I rode the Santa Cruz Tall Boy and the Epic Marathon back to back at Interbike Demo Days 2009 and it immediately struck me that when questions are posed on internet forums across the nation (and beyond) as to what XC 29er FS to buy for fast trail work, any short list should include these two bikes. So now, after riding the Epic Marathon for quite some time, and recently the Tall Boy on the same trails I am quite familiar with, I have come to some conclusions. And interestingly enough the conclusions are very very close to my initial thoughts at Demo Days.

So to begin with, let’s take a look at the two bikes as far as parts selection, set-up, and weights and dimensions.

Parts:

The Epic is a nearly stock Marathon model, XL with only tire changes from the way it came out of the box with a $6100.00 retail price.. It is a rather impressive combo of 2×10 XX SRAM goodies, a custom Reba with carbon crown, etc. The Roval wheels are quite nice. Top end stuff here, but the parts do drive up the cost of the Marathon. And, there is a bit of resistance in the off road world to 2×10 as a viable mountain bike drive train for the average Joe, citing increased wear, finicky set –up and high replacement costs as an answer to a question they were not asking. However, my time on the 2×10 has been flawless and it makes other shifty stuff feel numb and slow in comparison. And as always, the good stuff always costs. It is also available as a frame/fork/seat post/front derailleur combo for $2800.00

The Tall Boy is a frame set retailing for $2400.00 that you can order parts kits for from Santa Cruz or an authorized bike shop can build up or whatever. In this case the XL Tall Boy I had to ride was a very decent mix of XT, Avid, DT Swiss, etc, with a Fox F29 Fit/RLC 15QR fork set to 100mm, the basic SPXxc kit,which should sell for $4700.00. It was a very smart build and typical of what an average buyer would spec for weekend duty, not racy weight weenie-ness.

Set-up: By set-up, I mean the overall feel of the combo of the parts and the bike as a whole. The Epic Marathon is a 100mm front and 90mm rear travel bike. It has a slightly narrow handlebar compared to my normal bikes I ride and the long top tube, 105mm stem, and low Q-Factor SRAM XX crank add up to give the bike a tucked in, stretched out and fast feeling ride. The Mini Brain and the highly tunable Reba make for a bike that immediately comes off as a fast pedaling, firmer feeling ride. It is not a quick steering bike despite the parts list, and Specialized chose to keep things manageable with a slightly slacker head tube angle.

The Tall Boy as I had it with 100mm front and rear travel, felt nearly equal to the Epic in overall feel, but had a wide handlebar that is more like I run on my single speed. Other than that, the relationships of bar height, reach, etc were very, very close between the two.

The tale of the scale/tape: I hung both bikes on the scale (with the same SPD pedals) and the Epic squeaked out a victory by 9 ounces. The Epic was 27lbs, 6oz and the Tall Boy was 27lbs 15oz. The Tall Boy begins with a weight advantage with the carbon frame, but the uber-parts selection of the Marathon overcomes that. The Tall Boy with a comparable parts build in XTR, etc would be lighter than the Epic for sure and would likely cost about the same. The dimensions of the two are very close. The Epic’s combo of angles and dimensions gives it a ¾” longer wheelbase, likely from the .25” longer TT, the steeper seat tube angle, and the slacker HT angle. BB heights, chain stay lengths, etc are all very close. I applaud the move across the 29er full suspension market toward shorter chain stay lengths. 18”-18.25” is an old and tired dimension in my opinion and the advertised 17.5”-17.75” range of these bikes is welcome.

OK. So what? In the end what really matters is how does the bike feel? What does one do better than or worse than the other? Well, first off let me say that we are in an era of really, really good 29er FS bikes. The sharp bike makers have got this pretty buttoned down now and either one of these choices are pretty stunning in comparison to what we had to choose from a couple of years ago. However there are enough things going on here to set the two bikes apart a bit. And so, let us get down to it and choose a winner.

Weight weenie award: Tall Boy The Epic’s M5 aluminum frame kicks it out of contention for the lightweight contender and it takes some very light parts to get at the 27 pound mark with an XL frame. The Tall Boy with a light build would likely be 1.5 pounds lighter, I would guess. It would cost ya’ though to get there. Carbon rules here.

