2010 YETI DJ.

(Black Beauty)

Words:Steve Walker
Photos:Andy Dunwoody

If I’m totally honest I have never been a massive fan of the 09 YETI DJ.  After loaning Lionel Akrims (Evolution’s team rider) for the day at the Redhill four-cross track I wasn’t overly impressed. The fact is, along with the likes of Tom Gethin and the rest of the Redhill mob, we preferred the Santa-Cruz Jackal and the titanium Charge that were also hanging around on that hazy summers day. All different in their own way, but when sat on the national pro gate each sharing the same intention, to win……

After Stu King (Evolution Imports) dropped the ‘black beauty’ off the first thing was to place it on the butchers hook. Appearances can be deceiving. The frame looked heavy. This is partly due to the square section seat tube and beautifully sculpted box section rear end. You can’t help initially thinking that this frame, considering it’s a race bike, looks massively overbuilt. The test bike provided was dressed in XT group set, FOX forks, DT SWISS wheels with NOBBY NICKS being the rubber contact patches on the floor. The scales read 27 pounds with dx clip-less pedals. A respectable weight considering the lightest four cross race bike to ever adorn the ‘big red scale’ was a custom built titanium, Charge with full XTR group set, carbon mono mini pros, Reba bolt through forks etc, etc which came in at the 25 pound mark.

A respectable weight then, but how does it ride? The first thing you notice is that when you stomp on the pedals from a standing start the YETI takes off similar to a Porsche 911. It is without doubt the most positive pedalling bicycle I have ever ridden. I’d go as far to say that it would more than likely out sprint my 20” Intense podium which in theory shouldn’t happen. However when putting the 26” Yeti against the 20” Intense the rear triangles look very similar, which explains why the ‘black beauty’ would leave the gate like a greyhound on steroids.

It cannot be underestimated the time that has gone into creating the rear end on this bike in terms of hard-tail frame design and the fact that you can adjust the chain stay length for different tracks is what most racers have been waiting for. The frame oozes the usual Yeti workmanship that people come to expect from the brand and has been well designed and thought out.

The bike passed the half mile manual test on its second attempt and went from grove to cul de sac as quickly as any bike can.

On the tarmac of suburbia the yeti was a flying machine. However it needed to be taken to dirt, wall to wall jumps, bumps and root. It also needed the skills of a World Cup four-cross racer to find the limits of the bike. So off it went with Scott Roberts to the DIRT four cross test track.

Here’s what he thought.

“The Yeti Dirt Jump bike is a replica of Jared Grave’s World Championship bike and it’s a bit a like a wolf in sheep’s clothing. The frame weight is 5pounds. It would make an ok jump bike but it’s really designed for flat bollock out four-cross racing and world cup Four-cross race tracks. Picking the bike for the first time you instantly notice the front end, even with its 1 ½ head tube lower cup, seems really light, hence why this thing feels ‘TAIL’ heavy. The big head tube really makes the front end stiff so it tracks really well in the corners, with the seat tube resembling something off the Forth road bridge making the bike feel exceptionally stiff with zero flex. This is one solid bike.”

“Rear drop outs are fully adjustable with over 25mm of adjustment which makes setting it up for a single speed (if you so choose) simple. Tyre clearance is good and wide enough to fit in a 2.35 tyre which is ample space for what most people would ever need.”

“Where this bike, in my opinion really excels is out the gate.  It’s just instant drive. It will without doubt out gate any other frame out there. The 2010 YETI needs launch control such is the sheer speed and acceleration of this bike.”

“In the corners its rails the berms with ease, there is adjustment on the rear drop outs should you want to play with the length of the chain stay depending on your personal preference and the nature of the course your thrashing.”

“I did feel that the medium test size we had was a little small, but Yeti offer three sizes this year so there should be one to suit your height or riding style. If you like your bikes small, like a blown up BMX this could be the bike for you. I will say that I personally think this is an out and out race bike. It wouldn’t be my choice of bike for hacking around the woods on unless your riding is super smooth (similar to Jared’s) or you have titanium knee joints, but if you’re  a racer and you race to win, then smash the piggy bank and head to your nearest YETI dealer.”

So, would I buy one? No and yes.

The No being the fact that I’m nearly forty and my knees are kind of shot, such is the brutality (a little harsh, but none the less true) of the YETI over rough ground. Don’t let the fact that I’m old and past it put you off because after a day of passing the ‘black beauty’ around the more able bodied (and younger) of the U.K. four cross community at Chicksands, most, if not all were willing to trade comfort for speed. Another no factor may be the cost. This frame ain’t cheap. But saying that I and everyone else who rode it, ranging from world cup racer to Sunday rider thought it was like no other hard-tail they had ever ridden. Most liked it, some loved it and some didn’t.

Now the YES part.

If your gate is poor or you are just looking for that bit of an edge then look no further, this is the bike for you. The 2010 YETI DJ will without doubt help you, me, anyone leave the trap quicker than your current bike. From a racers point of view this is without doubt your weapon of choice as anyone who races four-cross knows how important the gate and the first straight are. If you are ‘in it’ to ‘win it’ ‘Black Beauty’ should be the first and foremost bike you wheel out of the stable. Just make sure you’ve had your cod liver oil capsule with your breakfast before you leave…………….

‘Butch’.

Frame: £699.00

Contact Evolution Imports- 02082900807

Corsair started from a blank piece of paper with a mission to create five unique hardcore high performance bikes. Judging by the literature they appear to have done this with an impressive and refreshing range of bikes, from four inches to ten. They have even managed to carry the strong pre-production image into the final builds, this is something not every company achieves when costs are brought into the equation.

FEATURES
Whilst the ‘never seen before suspension systems’ of the Corsair range does have a touch of big talk about it, it’s true that each bike does have a different system to its stable mate. None of the suspension designs come from licensed designs or do they use open technology. So compared to other companies they are a bit special.

Idler pulleys have been quite common on bikes featured here lately, basically this technology neutralises chain pull and is said to improve pedal efficiency, Corsair also say
that they are the first to offer a ‘floating’ idler pulley and point out that when mounted to the swingarm it gives great improvements on pedal ability.

The adjustable head tube is a bit different, featuring a deeper 20mm insertion depth, 30% larger bearings, and including +/– 1 degree headset cups. Essentially the Crown doesn’t use headset sleeves, thus reducing frame weight. Bearings? All ‘Pinch bolted’ or ‘clam shelled’ nothing is press fitted, in fact the bike has a very solid feel overall. Paint is ‘wet’ type compared to powdercoat, which can save up to a pound in weight. Corsair use ‘water’ type decals applied underneath the clear coat.

CROWNING PRINCIPLES
Featuring two shocks the Crown is super– tunable, comprising a coil Marzocchi Rocco for the first eight inches, and an X Fusion air can for the last sector should you choose to run this super long travel configuration. 260g of extra shock doesn’t seem like a lot of extra weight given the increase in travel. A key feature of the Crown is that even though you can alter the travel this is achievable without altering the geometry. The Crown’s ‘Dual shock’ system features travel configuration from 7.5” up to 10.5” and riders are able to use 9.5” or 10.5” dampers. We used the 9.5” shock with secondary blow off shock to give 10” travel, but later removed the air can and ran the bike in single pivot mode. We were very interested tosee how this worked out on the track.

One of the key features of the flagship downhill bike is the low leverage ratio suspension design. This they say leads to an increased range of compression and rebound
damping, improved longevity and durability of shock, lighter weight spring and improved small bump sensitivity. We had already been very impressed this year with the low leverage on one of our favourite bikes, the Morewood, so comparisons would doubtless follow.

Secondly the rearward axle path, now we covered axle paths in the mag a few issues ago and so you’ll know the benefits particularly on absorption of square edge and its effect at creating a better stable wheelbase. How much the 60mm plus rearward path, when in long travel mode, has an effect on stability was something else that had us head scratching

Overall the Crown is definitely well thought out, with its simple single pivot design based around a low stand over and centre of gravity. The guys at the company tell us its ‘Centre balance’ and consequent rider weighting – with ‘instant centre’ (IC) close to the bottom bracket makes the bike super manoeuvrable with the rearward IC making the bike particularly easy to manual. I wasn’t so bothered about that, but I was pretty keen to see how it ‘skid’id like’.

SKIDDIN
With around half a dozen shock position/travel configurations, depending on shock length and settings, the Corsair was always going to take a dose of homework, but with the bike in long travel (including blow-off shock) position we were instantly taken with its steadfast manner at speed. It provides stable angles, straightforward understandability and excellent performance on the rear up to the transition into the secondary shock.

For the test we used the 241mm Marzocchi unit to begin. Even though the shock was too soft at first (300lb) nevertheless the Rocco’s compression adjuster allowed for a large range of adjustment to compensate for this. With the correct spring it was very straightforward. A big plus mark heading the Italian companies way from our time on the Crown. In the longer setting, and no doubt a lot of people will use ten inches, the feel when the travel transfers from end of stroke coil to hard air bump stop is a bit strange. It’s all very unsubtle as the chassis activates the air damper. Obviously a number of factors will be affecting the chassis when you move deep into the travel: wheel path, pivot point and centre of gravity being some of them. Good for hucking possibly, but all a bit unnecessary for riding downhill. It’s not a massive issue, but we decided that as a downhill race bike, or one for this country, that the air shock had to go.

Let’s not get too distracted though and concentrate on the positives, because this is a good bike. The Corsair (still in long travel) enables you to cultivate a very definite riding style quickly, very much a ‘stand in the middle and hold on affair’ and once you have set off the bike rarely does anything really unexpected, something you’d expect in a bike with this amount of travel, but rarely found. The nature of this bike certainly lends itself to chairlift type locations and steeper longer type tracks. As an Alpine bike it would be very good. Pedalling is not one of the Corsairs stronger points, in fact it’s pretty bloody sluggish in the long setting, but when we rode it later in single pivot, eight inch mode, there was an improvement.

In the shorter travel mode without the secondary shock the Corsair was as expected pretty straightforward, although we had to start again with shock settings. The Marzocchi forks were faultless throughout, but that’s another story. Still not the liveliest of bikes, but pretty steadfast, and without any strange quirks it simply allowed the excellent suspension to get on with the job in hand.

