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Custom Mondraker RAZE Carbon Build

Custom Mondraker RAZE Carbon Complete

Enjoy some pics of this banging Custom Mondraker RAZE Carbon Complete.

The RAZE is a 130mm travel frame and pairs with 150mm or 160mm fork options depending on your terrain and geometry preference.

The 150mm stock setup gives the RAZE a quick handling feel comfortable in a wide range of terrain and into the enduro category. Adding the additional 10mm of fork travel gives the bike a little bit more “punch” in the enduro terrain by slightly slackening the headtube angle, raising the bottom bracket a touch as well as adding a little more travel for those big moments.

Custom Mondraker RAZE Carbon Pics

Mondraker RAZE Carbon with XX1 AXS and AbsoluteBlack Oval Chainring

This rider went with the SRAM AXS wireless setup, subtracting one cable from the cockpit for an even cleaner look and crisp performance.

Cable routing is done through the headtube for an ultra modern look on the Mondraker lineup.

An AbsoluteBlack oval chainring compliments the 52t Eagle cassette.

SRAM XX1 AXS on Mondraker Raze Carbon

Mondraker’s Zero Suspension mounts both upper and lower shock points to the linkage creating a floating suspension that is very compliant while still being notably efficient.

The FOX DPS rear shock provides riders volume tuning as well as low and high speed compression settings and rebound to fine tune its performance.

ONYX hubs on custom wheels by BikeCo on Mondraker RAZE Complete

ONYX silent, instant engagement hubs are seen on more and more builds.

Available in a variety of colors and finishes to compliment your build, this build features my very favorite option. Blacked out!

Mondraker RAZE Cockpit and Headtube

This Mondraker RAZE weighed in at 28 lbs! Impressive for a bike comfortable well into enduro level terrain. Note the EXO+ front tire as well…

Shopping the Best in MTB

Are you in the market for a 2022 Mondraker? or Ibis or Yeti? At BikeCo.com we have #thebestinMTB : products and support staff to keep you dialed in.

Mondraker RAZE headtube, downtube and toptube junction

Shop In-Stock MTB  and eMTB from Ibis, Mondraker and Yeti here!

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4 Common Reasons Your MTB Shock is Losing Air

4 Common Reasons your shock is losing air

You’ll hear this a lot from MTB and eMTB riders: my shock (or fork) is losing air. Every time I check it it’s lower than I left it.

Well there are a few reasons that a functioning shock will show lower PSI.

Are you Pre-Charging your Pump?

The most common is not pre-charging the pump line prior threading the pump on and opening the Schrader valve.

This one is pretty easy to explain – the gauge is located at the end of a volume of hose. If you do not pre-charge that hose to approximately what you have in the shock when you open the Schrader valve to your air spring you increase the volume of the main chamber which will lower the overall PSI.

The smaller the suspension’s main chamber the more dramatic the PSI drop will be.

That’s why it’s a good idea to pre-charge your suspension pump. Thread the pump on until it makes a seal with the shock but hasn’t yet opened the valve.

Charge the pump to approximately what is in the main chamber.

Finish threading the pump onto the fork or shock. It will show a more accurate pressure of the main air spring as it doesn’t have the volume loss as a non-charged pump.

Like I mentioned this is the most common cause for “air loss” in suspension. It is seen in both the fork and rear shock.

Did You Cycle the Shock and Charge the Negative Air Chamber?

Another common cause for lower pressure, particularly in rear shocks, is setting the pressure and not charging the negative air chamber.

This is typically seen when large PSI jumps are made in the shock such as a brand new piece of equipment.

What does it look like? You set the pressure to the suggested PSI. You jump on the bike and go ride. Bike feels soft. You check the air and it’s dropped from the beginning of your pedal.

Unlike most forks, which usually charge the negative air chamber at full extension and thus see less of this, your rear shock most likely has an air divot to charge the negative chamber somewhere a bit into the stroke.

That means it takes a few compressions of the suspension to engage the negative air chamber. And once the piston allows the negative air chamber to fill it effectively drops the volume of the main chamber. Then when the shock extends and you check the PSI it will be lower.

It is a good practice to give a rear shock a few bounces during setup, especially when large PSI changes are made to ensure that the negative air chamber has charged and the shock will have the support you expect.

Does it Need Seals? Or Just Had Seals Installed?

It is actually more rare for a shock to be truly bleeding off PSI than for one of the above two to be the culprit on new suspension.

As the suspension ages seals may degrade and can be the cause of air loss. Suspension manufacturers have suggested service intervals based on hours of operation, but if your more aggressive on your equipment, such as a racer, you may find that shortening the service window keeps your bike running smoothly.

Some common causes of premature seal wear include dirt ingress, which is why it is so important to keep your stanchions as clean as you can before each ride. The less dirt the suspension pulls into the seals the less abuse on the seals, shafts, etc is incurred.

Occasionally a recently serviced fork or shock may ‘roll’ a seal or have been nicked during installation. Typically you’ll find this out when you’re setting back up for your ride or on your first ride. This is very rare on a professional level as the quality control of parts and service techniques eliminates the chance for most of this. But, there’s typically a handful of small to medium seals which make create an air-tight chamber and if one of them isn’t working you might have a slow leak.

Dirty or loose Schrader valves can cause air loss, although most shocks have a decently sealed cap these days.

Extreme temperature or altitude changes will effect your PSI and should be accommodated for. Check your sag before your chair lift day at altitude!

A less common cause, but it is out there: chemical degradation. Seal materials are susceptible to being attacked by other chemicals – so be aware of what comes in contact with your suspension.

A typical way to test for faulty seals is to set the shock at a test pressure, say 100psi, and allow it to sit overnight. Pre-charge a pump and check the pressure. A notable drop, ie more than might be expected from the pump increasing the main chamber volume, is likely worth an additional look.

Another test, although I must disclaim this one a bit, is to submerge the shock and watch for bubbles. I try to avoid this option as much as possible personally as I find it has to be a pretty decent leak for me it to be losing air visibly and can tend to be detected using the overnight pressure test. If it is leaking and pulls water in you’re going to have remove the water and any contaminated oil or grease since you don’t want water diluting or boiling in your suspension’s air chamber.

Very Rare PSI Loss Causes

The least common cause of air loss would be a crack or micro-crack in a casting. This can be a hard one to determine, particularly as it may require the shock to cycle and load up before the pressure rises enough to “open” the crack and vent air pressure.

Occasionally seals will have a similar end of service life where the air loss is occurring as the PSI increases, but, it’s fairly uncommon.

 

In conclusion, most of the air loss attributed to new or newly serviced product can be traced back to the pump increasing the volume, and thus lowering the pressure or in the case of rear shocks the negative air chamber charging.

If you’re using good practices with your setup and still noting air loss the next step is most likely to do a seal service, especially if the shock is near the service window or if its’ been used in extreme conditions.

If the new seals aren’t helping it’s probably worth digging a little deeper and possibly using a professional resource to help you locate the issue.

Local or ride in the South Orange County area? Come by and have our team service or tune your suspension. We are located at 21098 Bake Parkway #112 in Lake Forest near the corner of Bake and Trabuco.

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Spec Swaps Performance or Preference: Ibis Ripmo AF Deore Build

Ibis ripmo af performance or preferance

We’re going to take a quick look at the Ibis Ripmo AF Deore build spec. What stands out? What bits are commonly swapped? What would we swap out if we were building it ourselves? Let’s jump right in.

Ibis Ripmo AF Deore Build

Aluminum frame 29” Enduro bike, that has enough playfulness in its personality to be fun on trail days even without the big enduro terrain or speed.

147mm of rear travel with a 160mm fork.

The Deore build is the entry level complete which puts you in a top tier brand, with top tier suspension design for under $4k ($3899 MSRP).

Spec Swaps: Performance or Preference?

Let’s go through the spec part by part. We’ll highlight some of the real gems and suggest some areas where riders might commonly look to swap a part or two.

OK, so  we’re going to keep it reasonable in the budget (like I’m not going to saw I’m swapping all the bits into a 12k bike – that’s unreasonable). But let’s figure I have a little bit of budget to dial in my bike and I can swap some of the parts back at time of purchase (we do it all the time here at BikeCo)

DW Suspension. Confident in a white range of terrain. DW bikes pedal great, and the latest version is efficient deep into the travel making it a fun bike for tricky climbs that need both power and travel. Most notable on the Ibis DW bikes is the tremendous traction and ability to “monster truck” if you get into terrain a bit above your paygrade so to speak.

