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MTB Helmets: Ride the Best & Replace them Yearly…

MTB Helmets Replace Them Yearly

Never a review we want to do – but, here’s a life example of why with MTB Helmets you ride the best quality and replace them yearly…

If you watched the video you know I had quite the week. Really feeling blessed and lucky that it wasn’t worse. It felt like a lot of things quickly were out of my hands in this incident.

That said, there were decisions made that helped edge that luck onto my side. Particularly helmet selection.

There are a handful of top tier MTB helmets out there. They tend to fit a bit different and it’s important to find the one that will work for you. We offer a variety of helmet models from different manufacturers. I’d ride any of the enduro level offerings we have if they fit my head well.

I’ve been riding the POC Kortal Race for about a year now and really like the fit, ventilation and light weight feel.

Since last Friday I have an even greater appreciation of the POC helmet performance.

While not the fastest or most ridiculous of crashes over the years I’ve been riding, headfirst into the side of the trail in a chute, along with the intense pain after was clearly the scariest.

Had the Kortal Race not been up to the task I’m 100% sure my injuries would be been much, much worse.

This crash wasn’t at the edge of control, it wasn’t having a fit of Canon Courage or anything along those lines – it was just an unfortunate series of events overall.

The raised edges of the chute, particularly with the outcropping, meant there wasn’t any sliding or tumbling to absorb the energy. Nearly all of my forward momentum is stopped in about a tenth of a second. The whole thing took less than a second from impact to being laid up on the trail.

At the time I had tremendous neck and shoulder pain. While I surmised I had hit my head based on seeing the visor down trail I had no idea how bad it was until I was released from the hospital that afternoon and took as selfie to send to my sister.

POC Kortal Race Helmet after crash forehead split

Once I saw my forehead and then the helmet I really had an appreciation for POC’s craft and commitment.

In my case the helmet took a huge amount of load by breaking the foam internals throughout the chassis. I have no idea how bad this could have been with an inferior design or an older helmet with aged foam.

It always perturbs me when we deliver absolute banger bikes and ask half jokingly whether I’m going to see you out there on a five year old helmet – to be told: Yes. I’ll replace it one of these days.

One of these days should be yearly to ensure the best performance when you need it. And as Friday re-illustrated you never know when you’re going to need it…

Overall it was a really scary day. I was laid out with neck and shoulder pain that really didn’t allow me to move (in fact finding out I hadn’t broken anything seemed to surprise not only me but most of the team involved!) With the level and location of the pain as well as the location on the trails it took a compliment of people to safely get me out. There was a battery of tests, IVs and such. I was essentially immobile for a couple days (although I’ve made awesome strides this week and am getting back to normal much quicker than I ever thought).

But you know what there wasn’t? I didn’t have a brain bleed in the CT. I didn’t have headaches. No nausea. Lights and sounds don’t bother me anymore than they did before (hey, I have a two year old and some of those toys are torture…)

None of this sport is designed to be scare-marketing to readers – but I had an experience that I know could have been much worse without knowing what I know. I wanted to share that with readers.

MANY many thanks are going out on this one BTW:

BikeCo Owner Joe Binatena for turning me onto the 1 helmet a year plan when I started riding about 17 years ago…

Everyone at POC – what a product keep doing what you do.

Leif, Mondo and Emilio – man it would have sucked riding alone that morning!

Thanks to all the first responders who hiked up or down to me from OCFA, Camp Pendleton Fire, State Parks, the OCFA Helicopter Team.

Thanks to the entire Trauma Team at Mission Hospital.

Everyone treated me with care and gave me confidence that my care was in the best hands possible. And actually it shocked me how many of them ride MTB!

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Tips & Tricks: 3 Tips to Mount MTB Tubeless Tires with a Handpump

Tips and Tricks Handpump Mounting MTB Tubeless Tires

Whether you’re on a trip, or helping someone out at the trailhead (or helping yourself occasionally…) some quick tips will help you successfully to Mount MTB Tubeless Tires with a Handpump. Check out this quick video from BikeCo.com or glance through the short write up below.

Mount MTB Tubeless Tires with a Handpump

Tip One: How Much Air How Fast?

The first tip to mounting a tire easily, whether with a handpump or a compressor, is to ensure the most volume of air is pushed easily into the tire.

For this I love valve stems that have a removable core.

By removing the core I greatly increase the volume of air I can get quickly into the tire. This will notably help to bead the tire onto the rim.

Mount MTB Tubeless Tires with a Handpump First Tip Remove Valve Core

Tip Two: Grip.

The next step is to get a grip that allows you to easily hold the pump head onto the valve while having your hand wrapped around the tire.

Mount MTB Tubeless Tires with a Handpump Grip the Pump and Tire

Position your hand so two fingers can hold the pump head while you wrap your thumb onto the top of the tire. With this grip you’ll have a good grip for the next step.

Mount MTB Tubeless Tires with a Handpump Bounce and Squeeze

Tip Three: Bounce and Rotate.

While pumping bounce the tire and squeeze with your hand.

The bouncing and squeeze will help reduce the volume inside the tire. This also increases the PSI and to help bead the tire.