THE WAY AHEAD?
As mentioned, it’s arguable if you need this amount of suspension for racing, maybe you do, but this two–shock configuration seems a very complicated way to achieve this. One of the issues is transfer of riding position when the axle moves so far backward really quickly in last tiny bit of travel, you have to almost second guess what happens during bottom out. The single shock setting was just so much easier to ride with, but even a large comes up pretty short in terms of wheelbase simply because of the massive chainstay lengthening in the long travel configuration.

The Corsair definitely has a lot of potential, but a few other fundamental things let it down. We noticed serious bearing wear after only a few days riding in the lower pivot and the paint work became flaky after only a few uplifts. I’d argue that it’s not super manoeuvrable as they say, and doesn’t compare to the equally low leverage Morewood. As an uplift and Alpine bike it’s solid rather than super quick, which might be just what you are after. z

Price: £2399.95 (includes rear axle, headset,
seat clamp and two shocks)
Contact: Windwave 020392 521912
www.corsairbikes.com

I first met Keith through a good friend, we’d not actually seen each other face to face mind you, but have had many email and phone conversations over the last few months. I knew a while ago that he had taken over at Banshee bikes as the main designer, but it wasn’t until I saw one of the new Legend designs on a website, largely different from some of the original and somewhat ugly Banshee big hitters, that I got things rolling. Keith put me in touch with one of the test riders over here in the UK, an engineer called Aaron Newman, who subsequently came down to Dirt HQ with what is one of 50 prototypes.

LEGEND PROTO
Obviously as a prototype these pages cannot be seen as a test, but more of a first look into a 2010 product. It looks set to be a good year for the company and a welcome refining of the earlier and slightly crude bikes. We were lucky in that this bike was a large and also came with a Cane Creek shock. The machining provides a unique core to the Legend; the flowing angles give a special feel to the bike. Access is easy to the shock and its adjusters, maintenance is all–round straightforward and the bike is solid and well thought through. What can we expect of the legend when it arrives early next year? Two settings to be replaced with one for starters. The angles that this particular bike produces reminds me of the some of the early M1 bikes. Get up and go, with a higher bottom bracket and steeper head angle which is suited to riders and locations with less than close contours, whilst the slacker position is pretty much your standard downhill race set–up as seen on the majority of downhill race bikes today. All good. Keith has always factored in pedal performance into his design and this is very clear from the outset, but as he points out there has to be a trade off with plushness at
times. The Legend covers ground quickly, but the strong progression on the prototype will be tapered off so that the bike pushes into the travel a little further, this will potentially also allow for more adjustment on shocks such as the Cane Creek. It would be interesting to try a range of shocks on the bike, I’m sure one of the several versions of the RockShox Vivid would suit this design particularly well given the tune range that RS offer.

FUTURE
It’s rare that we get to ride pre–production bikes, as many companies are wary to show their hand (even though they seldom turn out perfect anyway), but it’s definitely a good insight into a small company, its design team and quite unique method of feedback outside of the company. Was it Lionel Ritchie that successfully did this recently? As a prototype it’s close to the finished item, and I have no doubt that it will certainly be a good one. Subtle changes that will be made to the link area will give the bike a better suppleness whilst not affecting its speed across the ground too much. It’s an innovative approach that the Edinburgh based designer is taking. These are changes made out of direct input from riders giving relevant feedback from locations worldwide. Most of all it’s great to see yet another UK designed bike setting some excellent standards.

Q&A
WHO ARE YOU?
My name is Keith Scott, I’m 25. Originally from Glasgow, but I’m currently living in Edinburgh.

WHEN DID YOU BEGIN WORKING WITH BANSHEE?
I started working for them officially in summer 2006. I went over to live in Whistler for a while knowing I had a design job with Banshee, but expected to be working with the old designer (Pippin Osborne), but I quickly realised that I had been thrown into the deep end, and was in fact just ‘the’ designer. I am still the only designer at Banshee, but I get help and feedback from our very helpful and loyal customer base.

IT’S NOT BANSHEE HERE IS IT?
It was originally, but a few years back a certain chain of superstores threatened us with legal action unless we changed the Banshee name, as they sell a bike called the Carrera Banshee. So now we go under the name Mythic in the UK.

HOW DID YOU COME TO GET THE ENGINEER’S JOB?
I guess the first step was working for them part time during the summer after my second year of uni. I got paid in bike parts, and had one of the best summers of my life riding all over BC and living in Vancouver. That got my foot in the door. Since this industry tends to be fairly informal, knowing the right people is key. Nothing more came of it until I had to choose the subject to base my thesis on during the final year of my Masters. I decided to approach Banshee about designing a DH frame for them, and my project (this was way back in 2005). They happily agreed, and Project Legend was born! At the end of the year, I sent them a copy of my thesis and I was offered the job there and then. I have dreamt about being a mountain bike designer since I was about 13, so I jumped at the chance.

WHAT WERE YOU DOING AT THE TIME?
I came straight out of university into the job. My previous engineering jobs (gap year and summer placements) included working for Rolls Royce (turbine design) and corporate–style engineering for a large international company.

WHAT IS YOUR BACKGROUND IN BIKE DESIGN?
Well…I have a masters degree from Durham University in mechanical engineering, and specialized in dynamics. I’ve also ridden mountain bikes since I was 10, so have years of practical experience too. I worked as a mountain bike guide in Whistler for one summer with Ticket to Ride BC, and spread the joy of riding with a lot of people. I’ve travelled every summer for the last seven years to ride. I’m definitely not just a number cruncher.

TELL US ABOUT THE BIKE PRE–KEITH SCOTT?
What bike? Ha ha. There were no plans to design anything new at Banshee before I joined up. Things were slowly dying, and I saw it as a great opportunity to step in and re–vamp the whole company image with Jay MacNeil (my colleague) as well as design a whole new range of bikes. I wanted to make a purebred race machine to be the flagship and represent what the brand is all about…performance.

WHAT ABOUT THE REST OF THE RANGE?
I have designed all the new bikes in our range over the last three years or so. Nine bikes and counting. The old Banshee range was overbuilt and starting to look dated, things had to be shaken up.

WHAT ARE YOUR AIMS WITH THE RANGE?
My aim when designing every bike is to make it as good as it can possibly be for its specific riding discipline. I believe that there is no one style of linkage design that is ideal for all types of bikes, rather I choose what I feel is the best style of linkage for the discipline. For example, the Wildcard uses a linkage actuated single pivot design, to keep the rear end laterally stiff and simple, whilst giving the bike a very predictable and lively feel, whereas the Legend uses a short link 4–bar design so that I could optimize the linkage to have active suspension under braking and isolate pedalling forces, as well as fine tune leverage ratio and axle path etc. I am lucky enough to have a plethora of customers dotted all over the globe who regularly give me great feedback and ideas. I really like to tap into this source, as these are the guys who will be riding the bikes at the end of the day. After
machine loading and testing, all our prototypes are sent out to hardcore riders (not necessarily pro riders, but all core riders) who put them through their paces and give me real world feedback. Every aspect of my designs is done for a reason. I don’t believe in marketing gimmicks – I would much rather let the bike do the talking.

SOME GOOD FEEDBACK ON SOME WEBSITES ABOUT THE BIKE?
You are the first media guy to have any decent time on the Legend. However, we have sent almost 60 of them to racers all over the world to get real world feedback. They have been raced in multiple World Cup finals, and the World Champs last year. They are also ridden by more local scene racers. Everyone who has a pre–production bike has sent me their feedback and ideas, and I am taking it all onboard to refine and improve the design. But general feedback is very positive indeed.

WHAT WAS AARON’S POST?
Aaron is one of our test riders who applied to ride the bike last year, we picked the best 50 of the applicants based on engineering and racing experience and shipped bikes out to them. He is one of only three people in the UK riding Legends, including me (a big chunk of the testers are in Australia, as the batch timing worked well with their DH race series). Aaron is a great guy, and has given me lots of very accurate and informative feedback as well as support and ideas.

SOME NEGATIVE, HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT BRAINLESS POSTS?
Ha ha, oh man, where do I start?! They can be incredibly frustrating, as one brainless and inaccurate post can single–handedly destroy a company’s reputation if people latch on to it. I’ve heard all sorts of things about my bikes that I didn’t know, including them being welded by child slaves and all sorts of absolute rubbish like that. Normally I just ignore it and move on, as the vast majority of the time a real customer who actually knows what he is talking about will chime in to our defence. But sometimes I will just lay the facts on the table and let people make their mind up for themselves what they choose to believe.

WHAT DID YOU SET OUT TO ACHIEVE WITH THE LEGEND IN TERMS OF RIDE CHARACTERISTIC?
The Legend is all about speed, after all that is what DH racing is all about. The frame and linkage has been optimized for speed. It is a pure race machine, with slack geometry and very low centre of gravity (CoG). I wanted a big travel frame that was lightweight and pedalled like a shorter travel bike, but could take the hits? The initially rearward axle path is designed to give the bike stability at speed and to suck up the small square edge bumps. There are a lot of decent DH race bikes out there, but a lot of them feel quite dead to ride I have found. Not only is the Legend fast to ride, it is also lively and fun. Cornering is all–important in DH racing, as the racers out there will testify. If you can go round, and most importantly exit, a corner with speed, then you carry that speed the whole way through the next section. The heaviest element of a DH frame is always the rear shock, so I designed the frame to position the shock as low in the frame as possible, whilst still protecting from mud and rocks. Obviously it is combined CoG of the rider and bike that matters, so a low BB is a must. A low CoG makes cornering easier and a bike more stable, which gives the rider more confidence to push their limits.