Wheels: Seldom swapped on this build
Ibis S35 Aluminum with Ibis Hubs. Ibis makes a nice wheel. The 35mm internal width provides a lot of volume for 2.4 to 2.6” tires. This additional volume helps generate a bit more damping through the tire sidewall which translates into additional grip. Riders may look at upgraded wheels if it’s a special build and they prefer another brand or color such as the Industry Nine lineup or if they are more comfortable on slightly narrower rims like the 29mm and 30mm options.

Tires: If swapped it’s typically a preference for a faster rolling rear Maxxis tire.
Assegai EXO+ 2.5 front and rear. Aggressive tires for aggressive riding! One of the most common areas that we swap as tire personality is very important to how your bike feels on trail. Most often a DHR II goes in the rear and pairs well with the Assegai. Some riders prefer DHF DHR II and we can make that swap for you as well.

Brakes: If swapped its a preference, and if riders don’t prefer Shimano they almost 100% go to Magura MT5 on this bike.
Deore M6120 4 piston. Shimano and Magura brakes are the two most popular on our builds. Shimano riders prefer the additional snap as the power comes on. The Deore M6120 come from a long line of Shimano brakes that work and do all the things Shimano brakes do! A common swap for the Deore 4 piston brakes is to go to the Magura MT5. This is done for brake feel preference as they have similar total power, consistency and reliability.

Brake Rotors: Seldom changed on this build.
SM-RT66. Believe it or not this is the preferred Shimano rotor at BikeCo. Less exotic than the Ice Tech in material and manufacturing it tends to be more robust and slower wearing.

Cranks: Seldom changed on this build.
Deore M6100. The high school economics teacher might not believe it, but trickle down is real in MTB components. Even entry level cranks are getting lighter, better looking and stiffer.

Drivetrain: Seldom changed on this build.
Deore M6100 12sp Shimano with 51t cassette. Shimano’s drivetrains are the smoothest on the market. They shift gears nearly effortlessly with a very sophisticated feel even in the Deore lineup. To keep your Shimano drivetrain performing at its best its important to regularly wipe the dirt and debris from the chain, pulley wheels, chain ring and cassette and keep it properly lubed.

Headset: Seldom changed on this build.
Cane Creek 40. The 40 is a classic on bikes from Deore all the way to X01 builds. Robust and easy to maintain a properly installed Cane Creek 40 will give you crisp, quiet performance for a long time.

Handlebar and Stem: Performance change. Many riders upgrade to 35mm diameter carbon bars with an appropriate stem at time of purchase.
Ibis Alloy. For an aluminum bar Ibis’ decision to stay 31.8mm helped to minimize some of the trail input going straight into your hands. It’s a well designed, good functioning setup. But, it’s one of the most often upgraded aspects of the Ripmo AF Deore build. Why? Carbon handlebars will give even more damping improving your trail feel and grip while minimizing arm pump or hand stress.

Grips: Preference swap if swapped
Lizard Skin Charger. Grips are really personal. The Chargers are a good starting point if you’re new to the sport – you’re not going to hate them. If you already know what you like though this is another common place for swaps.

Seatpost:  Seldom changed on this build.
KS Rage-I Again, the trickle down means even the “basic” seatposts these days work well. With L and XL spec’d with 170mm travel seatposts and M with 150mm the Ripmo AF Deore accommodates riders of different body types.

Saddle: Preference swap if changed, but one of THE BEST stock saddle options on the market.
WTB Silverado 142. Like grips, saddle choice is really personal. The WTB Silverado is probably one of the most widely fitting saddles on the market. Ibis hasn’t picked a strange saddle to save a buck or two at the cost of you never wanting to really ride it… With the Silverado riders have a proper size and shape MTB saddle for the type of riding the Ripmo AF is designed for.

 

Shop In-Stock Ripmo AF as well other Ibis, Mondraker and Yeti Completes at BikeCo.com!

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Extended First Ride: Mondraker FOXY Carbon Review

Extended First Ride Mondraker FOXY Carbon Review

Well, after about 4 years I changed bikes this week. I demo-ed the aluminum Mondraker FOXY and decided the carbon version, with suspension and brakes I liked would be a good fit. So far, I’ve been blown away with how right that is. Here we go with an Extended First Ride: Mondraker FOXY Carbon Review.

To start, if you want to learn a more about the spec of my build you can link over to a post which details some of the “whys” each part ended up on my personal bike.

As a note, I purchase all my product. You can see where I see value. Great performance on budget bits (like Magura MT5 brakes – love em, they work great and they save $) means I have more budget on parts I’m willing to go all in for performance (suspension for example).

2022 Mondraker FOXY Carbon RR Review

What’s an Extended First Ride?

Sounds a corporate-ese right?

This Mondraker FOXY review isn’t a two hour spin and then onto something else. Getting miles in different terrain over a few days allows minor adjustments and a much better understanding of the bikes finite details.

Mondraker FOXY Carbon Review

I’ll go over quick pre-ride notes, thoughts on the trail performance as well as some product specific insight on bits that are new to me on a personal or extended test bike.

FOXY, Before the Ride

Mondraker Fit: Forward Geometry

I wanted to go a little longer than my previous SB130 (Large). Since the FOXY has a longer reach and slightly taller stack per size I stayed in the Large, but it hit my goal of being slightly longer.

Between the stem stack and 40mm bars I was able to get my hands up a bit more which I’m hoping will help my lower back on long or technical climbs.

I centered the saddle on the rails and haven’t changed it yet. It’s a comfortable position even with long legs for my height.

I don’t do a lot of cockpit fine tuning as I need my hands into a pretty specific area to help my lower back uphill. I’ll accommodate as needed downhill to make sure I feel as good as possible uphill… Like my grandma said, getting old isn’t for sissies.

Ohlins Suspension Setup

My  first ride was chasing the sun. Luckily, Ohlins has pretty good setup data available. I grabbed their settings and headed off.

The rear shock felt close. Maybe one click here and one click there on the first day to feel the difference.

In the front, the RXF M.2 fork is plush. It felt a bit linear as I prefer more ramp and support so I ended up cranking as much compression into it as possible on the first ride.

2022 Mondraker FOXY First Ride Review

On Trail

Riding within your limits is important. Even more on a bike that you are unfamiliar with. I kept the bike well within my ability since my first ride was at dusk and alone.

My first lap was an easy loop near work in Whiting Ranch. It’s a flowy, fun network, close enough to the shop I can ride before or after the day easily. Nothing burly. Prior to my earlier demo ride I was a little nervous that the FOXY would feel “big” or “numb” there. The aluminum demo bike felt OK there so I surmised that the carbon bike with better suspension would improve that. It did.

Since it’s a common lap it’s easy to look for a particular setup window: I want the bike to have traction into the corners and pop out. Rear suspension should be lively enough to pump the trail with notable effect, ie speed increase. Similarly, the fork should have enough support to keep the bike changing direction or floating over terrain and not “diving into” pockets on corners or when the trail comes back up from a hole.

The FOXY’s rear end felt close off the bat. It lacked a touch of support and sat a little deep into the direction changes, but, for a first ride it was well within an expected performance range. Where it gave up a little in support the traction was amazing.

The 36 RXF fork was more linear that I liked, kind of right on the edge of the range of ‘ya, I can get this fixed’. But I knew the Ohlins was going to have a more linear feel and it was a first drop. So, nothing to worry about just yet.

While the bike wasn’t quite as lively as I would consider perfect I wasn’t worried about getting it into the range. The combination of compression controls, ramp up chamber in the fork and volume spacers in the rear shock gave me options to fine tune the pop on the bike.

One thing I took clearly from the first ride on the FOXY: the extra grip was notable. This is one planted bike. More than once where the FOXY held a tighter line than I expected and I ended up handlebars, arms and one time maybe face into the bushes on the inside of a corner.

I was most pleased with how lively the 150mm travel Zero Suspension rides. I had some reservations that the RAZE was a bike I would like better with slightly less travel. Not all of my rides need the FOXY’s full travel, but it’s a lively bike and lets me keep something in the tank for bigger days.