This method tends to work quickly. If you’re struggling take a look and make sure there’s nothing obviously wrong.

Quick list of things that are SUPER annoying if you’ve tried this for a while… Are both beads of the tire on the same side of the air valve (so your pumping goes straight into the atmosphere)? Is a bead sitting on the valve?

Depending on the tire it may help to rotate as you bounce it. This provides a bit more pressure in different spots of the tire.

Hopefully this quick video and writeup help you Mount MTB Tubeless Tires with a Handpump!

Stay on the site and shop #thebestinMTB (and eMTB) including our unbeatable selection of tires.

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Nukeproof Ride Review: Mega 290 & Reactor 290

Nukeproof Ride Review Mega 290 and Reactor 290. Reactor and Mega with Riders looking at bikes on fire road in cloud.

Mike, Tracy and I had a chance to take out two of the most popular bikes in the Nukeproof lineup.

While we didn’t have the most cooperative SoCal June weather we defined what we liked about the spec and how the Nukeproof Mega 290 and Reactor 290 ride on trail.

Mega 290 & Reactor 290: Nukeproof Ride Review

Nukeproof Mega 290 Carbon bike Review on The Luge

In this Nukeproof review we’ll glance at the spec of both the Mega 290 Factory and the Reactor 290 Elite builds.

Where do the bikes stack up in the BikeCo lineup? What are some variants we’d see on our personal bikes?

Later we’ll get into HOW the bikes ride and the overall Nukeproof trail personality.

Nukeproof Build Kits

Learn more about the Nukeproof Factory and Elite Build Kits with these tabs or keep reading for more about the Reactor 290 and the Mega 290’s trail personality.

Nukeproof Mega 290 Carbon Factory Spec Highlights

The Nukeproof Mega 290 Carbon Factory build is essentially an XT bike with FOX Factory Suspension.

The Mega 290 has 160mm of rear travel paired to a 170mm fork and is a confident Enduro or All Mountain bike.

The FOX Factory fork and shock both provide adjustment through PSI, volume spacing, high and low speed rebound as well as high and low speed compression settings. This gives the bike a wide range of tuning options for any rider size.

Shimano’s XT drivetrain and brakes with 203mm rotors front and rear perform as you’d expect.

Spec’d with Double Down tires front and rear it’s set for aggressive riding from the get-go.

DT Swiss EX1700 wheels provide a great platform to mount an Enduro / All Mountain appropriate tire selection from around 2.3″ or 2.4″ to 2.5″ or 2.6″ if you prefer.

Nukeproof Mega Carbon 290 Factory build climbing trail in low cloud cover.

Mega 290 Factory Build Thoughts

While the three of us tend to build very different bikes for our personal quivers we actually had a lot of parallel thoughts on the Mega 290 Factory build.

This is a bike that’s spec’d nicely from the factory. We each had a short list of what we’d probably change if we were going to make this bike our own and really we only had a single build “issue”: the saddle. It’s slippery! Now, you can see in the images we were riding in a low cloud which probably made everything a little more slippery – but everyone noted that the saddle would be the first thing off the bike for any of us.

Mega 290 Factory Spec Upgrades

So what are some personal upgrade or swap ideas for the Nukeproof? Well take this with a grain of salt as the three of us have more years riding then we’d like to admit as well as enough gray hair to be really particular (note Mike’s jersey…), so our upgrades or swaps would all be pretty personal preference things.

Each of us have a preferred brake setup that would go on the bike but as far as spec brakes the Shimano XT are absolutely workable.

All of us have a go to cockpit. Most likely we’d all gravitate to higher rise carbon bars and I would have to have my preferred grip too.

Tracy likes the Double Down tires front and rear. I might go to my EXO+ setup or at least the EXO+ in the front with a DHF for maybe a touch faster rolling setup.

Mike’s finally entry on this was a GX AXS derailluer, he rides wireless drivetrains and was convincing us how lowering the work load on my thumbs would improve my climbing (not much could make my climbing too much worse compared to these guys haha)

If you want to go through the notes on a Nukeproof Elite build (basically an SLX bike) click over to the Reactor 290 tab for more details.

Nukeproof Reactor 290 Elite Spec Review. Reactor 290 climbing on trail in low cloud.

Nukeproof Reactor 290 Carbon Elite Build Highlights

The Reactor 290 Elite build features Shimano SLX drivetrain and brakes as well as FOX Performance Elite suspension giving it a very credible setup. The Reactor is a 130mm travel frame paired to a 150mm fork for a nice Trail and Light / Medium Terrain Enduro bike.

The Performance Elite suspension features the more advanced dampers with improved compression control similar to the FOX Factory options, just without the Kashima coating.

Shimano’s SLX bits feature excellent performance in a bit more cost-conscious at a small weight penalty compared to the XT spec of the Factory builds.

Nukeproof Reactor 290 Elite on trail surrounded by green bushes.

Reactor 290 Elite Spec Review

Our conversation on the Reactor 290 Elite spec had a handful of tangents.

Before we get too deep into what we would have done to “make it ours” so to speak let’s take a glance at the SLX buyer’s opinion.