FIFTY RIDERS WITH PROTOS…HOW HAS THAT PANNED OUT? THAT’S ONE HELL OF A LOT OF FEEDBACK?
We wanted to get this bike right first time. So testing and feedback is crucial. We produced the first Legend prototypes way back in April 2008 and they were given to two racers from South America (Markolf Berchtold and Marcelo Guiterrez) who were about to compete in the Pan American Championships.We got the frames to them the week before the race, and we got two golds, in elite, and junior; not bad for their first race on the bikes! Four months later we produced two second generation prototypes, one came to me, and another went to a racer who was looking for a bike to ride, a certain Mick Hannah. Mick gave me great feedback, and got some top results on it before he got snapped up by a bigger company with more cash to throw around. I rode mine for a couple of hard Whistler bike park months to see not only how well it rode, but also how it took the abuse.
Around the same time, we posted on our blog and a few forums that we were looking for test riders. 50 next generation, but still preproduction frames were up for grabs at cost price and with full follow up support. The response was awesome! We picked the cream of the crop for feedback, and got things rolling. Now we have 50 frames under 50 racers in no fewer than 19 countries around the world. This means that all 50 frames are being used and abused in a whole variety of conditions. All riders agreed to fill out detailed feedback forms covering all bases. The testers have been amazing, they have pointed out a few minor issues which I have already resolved by redesigning, and also compared the bike with their previous machines to let me know if there are any aspects of the bike that don’t live up to their expectations, but to be honest the vast majority of feedback has been very positive.

WHAT CHANGES WILL YOU BE MAKING?
Well, the original prototypes had two travel settings, 7” and 8.5”. However the 7” setting felt over–damped with every shock we tried due to the low overall leverage ratio of 2.33:1. So I’m changing the linkage to have only one travel setting of 8”. I’m also lowering the BB slightly more (13.7”), slackening the head angle to 63.8º, slightly reducing chain stretch, making the leverage curve a bit more linear (although still progressive overall with a subtle pedal platform designed into it). I’ve also redesigned the shock basement area to increase strength and pivot tolerances and reduce weight. The overall weight of the frame is likely to reduce by around 200g without sacrificing strength. I am also currently testing some state of the art material treatment processes, which are looking like they will massively improve performance.

HOW WILL THE CHANGES AFFECT THE RIDE CHARACTERISTIC?
There should be slightly less initial anti–squat and overall pedal kickback, the bike will feel lower and more stable as it will sit slightly further into the travel due to the more linear leverage curve. I am also working with the Cane Creek guys to get a custom tuned Double Barrel option for Legend riders, which should make a world of difference, as up to now we have just been using standard tuned shocks. Combined with the Legend’s very high lateral stiffness, these changes will result in a frame that not only shoots out the gate, but also soaks up all the rocks and roots on the trail, offering the rider maximum traction and control.

CLOSE TO YOUR ORIGINAL OR NOT?
Ha ha, in my opinion…not really! A lot of the initial design characteristics and ideals will remain, but it has been refined a total of nine times now over four years. It might look fairly similar to the original design…sort of, but the devil is in the detail.

CAN YOU TELL US A BIT ABOUT PRICING/DISTRIBUTION?
Pricing is yet to be confirmed, but we are working hard to undercut a lot of the (in my opinion) overpriced and over hyped frames out there, despite the fact that the Legend is very expensive to produce. The Legend will only be available as a frame–only option with a choice of shocks (currently looking like a Fox RC4 and Cane Creek DB). In the UK the frames will be available from www.freeborn.co.uk. Release date will be early next year. z

If paying for a name comes at a price with many brands, particularly US ones, take a moment to digest their wafer thin background relative to what we have here. Kronreif and Trunkenpolz have been synonymous with two–wheeled sport since the inter war years, and ever since they first started producing off–road bikes in the seventies they have been one of the most respected names in motocross. The great Andre Malherbe began his career on KTM, but it was the wonderful Russian Gennady Moiseev who really took the company forward winning several world motocross titles for the company from Matighofen.

Today the company has three different exports; push bikes, industrial equipment and of course motorcycles. Each are financially independent but all have retained the logo and corporate colours, and each are still based out of the Austrian village where it all began. This is where all the testing and product development is done for KTM bicycles.

TRIBUTE
The Tribute is one of a number of European bikes using the Horst link – a well–proven bicycle suspension design. Horst Leitner once worked for KTM on the motocross suspension design before emigrating to America and selling one of his designs to Specialized, which they still use today. The PDS (Pro Damping System) on the Tribute is as featured on motocross bikes and was developed by KTM in the seventies – the system seen here on the Tribute is essentially a four bar design pivoting on the chainstay.

The Specialized patent on this design does not cover Europe, so over here it is free for all to use…well… For just over two thousand four hundred pounds there is some choice equipment on the KTM. For starters you are geared up with Saint, cranked by Truvativ and spin on DT Hubs; Syncros rims providing the structure, e.thirteen chain device, SDG seatpost/saddle and Avid brakes are at the top of their game and only the slightly narrow bars, and awkward stem spoil the first impressions.

RIDE
The day was murky, wet and generally perfect for getting involved. Such shitty days usually lead to a more rearwards weight distribution in times of fear of mud on rock, so suspension set–up would probably be a touch different. The 888RCV was one of our least favourite forks last year and we were told that this was not one of the OE versions, but the genuine thing (whatever that might be). Whatever, we were pleasantly surprised at this particular fork.

The adjustments were believable and the fork didn’t shock us with any surprises on the hill. Spring rate appeared OK sag wise, but only managed about two thirds of available travel hinting that we’d be looking for changes there pretty quickly either in spring rate or compression. It was the rear that most impressed. Bearing in mind the bike comes with the ‘reasonably OK’ DHX 4 from Fox the Tribute gives a very light ride across rocks. It certainly doesn’t feel like its 44lb weigh–in and performance wise was a shed load better than more expensive bikes we’ve had recently. Of course the DHX is limited and this showed during harder runs where even firmer than normal settings failed to stop the bike from bottoming, not ever harshly, but it needed more compression.

An upgrade out the back would take this bike from being a very good one to an excellent choice. Even the slight imbalance between front and rear suspension failed to spoil or affect attacks on the hill. The overall dimensions on the bike work well, in fact probably one of the best suited we’ve had on the test track here in Wales. Its collisions with rocks front and rear seemed well–timed, maybe luck, but it worked. Even though we were not able to balance front and rear suspension with the settings on offer the overall feel of the bike was one of stability and normality. This is a good thing and something not everyone can achieve, I guess its no surprise given the company’s rich history. AND What a great bike. Take a look at the big names in the market and your eyes will bleed at the prices being asked for what are nothing more than average bikes with average suspension, but some of us are suckers for a name.

This is a truly great one – only a back–to–back ride with the Morewood Makulu highlighted the gap between good and great suspension wise, but it wasn’t as if the budget KTM was holding the riders back, far from it. Even though we had too much progression up front and not enough compression on the back, we found the Tribute to work well in the tight and give excellent stability at speed – it does all the things that most riders will ever need. At these kind of prices you can afford the odd upgrade here or there – a BOS Stoy, a Marzocchi upgrade and you have one hell of a machine still well under those average bikes fooling you to be something they ain’t. z

Price: Tribute £2429.99 complete bike
The Aphex has the same frame with a better spec at £3,299.99
Tribute frame, DHX4.0 shock and headset: £1349.99
Aphex frame, DHX 5.0 shock and headset: £1399.99
www.ktm-bikes.at
Contact: 01788 860 716
www.perfectionordeath.co.uk

Obviously this is not about the others, but it’s important to take stock of where we’re at. It’s a frequently asked question. The Trek is clearly one of the best bikes money can buy by far, with excellent performance, but we’ve seen that some smaller companies can offer you more. With highly tuned and correctly sprung suspension the Morewood and Empire offer something that little bit extra, the heart of which being those BOS and Cane Creek units which are simply playing in another league when it comes to dealing with rough ground. Which brings us to K–9. Now Luis Arraiz will not mind the prologue here because he knows these and other companies well. Or at least he knows the product, the numbers, the angles the suspension. After all he is a leading expert in this field, an extremely knowledgeable mountainbike scientist if you like.

This is obviously gigantic talk here, but what Luis doesn’t know about bikes isn’t really worth knowing. He can tell you how a bike rides even without having ridden it. It really is staggering. Several times I have been on the phone to discuss a bike test problem and Luis will provide a scientific basis on which to back up any potential fault in handling. There is no bias, just some straightforward facts that an expert in vehicle dynamics would tell you.

The point I’m making here is not that the rest of the world makes shit bikes, far from it because there are some real gems in the mass produced market, but few have the ability to tailor make both bike and suspension, it’s very often a case of bunging on a less than great production Fox DHX and leaving everything else to the rider. Suits most people, but not everyone. What K9 offer is unparalleled information on set–up before, during and after you’ve bought a bike.

K–9 DH001 – BIKE TEST
Oxford based Luis recognises the guys that make good bikes then, but here is their own bike, one that the company have been working on for the past three years. Knowing they are obsessed with detail and damping I was eager to see how the new bike performed. Before he even wheeled the K–9 over the border I knew that set–up would be the last thing I’d have to worry about, yet the early prototypes were heavy and cumbersome like a lot of protos are.
What are you getting? Lets take a look at some facts:
Choice of four sizes
Correct suspension spring rates
Adjustable geometry
Titanium bolts
Headset
Chain device
UK made
Choice of RockShox Vivid, BOS Stoy, Cane
Creek Double Barrel
Choice of colour
Hmmm. On paper I can only see a couple of things that make this bike any different from the rest. Maybe I’ve been fooled. I mean a lot of companies and shops will provide at least the first six, the seventh is dependent on your nationalistic tendencies, the ninth not really a matter of massive significance. Maybe it’s the fact that you can buy this bike with a Cane Creek? Hell I could buy no end of bikes cheaper and bolt one of them on. So what about the handling and performance? True to his word the new DH001S lived up to the colossal big talk with stunning efficiency. It is without doubt the finest piece of bicycle set up I have ever had the pleasure to ride. Luis had at the touch of button provided me with a bike perfectly set up for the occasion.

The combination of the BOS cartridge BoXXer and Cane Creek shock is the best suspension I have ever ridden on a non–factory bike, it’s also the first time it’s been presented perfectly. Big talk backed up big style. What more is there to talk about?

