfortable on this bike and was generally unsure of how it would react in different situations.
Cornering - 1 stars
Although the Specialized felt nervous going downhill, it also felt big going around corners. I thought this might be due to its 800mm wide handlebars, but other bikes that I rode later in the day had similarly wide bars and still felt agile in their handling. Handling was not at all intuitive and required a lot of focus to make sure the bike went in the desired and intended direction.
Summary: What was real odd to me about the Stumpjumper Evo was that this bike had conflicting ride and handling characteristics that were completely wrong for each aspect of its performance. I was fighting this bike for the entire 20 minutes that I rode it.
Rating Guide
5 stars - Absolutely outstanding
4 stars
3 stars - Solid performance, meets expectations
2 stars
1 star - Misses expectations by a wide margin
Specialized still uses a fairly traditional implementation of the Horst Link which relies on shock damping to control rear suspension movement.
This was a good first bike to ride for the day as it was a solid bike all around. I would be really happy to have the Altitude as my personal ride. The Altitude uses a modified Horst Link design (pivot in front of the rear wheel axle on the chainstay) with the axle dropped below the chainstay pivot to reduce the amount of bobbing when pedaling.
A key feature of the Altitude is the Ride-9 feature which allows adjustment of the bike’s geometry and shock rate. By moving the position of the rear shock, the head angle can vary from 66.6 degrees to 68.3 degrees and the seat angle between 73.6 degrees and 75.3 degrees. The bottom bracket also raises or lowers by 10 degrees. These adjustments can also vary the amount of leverage on the rear shock to better adapt to lighter and heavier riders.
Climbing - 3 stars
The Altitude pedaled well, but didn't feel super snappy when laying down the power.
Descending - 3 stars
Descending was solid and predictable. The only thing the Altitude really lacked was a bit of immediacy in its steering and liveliness in its feel that the best bikes have.
Cornering - 3 stars
Not exceptional in how it felt cornering, but completely predictable in feel.
Rating Guide
5 stars - Absolutely outstanding
4 stars
3 stars - Solid performance, meets expectations
2 stars
1 star - Misses expectations by a wide margin
Rocky Mountain Altitude (150 mm rear suspension travel)
Ride-9 rear suspension adjustment
Rear axle is dropped below chainstay pivot for better climbing performance.
When I test bikes, I look for not only what a bike can do, but also how it feels doing it. For the category of bikes in I'm most interested (suspension bikes with 120-150mm of travel), the best bikes in the category now feel good when climbing, descending, and cornering. That's the bar that I set when I'm test riding a bike. The days of 35 pound, big hit, freeride bikes that couldn't climb are now over. Good braking performance with no pedal feedback and no brake jack is now a given. The era of no-compromise, do-it-all suspension bikes is here.
We have the first Cleary Bike in Washington. It's the 12" Starfish balance bike in Very Orange. We will shortly be receiving our other demo bikes (12", 16" and 20" singlespeed bikes). Contact us at jeff@dirtmerchantbikes.com or at 425-429-0865 to try out the bike!
Dirt Merchant Bikes is the exclusive Seattle & Tacoma area dealer for Turner Suspension Bikes and Cleary Bikes for kids. Dirt Merchant Bikes provides mountain bike demos at Duthie Hill Mountain Bike Park in Issaquah, WA.
27101 Southeast Duthie Hill Road, Issaquah, WA, 98029