This is a nice SLX spec. If you didn’t have an established go to for say, like almost every bit on your bike there’s little on this bike that really glares at you. Except the slippery seat. It’s slippery.

Beyond the tires, brakes, cockpit setup preference changes (like we touched on with the Mega 290 Factory build in the other tab) the only other bits that stand out for consideration of upgrade are the wheels and maybe the seatpost.

We started debating about if you were to throw a little bit more cash at this bike where would it go?

Wheels play a big part in a bikes personality so we tossed around ideas on well if we did this, or that to this bike but when we looked at the price consideration it put us into the neighborhood of the Factory build with improved wheels as well as the XT drivetrain and brakes.

And frankly – that’s how models should be spec’d. I like that Nukeproof has a relatively closely grouped build price point and that you can see the value in all of the available models.

Devil’s advocate though: how mean would the Elite look with some carbon hoops on it and new hubs?

Nukeproof Reactor 290 Elite Ride Review bike on trail going downhill

So how did each of the Nukeproof bikes ride on trail?

Well as you’d expect, even though the Mega is a 160/170 bike and the Reactor a 130/150, they had some brand personality similarities when we compared notes.

Nukeproof Trail Personality

Nukeproof Sizing

Mike, Tracy and I are sort of close in height. Well, close enough that I can’t really think of who’s the tallest or shortest.

Each of our current personal bikes is a Large, albeit mine is a Mondraker Foxy so it’s a LONG large.

I’ve always been kind of between sizes at 6’1″ with long legs and arms. Lately I’ve been riding longer bikes and think it has been helping my lower back some – so I went with the XL Nukeproof Mega for our test ride.

Mike tends to ride Large although some bikes he may adjust depending on top tube length to keep him in a better position for his neck and back.

Tracy and I have traded bikes a lot over the years and generally we’re super close in setup. I think most of his personal bikes have been Large lately.

Once I jumped on it I had no doubts it was the right size. I never felt “lost” in it at all. In fact I kind of struggled to see how a 20mm shorter reach would have worked either. So I started giving Tracy a hard time about his Large selection. By the end of the ride he agreed that the XL would have been a nicer fit.

Mike rode the L Reactor 290 and seemed like he enjoyed the fit as its closer to his current quiver of bikes although the reach is a little shorter on the Nukeproof compared to other brands.

With almost all size bikes having room for longer dropper posts these days fit has become height as well as leg length and determining where you are on the “average” comparison of that.

I come in on the X-Large for height and the XX-Large for leg length according to Nukeproof. The XXL was going to be much to long for me but the XL was a good fit.

For taller riders, it makes sense that Nukeproof offers an XXL if the XL is a comfortable fit for me.

Nukeproof Mega and Reactor Trail Review Bikes at the top of The Luge in the cloud

Nukeproof: On Trail

All of us enjoyed the miles on the Nukeproof Trail / Enduro models. Mike has actually ridden both of these bikes as well as the Giga and is a great resource for our team on the overall Nukeproof personality as well as the variations in their lineup.

Nukeproof Personality

As a disclaimer: we didn’t get the greatest conditions to really test these bikes.

But between the three of us, with a lot of years of doing this, there were a handful of things we agreed on about the Nukeproof trail performance.

Planted / Balanced Traction.

The bikes have a notable even balance on the front and rear wheels. In just about any reasonable riding position it was very easy to feel both wheels working together. You had to get way, way too far off the back to get the front end light. And I was uncomfortable getting far enough forward on the bars to have the rear wheel feel light (with one exception I’ll get into later hahaha…)

Along the same lines as being “planted” the bikes had an appropriate front to rear wheel feel climbing and descending.

I found the Mega 290 was a very forgiving bike to ride which became important on the descent as conditions turned more sloppy than any of us frequently ride.

Overall the Nukeproof rode most similarly to Ibis models we work with.

It might have had a little more “up and down” pedaling variation than my Yeti or Mondraker – but like the Ibis bike’s this motion directly equates to rear wheel traction so I didn’t find the bike sluggish to accelerate. It was well behaved even up some of the slippery climbing sections when the wheel was clawing up and over rocks or terrain shifts.

The Mega and Reactor had a little less “pop” than you might expect from a Yeti or Mondraker on trail. Some of that is from the suspension’s design but some of it is from the shock and fork setup as well.

I suspect with time I could have put more “pop” back into the Mega to have it ride closer to my preferred quicker out of corners, pumpy style bikes (but that style also tends to break free from traction faster too – so it’s really a personal setup preference at that point – read on for my detail notes and why understanding a review is helped by understanding the reviewer…)

Lively at Any Speed

Another aspect that’s important for bike performance, does the bike require a certain speed to come alive? Class leading bikes have good handling characteristics whether you’re riding at consumer, expert or even race paces.

The Nukeproof felt good in the range of speeds I was able to get it into. Some bikes struggle with sluggish handling at lower speeds or get nervous at high speeds. Bikes like Nukeproof, Ibis, Mondraker and Yeti put a lot of effort into their testing to ensure the bikes are playful and fun for the widest range of riders.