When I demo’d the FOXY I found it climbed much better than I forecast. Even the aluminum demo felt good downhill. The carbon FOXY, with brakes that I had faith in and suspension with more compression support would take the ride to the next level. And it did.

Extending the First Ride Review

Writing on a single ride admittedly creates a situation where you have to extrapolate some data based on previous experience rather than actual product experience. To have a more substantial and credible post I wanted a few more rides on the FOXY.

My next ride was in Mission Trails in San Diego. This is a park not too far from my house. A little steeper and burlier terrain in parts than Whiting, but its still a fun ‘by yourself’ pedal. BTW, I don’t see a reason to test in conditions that push you to the point you can’t really understand what’s happening, like if my first ride was in the burliest terrain I can handle what am I going to write competently?

22 Mondraker FOXY Carbon Review

Climbing the Mondraker FOXY

As always, I have to disclaim this: I am not a good climber. Not my forte nor my priority. So, most of you can out climb me. I get uphill to ride down – and as long as I eventually get up there I’m quite pleased hahaha…

What am I looking for when climbing for a competent write-up? Traction and acceleration. Those two things I can feel and translate to other riders. As far as churning your legs faster and further? You got that I’m sure!

Mission Trails offers sections to feel how a bike tracks around switchbacks, handles loose rocks and gets over protruding rocks.

Switchbacks

The Mondraker tracked pretty well, around even tight switchbacks. I was intrigued to see how the slacker headtube angle compared to my previous SB130 TLR would behave. Pretty close, and without the four years of experience on the bike too…

On the tightest radius corners I found myself letting the front end get light and driving around off the back wheel. Concentrating and keeping the rear wheel under power when I get tired is difficult. I tend to just bash things and stay under power. A stronger rider likely would kind of half stand to pedal and push the front end down around the corner. The survival pedal-er, me, needs to keep the momentum going or the pedals stop and it’s foot down. This leads to staying in a more singular position and letting the front end go light and kind of body-englishing it around. Something I could work on for sure. Bike is more competent than me in this situation.

I’ll touch again on climbing switchbacks a bit later.

Climbing Rocks and Baby Heads

The FOXY climbed very sure footed in loose rocks. Zero Suspension didn’t suffer wheel spin even as the rocks moved under the power.

It behaved even better in the larger protruding rock sections. During a test ride I try to use a combination of lines that I know as well as off-line bizarre routes to see if the bike wants to behave or not. In both scenarios the FOXY was extremely competent and predictable.

One of the most notable things, the Mondraker, being so sure footed, keeps the rear tire in line very well. Compared to bikes that can lose the read end under power and kind of fish-tail around the Mondraker overall kept its heading well. This is beneficial as it requires less body-english to keep the bike moving forward.

My favorite aspect climbing was how the bike feels like it ‘crawls’ up rocks.

Previous bikes I’ve had seem to push ‘back’ when approaching some of the lines in Mission Trails. As an example, you’d almost have to pedal into the section, start up the rocks, the suspension would come back and as a rider you’d push the bike back forward to continue. It takes much more energy and thought (two things I might not have a lot of climbing admittedly).

The FOXY seems to ‘crawl’ up the rock rather than pushing back. Much more of the momentum is retained in a forward direction which is a confident feel. It’s notable how well a 150mm rear travel bike climbs these days – man it’s come a long way from when I started riding…

Acceleration

OK, while not a climber, I’m a strong enough to tell how a bike accelerates. I then extrapolate this into efficiency a bit.

The Mondraker accelerates really well whether pedaling seated or standing. When you increase the wattage to the cranks the bike quickly responds.

This compares favorably against bikes that feel like when you start putting a ton of power they take a second to load the suspension then start spinning the wheel a bit more. The FOXY rewards the effort quickly and crisply.

The bike accelerates quickly and it feels appropriate to the amount of increase of power to the increase of ground speed.

2022 Mondraker FOXY Carbon Review

Mondraker FOXY Downhill Performance

Well, here’s where it gets fun. Like real fun.

The FOXY is a blast downhill.

It corners well, it handles chunk, it has a personality that is snappy enough for me but isn’t so fast handling that it will give you issues if you push it a bit past your skill level.

Cornering

This is a very planted bike. As such braking performance is great.

Jump on the brakes hard and roll off them before a corner you’ll find the FOXY slows well and then resets to track excellent into the turn. It is quick to change direction and confident accepting lean angle both early and in the middle of the corner.

Four rides in and I found the limit of how much rear compression I like, where the bike starts to chatter just a bit in the mid corner at speed. Now I’m dialing back to get a bit more grip in the mid and corner exit.

I started with stock volume spacing and ran the suggested air pressure and close to the compression and rebound settings. Having found the limit with the compression and PSI my next step will be to go back with volume spacers and see if adding some support through air ramp allows me to back off the compression a bit.

Frankly, in a short time I’ve gotten very comfortable with the FOXY’s cornering.

At first the added grip even had me running too tight, into bushes on the inside of corners once or twice! After a couple instances I thought the bike might have pushed out of a corner – but going back and glancing at footage it might be that the additional grip has lead to an increase in cornering speed. (not even riding at full tilt! Impressive)

Finally on cornering: after each ride I note the bike’s condition with particular interest to travel used and whether the tires have any tell-tale markings on the sidewalls. I have yet to get any of the slashes on the sidewall, so I have a little more traction and compliance left in the tires if I want it as well.

Improving the bike in the corners

I’m still working to get a bit more support out of the front end which I believe will give the bike even a touch more speed out of corner pockets. A lot of this comes back to my riding size and ground speed combo.

While the Ohlins fork is a bit linear for me, a heavier rider on the max end of the air pressure, for the average 160-220lb rider I would say that the fork setup is much easier. The performance window allows for a more precise setup feel and wider range of options. Particularly using the ramp up chamber at a higher pressure per weight.

I’m working on some setup with it and it’s not so far out of the window that its unusable by any stretch. I suspect that I’ll find some magic in it. If I don’t I’ll go back to a FOX 36 or 38 GRIP2.

It’s the mid support that I’m working through at the minute.

The fork is plush, which I could give up some for more support, but I’m trying ride a normalized sag setting at the moment. I may increase the PSI and look for maybe 15-18% sag but I’m still playing with other options before I get too far away from the 20% sag.

The Ohlins high speed compression works well. I cranked it up a couple rides and it kept me out of the final bit of travel. I’ve backed it down a bit as it wasn’t adding as much to the mid stroke as I wanted and was costing me that last bit of travel in a couple situations that might have warranted it.

Personally I’m just looking for a little more right as the bike starts to set into the travel. I feel like its there and I feel like I’ll find it. Or I’ll keep pestering Joe until he goes into it and I get the first Ohlins Pro Tune…

Speaking of the fork let’s look at some terrain that needs more fork.

Chunky Terrain

The quick take: Mondraker’s FOXY is predictable and at home in chunky terrain.

The FOXY’s sure-footed personality glows when you point the bike downhill. Even running on the far end of ‘poppy’ compression the bike sticks to the ground. Since it’s hard to push the bike to a point of skipping across the trail both turning and braking capacity are excellent.

Looking at my notes, the only complaints have been based the feeling like I’ve run deeper into the front travel than I prefer, but the fork hits the HSC and hasn’t buried. I would just like a little less of that dive in feel.

I’ve bottomed the rear end of the bike a couple times but haven’t felt a hard bottom yet. It has a confident feel through the travel.

Downhill Riding Position

My opinion on the Mondraker’s riding position, given that my setup is a compromise for my back, should be taken with a little bit of a grain of salt.

However, my setup isn’t so far in the weeds that it needs to be disregarded (try to sneak a look at test bike setups sometimes, I don’t know how some of these reviewers even ride ‘em…)

I’ve found the FOXY feels like you’re ‘in’ not ‘on’, which is nice. Front and rear wheel are both relatively easy to control from a standard downhill position. The bike behaves as expected if you move weight fore and aft.

I find I’m riding slightly more nose heavy than my previous rig. This might be one of the reasons I keep coming back to a bit more mid support out of the fork. But there’s also a difference of 4 years versus 4 rides experience. Maybe I’m getting used to it. I’ll have to look at if I’ve raised my hands a notable amount as well.