Best XC Race Bike Award: Epic Marathon The Tall Boy pedals really well, is stiff at the BB and handles like a Ferrari. But the Epic comes from a lineage of winning XC bikes at the pro level and the Mini Brain, the Reba, the XX parts…mostly the Mini Brain…just make for the best FS pedaling experience I have felt if you value a responsive, fast pedaling, good handling race bike. Frankly I would not want either one of them for fast and smooth-ish pure XC racing. Give me a carbon 29er hard tail. But for endurance racing or rougher, longer XC contests it is plain to me that the Epic was bred for that stuff. Yes, it will be heavier than a Tall Boy has the potential to be, but weight is not everything.

Best Trail Bike Award: Tall Boy The Epic is a better trail bike then you would expect it to be. The 90mm of rear travel feels pretty good as long as hucking is not part of the plan. The handling is actually calmer on the Epic with the slacker HT angle compared to the Tall Boy. But, not everyone’s trail is the same. Some folks live in the land of fast and smooth and others in roots and rocks city. The Tall Boy wins this award due to its versatility. At 100mm of front travel, it handles like a sports car and would be killer weaving through the hardwoods (better cut down that handlebar though). Run a 120mm fork (something that would void the warranty on the Epic Marathon) on the Tall Boy and it would slow it down juuust a touch as far a steering response and give it a bigger bike feel for rougher trails. The Epic’s Brain shock, unless you tune it to be pretty much useless, will always add some degree of initial bump resistance. With the Mini Brain set for all around riding which for me is about 5-6 clicks out from fully ‘on’, plush is not its thing although it would not be right to call it harsh. Frankly I prefer that, but to be fair, the VPP of the Tall Boy is plusher and stays hooked up over all kinds of stuff regardless. In the end, versatility wins the day.

Best Value Award: Epic Marathon This will likely get the most raspberries from the crowds but I will say my piece about it. The Tall Boy is not cheap to begin with at $2400.00 for the frame only. A sharp build on it will be pricey but so is the Marathon. But there are things about the Marathon that carry it over the goal line in this contest. The heavier chassis brings with it an air of durability and stoutness that carbon has not obtained yet. It may some day, but not yet. I like my bikes to last a while and although the Tall Boy is coming from a reputable company, time will tell how it holds up long term. You could build a Tall Boy with XX as long as the narrow crank would fit, but the Reba with the carbon crown and titanium innards…the system of the Roval wheels ready for tubeless duty…if the Marathon meets your ideals it is an impressive package right out of the box.

Summation: All in all it comes down to what you value in a FS XC bike. The Tall Boy is plusher by design, more versatile, dead sexy looking, carbon light, and the VPP is magic when pedaling over techy sections of trail. The Epic is the King of overall pedaling response and taunts you to go faster and then some. If you like to pedal out of the saddle and feel like you are leaving nothing behind in wasted effort no FS bike can touch it (that I have ridden) and yet it will move very fast down the trail, rough or not. For where I live and what I value in a bike, I would choose the Epic. The single speeder in me loves to climb standing and the Epic rules there. I also have come to find that I do not really care for bikes that are very active/plush. I actually run my Lev 3.0 with Propedal on 90% of the time and I think it is fine. But, if I lived in an area where I spent more time pedaling up and over ledges and nasty stuff, roots, etc, I would sit down and be happy on the VPP linked, carbon beauty of a Tall Boy and never look back.

The overall winner in this contest is not Specialized or Santa Cruz, it is we, the buyers of this new crop of 29er FS bikes. The choices are many, the bikes are great. Choose your weapon.

This rendering shows the Vegas full suspension bike which will be made in a 26 inch wheeled version as well as 29.(image courtesy of Soul Cycles blog)

The design will be a 5.5 inch single pivot type design that features a low leverage ratio travel, will be Hammerschmidt compatible, have front derailleur routing, 10 and 12mm rear axle options, iGlide based scissor link, and will be fabricated from an Easton FS RAD tube set. The scissors linkage will help stabilize the swing arm laterally. All pivots for the scissor link will rotate on Igus “iGlide” bushings. The frames are said to be coming by early summer. Soul Cycles estimates that the price of a frame set with a Fox Shox RP-23 rear damper will come in at a sub-$1000.00 MSRP. No word on what the final geometry of the frame is as of now.