The Mega felt like it had more in the tank than I got close to giving it, but never felt like that school bus on a figure eight track that some “bigger” bikes parallel at lower speeds.

Nukeproof Reactor 290 Elite build review on trail downhill

Nukeproof Reactor 290: On Trail

Mike’s notes carry a lot of weight as he puts many miles on a variety of bikes. From Nukeproof, Ibis, Mondraker or Yeti he’s very familiar. So it was interesting to listen as he fit the Reactor 290 between other BikeCo models.

“The Reactor rides a like a little bigger than pretty burly built Ripley. You know the Ripley with the bigger fork and shock that we’ve done in the past.

I’d say maybe closer to the Ripmo even. Not quite as big as the Ripmo travel wise but the Reactor is closer to a ‘fast’ Ripmo setup more than a big ‘Ripley’ probably.

The Nukeproof suspension feels similar to the Ibis although it would take me a little bit to get the Nukeproof as precise as the bikes’ I’m comparing since I’ve had more time on them.

On the Reactor I felt confident that the bike would turn in and hold a line. It felt pretty good over the chunkier stuff but we were kind of going slower today because of conditions too.

For me, this is a very well equipped bike at the price.  The Elite build I rode had the Fox Grip 2 damper on it which is all you really need or want.
We see many “DTC” bikes come into the shop and the client needs to spend more money to get the bike in a rideable condition.  You could ride one of these off the floor and it is ready to go.  Comfortable and super competent for the price point”
Nukeproof Mega 290 Carbon Factory Review dropping into the Luge

Nukeproof Mega 290: On Trail

Tracy and I have ridden a lot of bikes, in a lot of terrain over the years. Generally we both gravitate to a similar model capacity even if we ride different brands. So it made sense that both of us wanted to test the Mega 290 out of the Nukeproof lineup.

Overall we had pretty similar trail notes. I’m going to go deeper into my thoughts a little later as there’s A LOT of things that you feel and have to take into account on a demo ride and I think it’s important to be transparent and realistic – you can get an idea of how the Nukeproof bikes behave from this review but there is so much range of adjustment available as well. Anyway – back to the quick takes on the Mega 290 On Trail.

Tracy had some good insight

“The bike didn’t feel twitchy or nervous. Even as the trail got slick I felt like I could hold the lines I wanted.

It pedaled like I would expect for a 160/170mm bike. It wasn’t a slow pedaling bike at all. Could be tough to tell given how sticky the ground was too. But with the road ride before the dirt I felt like it compared well with other bikes its size.

I never felt the bike get nervous at speed. Couldn’t tell with today’s conditions but it might have that Yeti personality where it loves more and more speed.”

I agreed with all of his notes after the ride especially the speed capacity. I was able to get the bike up to a lively pace in a couple of the areas that weren’t as soupy and the bike never gave me any indication that it wouldn’t like a little more.

Both of us noted that the Mega was quite notable at holding lines in both the dry and wet conditions. You’d roll the Mega into a corner, get that lean angle going and that bike just carved in.

With the setup I noted the bike would take a lot of weight input from your feet while keeping the front end planted.

Nukeproof Mega 290 Factory Review Test Riding

Quick Conclusions: Nukeproof Riding Review

So what’s the quick take on the Nukeproof Mega 290 or the Nukeproof Reactor 290?

Well drawn from the combined notes we had really positive notes overall on both the bike’s spec and value as well as the on trail personalities.

Nukeproof Mega 290 Carbon Factory Review. Bike turning on trail.

The Mega and Reactor both feel well planted, confident and forgiving on trail. These aren’t bikes with knife edge personalities and even a pretty basic setup provided a really enjoyable ride.

Nukeproof bikes overall feel like they have a bit of “monster truck” in them, similar to Ibis bikes, and ride comfortably feeling maybe slightly “bigger” than they are.

I know I put the Mega into situations that it was well behaved in without requiring over the top theatrics or heroics from me as a rider.

Wondering how the Nukeproof might fit into your personal riding? Chat with a member of our sales team. They’re all versed with the class leading brands BikeCo works with: Ibis, Mondraker, Nukeproof and Yeti. Our staff is trained on where these brand’s personality is as well as what tuning options are available to modify a bike to your desired requirements.

Remember: class leading bikes, ones with not only the “right” geo (which has converged somewhat over the years) but also the RIGHT suspension and balance have a setup range. And it can be hard to really understand it from a demo ride.

Since I’ve bitched for so long about those doing reviews being more transparent about “what” and “how” they ride you can keep reading for more details on my ride and how experience allows a better understanding of what a bike is about and where it fits.

But first enjoy some pics of Mike and Tracy from our Nukeproof Ride Review on the Luge!

Reviewing the Reviewer

I’ve been pushing for a long time that reviewers give more personal insight to their experiences that go into a published review. So to wrap up this Nukeproof Ride Review I’d like to provide insight to what I thought, what my exact notes were, what I ride and how I come up with some of my conclusions during a review.

There are a handful of things that experience will help you quickly define and if you know how those are about to effect your ride you can more accurately speak to a bike MODEL and not a SETUP so to speak.