Slacker Headtube and More Trail

Compared to the 130 LR the FOXY has a slacker headtube, and thus an increase in trail measurement. I was a little fearful that this would numb the front end of the bike on trail and light enduro terrain.

So far, I haven’t noticed that. My continued adjustments have all improved the cornering of the FOXY downhill but none of them are based on a numb feeling.

Uphill in tight switchbacks I think I feel it a little more.

I found two ways to make the FOXY get around the real tight stuff.

Steering with the bars and leaning ‘out’ of the turn to keep the bike standing as straight as possible kept the steering input from wanting to exacerbate the lean angle.

The second option is not steering much at all and really leaning into the uphill corners. This requires more power as it works better at speed.

Both of the above worked. What felt like it didn’t work as well was kind of half turn half lean options. We live in a polarized world – so what should I expect haha…

2022 Mondraker FOXY Carbon Review

Wrapping Up the Mondraker FOXY Review

I’m going to try to be concise as I’m edging into 3000 words and all the seo machines are going to hate me… Also I want to have a couple blurbs on some new parts I’m riding and what I think as well below.

The FOXY with a 160mm fork and 150mm of rear travel on paper probably doesn’t look as trail and light enduro friendly as it is. This is an efficient pedaling bike. Mondraker’s well-designed suspension, they’re not using quantity of travel to make up for poor quality of travel like some designs do, means the bike feels fun and poppy throughout the travel. I don’t notice the bike using more travel than it needs nor do I feel the bike being harsh or uncomfortable sitting in the middle of the travel. I suppose what that means, the ramp and compression pairing on the rear shock give a good feeling balance through the travel. Instead of feeling ultra linear even though maybe I’m using 135-140 of the rear travel the bike feels progressive and poppy without becoming teeth rattling harsh in the last bit of rear travel.

Downhill Mondraker’s years on the race course have produced a bike that’s competent and predictable in a wide range of terrain. I didn’t notice any harsh square edge hits and the bike ate up terrain even when I deliberately put it in abusive lines.
For the average rider the Mondraker FOXY’s handling is awesome. The bike’s braking capacity is tremendous allowing confidence at speed. The grip is top of class, again adding confidence. And the bike changes directions quickly and competently.

More to come on this I’m sure, but let me quickly touch on some opinions on new parts to my bike. Starting at the back and going to the front:

10-52t cassette. I’m not a good climber. But, if you are, that 52t is a big jump from the 42t. I think I will end up getting stronger as I find myself in the 42t more often because I’m tepid to shift hard into that big 52t. But, it is a great granny gear!

Small flange diameter DT Swiss 350 hubs. This will be interesting. I’ve run 28h DT Swiss before, but this smaller diameter hub with straight pull spokes will be intriguing. Upside potentially more damping during cornering. The DT internals are top notch – but will the longer spokes cause me any issues? (again, I’m bigger than you!)

AbsoluteBlack Oval Chainring. First thoughts, when you’re going so slow that everything hurts well it hurts the same. If you get up a bit past that pace I can see where the change in leverage does probably make it an easier pedaling system. Since this is the pace I tend to live in I think I will like it overall. If you really start cranking a huge cadence it feels a little strange – but – that’s not been my problem in years…

Ohlins Suspension. See above – more to come on that too.

Fidloc magnetic bottle cage. Interesting. Makes a different noise downhill than I’m used to, but seems to stay in place and has a low profile overall.

New FOX Transfer Seatpost. Love the saddle mounting hardware. Love it.

Tag T1 Carbon 40mm rise bars. Love them so far. I went with them for the height as well as I wanted to try their ovalized internal carbon design to see how that feels on trail.

Ergon GE1 grips. RIP to the WTB Padloc I loved for so many bikes. I picked the Ergon as they had a nice feel on the outside of the top surface where you’re looking offer a bit more squish.

 

Thanks for the read! Shopping for your dream Mondraker? Want to learn more about the bike or the Ohlins’ Suspension? Check out the links below

Update(s):

Extended Review of the Mondraker FOXY – More Trail Time and Spec Detail
Video/blog: Compare the Ohlins RXF and FOX 38 on Mondraker FOXY Carbon
Images/blog: Extra FOXY, 170mm fork on Mondraker FOXY Carbon with Float X2

Check out our in-stock bikes

Adding Volume Spacers to Ohlins TTX Air Shock

Learn how to change an Ohlins TTX Volume Spacer

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Adding Volume Spacers to Ohlins TTX Air Shock

Adding Volume Spacers to Ohlins TTX Air Shock

Enjoy a quick video, blog and some detail photos which detail adding volume spacers to Ohlins TTX Air Shocks. Now, Ohlins has some great data on their site as well, we’ll provide a couple links below, but here’s a couple real world tips and tricks for the Ohlins TTX Air Shock spec’d on the 2022 Mondraker FOXY Carbon RR.

Airing Down an Ohlins TTX: A Bit Different Than I’ve Been Used To

Let’s start with really the biggest difference I felt like I came across when changing volume spacers on the Ohlins TTX. When you release the air the shock compresses. With some force!

Ohlins TTX Air Shock Compressed with No Air in can

Aired down – and compressed! I took out the valve stem just to make sure I had all the main system open…

This created two interesting problems for me until I got it confirmed from our mechanics…

I watched the Ohlins video and saw the shock compress but didn’t think much of it (or didn’t think of what I was really seeing I guess!)

So, I went to air down the TTX like I had so many other shocks with a 3 way wrench. Except, when the TTX compressed the head of the shock grabbed the wrench and pinned it to the frame! Well, I thought, I’ll just air it up – oh wait, there’s a three way stuck in the way… It wasn’t too hard to get some leverage on the rear triangle to free the wrench but I did feel like a rookie for sure. I included the clip in the video since its kind of funny I suppose.

Now, the other issue, I immediately recalled other brands of suspension that if you aired the shock down and it went down (suck down as it’s called) it was going to be a somewhat sketchy problem to disassemble it. So I grabbed Tracy and made sure that 1 I hadn’t skipped any steps and 2 wasn’t going to have a shock detonating with a loaded negative air chamber damaging anyone in the work area…

Turns out this particular shock just needs to be unthreaded for a bit to come loose and allow for the volume spacers to be accessed.

If you watched the video the rest of this is just to help reinforce your understanding – and it’s great for SEO too right?

Loosen the Air Shaft

Loosen the air shaft which clamps down the outer sleeve. This is done with a bottom bracket tool. Be patient and get a good grip on it. After a couple turns you can easily turn it by hand and put the tool back on the table.

Once you’ve cleared the threads the shock will extend like the image below.

Ohlins TTX Air Shock Unscrewed and Extended

Ohlins TTX Volume Spacers

This TTX carries two different types of volume spacers, in two different places. When you open the shock you will see the two band volume spacers spec’d on the 2022 Mondraker Foxy’s shock.

Ohlins TTX Air Shock stock volume spacers

The other volume spacer, which gives you the most amount of ramp rate increase is located at the other end of the shock on the shaft.

It is a puck style volume spacer and 1 and only 1 spacer should be installed on the inner shaft.

First pull back the retainers.

Determine volume spacers in Ohlins TTX Air Shock

Carefully move the retainers out of the way and pull out the volume spacer.

In this case the was the Ohlins E volume spacer (the biggest available in the kit) and since I wanted to max the volume spacers I simply put it back in its place.

Determine volume spacers in Ohlins TTX Air Shocks

Maximum Volume Spacers for Ohlins TTX

At this point I needed to determine how many volume spacers I could add to the shock.

Using the Ohlins chart from the TTX owners manual, and a distributor to figure out the part number for the shock I determined I could run 20,000 cubic mm’s.

The stock puck was 12,000 and the 2 bands were 2,000 each – meaning I could add two additional band spacers.

Ohlins TTX Maximum Volume Spacers Installed

which I did.

Adding Volume Spacers to Ohlins TTX Air Shock

To finish adding volume spacers to Ohlins TTX Air Shock simply reassemble the shock in reverse order of disassembly.

One thing to make sure of – the outer air can has a locating tab, insure that it is fit into the proper slot during reassembly.