SET UP
What K–9 offer is total set–up whereby the limiting factor will always be the rider. K–9 have the knowledge, which is way over and above what is currently offered to the majority of world cup riders. Yet what makes Luis and his team special is that he can supply base settings for every rider at the touch of a button (More than that he could probably supply every rider on every bike that – and he’s proved that he has the ability to do it). Consider for a moment that you’ve spent many weeks on achieving base settings only to loose them; well Luis can take you back to that point even without going onto the hill. With his background in vehicle dynamics he owns a database of knowledge that can also account for changing weather conditions and tracks. So whilst on paper many companies might offer some hardware to go and rant down a hill on a whim, no company that we know if exists that will be able to provide you with performance knowledge and settings.

DATA LOGGING
On our test session we found the rear of the bike not pushing back quick enough, holding onto the impacts. The data analysis showed this, but not only that Luis was able to interpret what was happening and make the changes necessary within seconds. A day with Luis would benefit any rider.

WOULD I BUY?
Luis has put me in tricky position. Is it the bike that is good or is it the settings? From the first minutes of the test days I was convinced that the BOS cartridge BoXXers were too soft and yet this sublimely balanced bike felt right on the trail and data logging on the following day proved this as the fork was providing the correct amount of travel. The Morewood was an incredible bike but the K–9 adds an edge certainly in terms of performance on proper descending. Superior damping always gives you time to think. Any rider looking for improved results but cannot access the information allowed by the top guys should be knocking very hard on Luis’s door. On the flatter ground the K–9 needs more understanding than say the Morewood. I felt it didn’t cover flatter ground as quick, most riders will find this largely insignificant I know, but then even the odd World Cup like Le Bresse for example is known to be pretty loose on the contours. You need to know how to ride the bike and keep the gas flowing in theses conditions. Of course it could be simply down to the fact that the suspension was working so well. Luis works hard on getting ‘frequencies’ correct, yet most of us are so used to bikes that are less than a hundred percent efficient and without the sublime Cane Creek that it takes a bit of getting used to.

For grip matters the K–9 is an absolute ruler. Root to rock will hold no challenges for this bike and this is the terrain on which it excels. I’d even consider faster rolling or harder tyres knowing that grip would unlikely be an issue. And in the whole dirty world of balance and dynamic geometry whilst descending – well I wouldn’t have expected it to be anything other than what it delivered, perfection. Looks wise the new steel front end works for me, so does the white paint job, the decals and cosmetics are a lot better than the originals and critically it is so much cleaner in the link area. The angles are good, the maintenance is easy, everything is easy to get at. Yes it could probably be refined even further in places but it works. There are options here on build kits and the frame and fork option seems the way to go, but remember you will be getting the full package set–up wise whatever you choose. BOS or BoXXer paired to a Stoy or Cane Creek being at the top of the wish list, but consider the Vivid too. Leave everything else to them. Essentially then this is a huge amount for your money here, OK you could well go and buy a Trek or Orange and bolt on a better shock, but what you won’t get is the knowledge. Yes the service and knowledge is available on other bikes too, but this is about the DH001. Based on the bike we were given it’s one of the best performance bikes I’ve ever ridden over demanding terrain, production or factory. Remember K–9 offer the non–pro rider a true works set up.

LUIS ARRAIZ – TEN KEY QUESTIONS
Why did you choose this particular linkage design?
The L.A. Link is a 4–bar suspension design similar to the SLA race car suspension design. Using a 4–bar suspension allows the designer to have a range of freedom on what the suspension should do. You can tailor the axle path, instant centres, compression ratios and many other parameters with ease. The current configuration using short upper and lower arms with the rear triangle allows us to have a very stiff and light structure too. The L.A. Link configuration provides a very linear and rearward axle path for enhanced stability and bump absorption, a controlled migration and position of the instant centre that provides the desired anti–squat.
The suspension was specifically designed to work in conjunction with the idler pulley, as the position of the idler decouples the suspension movement from the pedalling forces by reducing and minimizing the chain length growth and the pedal induced torque which often causes the bike to bob under pedalling (regarding of the front sprocket size). With the current 4–bar design I can effectively utilized the upper link to achieve the desired compression ratio, installation ratio, wheel rates and wheel frequencies to achieve small bump sensitivity and big hit capabilities in a smooth linear progressive manner.

What are its benefits on the trail?
Well you get a bike that provides a very comfortable and controlled ride, it is very stable at high speeds, and corners well, pedals well, jumps well, and provides you with a vast amount of grip over any terrain without bottoming. It is a very easy to ride bike and very intuitive, it let’s you get on with the line choices and you know the bike will be able to do what you want it to do, it is a very predictable ride.

What about axle paths? You have strong views on this?
Axle paths are an important part of any bike, and my views are that a linear and rearward axle path will give you more stability, bump absorption capabilities especially when the speed and travel increases, my ideal rear axle path would be 100% parallel to the front axle. However in order to achieve this you have to forget about the current drive train system location, as the trade off of chain length growth and pedal feedback would almost negate the benefits, that’s why I and several other designers
utilize the idler along with a different pivot and instant centre location which allows to achieve a more beneficial axle path.

What shock should riders choose? How big is the difference in performance between the three shocks you offer?
In an ideal world, where marketing and hype would not play such a big factor, every single bike, including short travel bikes, would have a Double Barrel or Stoy damper on them. On the DH001–S we are looking to spec the Cane Creek Double Barrel, BOS Stoy, RockShox Vivid and maybe a two way adjustable damper. The DB is an amazing shock, and it would be better suited to racers who know how to tailor the damper to the specific track and race conditions. It is a very precise damper with a great damping range and you can fine tune and adjust the low and high–speed compression as well as the rebound independently of each other. The Stoy is an unbelievable shock too, and it will suit riders who prefer to stick to the base set–up and only do minor adjustments depending on the conditions. It has very similar damping curves and range as the DB, but it only has rebound and low and high–speed compression adjustment. The Vivid is a good mass production shock, the best I’ve tested so far on the dyno and it will provide a good ride and it will feel very similar to the DB and Stoy, but it is not as precise. The damper has low speed and high–speed rebound as well as compression adjustment. It is a great entry–level damper for those who just want to ride the bike with the base set–up. It will provide sufficient damping and control for the entry–level riders. We are currently looking to offer a fourth option; it will be a 2–way adjustable damper with a very useable range for those who have a tendency to shy away from the adjusters. It will be a fit and forget damper that you cannot really produce a bad set–up with it. Anyway, regardless of which damper option the rider chooses to equip his/her bike with, K–9 will provide a very good base set up for the rider’s weight, including the correct damping, spring and pre–load. We’ll take the guesswork out of the set–up so you can just ride the bike as it was intended to.

Any scientific evidence to prove this?
Yes, we have extensive data for all the dampers that we have obtained from a damper dyno at Oxford Brookes University. The results are further verified by the results obtained from data logging. We are currently refining the base set–up for different rider’s weights on one of the dampers. After we find the set up for the different rider’s weights, the dampers will then be dynoed so we can compare and match the all the dampers curves so that they provide basically the same performance.

Why is eight inches the best amount of travel for a downhill bike?
For starters most DH forks have settled at 8”, which provides just the right amount of grip, small bump sensitivity and bottom out resistance. I believe that 8” at the rear provides the best balance between front and rear, as it is easier to match the wheel frequencies for the intended use. It is not about how much travel the bike has, but how efficient it uses the travel.

Will you be offering the option of a frame and fork kit?
Yes, K–9 is looking to offer the bikes as frame sets (frame, damper, chain device and headset) and frame kits (frame set and forks). Last year we spent a lot of time testing with several BoXXer Teams (standard, TF Tuned and BOS cartridges). The ‘08 BoXXer Teams were very good forks, but we were very impressed with the added performance benefits that the TF and BOS cartridges offered. We have been recently testing with the new BOS Idylle fork and it is an incredible fork and one that we are looking to offer on the bike. We’d like to test the 2010 BoXXers as they offer great potential, as well as several of the new forks to see if they can match the performance of the French fork, but we have been unable to test them.

And you will provide riders information for a balanced system?
Yes, the main reason behind offering the bikes as frame kits is to offer the customer the best possible base set–up that provides the optimum balance. There is no point setting up the rear suspension if the front suspension does not match the rear, as the ride will be unbalanced. It is about treating the whole bike as a system and making the system work. Customers will receive a copy of the base set–up and recommendations for different tracks and conditions. If they ever lose the base set–up, then K–9 will be able to provide them with the correct information from our customer database.

It sounds pretty much like a full package?
We’d like to think so. It is a lot of work, but I believe it is required. If a K–9 customer will invest their hard earned money on our bikes, I want them to be able to go out on the first ride and just enjoy the ride. I do not want him/her to worry about if it has the right spring rate, preload, sending the shock to get tuned, etc. We’ll provide a race ready bike
from out of the box.

Anything else?
The bikes will be available in four different sizes, so that anyone between 5’0’’ to 6’6’’ will have the bike that suits them. You cannot have one or two sizes only to fit every rider, there is too much to compromise. We’ll be offering several upgrade kits: Ti bolts, adjustable geometry (head angle and chainstay length), we are looking at Ti springs
option as well. K–9 is committed to provide the best possible service to our customers, which means that bikes will be sold by approved K–9 retailers. This way we can ensure that riders will be fitted to the correct size, and for the bikes to have the optimum set up. It is very important to us to offer the right after sales service for the bikes. We will also be offering discounted data logging sessions to all K–9 customers as well organized rides and uplifts with K–9 staff, retailers, etc.

WOULD I STILL BUY ONE?
Yes, because this is a company that will back up the big talk, not only that, Luis has the type mindset that can make the link between good rider feedback and correct settings relative to the terrain you’re dealing with.
Priceless.z
Price: Vivid Frameset – £,2,500, Stoy Frameset – £2,700, Cane
Creek Double Barrel Frameset – £2,900
All framesets include: custom wide angle MRP system 3 chain
device & Cane Creek IS3 headset.
K–9 Industries Ltd. 01865 875 848
www.k9industries.com

There does not appear to be any consistent direct correlation between price and quality with regards to mountainbike products. In fact “stick a big price tag on it and they’ll buy it” is very much the blatant attitude of the odd company owner that we come across. By creating a reality based on hype and marketing, mountainbikes can be sold based on a simple bullshit/cosmetic exercise. Of course people buying products based on a high price tag that don’t always necessarily equate to quality or performance is not new or cutting edge information, it’s just that I often find myself doing it and it worries me.