What Did I Notice in Setup?

Some of my notes on while I setup the Mega 290 would help me better understand what the bike WAS doing on trail and what it COULD do as well.

Mega 290 Ride Review Notes on Setup

Factory Suspension

Both the fork and shock were low on volume spacers for my preference. This means I used the compression settings to increase support that would be more finely tuned by increasing the ramp rate.

It’s a demo bike – the odds it would have a perfect package are low. Knowing that I was running more compression meant that I would forgive a little bit of potential harsh small bump compliance in the rear as well as initial support into corners.

Cockpit

First, I have bad hands and hate grips with outboard collars. It hurts my hands, messes with my ulnar nerve and causes numbness and pain up my arms. This bike had grips I didn’t like but I would try to run my hands further inboard than I usually do.

Bars were aluminum and 25mm rise with not a lot of stem spacers. I generally like to have larger rise handlebars and carbon (it makes a big difference in my hand and arm condition to ride with carbon bars)

Tires

Double Down Assegai front and Double Down DHR rear. An aggressive setup but appropriate for the bike. I typically run EXO+ DHF / DHR pairing so I knew that tire package would be a bit heavier than I’m used to.

Setup Forgiveness Based on Spec

Will it ride Harsh?

So based on the volume spacers, compression settings, grips and bars I knew I would potentially have to forgive some front end “harshness”. In other words, it would not be a fair fork test for sure if that’s what we were testing!

Luckily the fork was freshly serviced and overall it felt good. I think the oil and seals being new helped this a lot (and actually made me think I really need to service my 38)

Can I Get It In Control?

Hand height is important to me for a couple reasons. First, I have back issues which mean I kind of need my bike setup in a certain way to minimize that. This is a personal issue and varies from rider to rider. If you’ve got enough gray hair you’ll probably understand and if you have the gray hair and don’t understand it I’m jealous for sure!

Second you gain or lose a lot of control by having hands in a position you can get power applied. This applies to both your hand height as well as width. Just like riding too wide of bars having your stack too high or low can numb the handling reducing your ability to have quick adjustments with minimal input.

I did notice that the Mega liked to be leaned in to corners more than my usual setups that I tend to understeer slightly and lean which snaps them into corners a touch faster. I’d still give the Mega passing grades on this because my hands were low combined with the fork setup not having the precise feel I’m used to after all the years of Pro Tune forks and a specific setup.

Acceleration

Some would say climbing. I don’t climb well enough to speak to it! So, for me to feel a bike’s efficiency I’m looking at how it handles burst acceleration. Heavier tires are going to change that around which I noticed on the road climb to the Luge but not as much once we got in the super tacky and then super slippery dirt…

Geo Differences

My personal bike is a Mondraker Foxy RR with a 170mm fork. So all and all most of the geo between what “I’m used to” and what I was testing was relatively close (especially when you factor the published Mondraker numbers are from a 160mm fork so mine has a slightly slacker headtube, higher bb and longer wheelbase).

The exception that I saw was on wheelbase. My Mondraker is setup with the shorter chainstay and shorter wheelbase. The published wheelbase is 1253mm – given the longer fork I’ve added a couple mm to that but I’ve never really bothered to calculate it out.

On the Mega XL the wheelbase is 1275mm which would give it a touch more planted feel and change a little bit of the direction change personality.

On the road when I put a twitch through the front end I could feel the front end was a bit more planted than my bike. I couldn’t decide if that was the MaxxGrip tire or the longer front center.

During the descent I could feel that the Mega XL was “longer” in the first few corners but that quickly went away once I had four or five turns down.

Finally – let’s take a quick look at the conditions we rode in.

Between some morning rain and being in the cloud the conditions were pretty variable. We got in some sections that were hero dirt levels of excellence – no brakes just ride in, lean as much as you want and rip through it.

Then, well, it got sloppy…

Nukeproof Mega 290 Factory Review by bikeco

Being SoCal locals none of the three of us really ride in sloppy stuff. So the details of the ride have to go back to the conditions were we have experience and kind of look the other way in conditions that are outside of the norm for us.

For instance some riders are always looking to fall in love with a demo or review bike. That’s not always going to happen (even for a bike you’ll love) and breaking down the experience can be important.

Here’s a good example of this for me:
First Ride Demo on the Mondraker FOXY
(didn’t love it but saw potential)
Extended “First” Ride when I bought one
(starting to love it – testing some stuff out, riding is ‘work’ you know!)
Extended Ride Review
(loved it by then)

Sorry for the sidebar, but the point is that you’re not always going to “love” a bike at this level at first sight. They’re technical pieces and you should treat it like that and go through what you’re really looking for out of the bike to make sure you get a bike that will get there with you. BikeCo’s staff is unbeatable at this…

Like overall – it was fun to get out with Mike and Tracy on the Nukeproof, but by the end of the ride I was kind of “blah” about having messy muddy everything to clean up, I was cold and I had a fall that dampened my spirits (and for a split second or two really scared me).