IF YOU HAVE ANY DOUBTS OF YOUR MECHANICAL ABILITY, HAVE A PROFESSIONAL SERVICE OR CHECK YOUR WORK!

Ohlins TTX air can tab

Check out more on the Ohlins’ TTX on BikeCo.com:

Extended First Ride: A Mondraker FOXY Carbon Review

Ohlins TTX Owners Manual (page 11 illustrates volume spacer options)

(note – one of the manuals indicated a higher max PSI than was shown on my shock. I deferred to the detail ON MY SHOCK. If you have issues or questions with that contact your sales team or Ohlins for confirmation)

Ohlins Volume Spacer Video

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Mondraker MIND Telemetry Unavailable in the US

Mondraker MIND Telemetry Unavailable in the US
(clip from) Mondraker FOXY Carbon First Ride Review: Extended

Mondraker MIND Telemetry Unavailable in the US

 

I DON’T MIND

 
A question my, rather small, set in our ways, group of riding friends asked was what I thought about the Mondraker MIND Telemetry.
 
Well, for whatever reason: App licensing? Patent limitations? Something else I don’t know about? I dunno. But, however you cut it: MIND telemetry is not available on the US bikes.
And it doesn’t bother me.
 
Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy data. It’s interesting and you can look at it a lot of ways. But, like an old boss of mine was apt to say: figures don’t lie, but liars can figure…

APP DRIVEN TELEMETRY

 
So, app driven suspension suggestions (turn this dial put in this PSI) even based on a good deal of telemetry input, well it’s just not 100% credible to me. (funniest one was a GPS setting that rated like smoothness – What? How? Why?)
 
Telemetry sheets are graphs with spurts of data points. Usually spikes or arcs and all kinds of shapes. Any app that’s telling you “twist this 2 clicks and that 1 click and do this with the PSI” is using an algorithm of what it sees to make those suggestions.
 
Does data help a pro racer with a competent suspension tech? Yup. But a large part of that relationship is talking about “this is what I felt when I was riding best”, “this might have led me to be in the wrong position during ‘x’” and “ya, I just fluffed the lines there and the data is outlier.”
 
Working with a person who can chat about all the minutia has huge dividends and that’s one of the focal points of our bike suspension setup, delivery, and follow up process here at BikeCo.com
(which is SUPER important on the heavier eMTB rigs – if your eMTB isn’t setup right, well, sorry. You’re gonna chase that for a while and it’s going to compromise your ride quality)

CAN YOU SEE THE INPUT?

 
Riding footage adds an interesting dynamic to fine tune setup (notice the racers tend to practice with them?).
 
Being able to watch and see: “ya, that’s a proper line within my skill set and I think the fork should have rode taller” versus, “whoops, ya, I smashed through the travel because of rider error there – glad the bike was there at all!”

MY EXAMPLE: DEMO RIDE QUESTION

 
On my Mondraker FOXY demo I came across an example I think would have confused an app and led down the wrong rabbit hole.
The demo (which lacked the low and high speed compression controls on the FOXY Carbon RR Ohlins or the RAZE Fox Factory suspension) was quick to turn down, or dive into corner entry.
 
However, it felt like it would “stall” for lack of a better term when I tried to drive it to full lean angle around the apex.
 
So what was going on? What were my options? And, getting to the point of this blurb – does an app have any chance at this or did I need a certain amount of data and review with a competent person? (bet you know which way I’m going)
 
Joe and I chatted about it over lunch after the ride. (I have access to Joe Binatena one of the most sought after suspension people in MTB – and you know, if you buy a bike, suspension or a Pro Tune from The Bike Company so do you through our team…)
 
Mid to fast Bermed corners. Suspension PSI setup properly. Tire pressure OK, possibly a little high (I hate flats, and I hate flats more on test rides…)
 
I generally don’t trail brake through corners (in fact the demo bike had brakes I hated so I was braking super early to insure it would slow down…) so the bike was sitting at a proper attitude going into the turns.
 
If you brake too late or into a corner it creates a “nose down” attitude. This creates issues as the bike runs deeper into travel giving up some traction and having a more “harsh” feel – maybe harsh isn’t the right word, but a faster or more aggressive push back since it’s running at a deeper PSI?
 
Not to toot my own horn, but it might take a bit of experience to feel the bike “hang” during the lean. Of course, now that you know it can be a thing you’re ahead of where I was then right??
It might be more likely that a rider would note the bike felt slow rotating around the corner and wanted to push (understeer) to the outside of the corner.
 
Those complaints are probably going to lead to softer tires and possibly a softer suspension right? Help keep more grip to get around the corner?
 
Except, in my case that’s not what was happening. Those changes would just make the bike squirmy (too low of tire pressure) and slow out of pocketed corners as the suspension would use too much travel compromising momentum and steer input.
 
Would it have killed me to go the wrong direction with those setup mods? Probably not.
 
BUT! If I came back after the ride with lower pressures and still had the complaint and went well, if SOME was a good idea MORE must be better… I’m quickly off into the weeds of suspension setup and probably frustrated with my purchase.
 
Here’s where a live, thinking person with access to a team (am I describing BikeCo? Of course I am) has a huge advantage. If I had lowered the pressure and spoke with my contact and was like “WHOA, didn’t help” we’re probably looking at other setup options.
Because what was the fix? More ramp, more compression. The bike wasn’t exactly “pushing” or over-steering as much as it was unable to maintain the tighter early apex cornering line which then set me wider at exit.
 
Going frame by frame with the riding footage it seemed like the fork was setting in a touch deep into the travel into the corner apex / pocket, but then kind of slowly settling down a touch deeper as well. Probably the split second of the bike compressing (and slowing) drove my body slightly ahead in the bike which then added to more of front end settling in.
 
Watching the video the trail showed the bike SHOULD have load through the suspension at that point, but it was setting in (as you would expect) then kind of slowly continuing to load.
 
It made sense to have the suspension loaded into the corners, so I wouldn’t want to increase rebound as that would decrease overall grip and ride quality bouncing me around.
 
Air pressure was an option – however the bike wasn’t sitting super deep on the first section of the lean or cornering. So again, increasing air pressure would decrease grip and could induce skip.
 
So where were the answers?
 
Increasing Ramp Rate: make each MM of the suspension past sag take a little bit more load to compress it.
 
Increasing Low Speed Compression: similar to the ramp rate adjustment increasing compression slows the forks progression through the travel giving it more support.
 
Perhaps a small increase to High Speed Compression: Adding high speed compression in small increments can be helpful too.
 
Back to my point on having my phone send me a post ride SMS (not sure if that’s a function any have but it seems funny to say) to make all those ideal changes?
 
Yaaaa, I don’t think that’s gonna happen? So, no telemetry? I don’t MIND.
 
 
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2022 Mondraker FOXY Carbon RR with Upgrades

2022 Mondraker FOXY Carbon RR with Upgrades by BikeCo.com

Even after being in the industry for a long time, #newbikeday is still fun… Enjoy some detail shots of my personal bike a 2022 Mondraker FOXY Carbon RR with some spec changes. Read on for more info on why these spec changes were, or in some cases weren’t on my list.

2022 Mondraker FOXY Carbon Detail Photos

2022 Mondraker Foxy Carbon Custom Build

Spec’ing My Bike, for Me….

We take a lot of pride in treating all of our clients projects like they are our own. But, here’s how I literally treat my own. Where I put the emphasis to allow me the most performance for every dollar in my budget.

So were did I start?

Travel and Size.

Comparing Mondraker FOXY and Yeti SB130 Geometry

Mondraker Forward Geometry

The Mondraker Forward Geometry was ahead of it’s time for sure. Now, since then all the top tier brands have come to the plate with the longer, lower, slacker updates.

At 6’1″ and a long inseam as well as long arm length (or short torso depending on how you wanna look at it I suppose) I have been kind of between the L and XL in a variety of brands.

To better understand the geometry I used BikeCo’s Interactive Geo Comparison (handy eh?)

I could quickly compare the travel, headtube angle, chainstay, bottom bracket, trail and then sizing specifics like Reach, Stack and Wheelbase.

The Large FOXY is a bit bigger bike in both travel – but not so much that I felt I was jumping way out of category – and geo sizing.