Stay tuned for any further developments.

(Note: All images courtesy of Soul Cycles blog)

Report by c_g

New offering on EURO Carbon 29er:

The PLASTIC ONE is a all out carbon frame executed in bare looks with only decals obscuring the carbon. Its strongly sloping top tube and clean lines say “racing” all over. The slight bend on the seat stays is supposed to make it more subtle.

Who said that 29er bikes all need to be originating in the US? Italian based GAS29 has quietly been a 29er exclusive company since 2006 (which in itself is already remarkable) and have just released news of their newest offering – an ultralight Carbon frame aptly called “PLASTIC ONE”.

This perspective gives a good impression of the elaborately manipulated top tube. Which is a bit conic towards the seat tube. The rear triangle is designed for maximum tire clearance

The frame is said to weigh at a respectable 1265 g. GAS29 is claiming to have designed the frame with a more than usual tire clearance, The PLASTIC ONE features all the up to date like post mount disc tabs, tapered head tube and BB30 bottom bracket cups.

The tubes are elaborately shaped and manipulated to create this magic ride of ultimate power transfer and subtlety. The bike will be clear coated only to show the sexy carbon look and keep the weight low. From the pictures the bikes looks nicely understated and fast.

The frame, just like all of GAS29er frames, is produced entirely in Italy. Up until now GAS29 has been focusing on the design and production of high quality steel frames (plus a tricky steel frame with a carbon seat tube) at affordable prices, so it is interesting to see them going off their beaten path and do an all-out, ultralight Carbon bike. The bike is said to be at production stage, with an estimated production / delivery time of 2- 4 weeks with direct distribution by GAS29 (info@gas29.com ).

The prices as communicated are at € 1765.- (in Europe incl. VAT) and $ 1735.- (for US excl. VAT), which is respectable considering the all Italian design and production. I am in discussions about what is going on and about an in depth look at the bike in the near future.

Prototype spy shot of yet another EURO 29er bike:

Yes, news just keep on coming and the 29er movement seems to be gaining momentum here in Europe even more. We have heard rumors of the Danish high end company PRONGHORN Racing prototyping their first 29er bike. The 2 year old company has made a name for themselves within racers circles with their efficient and advanced full suspension bikes (alloy and ultralight Carbon) and a 1-kg-Carbon-hard tail. PRONGHORN Racing claim for themselves to be the geekiest of bike enthusiasts and their bikes show it.

This frame features all the typical PRONGHORN Racing attributes like a horizontally mounted shock above the strongly curved head tube

Seems they have been tinkering with the 29er idea and are now ready now to step into prototyping. This first unofficial shot of a full suspension 29er has reached us by a perceptive reader, who has spotted the bike in northern Italy´s Lago de Garda, a real free ride and All Mountain mecca – thus the wide Velocity P35 rims, we conclude. The bike has one of those delightful (and expensive) DT-Swiss 29er fork mounted which is offered in 80 and 100 mm only; by this we assume the rear travel will be in that range as well.

The bike seems to be fairly large prototype executed in alloy. The horizontal shock is mounted above the top tube, a typical and easily recognized characteristic of all Pronghorn bikes. Usually their suspension bikes are working with a Horst link, while this bike showed a linked single-pivot design. Nothing on the details, the stage of testing or even production as of yet, but now that we have seen proof of this project be sure that we will inquire with the PRONGHRON folks to get more info.

Tubulars for 29er? First look of the GEAX Tubular 29er tires:

I have recently had a chance to inspect GEAX´s newest 29er offering in a pre-production version – the GEAX Tubular Saguaro 2.0 TUBULAR! I have ridden the 26er tubulars for some time last year (and liked them) and this newest child of theirs just makes me wonder what it will be like in a 29er version.

The tire shares most of the technology of its smaller brother like the sew-up, super subtle 290tpi casing, derived from years of experience with road tubulars, a flexible latex inner tube joined by the all round, fast rolling Saguaro thread. Thus one is bound to be fast!

This close up of the GEAX 29er tubulars are telling the true to size dimensions and that these tires are all hand made – a very elaborate process which is said to take upt to 8 h per tire to complete – and all that by mostly hand labor.