It’s not that straightforward obviously. Value is a funny one. I can buy a packaged sliced white for 39p in Waitrose but choose the smaller £1.79 unwrapped organic loaf that tastes just like bread I ate as a kid. It hasn’t been inflated with air, has nothing selling itself other than its crusty exterior and organic label. I buy it because I know it does the job that’s expected of it. Is it worth it? Well there’s no choice. It seems to last longer. Three of the sliced might possibly do the job and be cheaper but I have a sneaky feeling there will be a trade off in terms of ingredients. It’s worth it in relative terms to say a pint of beer or a phone call. On a more base level I simply enjoy eating it.

Many people might have been fooled by Specialized’s new Big Hit with its whiter than white make–up and graphic overload. But is this your thick sliced white? Well, the Specialized definitely has a dark side, its black crows taken out of a Hitchcock film, and componentry not befitting a bicycle of this price tag. Alarm bells ringing and believing there have been attempts to fool, it will surely put a huge number of people off and go in search of something with more subtle packaging. Taking a chance we ordered one up, unwrapped it and attempted to squash it into a ball of worthless mucky dough.

FRAME
How does this blonde measure up? Comparisons will undoubtedly be made to the ‘goth–ginge’, that slightly more curvy Specialized SX Trail. Head to head there is very little to choose between the pair. Roughly the same head angle, at just over 64.5 degrees, and whist the medium SX has a stable wheelbase at just over 46” even the Big Hit doesn’t go past the 47” marker.

Blondie is fractionally longer up front with a slightly longer chainstay, but even so it’s still under 17”. All these figures (hell fire help) add up to a pretty large bike for a medium. It certainly looks good on paper and is comparable to a proven bike in the SX. A large size Trek Session is 48” long with a 63º head angle for example and that’s one of the best geometry bikes available. Oooch I can feel both companies cringing at comparisons. Look, the point is Trek might have caught their Californian sparring partner napping by getting the Session 88 out, but the Morgan Hill boys might certainly have pulled one back by introducing this marvellous seven–inch workhorse right on the money. Well if it works on the hill that is.

FSR
As on a large number of Specialized bikes the suspension is an FSR system. What is FSR? (Straight from the website….) FSR “is an active and independent linkage system, free to compress and rebound in an uninhibited manner – whether pedalling coasting or braking….this keeps the tyres on the ground a greater percentage of the time, yielding more traction for increased control over speed and direction; more comfort by remaining compliant; and more efficiency because chain torque goes to moving you forward, not up and down.”

It’s pretty much the best thing since sliced bread, a well known and used design and no surprise their keen to hold on to it. It works and always has done. In terms of damping the Big Hit is nothing special on paper, a 318 RockShox Domain fork gives 180mm of travel and is paired with a Fox DHX4.0 that works just under seven out back. They are simple units. Up front you have compression and rebound and on the back just the rebound adjust. Plus spring rates naturally. Unlike the SX, which has a connecting arm, the rear Fox bolts directly to the upper rocker link. Taking into consideration the big price difference compared to the SX, but striking similarities, we were keen to see just how much variation there was in terms of damping and if this could be the bike’s weak point.

BUILD
There is star quality about this bike, Specialized’s own 2.3 Chunder tyres, which you will see not only on this bike but on the likes of Hill and Fairclough’s this season, likewise the DT 550’s rims, own brand hubs and Avid Elixir R brakeset. This kind of stuff wouldn’t be out of place at a World Cup event. And it doesn’t stop there. Truvativ cranks and chain guide are reliably workmanlike, the stem, seat and seatpost all up for the job in hand. All told there isn’t anything that stands out as being wildly spec’d and there is nothing that needs replacing…well maybe the bar is a bit narrow and high. Had to find something. It’s a truly awesome build for this cash.

RIDE
The Big Hit is an energizing bike, in almost every situation it remains up beat and up for it. Anyone owning one of these can surely allow themselves a smile on the uplift wagon or chairlift at the expense of their empty pocketed mates who’ve just blown four G’s on bikes not any faster (some much slower). Some riders have said they’d be very interested to compare speeds on a variety of normal UK terrain with last months seven thousand pound Intense M6.

In terms of feel the Domain doesn’t have the same boundaries as say a shorter Fox 36 or a longer BoXXer, it’s a pretty basic unit, but what it does do, and this is obviously not by chance, is match the geometry of the bike. Because of this it will hold higher speeds over harsher terrain better than the shorter Fox, taking the bigger hits better. It does its job pretty well really. No, it doesn’t have the suppleness of a 36 but then it’s a bit more of a grafter. To be super picky I’m sure a suspension specialist for not that much money could make a very, very good fork out of the Domain, but the reality of riding says that this is a fork that can boot it all day long without the worry of multi–adjust, and that is pretty much what a lot of riders want.

The same holds true for the rear, and with the FSR linkage largely taking care of matters the DHX 4.0, as its adjuster suggests, is a pretty one-dimensional beast relative to other shocks on the market. But yet again, because there are no weaknesses in the geometry of this bike, the only thing you might notice is how ordinary and agricultural the back feels. That’s not necessarily a bad thing. The overwhelming feeling being devoid of any adjusters is you don’t have to fret about it. All the force gets channelled into riding.

FINALLY
Nothing more needs to be said really. Having failed miserably to turn it to mush, everyone from around these parts (yes its been loaned out regularly) has got on with the job of enjoying the experience of riding the big Blonde with a dark side from Morgan Hill. If you see one on the lifts just think, flash car expensive holidays – money’s got to go somewhere?

The fact that it doesn’t have super–adjust damping doesn’t hold this bike back, in fact it just makes riders lives easier. Sure you can bolt on a BoXXer and Cane Creek shock to get that increased range of adjustability and performance gain required in competitive life, but then if you’re not one to lose sleep over tenths of seconds or the type of person with image crisis because you haven’t just bought the most expensive bike on the hill for seemingly no reason other than the cost, then this bike has it all. There’s no doubt that in the right hands it could win a downhill race in the UK on the right terrain.

Those telephone wires still worry me though. I’d give this bike ten but then think of the romantic comedy with Bo Derek and Dudley Moore. Back to the complex bread decision again. Oh hell. Err maybe give it a seven? No that’s just plain stupid. But then that Mojave scene in the film with Morgan Freeman and Brad Pitt. That had telegraph wires. Look, I hope the message is clear…awesome bike!
Big Hit 3 comes in at £1761.69
Specialized UK 0208 391 3530
www.specializeduk.com

THREE WELL–INTENTIONED FREERIDERS – AN AMERICAN, AN ANDORRAN AND A NORTHERNER, ALL WITH TRANS–GLOBAL HOOLIGANISM IN MIND, SEEK LIKE-MINDED INDIVIDUALS TO SEARCH FOR NEW BOUNDARIES. EQUALLY HAPPY TO SPEND LONG WEEKENDS IN DIRTY WELSH WOODS IN A MIRE OF BAD LANGUAGE AND MISTREATMENT.

BREED
Prototyped in Alpine terrain over many summers, the early versions were more or less slackened and strengthened versions of the Five. Now in their final version the Alpine is longer, stronger and with more travel, essentially a mini 224 – and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that.

GEOMETRY
SIZE 18”
WB 46”
BB 13.5”
CS 17”
HA 65.5º
WEIGHT 34lb

BUILD AND CHANGE
Over at the Orange HQ, Jay the head of operations, was complaining that too many people were opting for the air sprung version of the Alpine over the coil. It’s a tempting option, but I’m sure the more gravity–biased rider will be able to get their head around this coiled beast a little easier. Fox provide excellent kit these days, and together with Race Face, Sram and Mavic there’s not really a weak point apart from the narrow and high bar and a ridiculous stem. Replacing the stem with a 50mm and lowering and widening the bars transform the Orange getting the weight in the right place. It’s also massively over–sprung and we went down to a 375lb spring from a 450, even being the wrong side of 14 stone. Probably think very strongly about ditching the double ring and swapping to a grippier tyre set up too.

RIDE/CHASSIS
A ripper from the start, it’s quiet, balanced and just has a simply overwhelming thirst for downhill action. Light for a six–inch bike of this nature, the Alpine covers ground quickly, great for the longer Enduro or Mega type events and uplifts. Perfectly balanced with 160mm front and back, the rear suspension is impossible to fault even with the bog standard DHX3.0. Those Maxxis 60A compound tyres? Great for carrying speed and longer rides, but they seriously compromise flat–out descending, so they need changing if that’s what you’re about.

FINISH UP
Arguably…no hold on. This is the best all-round 160/160 complete bike you can currently buy. You want it more black and white than that? A few years ago it didn’t exist, but then it would have been up against the mighty and never since replaced (well not as good as the early ones) Specialized Enduro. Today many might compare the Lapierre Spicy, a good long travel trail bike, and a super close second for that type of business, yet not quite as good at cushioning the rider from impact on descents and possibly a touch too big for UK trail riding. This bike also suffers from the latter also, but I feel as an uplift and Mega type race bike (especially the air version) it has miraculously sneaked onto the top of the pile.What are companies thinking?
Price: Alpine 160FR £2799
Price: Alpine 160AM £2799

BREED
The SX Trail has always been a great bike, never letting anyone down. It is sure of itself, knows where it’s at and what it wants, keeping a cool head even during a time when the
industry went through its compartmentalization process. It now stands firmly as ‘freeride’ and is ultimately one of the classic park and uplift bikes of its time.