OK, not to dwell on crashes but this one was pretty funny and not that bad. If you’re familiar with the Luge picture the deep pocket turns before the trail “turns left” down the canyon with the right hand exposure. I think it’s three or five like left, right, left, right, left. Anyhow, I went in too hot as the flatter section of trail wasn’t too slippery, but as soon as it rolled into the steeper stuff it got sloppy. First corner I lost the bike, back end comes around and I’m sliding down, still up on the bike, but both wheels full drift. Into the next corner where the front end climbed up the rise and now the back wheel is in the trough, front wheel almost in the bushes still up. Still sliding. About then I see there’s really only one more turn before that left, which if I miss I’m going off the side, so my heart kinda thumps. Still at a full slide 90 degrees from the ideal direction I decide to smack my leg into the side of the trail to try to slow down and get off the back of the bike. Never fully fell just kinds slide all over and bury my leg in mud. Anyhow – I get down trail to take some more pics of Mike and Tracy and Mike’s like “ya, did you see those tracks through the corner? What a mess” or something along those lines. Then looks at me and puts together that those were all my “tracks” across the nearly the entire trail width…

When demo-ing or reviewing a bike you have to kind of put that aside to have a critical look at the bike, the setup and the spec to decide what you’re really feeling or not. I suggest that riders try to find 3 things they like, 3 things they didn’t really like and 3 things they’re neutral about to help your sales team understand if you’re on the right type / model of bike, size, spec and how the setup was.

Overall I can confidently say the Nukeproof Ride Review of the Mega 290: it’s a bike that rides planted, comfortable at speed, well behaved and consistent without knife edge performance. My experience says that for me, I would prefer ramping the suspension up to add some more “pop” to the bike to give it a little more when pumping the trail through terrain or in corners. The Mega rode “bigger” than either of my last two bikes the Mondraker or a Yeti SB130 Lunch Ride – but it should as it is a longer travel frame than either of those options.

I think it compares best to the Ibis Ripmo, maybe even a Ripmo with a 170mm fork.

Overall a fun Enduro bike comfortable and confident in terrain and speeds you’d expect!

Chat with our team today about the Nukeproof lineup or shop Nukeproof below:

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Will SRAM Transmission Fit on My Bike?

We’ve got a lot of questions on what bikes are compatible with the new T-Series SRAM Transmission Drivetrains.

So, Will SRAM Transmission Fit on My Bike?

It’s pretty easy to tell:

Does your bike have a UDH rear derailleur hanger and is it designed with a 55mm chainline?
(at this junction I havne’t seen a UDH bike, not 55mm – so basically – is your bike UDH?)

Here’s a quick look at the details that allow the SRAM Transmission to really stand out as the next generation in drivetrains, particularly with it’s automated setup.

SRAM UDH

Will SRAM Transmission Fit on my bike?

So when you heard SRAM was making derailleur hangers what was your thought?

Until I heard chatter about the Transmission system I was kind of like, great, another standard eh?

But as the advancements of the new SRAM Transmission and T-Series components came out it made a lot more sense.

Above on the Left is the hub mating surface of the new Derailleur and on the right is the surface of the UDH.

This is really the piece that allows the SRAM Transmission to take its performance to the next level: Bikes designed with the UDH provide SRAM a dedicated measurement and contact point with the hub, and therefor with the cassette.

SRAM Transmission UDH connects Derailleur directly with hub and cassette in contact

In this illustration you see how the SRAM Transmission Derailleur directly contacts the hub while also accepting the bike’s axle.

This is the importance of bikes being designed around the SRAM UDH in order for Transmission to function.

The 55mm Chainline

The latest in the ever evolving standards of MTB right? I know, part of me wants to make fun of it but the majority of me has a lot of appreciation that this sport values your dollars and continues to innovate – even if it means seemingly continual change! (I swear the next remade 1980s or early 90’s movie or TV commercial I see is gonna make me puke – at least in MTB its always doing something new…)

The wider chainline allows the Transmission system to work, provides a slightly stiffer and more robust rear triangle and requires specific cranks.

You can see the axle difference below between the SRAM GX DUB 52mm and 55mm DUB Wide cranks.

SRAM 55mm chainline versus 52mm chainline GX Cranks

So – what if your bike doesn’t have a UDH? Well non-UDH boost bikes can run the previous SRAM AXS technology available in GX, X01 and XX1 configurations.

In fact, the SRAM AXS system will still mount on a UDH bike as well if you want very specific cranks, chains, etc outside of the T-Series range.

Quick Differences between Transmission and AXS

Transmission provides automated setup and tuning as well as notable improvements to component strength and longevity.

SRAM AXS has an automatic trim tool but does require a bit of setup prior.

If you’re building a new bike most riders shopping wireless shifting will gravitate the new Transmission series as it is more robust and has some interesting design upgrades such as replaceable bash plates as well as other considerations to minimize potential damage in an extreme scenario.

If you’re updating or upgrading your current bike it tends to depend on budget (you’ll need new cranks with specific chain rings with the Transmission system), how important auto-setup is and whether your bike is UDH or not.

Whether you choose Transmission or the previous AXS you’re getting the best in wireless shifting available in MTB or eMTB.