The two notable differences that jumped out at me where wheelbase and headtube/trail. 23mm longer wheelbase seemed like, oh, well, oh my right? But, then a quick glance at the math and conversion – it’s about 2% or  about 7/8 of an inch longer. Not a big deal to me. The slacker headtube angle increased the trail measurement a bit, but again when you look at percentage it’s not that big of a change. Plus, I believe there’s a geo kit available so maybe I would end up going to the 170mm fork and then steepening the headtube angle. I haven’t yet, but it’s fun to think about the “I might” right?

Anyhow – the reach was just long enough on the FOXY that I stayed in a Large even though I had been pondering an XL in the Yeti lineup as when I climb I find the “heel” of my palm sitting on my grips instead of my palms. I figured the slightly taller and longer front end would help me stay in a more confident position uphill. But, more to come on that in our Mondraker FOXY Extended First Ride!

2022 Mondraker Foxy Carbon rear profile image

Mondraker FOXY Carbon RR – the Spec that Stayed

You know, these top tier manufacturers put together a pretty respectable build these days. In fact, there were a lot of bits that not only was I “fine” with but I was actually pretty excited by. Let’s go over some of the parts that stayed and why I like them on my bike.

SRAM GX Drivetrain*

*well, most of it…

I gotta say: the X01 and XX1 stuff is a bit lighter, and in all likelihood lasts a bit longer. But damn, the modern GX bits work well. And even the GX cranks are pretty light and look refined these days.

Being a heavier, non-uphill biased (I’m looking for a good term there – like ya I appreciate the workout, but as long as I get up on my MTB I’m happy enough right?) anyway, I personally don’t notice a huge “in the moment” performance jump upgrading past the GX level on drivetrain. That’s to say when I jump on one of our guys with ti or carbon cranks neither the weight savings or added stiffness really add up to me. So the GX level cranks, shifter and derailleur give me good performance and I can put a few bucks into other areas of my build that I will notice the performance.

I spec’d an AbsoluteBlack 32t Oval chainring – it’s the first time I’ve had an oval for more than a couple rides so I’m interested to see what I’ll think of it (again, keep an eye out for the upcoming Extended First Ride!). I did the gold KMC X-12 chain for a pretty specific reason too. (I would have happily done an XX1 Gold too, but availability was an issue) Anyhow for those who know me I’m not a big bling person. But, again those who know me or follow our posts know the gold represents the Children’s Cancer Awareness and my daughter is beating infantile fibrosarcoma. So, I wanted some gold to remind me of where we’ve been and where we’re going.

When this drivetrain wears I would look at possibly an X01 cassette – but the modern 12sp SRAM stuff seems to just last and last and last (keep it relatively clean and lubed). My previous bike I had for seasons with so little drivetrain maintenance it was mind-blowing.

2022 Mondraker FOXY Carbon RR Custom Build

DT Swiss Wheels

This is an area that may or may not get upgraded the next time I have some $ burning a hole in my pocket. But for now I’m going to ride the stock wheels.

What I love: 30mm internals give a great tire profile. 36t ratchet is installed (18t feels clunky to me and the 50 something tooth one can be delicate if you pedal, shall we say, not smooth maybe?)

What I’m kind of hmmm about: small diameter flanges paired with 28h drilling. Big guys need big strong stuff right? Maybe. I dunno maybe that’s a compensating concept, we’ll see. I’ve run 28h DT before, but on the larger flange diameter hubs. Potential upside is that this wheel likely will have good side load compliance adding grip at high lean angles at speed.

Maxxis Tires

DHF EXO+ front and DHR II EXO+ rear. What’s not to love? It’s like I picked them out for myself. 3C MaxxTerra front and rear balance wear and grip well.

I buy Maxxis tires as they last the longest and provide the most consistent performance throughout their life. Why mess with saving less than the price of a good lunch when your tires literally are where the rubber meets the trail?

2022 Mondraker FOXY Carbon RR Ohlins RXF fork

Ohlins Suspension

This is actually a big, big leap for me. I’ve ridden exclusively BikeCo Pro Tuned FOX Suspension since, well, before we named it or offered it to clients…

After my test ride I knew this was a special chassis – but I also knew I HAD to have more compression support than the demo bike offered. Well, the Ohlins RXF 36 M2 features an adjustable air negative spring to fine tune ramp as well as low and high speed compression controls.

2022 Mondraker Foxy Ohlins RXF Fork

Now, the RXF is known as a very plush, linear package. So, as a heavier rider who likes a lot of front end support (typically even more than would be based on just weight – but as your ground speeds increase that suspension support improvement, even if it’s at the cost of a bit of front end grip tends to be the goal) I wanted to see if the RXF would have enough tuning range for me to dial it in the way I liked.

The FOXY’s Ohlins TTX air shock features high and low speed compression as well as volume spacing to fine tune support. I suspect that will be a pretty confident shock and doubt anything else will end up on this bike – especially if Joe keeps riding Ohlins and undoubtedly will look at narrowing the performance windows like our FOX Pro Tunes!

2022 Mondraker Foxy Carbon RR Ohlins TTX
2022 Mondraker Custom Cockpit

Part Swaps & Upgrades

OK onto the parts that went, which of course vary from a bit of vanity to straight nope, that won’t be on my bike…

Cockpit

I need my hands where I need my hands climbing or my low back isn’t going to be happy. Typically I’m looking at 35mm or 40mm rise bars to keep the stem as low as possible and the steer tube as short as possible. I run a 35mm diameter bar / stem combo. So for this bike I went with the RaceFace Turbine-R in 40mm with a 40mm rise TAG T1 Carbon bar.

The TAG T1 bar provided a bit wider, 800mm versus 780mm, larger diameter, 35mm vs 31.8mm and taller rise, 40mm vs 25mm. The Tag T1 also features the OvalTech design which creates a more sophisticated riding bar by varying the wall thickness for better vibration damping. You can see some of the details of the Tag T1 Carbon here.

The FOXY features super clean internal routing through the headset assembly. The stock build has some “teardrop” shaped spacers which look kind of cool. But, I put a front kid seat on my bike and prefer metal spacers. So I filed off the lip and made the standard spacers fit. I don’t foresee issues with this, but the kid seat mount is the reason you see it.

Ergon GE1 Grips. Well, RIP to the PadLoc WTB grips for now! After about 5 years of them change was of course terrifying hahaha… I like the Ergon grips having a bit more damping on the edge of the grip to minimize trail feedback. I also ride grips that don’t have “flared” ends as I tend to ride with my hands slightly over the edge of the trip for whatever reason. I kept the bars a bit wider to see if that negates this habit – but we’ll see. Flared end grips dig in if you ride over the edge which compromises some grip and tends to cause major pain.

2022 Mondraker FOXY with Wolf Tooth and Magura

Wolf Tooth Light Action seatpost remote. I prefer the lower pressure required by the slightly longer throw. I also appreciate the robust construction and attention to detail in the design giving it a lot of mounting options. Speaking of which, part of me wants to use the Magura specific mount, however, having the remote on its own mount allows more fine tuned placement for ergonomics.

BRAKES. Capitalized.

Honestly, brakes and tires are probably the most notable personality bits on your build. Get em right and you’re stoked. Not right, well, it’s not right.

I run Magura as they have the best combination of total power (similar to Shimano’s power) with great modulation (like Hope). Also, Magura offers brakes across a variety of budgets. Going with the MT5 saved me notably money which allowed me to redistribute the budget into areas for maybe a little bit of gold bling for my kiddo or to focus on performance parts.

2022 Mondraker Foxy Carbon RR with Magura MT5 Brakes

The Magura MT7 and MT5 are the most popular brakes in the lineup. They have some slight differences in the master cylinder shape however the major differences are in the lever and lever options.

Believe it or not I prefer the MT5’s longer “2-finger” lever, run inboard to accommodate 1 finger braking of course. Like the longer Light Action Wolf Tooth the increased length means it takes a bit more pull to get through the full stroke. This means for each mm of travel you get a more precise feel on the brake application.

Riders looking for more snap onto the power will look at the 1 finger Magura options. Riders looking for the ultimate adjust-ability will run the MT7 with the HC3 lever. Which, is awesome too… You can shop the best brakes in MTB from Magura and Shimano here.