Other than the 26” version it had a thin black coating on the skin wall covering the usually skin wall cotton casing (generally a identification help of tubular tires), so maybe this was for disguise ? .

I took measurements of the tire and it came out exactly like labeled at 2.0 inches width (51.8 mm), featured an extra long valve stem (for who knows what aero carbon rims there might be coming.) The weight was a respectable 740 g, which confirms GEAX´s philosophy of rather getting the riding characteristics right than beating the “battle of the scale”.

I have not had the chance to ride on them to see if there is substance in the raving reviews its 26” version had received or how it translated into 29er riding. But we will see if GEAX got their priorities right – as we were given prospects for a set of tires for reviewing even before their official release date later this spring. So let´s hope for more first hand info on this cutting edge technology for 29er.

Tubular 29er rims:

Talking about tubulars the very next question should be: So what rims are there to choose from? There have always been several makes to choose from when you didn´t mind using road or cyclocross components but what is there that is MTB specific?

EDGE Composite´s project of 29er tubular rims has been rumored on this site before but no samples had been seen in public yet. Italy based rim manufacturer AMBROSIO is showing one such rim on their website (http://www.ambrosiospa.com/catalog_eng/index.php?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=62 ) but all attempts to finding out about availability have been without much success so far.

The newest rumor on this topic is that FRM / BOR, Germany will be doing a very limited production run of 29er tubular rims. These will most likely be derived from their existing ultralight XMD 308 tub rims which are only 310 g (with eyelets that is in 26”!). Assuming this origin, the target weight of the 29er rims is probably near 350 to 360 g in 29” size at 24 mm width, which should fit the GEAX 2.0 tire just fine. Yet another item indicating the pure breed racing genes of the tubular MTB philosophy. A combo of above mentioned components true racers´ delight. Prices will be in the range of it´s smaller brother. We will keep you informed if we hear more details on if and how you can get your hands on any of them. Rumor says production is not too far away so I try to be timely.

Keep the news coming and those big wheels spinning,
c_g

Rider Info: 6′2″, 170lbs, racer turned coach, 3-4 hour rides all the time, last bike was 1st 29″, can’t ever see going back to a 26″

A couple things to note. The first is that I am not riding the bike reviewed. And the second is I really like the VPP suspension design on both Santa Cruz and Intense bikes. Riding the Spyder 29er (with a 120 mm FOX Fork, to tame the steep head tube) built up as a 1×9 with a Mavic CrossMax wheel set. The bike was my favorite to date. There was only three things I thought could make it better. In order of importance they were, make it stiffer/less flexy, a squeak free bearing/linkage design and as always making it lighter never hurts. I remember listening to Mike Ferrentino a year ago tell me about the new Blur LT Carbon and how the frame was a pound lighter than the Aluminum Blur LT. The part that shocked me was when he said the frame went up 80% in stiffness. Think about it. That’s the kind of increase that makes a small bike manufacturer be able to give their bikes no rider weight limit and any fork option they want.

The day I heard they were going to make the Tallboy I placed my order. I knew this frame would have all the changes that I was looking for including the new bearing design that is smooth, silent and easy to fill with grease. Since this bike is not the same as the 27.5 lb one that is tested in this write up I thought it would be helpful if I gave you the lowdown on the bike build. I run Easton Carbon Downhill bars for the longer width 28″ and 180mm crankset for a little more leverage since I don’t have a granny ring and only run a single ring in the front. The Tallboy you see in the photo is 24.21 lbs on the scale at Bicycles Plus in Folsom. Quite a bit lighter than my Spyder 29er and sooo much stiffer, it has become my dream bike for all day rides. The fork is a custom tapered FOX FIT w/ 120mm, handlebar lockout and the 15QR axle for even more rigidity. It’s amazing how much more I use the lockout now that it is mounted next to my shifter. The brakes are Hope M4’s with a 200mm floating rotor on the front and a 160mm on the rear. They don’t even blink at Downieville. I love extra powerful brakes. The drive train in the front is XTR 180mm crankset w/ MRP guide and single ring, the rear is XX shifters, derailleur, cassette and chain. It’s currently running a Stans ZTR Race wheel set. Not what I planned but, they are really amazing for how light they are. My planned wheel set is the stiffest one I could dream up, a pair of EDGE Carbons that I have been waiting forever due to a pair of back ordered Chris King hubs (hopefully one day soon). I rode a pair of these on a Tallboy at Demo Day and knew that was the stiff I was looking for (amazing but, uber expensive). I have run a lot of tires on this bike and so far my two favorites have been 2.4 Racing Ralphs and 2.2 Geax Saguaros.