GEOMETRY
SIZE Medium
WB 46.25”
BB 13.75”
CS 16.5”
HA 65.1º
WEIGHT 37.5lb

BUILD AND CHANGE
Very few bikes come as superbly built as this. It has been thought out and then thought about a bit more before the ‘Big S’ build button was pressed. It is all hard hitting quality throughout and all aimed at the use it will get. Great tyres, appropriate stem, stylish seatpost, some functional own brand stuff and only the best Avid components you can get. The Elixir is an exceptional bit of kit. Having the RC2 version of the Fox Van kind of upstages the Alpine, as does the DHX 5.0 over the 3.0 on the Orange and the production Supreme build, but if I was brutally honest it doesn’t make that much difference, not for the largely non–competitive use these bikes get in this country. The Gamut is a nice touch, but the 680mm wide high rise bar might not be the best if your action is more DH than SS.

RIDE/CHASSIS
Some riders see the SX as a serious competitive DH bike. It’s not, not on the real big stuff at least, but a complement nonetheless. As an alpine bike it is well prepared and as a park bike probably has no equal. That’s because it’s pretty easy about the ground and in the air, snapping at the exits of tighter corners but having the wheelbase to keep the balance at speed. Even our medium really is a pretty long bike, but because of the doubtlessly Berre‘Claw’d chainstay lengths (one of shortest of any long travel bike available) there’s a fair bit of space ahead of the BB. It’s easy to get sat on the back wheel that’s for sure, just be aware of it when the terrain drops. Close inspection reveals a very specialist bike.

Up front you’d struggle to find many bikes that ask as many questions out of the Fox Van’s than the SX, it simply pushes the fork to the very edge. And the DHX 5.0 shock too – although on the rear somehow the SX doesn’t feel quite as good as the older model for some reason, certainly not as good as the Supreme out back, but still gives an awesome ride characteristic.

FINISH UP
During the testing we met up with Specialized team rider Brendan Fairclough, fresh back from Australia. It was interesting to note that it’s likely the team will be running versions of this bike at the Worlds this year. Fairclough also uses the same Specialized Chunder tyres as come with the SX as stock. Bearing in mind it has slightly more travel and higher spec dampers than the other two, it’s the chassis that shines at higher speeds rather than the suspension – it can handle high speed better than the others. Marvellously balanced, overall it’s a pretty full–on package and yet the big ginger bouncer hasn’t been so well received in terms of appearance here in the UK. Paint it black is what I’d say to those people, because this one is a stormer. Possibly sullied by its slightly swashbuckling appearance, it provides as solid performance as it ever has.
Price: SX Trail 2 £2740.42

BREED
The Supreme has the same suspension characteristics as the company’s World winning downhill bikes, but don’t for one minute underestimate just how good it is even with a non–factory Fox shock. The marketing talks of a bike that’s more playful than the DH, and they are not far wrong.

GEOMETRY
SIZE Sm/Med
WB 44”
BB 13.5”
CS 17.25”
HA 65.3º (black spacer)
WEIGHT 39.68LB

BUILD AND CHANGE
The production complete Supreme is let down by some pretty poor components, none more so than the Marzocchi RCV. Fortunately the great Italian suspension company seems to have raised their game – partly the reason why we built our own version of the Supreme with a better fork to give the bike and the great Italian company a chance. Even so, the Andorran six–incher still weighs in around the 40lb mark, pretty heavy for bike of this much travel, but fortunately the nature of the beast dictates something substantial. Ultimately it does need to shape up a bit – Gee Atherton’s World Cup bike ain’t a million miles heavier, and that’s not one of the lightest. The fork obviously has to go, but 180mm forks also put the bike out of balance. Some cheaper bits such as headset and bars need swapping and generally the other two bikes are slightly better prepared all–round.

RIDE/CHASSIS
We were lucky enough to ride Gee and Dan’s (Atherton) Supremes last season, these were obviously pre–production, but there was no real difference apart from some pretty top notch componentry, and of course the larger size. It worked for me for definite, and on some of the tighter downhill terrain did as the brochure says. As mentioned, the rear Contact System is one of the best out there in terms of tyre gripping performance that provides a great platform on which to both launch and grip, whichever is needed. The steering on both S/M and the Large doesn’t feel like it’s quite the finished item – if the medium SX Trail feels slightly long up front the same size Supreme feels pretty short, great in the tight, a bit more nervous wide open, but then its nature is hanging out hooliganism. Overall we were nowhere near as impressed with the complete production builds of the Supreme. On the Dirt build however we were very, very happy with the new Marzocchi 55 RC3 and it slightly outperformed the other bike’s Fox’s on this occasion, which was surprising based on the huge dip in performance of the ‘08 kit. On slow tight terrain and on cambers, what a bike, very much the same as what we’d become used to on the old model.

FINISH UP
As long as you don’t think that it really is a small bike for doing all the things its bigger brother does you’re fine. In fact it will rule on certain tracks. But is it made for 160 or 180 forks? The geometry needs a slight tweak for the 160 I reckon. That amazing rear performance and good all–round chassis is really let down by the forks – probably not Commencal’s fault, but then it’s arguable if pairing both a 160 and 180 fork to a 160 chassis was the brightest move in terms of finely–tuned geometry. I’d definitely buy a Supreme simply because it’s so much fun and a fantastic uplift bike. Frame only wih the DHX 5 though aye?
Price: Supreme Frame £1599.99
Supreme 1 £2499.99
Dirt Build (Approx £3700)

ALL SQUARE?
Three outstanding bikes, extremely similar in that they offer roughly six inches of travel, yet different in that they are fine–tuned for the games they play. The Commencal has uplift and hanging–out fun etched deep into its angles and sublime rear suspension. As a pillar of everything without a timer attached it sets standards, it has that attitude (shame really because you’ll definitely want to beat the clock on it). A Supreme 1 at £2499.99 or a 2 at £1799.99 is OK value, but really for a bike as great as the Supreme it’s a case of getting a frame £1599.99 (including seatpost and e.thirteen chaindevice) and building up your own spec. An Atherton spec is the way to go for sure. The SX is as specialist as you’ll get in a mountain bike, this one has been fine tuned by Darren Berrecloth for the business which he’s in. Choose it for that purpose and you’ll have the best in the business. Many riders however will use it as a mini–downhill and alpine bike, and for that workload it will not falter either. But check out what they are offering for the £2740.42 worth of money and you will find you are getting massive
amounts. A bike that will definitely be in our highlight list of the year. And what of the Alpine? Well, it again is marginally upstaged by the SX in terms of value of componentry included, but still has faultless suspension. Strangely the guys up in Halifax seem to have created a genuine alpine goat with excellent race integrity – quicker across the ground than the other two and so is very well suited for the longer enduro and Mega type events. It’s the bike that Specialized no longer have in their range and has the geometry, suspension and lightweight mix that no other company can match.

Intense. The company, the name and the bikes have a passionate and loyal band of followers. Worldwide the origins of such fervent bike love stems from such bikes as the literally ground braking M1, a bike made and raced by legends. Palmer and Tomac got it off the ground, Sam Hill and Chris Kovarik well and truly took it into space.

Variations to the proven design came and went, as did the M3, the first to feature the VPP design. The bikes continued to be mouth wateringly different – loose, low slung, colourful characters. Kovarik bolstered the aggressive image with the occasional full–on attack – he slammed Mt St Anne in classic fashion a couple of years ago. Today Intense downhill bikes are but an element in a bigger picture for the Temecula company with their impressive range of off–road bikes.

Visually the M6 is the essence of racing, its elegant lines shout power, speed and stealth. At just over three grand, and with over nine inches of travel, this M6 is one of the most expensive and longest travel bicycles. With that in mind we attempted to give the Californian cruise missile a traditional British welcome party as it landed. Unfortunately Fort William was shut and Innerleithen was iced up. But instead of hanging out with some shandy sipping southerners we gave it the full Welsh treatment. After breakfast (a cup of tea and a fag) the Intense was introduced to a diet very different to what the likes of Kovarik, Camellini and co had been feeding it for most of the season. The M6 is an acknowledged ruler of the big, fast open terrain that underpins the World Cup and Alpine tracks, those are the places eaten up with all the conviction you’d expect of a bike that boasts so many inches, but how would it cope with something more ordinary?

Short of any better ideas this particularly highly–strung Intense, a Kovarik spare, began ‘09 as it finished ‘08, in amongst mud and root. Purring into action the Intense makes light work of the soil shy root system so dominant in our conifer woods, after all that’s what they set out to achieve when designing this bike. Able to pedal over roots whilst still maintaining an active suspension is something the M6 does well, although getting up to speed and cornering on a gentle slope on a bike equipped with 3C Maxxis Minions and what appeared to be rearward weight bias (Kovarik rides this way,) proved more tricky.

All that changed as ahead the ground fell away. In places where lesser bikes get a working over, often never to recover, a hardtail graveyard, banked and rocked, viciously compressing and blown out – downhill – is the place where this thoroughbred normally breathes. And again through an extended series of braking bumps, over root and onward carving out and ripping away more and more. This is M6 country. Brakeless the Intense holds its line when everything around it is falling apart. It is just SO comfortable in difficult places at speed. It silently goes about its business of covering ground, the rider isolated from impacts.

Partly this could be down to the new Manitou Dorado up front and Cane Creek shock on the back. The first point of contact is incredibly supple; a damper that leads without question and deals with the second hit. Not entirely convinced that the mixing of two very different forms of damper is the best way, but the first sector of the travel deals with the minor irritation of root and the final part of the enormous travel never seems over bothered about what kind of force it is being subjected to. It can find grip and is still controllable when pushed hard.

It was the middle part of travel that I felt could be a little smoother, but there was nowhere left to go on the adjusters. At fifty to sixty percent there are definitely smoother bikes mid–stroke than this particular M6, this would be something I’d work on because like the M3, the M6 is a complex bike to set–up and deserves time well–spent. This might not be something that bothers the majority of M6 pilots, because the chassis rocks in the big stuff handing out confidence and dealing with control. It’s inspiring. I couldn’t help but think how the Manitou Revox would perform.

As the track slowed into tight terrain our M6 became slightly unwieldy, this was now the place for a strong fast rider who could power their way out of the situation. The M6 likes a beating and it was essential to keep the M6 in the powerband and never drop the revs. This was particularly the case in flatter corners, almost too comfortable but without much feeling, and lacked the snap out of them. A control bike that we had whilst doing the testing highlighted this fact. This bike features a 10.5” x 3.5” shock but apparently Camellini ran a shorter shock to make the bike livelier. Later in the week we swapped the bars, dropping the front to 41.5” handlebar height. It was a remarkable change to the amount of weight on the front tyre; the M6 now seemed a lot sharper and more balanced.