2022 Mondraker FOXY with Magura MT Brakes

Our staff will tell you I stared and stared and stared and tried to make myself OK with keeping my red Chris King handbuilt wheels on this build. But, when I pulled the pucks out of the Magura calipers and saw this clean, murdered out look I knew it had to be black hubs… Even if Ian kept trying to find ways to make the red “work…”

2022 Mondraker Foxy Top Tube with Ergon Saddle

Seating

If you find a saddle you like why change? I ride Ergon saddles. They work. They’re comfortable. I don’t have to think about them. Perfect. I tend to run the CrMoly versions which can save you a few $ to allocate into different areas.

Liiiiiike, the seatpost. Honestly pretty close to pure vanity here. Swapped the all black 175mm OnOff Pija dropper for an all black 175mm FOX Transfer Performance. Maybe I was nervous not having any FOX on my bike? I do ABSOLUTELY love the revised saddle mounting for the FOX Transfer. Hardware is simple and brilliant. So, going with that as an upgrade reason. Wanted the easier adjust-ability and confidence I wouldn’t destroy as many bolts? Are you buying that? Maybe? OK, but it wasn’t ALL vanity…

 

OK – so there’s the starting spec on my 2022 Mondraker FOXY Carbon. I’ve got a few rides into it and am putting together a FOXY Extended First Ride Review that I will link to as soon as its wrapped up!

Shopping 2022 Mondraker MTB or eMTB? Work with the very best here at BikeCo.com to get the best attention to your spec, setup tune and after sales service.

2022 Mondraker Foxy Carbon with Ohlins
  • 2022 Mondraker FOXY Carbon RR
  • 2022 Mondraker FOXY E-Ticket Mission Trails San Diego
  • 2022 Mondraker FOXY Mission Trails San Diego
  • 2022 Mondraker FOXY E-Ticket San Diego
  • 2022 Mondraker FOXY Carbon RR with Upgrades by BikeCo.com
  • 2022 Mondraker FOXY Carbon RR Custom Build
  • 2022 Mondraker FOXY with Wolf Tooth and Magura
  • 2022 Mondraker FOXY with Magura MT Brakes
  • 2022 Mondraker FOXY Carbon RR with upgrades profile
  • 2022 Mondraker FOXY Carbon RR Ohlins RXF fork
  • 2022 Mondraker Foxy Ohlins RXF Fork
  • 2022 Mondraker Foxy Carbon rear profile image
  • 2022 Mondraker Foxy Carbon with Ohlins
  • 6-17 2022 Mondraker Foxy Carbon RR with Upgrades Profile
  • 2022 Mondraker Foxy Carbon RR with Magura MT5 Brakes
  • 2022 Mondraker Foxy Carbon RR Ohlins TTX
  • 2022 Mondraker Foxy Carbon Custom Build
  • 2022 Mondraker Custom Cockpit
  • Comparing Mondraker FOXY and Yeti SB130 Geometry

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Learn more about the Mondraker FOXY’s on trail performance – check out Extended First Ride a Mondraker FOXY Carbon Review!

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Thoughts on the 2022 Mondraker FOXY First Ride

2022 Mondraker FOXY First Ride

With the Mondraker Demo Fleet here at BikeCo.com for a week I had an opportunity to grab one of the 2022 Mondraker FOXY demos for a morning to help better define some of the details that set this bike apart. Here are my thoughts on the 2022 Mondraker FOXY First ride!

spoiler alert… pulled the trigger on a FOXY Carbon RR with some upgrades… Learn about how I spec’d My Bike for Me (link at bottom as well)

I hope you enjoy the video with both my real time thoughts on the 2022 Mondrakers as well as some concepts to review on demoing not only the Mondraker but really any MTB. (Click to see part 1, “What to Look for in a MTB Demo” video)

With the modern economy demo fleets aren’t necessarily full of each size and each model you’re looking for. So, its more important than ever to be able to work and define whether you’re noting the Frame / Suspension Design, the Spec (Components) or the Setup. All three are critical in dialing in YOUR dream bike, however, the reality on a quickly setup demo you’re going to have some accommodations to be aware of.

This Mondraker FOXY was a very poignant illustration of that. With all of the carbon bikes allocated to dealers (like BikeCo.com!) the demo fleet is made up of more entry level aluminum bikes.

This made it more important than ever to be able to understand what performance attributes would be due to Zero Suspension Design and Forward Geometry, which are shared with the FOXY Carbon R while being able to decipher what influence the aluminum construction and more cost-conscious spec had on my demo ride.

So what did I find?

Mondraker ZERO Suspension

My Mondraker FOXY First Ride made one thing really clear: Zero Suspension is notably compliant and competent. The Mondraker FOXY rides well planted and is confident in fast direction changes. The Mondraker suspension also is exceptional putting power to the rear tire. The planted feel minimizes rear wheel slip under power even in less than idea climbing conditions.

How was I able to determine this? Just beyond amazing demo? Ya, not exactly…

Well, it might seem somewhat counter intuitive to be really impressed with a design when the ride experience was kind of just above so/so right? Not when you can break apart the bike design, spec and setup.

The FOXY demo had FOX Performance DPS rear shock and FOX Performance GRIP 36 fork. Both of these are quality bits, but neither has the external compression controls of the FOX Factory or Ohlin’s products to help provide more rider support quickly. Also, demo bikes are done to accommodate the widest range of riders. Well, many riders, especially lighter ones or riders with slower ground speeds, prefer less ramp rate so the suspension tends to have fewer volume spacers than you may run.

In short, I knew the suspension dampers were going to be somewhat overwhelmed – I tried to make up for some of this with a bit more aggressive air pressure but the mid-stroke of both fork and rear shock were going to be slightly lacking. Now, if the bike was mine could I get that dialed in over a few rides? Ya, with volume spacers and PSI variants you could get it close. With Pro Tune suspension you could get it even closer with size and speed based tuning in the circuit. But back to the FOXY.

The Mondraker Zero Suspension was exceptionally confident even with dampers that I knew were being overworked. How did this manifest on trail? Well, the bike didn’t squat into corners. In fact, even with a relatively soft mid-stroke in the rear shock the bike felt like it stood tall heading into turns.

Now, a little bit of that would be because the fork was being overwhelmed and allowing the weight to shift forward, but not all of it.

The FOXY was sure-footed and competent even with my body weight being tossed around a bit to make up for the lack of front end support. Impressively the bike was quick to change directions in both high speed “S’s” as well as medium or lower speed bermed switchbacks.

The demo bike was setup at 160mm with a 66 degree headtube angle. Personally I would be setting it p with a 170mm fork, not so much for the additional travel but to slacken the headtube, increase the trail measurement and raise the front end up just a bit.

This combined with a personalized cockpit (the demo bike even with full spacers underneath the stem was still a bit low for me) would have dialed in the front end and allowed the rear end to perform even better.

FOXY Forward Geometry

The Forward Geometry is what we expect in modern MTB geo. The Large Mondraker fit very similar to my current Large Yeti SB130LR.

Climbing you’re placed in a comfortable, powerful position allowing you to attack technical ascents. In fact, for a 150mm rear bike I was blown away with how well it climbed. The energy you invest pedaling can be felt in the acceleration.

Descending riders find a confident position able to control the front and rear wheel in a position without extreme body English movements.

MTB Demo Bike Checklist: 3 Lists of 3

I often tell riders to try to avoid coming back from a demo with a “I loved it” or “I didn’t love it” attitude.

Its tough to have all the bits line up to totally fall in love with a bike on a short demo. It’s not too hard to decide you’re not into the right bike if you don’t break apart what was based on bike design, bike category, spec or setup.

Being able to work with a resource to help define this will go a long way to understanding if you’re on the right bike with the wrong bits, or if you’re in the wrong category of bike (honestly the FOXY is probably a little bigger than I would ride – I’d probably lean into a slightly burly built RAZE – or maybe a faster spec’d FOXY… hmmm now I’ll have to go back and look again!)

So here’s my 3 lists of 3. 3 things I liked, 3 things I was neutral about and 3 things I would change if it was mine:

3 Things I Liked

Suspension had very consistent, confident, planted feel yet with power the bike was incredibly efficient. Felt like it was shorter rear travel than it is while climbing, found traction even in challenging conditions. Felt appropriate acceleration for increases in energy output.