I’ve been only riding this bike for a short time but so far this one is incredible. Every time I throw a leg over it I smile and feel like I’m cheating.


Coach Mark
www.trojanmtbracing.com

Editor’s Note: Thanks to Mark and be sure to stay tuned on our upcoming story about the Trojan High School Mountain Bike Team.

Before I go any further, I’ll give the run down on the complete build:

Frame/Fork: Singular Cycles Gryphon, size large
Wheels; Industry 9 single speed hubs laced to DT Swiss TK 7.1 disc rims
Tires: Front- Geax Saguaro TNT/ Rear WTB Vulpine- both set up tubeless.
Crankset: White Industries ENO w/34T ring
Cog: Surly 17T with Surly spacer kit/lockring
Bottom Bracket: Shimano cartridge, 115mm spindle/ Phil Wood EBB insert.
Pedals: Shimano
Chain: SRAM PC-951
Brakes: Avid BB-7 mechanical disc brakes/ Avid Clean Sweep rotors. 185mm front/160mm rear
Stem: Thomson 100mm
Handlebar: Salsa Woodchipper 46cm
Brake Levers: Tektro RL 520
Tape: Double wrapped. Outer layer Deda.
Seatpost: Thompson
Saddle: Brooks Special B-17
Cables/Housing: Standard road brake cables w/Jagwire housing.

The build of a drop bar specific rig differs a bit in terms of set up from standard 29″ers and from drop bar conversions. Here the taller head tube allows for a set up that uses very few spacers and a standard stem. The caveat is that you will have a frame with a severely sloping top tube. (Otherwise the set up would require a severely sloping stem!) With a rigid fork layout and a lower than most bottom bracket, the Gryphon sets up nicely with the Woodchippers. I was able to easily match my desired saddle to grip area drop. The Gryphon is set up, as most off road drop bar rigs should be, with the primary hand position being the drops. (Note: I didn’t say you “never” use other positions. It is just that during most rough, technical riding, you’ll want to be in the most advantageous position- that being the drops.) Because the drop section is where you’ll be spending most of your time, you’ll want to make sure you can operate the brakes from the drops. Take a look at the following image to see how that looks.

Notice how the levers are positioned downward. This allows me to reach out my index finger while I grip the hook and easily grab the tip of the Tektro lever to operate the brakes. If the lever was higher, I would have to cock my wrist upwards, which would be very awkward and uncomfortable. Because the levers are positioned the way they are, you won’t have a super convenient hoods position, but as I said, it doesn’t matter, since you’ll be riding off road and in the drops most of the time. Not that you can’t cruise around on the hoods, or use the tops, because you can. It just isn’t the point of an off road drop set up, which we pointed out in our drop bars for off roading post here. I’ll post more on the off road drop bar subject coming up this week.

My impressions of the bike now are that it is very similar to the Fargo by Salsa Cycles. The important points where it varies from that drop bar specific rig is that the Singular can be set up as a single speed and the Singular is not a bike that bristles with braze ons like the Fargo does. No, the Singular makes do with only the two bottle mounts. There are subtle differences in the frame and fork from the Fargo though that I will detail in a later post. The frame seems to have decent clearance with the 2.1 inch Vulpine in back and plenty of room up front around the Geax Saguaro. The rest of the bike is pretty straight forward. Now it will be on to the handling department, and a First Impressions post will come in a couple of weeks.

Note: This product was provided to Twenty Nine Inches at no charge for reviewing. We are not being paid or bribed for this review. We will give our honest opinion or thoughts through out.

Grannygear: 2.2″ Control Purgatory- Set up tubeless on Stan’s Flow rims.
2.2″ S-Works Puragatory- Set up with tubes on DT Swiss TK 7.1 rims.