Questions on wireless shifting options? Give us a call, email or use the chat and we’ll get you the right parts for your project.

Shop BikeCo’s favorite drivetrain kits below

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Mondraker FOXY Carbon Review: Extended Ride

Mondraker FOXY Carbon Extended Ride Review and Video

Well, I’ve put in some really enjoyable months and miles on my FOXY Carbon so, it’s time to put down my Mondraker FOXY carbon Review: Extended Ride.

The abridged version: I love this bike and build. Love it.

The FOXY Carbon is confident, predictable and it pedals amazingly well for what I would have considered a long travel 29er. Long travel compared to my previous SB130 Lunch Ride? Ya, I know we’re talking like 10mm in the fork and maybe 13mm in the rear – but we can get more into that down the trail.

For this review I think I’ll hit first on the “heart” of the FOXY – geo and suspension performance and then circle back onto the individual parts on my build as some of them are new to me on an extended review.

Mondraker FOXY Carbon Review Series!

This is the latest in a series of content focused on my Mondraker FOXY experience. You can learn more about how I’ve come to the conclusions here on the Mondraker FOXY Carbon review going through the timeline of posts here on BikeCo.com

Mondraker FOXY “First Ride” Review
Walk through the original setup and thoughts on my build!

Comparing the FOX Grip and Ohlins RXF forks
What led me away from the Ohlins and back to FOX? Check it out

Extra FOXY Mondraker: Foxy with 170mm Fox 38 and Float X2
The real start of my love affair with this bike…

 

Keep reading / watching for the latest on the Mondraker FOXY below!

Mondraker FOXY Carbon Review Forward Geometry La Costa NASCAR

The FOXY at home on a quick chunky loop in La Costa Preserve. Keeping your handlebar a bit taller will help provide a “power” position to push the bike through steep and chunky sections.

Mondraker Forward Geometry

This Mondraker Forward Geo branding launched several years ago. Mondraker was one of the first in the Longer, Slacker, Lower geometry that ended up taking the entire industry.

The longer bikes, shorter fork offsets, increased trail measurement all gave bikes notably more performance without ultra slack headtubes which compromise steering and direction changes.

In today’s marketplace the Mondraker geometry isn’t as “far forward” comparatively to competitive bikes but they are on the longer side of top tier manufacturers. For instance, I had been debating if my Large SB130 might be just a bit short and was debating about an XL. With the longer top tube on the FOXY I stayed in a Large but got the bit of extra length I was looking for.

As a sizing reference I’m 6’1” with long limbs about a 35” inseam and 76” fingertip to fingertip. This allows me to ride the Large using stems in my preferred range of 40/45mm. (you’ll note that’s right in the range of a modern 29 fork offset – I think there’s something to that but haven’t penciled out “why” to date)

Going back to the concern of a “bigger bike”: Was the slightly slacker headtube my FOXY had compared to the Lunch Ride going to create issues climbing or in less steep terrain?

Initially I rode the bike with the stock 160mm Ohlins fork which had its issues, but not in terms of geometry or headtube. The 160mm bike was well planted and didn’t wander even climbing in technical sections.

After moving away from the Ohlins I went slightly slacker with the 170mm FOX 38 fork. To date I haven’t noticed any issues even with the taller fork. The bike climbs well, tracks through steep switchbacks uphill and gets onto and over rocky sections well. Sliding a bit forward on some sections will help you stay in a position where you can easily add extra load through the grips if the front end feels a little light to you.

I left the flip chips in the stock position with the shorter chainstay measurements. The bike works so well I haven’t really felt like meddling with it – maybe one of these days, but I feel like the bike is slack enough especially with the longer fork which also raises the bottom bracket just slightly (similar to what the flip chips would do).

Mondraker FOXY Carbon Review Zero Suspension Mission Trails San Diego

I love bikes with long, straight, mean lines. The FOXY’s front triangle features a unique thin but wide top tube to maximize strength and trail compliance.  It looks fast on trail or sitting in my office! Mission Trails in San Diego

Mondraker ZERO Suspension

Like the fork I ended up going back to FOX on the rear shock – I’ve got another write up on that (in short as a heavier rider the Ohlins was overwhelmed, but I know lighter riders who love it) – but after that switch what are my thoughts? ZERO complaints…

What’s so special about the Mondraker ZERO Suspension design?

Well, a lot of work goes into balancing MTB suspension. Over-simplified: You’ve got to take into account how the wheel arcs, what it does to the drivetrain, what’s the leverage ratio overall, how does the sine angle change the leverage input on the shock? Rising rate mechanical leverage? Falling rate? Mixed? How does that mesh with the shock you’ve spec’d ramp rate? Damping capacity?

A lot of designs “look” similar – but the details simply aren’t that easy to replicate, either from the physics and math or the patents.

Unlike Geo, which has converged into a pretty similar realm depending on what level of bike you’re shopping, ie enduro, trail/enduro, trail, endurance/XC – look alike suspension isn’t a thing you can simply look at what the industry leaders are doing and say ya, I’ll take some of that and slap it on your design…

I’ve been riding a lot of years at this point. I’ve ridden tons of designs. I’ve owned most of the best. (last two bikes were an Ibis HD with DW Suspension and the Yeti SB130 with Switch Infinity Suspension – DW is plush and planted, Switch is poppy and fun). That said, the FOXY is my first bike with floating suspension.