Bike stayed behaved even when pushed past fork’s ramp or compression – that’s to say when I got in some “oh boy” moments and undoubtably was throwing my body around the bike didn’t spit me out but stayed competent and neutral.

Bike had good support in rear into corners, which must have been mechanical design as the shock was under ramped and didn’t have finite low speed compression controls.

3 things I’m Neutral About (I only did 2)

Geometry felt right for pedaling. Felt like I expected that size bike to feel. Didn’t feel a way off from my Yeti’s fit. (check dimensions)

Wheel and tire spec was as expected on a bike of this category. Not my ideal but worked fine.

3 Things I Would Change

Brakes. Magura or Hope for improved modulation and confident power. I’ve run both over the years with excellent results.

Suspension. Performance Suspension on the demo Foxy lacked the compression controls for fine tuning the feel. Combined with a much more linear feel due to fewer volume spacers than I would run had the bike diving more than I would have liked to see, but it 100% felt like it could be tuned out with volume spacers in Performance Suspension and volume spacers and compression settings in Ohlins of FOX Factory Suspension. I would likely end up with the Ohlins’ spec’d on the FOXY Carbon R for this bike, or a Factory Float X and Factory 36 if I went with a Raze.

Cockpit: Hands were a bit low on test bike (bars sat taller than Yeti next to it, but BB difference probably made back up for that). Getting your hands in the right place is important for finite bike feel.

In the market for #thebestinMTB? Work with the experts at BikeCo.com to get dialed in on the best bikes, with the best suspension designs, spec for your budget and setup to your needs.

See you on the trails! Nate at BikeCo.com

 

Shop In-Stock Mondraker Bikes here at BikeCo.com!

 

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22 Mondraker FOXY First Ride Demo
6-17 2022 Mondraker Foxy Carbon RR with Upgrades Profile

Learned something about the 2022 Mondraker FOXY from this demo write up? Well see how I put together my personal FOXY Carbon after riding the aluminum demo…

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What to look for in an MTB Demo Ride!

We made a quick video highlighting some of the important concepts for demo-ing MTB setups to learn the most about the bike in the quickest amount of time.

We invite you to check it out above.

One of the important concepts: on your ride find 3 things you like, 3 things you are neutral about and 3 things that you’d change if it was yours.

Also, some data to bring that is awesome for setup as well as performance queries:

On your current bike:
What tire pressures do you run? What sidewall technology?
Is your current suspension setup “even” or a bit biased to a stiffer fork than rear shock?
What is your bike’s handlebar width?  What is your current bike’s approximate grip to ground measurement? Do you know how tall of rise your current bars are?

This data really helps our team work through your trail experience to help you define what you liked and what you would change on your next bike. In essence you’re looking to define if the category of bike is right for you, if the suspension design and trail feel is to your liking and if the bike’s geo gives you a fit with some adjustability.

Knowing how to setup a bike to allow you to quickly separate this data will go a long way to maximizing your trail time and what you learn about the bike! Shop #thebestinMTB including Ibis, Mondraker and Yeti bikes at BikeCo.com

 

Update: Check out these concepts in action with my Mondraker FOXY First Ride Impressions here!

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2022 Mondraker RAZE Carbon RR Complete

2022 Mondraker Raze Carbon RR In-Stock

How mean are these lines?! The 2022 Mondraker RAZE Carbon RR design balances weight and strength while taking advantage of carbon’s unique properties to give it compliance where it needs it and stiffness where required. Oh, and it looks like it’s tearing down trail while just standing still…

2022 Mondraker Raze 130mm of Travel with Zero Suspension

The Raze features 130mm of rear travel with Mondraker’s Zero Suspension design. Zero Suspension is designed to separate braking & pedaling forces from the suspension stroke. This produces a bike with a very compliant feel and no pedal feedback even deep in the stroke.

The FOX DPS rear shock comes stock, however a lot of riders are gravitating to the more robust Float X upgrade from BikeCo.com as well.

Adding to the compliance of the design both upper and lower mounts of the shock “float” on suspension linkage rather than being fixed to the forward triangle.

2022 Mondraker Raze Zero Suspension CarbonMonoBlock Link

The CarbonMonoBlock linkage is another area Mondraker has been able to balance weight and stiffness to optimize the bike’s performance.

With the trunnion mounted shock’s wider upper mounting points the CarbonMonoBlock has additional leverage to resist twisting forces as well as providing a more compact suspension packaging on the Raze Carbon.

2022 Mondraker Raze Carbon RR Headtube

The 2022 Mondraker lineup has a unique design feature across most models: the Top Tube / Down Tube / Head Tube “X”.

The deep oval shape of the Raze frame is designed to shave weight while giving the bike a bit more compliance through the frame design.

2022 Mondraker Bikes In-Stock at BikeCo.com

One of the aspects that adds to the ultra clean lines on the Raze is the way the cable routing enters through the headset riser.

2022 Mondraker Raze Carbon RR Complete

Mondraker RAZE Carbon RR Build Spec

Frame:
Raze 29 Stealth Air full Carbon, Zero Suspension System, 130mm travel, Forward Geometry, Carbon Monoblock upper link, Boost 12x148mm rear axle, tapered head tube, 73mm BSA bottom bracket, dedicated 1x drivetrain design, HHG internal cable routing, Enduro MAX sealed bearings, shock mudguard, ISCG 05, custom frame protectors.

Sizes : Rider Size CM
Small  ~ 163 – 170
Medium ~ 167 – 178
Large ~ 175 – 188
X-Large ~ 185 – 198

Rear shock:
Fox Float DPS Factory Kashima evol LV, 205×57.5mm.
Settings: Compression 3 positions lever, low-speed compression, low-speed rebound, air preload.

Fork:
Fox 36 29 Float GRIP2 Factory Kashima, 150mm, tapered steerer tube, Boost 15x110mm axle, 44mm offset.
Settings: 3 positions with micro adjust compression, low-speed rebound, air preload

Headset: Acros custom for 1-1/2″ head tube, angular contact bearings 40x52x7, Internal cable routing

Stem: Onoff Krypton FG 30mm, CNC, 31.8mm

Handlebar: Onoff Kripton Carbon 1.0, rise: 25mm, width: 800mm, 9º backsweep, 5º upsweep, 31.8mm

Grips: Onoff Diamond, 1lock-on, 135mm

Seatpost: Fox Transfer Factory Kashima internal, diameter 31.6mm
S size: 363.5x125mm, M size: 418.3x150mm, L/XL size: 475.1x175mm

Saddle: Fizik Antares R7

Brakes: SRAM G2 RS, 4-piston. Tool-free reach and contact point adjust, Steel-backed organic pads

Rotors: Front, Centerline 180mm 6 bolt. Rear, Centerline 180mm 6 bolt.

Wheels:

Front hub: DT 350, Boost 15x110mm, IS 6 bolt
Rear hub: DT 350, Boost 12x148mm, 36T SL Ratchet system, IS 6 bolts, XD freehub

Rims: DT Swiss EX1700 Spline 29,
30mm internal width, welded aluminum, tubeless ready, 28 spokes

Spokes: DT Competition, straightpull

 

Front tire: Maxxis Dissector 29×2.4 WT, tubeless ready, 3C MAXX TERRA compound, EXO+ protection, 120TPI,

Rear tire: Maxxis Aggressor 29×2.3, tubeless ready, dual compound, Exo protection, 60TPI,

 

Crankset: SRAM X1 Carbon Eagle, Boost, DUB axle, Direct mount chain ring
S/M size: 170mm, L/XL size: 175mm

Ring: 32T, CNC-machined alloy, X-SYNC 2

Bottom bracket: SRAM DUB BSA, 73mm

Chain: SRAM GX Eagle, 12s

Derailleur: SRAM XO1 Eagle

Shift lever: SRAM Trigger GX Eagle

Casette: SRAM XG-1275, 10-52T, 12s

Derailleur hanger: SRAM UDH

Weight from Mondraker’s site: 12.5 kg

Shop the In-Stock and In-Bound Mondraker Raze here at BikeCo.com!

Interested in the Mondraker Raze’s larger sibling the Foxy? Check out a handful of pics of a custom Mondraker Foxy Build here

2022 Mondraker FOXY Carbon Custom Build

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