My favorite tire so far of the 29er line-up from Specialized have been the Captains, both in a 2.0 and 2.2, usually the Control version. They are a very good all around tire, roll fast, and have a nice sized casing on them. They are not a mud tire or loose surface tire per se, although they are really pretty good everywhere, so last winter I was expecting the Specialized Eskars to be the tire I might run in looser or muddier soils. However I never quite got along with the Eskar. I did not like the lack of transitional knobs and the way it could not make up its mind when cornering on hard surfaces. If it was really loose and chunky, they were great. As well, they rolled slowly.

Last season I ran Continental Mtn King 2.4s on the SS for winter thru spring and loved them, even though they are a slow rolling tire on hard surfaces. When things dried out I loved them less as the large side knobs flexed around and squirmed a bit. Still, they were awesome in the muck.

The Purgatories are advertised as a loose surface tire and that gave me hope for rubber that I could run from winter through spring to deal with the rainy season and yet still feel good about them when things dried out in between storms. Along those thoughts, I mounted up the S Works version front and rear in a 2.2 size on the SS Jabberwocky with tubes, replacing a set of 2.0 rear and 2.2 front Captain Controls. The first ride was a mud fest that began with a 3 or 4 mile paved climb on an old Water and Power road and then got into some huge sections of slop mixed with dry dirt roads. The Purgatories have a round profile and turn/steer in a nicely neutral way. It is my impression that they have more/smaller knobs then the Eskars, still with lots of space in between, and less of a gap in the transition to the shoulder of the tire. Rolling on the pavement, I did not feel at all like I was pedaling a 4×4 truck tire, something the Eskar reminded me of. They are pretty quiet and roll OK, but not as fast as the Captains.

My riding buddy was running the same sized Captain combo on his Selma that I had been running on the Jabber, so it was interesting to see that when the climbs got really tough and loose/wet, I was able to stay hooked up better than the Captain on his Selma. Not a huge difference, but some. The Purgatories seemed to clean out well and drive nicely in the goop. On the downhill coast-fest back to the truck, the Captains on the Selma would pull away.

Following that, I mounted a set of 2.2 Purgatory Controls tubeless on the Epic Marathon’s Roval wheels. Like every 2Bliss tire I have tried they aired up with a floor pump and never weeped a bit of Caffe Latex sealant out of the beads or sidewalls. 2Bliss rocks!

I now have about 12 hours of riding the Purgatories through some of the wettest weather in recent memory as one storm after another has rolled through So Cal. They have been nothing but solid performers and I have no complaints. Now, keep in mind I am no expert on mud tires, so I will let Guitar Ted see what he thinks of the 2.4s when he gets into the Mid West mud that is coming with the snow melt. But I am going to leave these on through spring. To be fair, we get into ‘Hero Dirt’ in the winter/spring when we transition from wet to dry, so any tire feels super then. But, so far they have showed no bad traits on the hard pack when things have dried out for a ride or two, so I am hoping I can run them into mid spring at least and be happy. I will let ya’ know. (by the way, here are the measurements for these two tires: Measured a true 2.2″ knob to knob on the Roval rims tubeless, 2.15″ on the DT Swiss 7.1 rims with tubes.)

Guitar Ted: 2.4″ Control Purgatory- Set up tubeless on Gordo rims.

The tires seem to be measuring up to stated widths. The 2.4″er is measuring out at a casing width of 60.8mm before any riding has been done on it. I expect that it will stretch after riding at least another millimeter. So with being just a smidgen under 2.4 inches already, this tire should easily make it over 2.4 inches once ridden. Of course, the Gordo rim at 35mm wide certainly helps this. Still, with several other stated 2.4 inch tires coming in at well under the stated width upon mounting, the Purgatory 2.4″ tire is a pleasant surprise. Volume seems about on par with a Maxxis Ardent 2.4 incher, and better than the Mountain King and Rampage tires. Knob to knob outer width is actually somewhat less at 60.4mm on the Purgatory. This suggests that perhaps a 28mm wide rim would be better for sidewall protection in rocky areas, since the narrower rim would pull in the sidewalls just a bit, keeping them from being the widest part of the tire.