There was also a slight issue with sizing on the M6, but a quick call to Intense cleared that up immediately. Our test bike, a Kovarik spare, works out at 46.5” wheelbase, 17.75” chainstay and a 64 to 64.5 degree head angle depending on fork set–up. This works out as a large on the Intense website when in fact the bigger bike wheels in at 47.5”
wheelbase, a perfect size for the six foot plus rider.

The silence of this bike impresses, visually it leads the way forward, it is a bike that will undoubtedly give confidence and inspire the majority of riders. The challenge for the buyer is very much to maintain as stable a chassis as possible with the amount of travel on offer.

CONCLUSION
Such a long travel bike definitely lacks the snap available out of corners on some shorter travel downhill race bikes. The M6 is a comfortable bike that only becomes a fast bike in the right terrain with the right rider on board. In other words, a lot of people will love the soft fleecy ride of this bike and yet it you will only truly get the most of out of it with the right racer behind the bar in some flat–out big hairy terrain. It’s a serious amount of bicycle that only really lives when it’s put in the right environment.

I’m not sure how many people will view handmade Californian to be significantly more value than handmade Taiwanese – I mean it’s not as if you’re buying a family cow, and a weld is a weld after all – but each bike that leaves Intense has its own special character. It might be the price however that determines a lot of people’s decisions. This particular example with Cane Creek and Ti spring retails at £3254, only marginally cheaper than the Foes DH Mono with Curnutt fork. You’re looking at full build heading in for seven grand! As for the performance in the UK, again there is certainly a certain doughy pleasure in all the travel, but I just never felt totally connected during life in British woods. For those who travel further afield it could well have your name on it. I enjoyed it but had more fun on the Intense 6.5” bike, another silent inspiration, a bike that could be moved around and carved, it was better suited on the corners, but out of its depth in the rawness of rock. I cant help but think that a lot of UK racers wanting to get the most out of the tracks they ride in this country might be better off going for the new Socom or a lighter, shorter travel M6. Now that Kovarik, Camellini and Lehikoinen have seasoned the M6 you just know that Jeff Steber will be rolling out something very special again in ‘09. Can’t wait

It is vitally important from the outset to get across what the Yeti 303 is and what it is not. Therefore to progress from this point it is important to read the Yeti 303 FAQ’s and answers on their website, www.yeticycles.com. The answers give a concise and thorough run down of the theory behind this bike. The reality is pretty much all of what they say, and this particular bike is even more than that. Three years ago these pages hinted that the 303 was a complex bike. That test still stands. And such a high altitude, big terrain bike as the 303 is not particularly at home nibbling around in the lowland on tight, rooty, and most importantly, slow, tracks. Whether they be in the UK or the foothills of Osogovska. That’s for the new RDH, but more of that later.

Just like the inconclusive pages of this magazine bugged the importers as much as the on–looking engineers lost sleep over what effect mud would
have on the beautiful sliding linkages, it was still well made. But whilst we hinted that it might just be at home in the harder faster cauldron of a true race venue, at the time we were not able to fully explore the bike in that type of terrain. Times change. And so do bikes. So lets get it straight. If I had to choose a bike to ride the Schladming track, slightly tortuous in places, but a flowing and choppy ride, one that prompted Gee Atherton to proclaim it a ‘man’s track in the wet’, then this is the bike I would choose to ride it on.

Taking into account that slow, tight, wet and stinky will always be close to my heart, this day was surely one of the best possible ways to test bikes. A full hand of team mechanics, suspension experts front and rear from Fox Racing and the guys who really make it count – the likes of Yeti team riders Sam Blenkinsop, Justin Leov and Aaron Gwin. This bike was completely unexpected in so many ways. It caught me…unexpectedly. And many others. What we have here then is the bike that took the New Zealander to the very highest place on the downhill planet. A race not hewn out of a big old pedal down a Land Rover track not so far from his house, but one that mixed speed with cambers, root with corners, and braking bumps with precise line choice. Blenkinsop’s Schladming win was immense.

As mentioned a few years ago the Yeti appeared on test in a slow and twisted woods near Betws y Coed. It was also the wrong size. Hell even this large comes up on the shortish
side. And it was a complex beast back then. We could only leave with first impressions given the time it would take to work out shock settings on such a multi theory system. These two factors contributed to leave me without any real conclusion about the bike. Not ideal. It is still that same bike, although in a revised form. New shock, larger bike, better forks – pretty different actually. Yeti point out that they have gone through many, many prototypes to get to this stage and have learned significantly with their team connection with Fox suspension. The important thing to remember is that it works completely differently to most of the traditional forms of suspension designs, be it single pivot, linked, Horst’ed, virtualled or whatever – trying to push against a damping platform on the Yeti ain’t gonna happen. Upside down to that, and in a roundabout way, Yeti themselves say that the 303 isolates the rider from forces from the ground up. This kind of hints at something a bit different to traditional systems, after all that is a BIG thing to say of a bicycle. Without much thought, other than anything except maybe it was actually the size for me and a quick check, revealed about 40% sag I legged it to the chairlift with Blenkinsop’s bike, chucked it on and dropped in at 1350m, just on the snowline, mid September. Schladming is a reasonably big track. Out of the gate it throws you down a bank into an endless wave of holes and then a shed load of root. I had ridden another well known race bike this day, a beautiful machine with supple, compliant…actually hold the clichés…it’s difficult to describe the suspension. It was good. Real good. I’d kind of got this crazy idea however that bicycles, no matter what variety, will always be chucked about deep into the holes that roam the alpine slopes. It’s only a bit of metal after all.

So, laced with coffee there I was tipping the 303 over the brow of Planai. For a second I held my breath just waiting for the ensuing five minute beating. For starters it’s difficult enough up front to find a balance between a bike that dives front first into these holes and one that hits them too hard with too firm a spring or compression rate. What happens up front then affects what goes on behind. Out the back it’s true to say you can feel the damping working on most traditional design bikes. For example, the new Fox shock has four times the oil flow of the old DHX yet you can still feel the connections on most bikes. Anyhow it was time to forget the theories – there was this fucking wave of holes spilling down the hill ahead of me. I was preparing to take the hits, make up excuses, complain of cold hands and aching arms. Instead I was only inspired. The holes didn’t happen. One sniff of a braking bump and the Yeti breathed into life. None of that vibration that begins in the wheels and slowly creeps up through the soles of your feet and into your head. Oh no, this was great. This fucking bike was accelerating through the whoops. What the hell? Had the ground softened, was it because I was warmed up, maybe I’d learned the track, shit was I on a different line? It was as if someone had removed every bone in my body and filled it with thick fresh Italian olive oil. “What do you reckon?” asked Sam and Justin down at the truck as I threw off my wet jacket and was handed some hot tea. With no time to waste I headed back up. “See you in a bit.” If there was ever an auto pilot rear end of a bike this is it.

Later on I took the tea and continued the conversation. “We chose to ride the 303 and not the new single pivot because it’s just sick on this track, you can get really loose on it”. I could only agree with him. I doubt there is any production bike that’ll touch the Yeti on braking bumps. But how come this was one of the weaknesses on the previous 303 I’d ridden? Centre of gravity due to size maybe? Poor suspension set up because of time needed. Lesson learned. But remember too that this was Blenkinsop’s first time out on a large
and he pops out on the top of the podium!

There is a very definite way to ride this bike. Loose is probably how most people would describe it. And for much of the track, one like Schladming anyway, you can get away with this. It appears to move in a suspended but controlled drift that always ends in grip. But that’s the one downside I can see in this bike. At some point you have to rely on pressure through the frame and suspension to find grip and gain speed. It’s good to have progression in the traditional one–dimensional (or three) sense of the word because it allows a rider to feel his or her way into the soul of the track. This varies from hill to hill. Having the option of a simple single pivot and top–drawer suspension as an alternative puts this team in an incredibly strong position equipment wise. Yeti acknowledge this, “Our World Cup team has been riding both models, the 303DG and 303R-DH depending on the course.” On the 303 you almost have to change your reference points on the track. It also encourages riding over the front more and in my case that’s a good thing. But the front of Sam’s bike was a touch too soft for me, so I upped spring rate. Without knowing the Fox guys upped me several rates to a yellow – probably because that’s what the figures say, but the reality was in fact a hard fork that upset the rear end quite badly. More food for thought. More time needed up front. On the rear Blenkinsop’s 450 weight spring worked perfectly with this slower rider on board. I still can’t get over how good the back of that bike was.

WEIGHTS AND MEASURES
Many were surprised at the 42.5lb billing of the Yeti. That’s pretty light for something so complex. Roughly within a pound of Minnaar, Peat and Atherton’s bikes in fact. At 46.75” on the wheelbase it’s within a quarter inch of Gee’s Commencal. We rode the bike with Blenky’s head angle preference, which was at its maximum of 64 degrees, dishing out a 14” bottom bracket. Half inch lower, a degree steeper as a comparison of the two large bikes we had that day. The chainstay was pretty standard at just over 17.5 inches. The most telling factor I found was the head angle measurement. When the digital angle finder is set on the fork leg very few bikes settle on a reading immediately (I’m guessing because it only measures to tenths then anything outside that is difficult). “64?” I shouted to Damien from Yeti? Bang on. A quality engineered bicycle.

CONCLUSION
You have to remember the environment that this test took place. It had a full factory presence and the bike had been fine tuned for a flat pedal rider with the ultimate in stiction free damping. And lucky to be presented with settings pretty much close to what I’d have used anyway on this day. Atherton’s Commencal (that I also rode) was just a touch on the hard side for me, with him being a faster rider of almost the same weight. Although it’s incredibly difficult to get a real feel for the damping on the back of the Yeti as you would on most bikes, it really is a bike for seriously pushing and pushing some more. Use the isolation of rear ground forces to your advantage. It’s only when you stop considering what the back is doing that you begin to let the Yeti roll. In this respect I’d also seriously think about relying entirely on the expertise of Fox to give you suspension setting information to a certain degree, or a lot of testing. The first place I’d head to with this bike would be big, fast, heavy hitting terrain and leave the nibbling around the lowland woods for the locals.