I noticed that the lower the pressure got, the narrower these tires would measure up. I got my widest measurements at 30 psi. This sensitivity to pressure may not be a big deal, but I noticed it. Until the trails clear up a bit more, I won’t have any performance data to report, but that time is coming soon. First up will be a test of mud performance. I’ll post a separate update on the 2.4″er coming in a couple of weeks.

Look for a Mid Term report following that in about a month.

Note: These products were provided to Twenty Nine Inches at no charge for reviewing. We are not being paid or bribed for this review. We will give our honest opinion or thoughts through out.

This is in no way an unabridged version of drop bar knowledge for off road bikes, but hopefully these posts will clear up a few things in regards to this odd set up that seems to be gaining more fans these days. With that let’s take a look at the “why” of drop bars for off road use.

The Beginnings: The drop bar can be traced backwards all the way through the 20th century to its roots in the late 19th century. Practically since the advent of the “safety” bicycle, some sort of curved, down turned, swept back bar has been employed by cyclists. Of course, two things were going on the accelerated the evolution of handle bar design: Rough roads and competition. Pavement was scarce in the early days and the competitive cyclist often found themselves traversing rough dirt and stone roads for hours at a time. This necessitated the use of a bar that would allow a rider to have a secure grip for the rougher hits and a bar that would allow some changes in grip positions without loss of control. The drop bar evolved to accommodate these needs. As roads became smoother, and courses not so long, the drop bar has further evolved to become something that fills other needs for the professional racers and drop bar design has morphed in response. The main feature of today’s drop bar is the accommodation to riders for a primary position on the hoods. The drop section being relegated to being used mostly to gain maximum aerodynamic advantages in sprints and windy stages of road events. This is a result of smooth roads and component “advancements” and is a far cry from what drop bars were originally intended for.

Where The Pavement Ends: Road racing has taken drop bar design in a radical direction from where it had been for many years. However; there still are many riders that don’t race on smooth pavement, but are traversing pot holed back roads and tracks with more “traditional” drop bars. These riders are still using drop bars for their original intentions, to secure a better grip in rougher conditions, to better use their upper body and arms as “shock absorbers”, and for multiple hand positions with a bit of an aero advantage thrown in for good measure. Early off road adventurers often used road bikes with drop bars before the advent of the modern mountain bike in the late 70’s. These off road drop bar “mountain bikers’ included folks like Tom Ritchey, and most notably for our discussion, Charlie Cunningham.

Charlie Cunningham took a very different path towards the mountain bike than most of the Marin group that had such a huge influence on later mountain biking. Charlie realized that drop bars were beneficial for several ergonomic and performance reasons, but ever the tinkerer, he saw a better way to design a bar for single track pursuits. This led him to modify old Cinelli road bars by giving them “flare” and “sweep” to allow for wrist and fore arm clearance while in the drops and to give better leverage in technical terrain. This ultimately led to full production bars by WTB, a company that Charlie helped found.

Other mountain bikers took notice and soon a drop bar craze hit mountain biking by the late 80’s. You can read an excellent article penned by Mike Varley from that time period here. In the article, Mike explains many of the benefits of using a drop bar off road which were derived from the early road racers through to the early pioneering mountain bikers who were adapting all sorts of technologies to this “new” sport of mountain biking. Set up tips are also laid out, many of the basics of which still apply to today’s drop bar set ups.

With the focus on weight and professional XC type racing in the early 90’s, drop bar mountain biking faded, and by the turn of the century had all but faded into obscurity. WTB had stopped making the off road “dirt drop”, and more extreme types of cycling off road such as “Free” riding and “all mountain biking” had captured the imagination of mountain bikers. However; something else was bubbling to the surface, that in my opinion, helped bring off road drop bars back in front of the eyes of many mountain bikers today. That was the rise of the 29″er.

Modern Off Road Drop Bars And 29″ers: I won’t try to explain “why” 29″er freaks have been so attracted to “alt” bars, but I do know that they have been and still are. In fact, there was a time when deriders of the big wheels would accuse fans of 29″ers of also being in with the “weird handle bar” group. At any rate, examples of WTB’s old off road drop bar design were fetching exorbitant prices in on-line auctions and several riders were scrambling after the beat up old examples of these whenever they turned up. This got the attention of Brant Richards, then of On One. He collaborated with well known off road drop bar user, Don Person, aka Shiggy, and developed the Midge Bar. This more than anything re-invigorated off road drop bar use and spawned the “copy-cat” bar, the Origin 8 “Gary Bar”. Off road drop bar experimentation was on!

When the Midge Bar came out, another student of off road drop bar use, Matt Chester, penned this review of the Midge Bar. If you read this review carefully, you will glean out several reasons why off road drop bar use is attractive to some riders, and you will see some set up cues as well. Matt also penned an article for the web-zine 63XC on the Midge, but in this piece Matt details out the historical use of drop bars and the “why” in more detail than I have here. (Recommended reading!) You’ll find much the same reasoning, only in a somewhat humorous web-exchange between a doubter and a fan of off road drops, on Shiggy’s drop bar page. There is also a great animated gif showing the multiple hand positions on tap for the off road drop bar user.

Re-cap: So we have seen a bit of the historical and modern influences on drop bar designs for off roading. We have some references for the physical and performance benefits. We also see where a connection to the modern 29″er came in and helped push off road drop bars back into the light of modern day mountain biking’s spotlight. While it remains a tiny corner of the mountain bike world as a whole, bicycles like the Salsa Cycles Fargo and the Singular Cycles Gryphon will no doubt push the popularity of off road drops even further along. I’ll keep on saying it: Off road drop bars are not for every one, but if you take the time to consider the claims, you just might find it may make sense for you.

Next: A closer look at set up and some drawbacks to using drops off road.

The titanium frame will feature Ragley’s signature “Three Finger” drive side chain stay treatment along with a slightly curved seat tube for better tire clearance and a vertically ovalized down tube junction with the head tube. Lynskey Performance sliding drop outs will be used to allow for a geared or single speed set up.

Three sizes will be made available: 16″, 18″, and a 20″. Top tube size for the three sizes are as follows: 23.5″, 24″, and 24.5″. Head tube angle will be 72 degrees, seat tube angle is 73 degrees. MSRP in the U.S. is said to be approximately $1526.00. Word is that the frames are to be ready to go in a “couple weeks”. Brant Richards also hints here that a steel and aluminum version of this frame may follow.

Stay tuned for an Out Of The Box post coming soon where the weight, mounting method, and measurements for our sample will be given.

Note: The reviewed products were provided to Twenty Nine Inches at no charge for review. I was not paid or bribed for this review. I will give/gave my honest opinion or thoughts through out

The Hayes Bicycle Group is pleased to announce the official release of the 2010 Manitou Dorado Pro.

The Dorado Pro features 7050 aluminum legs and utilizes the same premium internals as the Dorado MRD carbon version. With premium durability, the Dorado Pro maintains its World Cup DH race pedigree. However, it’s not a typical DH race fork anymore. With the added strength of the 7050 aluminum legs, it becomes a very capable park, free-ride and big mountain fork. Along with proven TPC+ damping, the fork has plush top-out coupled with a unique hydraulic bottoming ramp-up that makes the fork feel bottomless.

Updates for 2010 include an improved two-chamber, large-volume, low-pressure air spring which simplifies set-up and optimizes fork performance. The air spring pressure is now tuned by using a single valve at the top of the fork eliminating the second valve at the bottom of the leg. The pressure in the two chambers auto-equalizes when a shock pump is connected offering ease of set up by adding and/or bleeding off air from the top. Also, all mount hardware features high grade bolts with deep hex broaches offering an improved tool inter-face, and the brake line guide has been improved for optimum routing.

Spec:

Weight: 6.55lbs

Travel: 180mm/203mm for 26”

175mm for 29”

Chassis: Alloy Legs & Crown

Spring: Dual Air Chamber

Damper: TPC+

Hub: 20mm Hex Lock

The 2010 Dorado Pro was designed and tested in California and North Vancouver and is handmade in our Milwaukee, Wisconsin, facility. The Hayes Bicycle Group will continue to offer a one-year service program which allows riders to return their fork for factory service and inspection at no charge (specific rules apply to factory service). All race support at the HBG race truck will remain free of charge as we continue to support race teams, free riders and privateers. MSRP for the Dorado Pro in 26” is $1,749 and $1,799 for the 29er version. For more Manitou suspension fork information, see their site here.