The 303 then, a specialist bike to a certain degree, a bike that anyone riding bigger faster Alpine terrain should consider. At £3499.00 it’s a lot of money, but the quality shows. One day it will probably become collectable, but for now it remains a weapon in Blenkinsop’s armoury. In fact looking at the race schedule, whoever rides on the Yeti team next year is a very lucky person. z
Price: Production 303 £3499
Evolution 0208 290 0807
www.yeticycles.com

After possibly the most successful ever race season for Yeti bikes, one in which Blenkinsop, Leov and Gwinn took the Yeti to increasingly higher places, the company has brought
to production the simpler of the two bikes, bikes that frequently gained incredible top ten places…the 303RDH. The aim was always to make something simpler and more affordable with the 303 RDH. They’ve done that, but most importantly the bike retains its Yeti charm. Great colour, quality finish and just that little tiny bit different. It’s lighter, involves less maintenance and has fewer bolts than the 303, but still gets the patented ‘Zero Loss’ involved in the game of keeping the wheels moving.

TECH
The bike is basically a single pivot (SP) coupled with a linear rail and push links. These additions, if you like, to the SP has two roles: 1) It controls the shock rate and 2) optimizes shock rate, lateral stiffness and keeps the weight low down. Yeti say that in order to achieve this kind of characteristic using only links there would be very long bits of metal involved. Just as important than those two features is the fact that it limits the rotation of the shock during a run and clearly leads to longer shock life and increased suspension efficiency. It’s a nice touch and hell, there’s no end of bike designs that give the modern day shock a right working over. Yeti have matched the instantaneous leverage ratio of the 303 DH and have also included a degree of adjustability into the design. 64–65 head angle, dependent on fork length obviously, and a 13.85” to 14.35” bottom bracket height. The adjustment is incredibly easy to use, but importantly, by using the linear rail it means there is hardly any change in travel or instantaneous leverage ratio with any changes made. Most riders would be looking to run the lower slacker geometry and not really bother with the higher and steeper mode. What we do like is the engineered feel of the Yeti, the engravings that tell the rider where they’re at on the hill in terms of how much suspension has been used. It’s also interesting that they have taken on the responsibility of a full build kit. Lets have a look what you’re getting: Custom Fox 40 with steel spring, Cane Creek S–3 headset, Truvativ Hussefelt cranks, stem, and bar, e.thirteen SRS guide, Sram X.9 gears and X.7 shifting, Sram 11-26 cassette and chain, Mavic Dee traks wheels, Maxxis Minion 2.5’s and Avid Elixir 203 brakes. Not the lightest, but a rugged and reliable build. That’s Yeti all over.

RIDER
Yeti have headed down the single pivot route with this bike, but have introduced a large degree of progression into the system by way of the link. Out on the track the bike moves across the ground particularly rapidly as the rider is taken care of in terms of small to medium root and rock with the super supple first quarter of the travel. Pass this mark and the progression moves into action enabling ultra fast exiting of berms and super quick pick up of the bike to avoid the bigger collisions. The large test bike had plenty of room to get really involved with pedalling should the need arise. Most of the angles all add up, as do most of Yeti’s varieties, and this large is a good size for riders around the six foot marker. The same as the 303. The adjustable head angle/bottom bracket set up is an excellent idea and very easy to use. However I feel the 64 head angle setting is the one best suited to this big travel bike and that should take preference in downhill situations. And when you are in those places the bike works well. On the flatter terrain and gentler sloping corners the relatively short back end, whilst silently going about its business, does tend to place the rider with a slightly further than needed rearward bias. I’m not entirely convinced on the proportions of the RDH front and rear on the large, but like I said, on the steep stuff that’s fine because you’d be buzzing the seat anyway, it’s just that
on the slacker stuff there needs to be a touch of counterbalancing to make sure enough weight is presented onto the bar and therefore tyre. what of the suspension? Quite definitely the best production Fox 40 fork I have ridden. And seeing as the build comes with this custom option that’s a huge plus in its favour. Out the back the Fox DHX is OK, and for the price I guess it works well enough, but I can’t help but feel there will be a touch of twitching in favour of the newer Fox unit that will undoubtedly surface at some point. And it feels like the transition in the progression might be a bit coarse at the moment for some riders. Particularly on extended big hitting root sections there could be a touch more in the middle so to speak. Difficult call this because on most tracks it ain’t even going to be an issue, but it might become quite bumpy on longer trips. That said it does allow the bike to maintain a reasonably stable geometry and great speed, which is always a good thing. That pretty much sums up the feeling out of the box really.

CONCLUSION
An interesting variation on the single pivot, the bike carries off the Yeti flag very well indeed. The adjustable geometry will be right up many people’s street and its speed potential on certain tracks needs no questioning. Whilst the change in wheelbase varies very little with changes made to head angle and bottom bracket is a good thing, I don’t feel the shape and angles are 100% just yet, but then it’s mighty close. The sizing on the large is pretty good for a six–foot rider, at an inch less on the wheelbase it will be interesting to how the medium works out on the hill. The fact that many team riders went large towards the end of the year might channel a lot of riders down the longer route. All in all though a very good bike, and with the close link to Fox I just can’t wait for the new DH damper unit to arrive to step things
up even further.
Price: Production 303 RDH Frame £1999
Complete £3650 (contact Evolution for full spec)
Contact: Evolution 0208 290 0807
www.yeticycles.com

If you want to run the hideous stem as supplied, or have no intention of ripping the living daylights out of the hideously thin tyres within seconds of hitting the green light, then all I can say is you are missing out. Big style. Evaluating and exploring the Rush more fully draws the rider up front. This the Rush 3 Carbon, is the only one in the range fitted with a ‘standard’ Fox fork and not Cannondale’s own Lefty. The longer, stiffer Fox 32, with 120mm travel, has played a huge part in allowing the name ‘hooligan’ to be etched deeply into the soul of this bike.

The forks make the Rush slacker, improved tyres give the bike traction and a short stem gives this bike a licence to play holy hell with anything in front of it, a slight touch of WRC mindset in a Millennium Nova shell possibly, but fun definitely. With the Fox, 60mm stem and Torro tyres allowing the metamorphosis from…well lets not even go there aye…we unleashed the beast onto some of the UK’s finest trail centres. One lap, flat out. With a touch of TLC the Rush will hit the mid–twenty mark weight wise. With a dose more fitness (lets not forget the engine room here) it’ll get to that first summit pretty sharpish. After all that’s what’s it’s made for. Yet it’s from this point on that is the make or break point for this bike. It depends on componentry. Remember this is a carbon fibre marathon bike closer to four than five (inches that is). Take into account that many forest centres have become eroded, washed out and tough. Maybe the long stem was a good idea after all, because as soon as you tip the nose of
this bike even mildly downslope it revs up.

On a well surfaced day, give it all its got in these places, on other more stormy days away from the tourist lines, well this is where the Rush needs that subtle touch, pick up and avoid the bigger collisions, seek the smooth.

This all sounds like the Rush needs a soft touch, a bit of lovin’ on the hills. Not in the slightest. What the Rush needs is to attack everything in its sight. It’s hard to think if there is another bike just over a hundred mil travel that even gets close to this bike on descents. ‘Hardtail Billy’ in the office once questioned the very idea of having such a bike like this in the magazine. “Should we be putting bikes not made to leave the ground in the magazine?” To quell these thoughts I booked an uplift, six riders of varying abilities, and roughly seven easy to medium difficulty downhill tracks to session.

The talk on the way to our office day out was mostly spent exploring various psychosis, Billy’s addiction to hardtails being one of them. Quickly identifying the fact that he is a) contrary and b) averse to the idea of expensive toys, our man of the web came around to the idea that indeed he did need softening up and to get away from the self harm he was inflicting on himself by year on year hardtail addiction. By dinnertime the Rush was all his. Selfishly diving into the front seat of the van enabling him to get first dibs on the bikes at the top of every run he was soon talking the talk, “It handles so well”… the Rush is inspirational.

So what makes this bike so good? Very simply it’s because it feels like it has more travel than it’s got. There’s obviously two ways to look at that. Firstly the mountainbike industry is awash with the incorrect assumption that (any) six inch bike will be better downhill and on rough ground than a four inch bike. Many people obviously need immunisation from this travel disease because this broad generalisation is simply not the case. Bikes that are fast at descending and fun get the fundamentals right. Key word in there being ‘fast’. Three key areas are geometry, suspension and design. But you cannot have one without the other to achieve a thoroughbred. For example there are many great 140mm travel bikes out there that have exceptional suspension, grip and design but are not fast bikes. On a more basic level there are bikes with great geometry and rubbish suspension and there are bikes with marvellous designs but pathetic angles.

Now if this is what 108mm of travel feels like then other companies have got it staggeringly wrong. To analyse why this might be the case and find out why the Rush is just so good is pretty much way out of the timescale lent to bike testing in this magazine. Single pivot with a firm compression tuned Fox, an aluminium swingarm paired with a carbon front end, that gives it ‘feel’, is a combination of other little things too. Flex could be one of them. But don’t be scared. Cannondale have got it right and that’s all that matters. Whilst the ‘Dale is great even with fast rolling Maxxis Crossmark tyres for example, Dirt’s Ed Haythornthwaite, long time Cannondale fanatic, pulled a masterstroke in fitting the large volume Bontrager Big Earl. This gave the bike an even better feel, more cushioning and an altogether ‘bigger’ feel to it.
CONCLUSION
Rip the bar and stem off, take them down the recycling centre. Lever the rubber off the rims and flush it down the toilet. Get a roll of Velcro and line the seat and
chain stays to protect your ears from noise pollution, add quality tyres, and an attacking stem. Head for the nearest slopes, aim and fire. One of the best handling mountainbikes ever made. Great wheelbase, head angle…stop it! Are we in some kind of rush? Definitely.