The Mondraker ZERO mounts each side of the rear shock onto pivot linkage creating a “floating” design. This has a couple interesting advantages for designers to work with. Particularly the angle of input into the shock (which changes the mechanical leverage ratio through the spring’s ramp rate to give a bike the designed balance).

What’s this mean? Floating suspensions are known for being compliant. Mondraker Zero suspension takes that compliance and adds an efficient pedaling platform able to keep the bike planted and efficient under power. The FOXY’s suspension suspends and the drivetrain drives without one interfering with the other. It’s designed to have ZERO “cross contamination” if you will.

What’s that mean on trail?

Mondraker FOXY Carbon Extended Ride Review San Juan Corner

One of the places I’ve been most impressed is how well the “longer” FOXY gets through the tight stuff both uphill and downhill. This bike is easy to maintain control of both the front and rear wheel in a “normal” range of riding positions.

ZERO Suspension Uphill

The FOXY is the first bike I’ve owned that I don’t use the shock’s climbing “lock-out”. That’s a really interesting fact. The Mondraker climbs well enough I don’t feel like I need that additional compression setting. It doesn’t suffer bob, it doesn’t feel like it’s sitting too deep when you get headed up the steeps and weight shifts backwards.

Keeping the shock “open” provides another advantage when climbing the Mondraker – it increases the bike’s available traction climbing technical sections.

My FOXY is the best climbing bike I’ve owned. It has incredible traction – it doesn’t spin wheels (which I HATE as it hurts my lower back when bikes have that power on, off, on kick), it’s efficient – add power and the bike accelerates, and likely because I’m able to climb it in the shock’s open position the bike doesn’t have the reverse “pop” or kick back that other bikes might have when climbing up and over chunky rocks, etc.

Previously I had to be ready to really attack a rock face, and as a less fit rider that’s not always as easy as it sounds!

Riding the FOXY, even at lower power input, the bike uses all that traction and churns up and over .  This eliminates the “popping” back and needing that extra momentum from explosive pedaling. Now, some of this might be from some the drivetrain setup as well and I’ll come back to that in the spec review.

Mondraker FOXY Carbon Extended Ride Review San Juan Skyline

Leaning into the corner on San Juan Trail off Ortega. Since most of my riding isn’t in the gnarliest stuff it’s important to me a bike is fun on the flatter, faster stuff while having enough in the tank to tackle chunkier terrain too. The Mondraker FOXY checks that box – riding incredible for a 170mm front (modified from 160 stock) and 150mm rear Enduro bike.

Downhill – ZERO Complaints.

It’s interesting jumping on different bikes and feeling out how they want to behave and what they want from rider input.

I’m looking for a pretty specific feel downhill.

What does it take to control both wheels? I want a bike that in a range of normal riding positions I can get traction off both the front and rear wheel when I want it. Running VPP bikes it felt like you were hard pressed to control the front and rear wheel . Riding them fast particularly in fast corners it seemed like you had to choose whether to ride off the back and really drive through with your feet and hips or pushing the front end to hook up and almost “unicycling” through the corners. I think this hindered my riding for a long time until I got onto other suspension designs that allowed me to comfortably corner faster knowing I was basically doubling my traction…

I prefer bikes that “pop” when pumped on the trail. It’s a fun feel and gives you the ability to find “free” speed. The trick is finding suspension designs that offer that feel without compromising on the total traction and compliance. How much Pop versus Thump – like a bike with too much pop won’t allow you to power through terrain without feeling like you’re on a pogo stick. A bike with too much thump may feel numb until you get it up to speed (my last 26″ bike suffered terribly from that – it wasn’t fun until it was going soooo fast…)

My bikes need to balance compliance, support and ramp rate. I’m willing to trade some compliance (as I can find some in tires, etc) but the balance of support and ramp is important. Having a bike with enough support to corner fast or stay tall in the steep and chunky stuff is critical for a confident experience.

As another note on balance – and it’s not been a problem on any bike I’ve owned, but I’ve found it on some test bikes over the years: if the rear end can’t be balanced to the front it’s just not worth riding! Something else to think about when you see “look-alike” suspension…

Back to the FOXY Carbon Review: Mondraker Suspension has ZERO compromises and I have ZERO complaints (after setting it up with the dampers that accommodate my weight and ground speed)

The FOXY has a wide range of ground speed where its “lively”. I’ll use the word lively, I suppose I mean it changes direction with minimal input, kind of that floating or flying feel that I love in MTB.

It’s also a comfortable when you get going and start to find the limits. The bike is predictable and confident. The FOXY has a “soft” speed limit – meaning that it eases into the point of losing traction or being overwhelmed. It will give you some time to know, hmmm I need to get ready for a 2 wheel drift or the bike to start smashing travel. This is advantageous over bikes with a “hard” speed limit which hit the end of capacity quickly and don’t give riders as much time for correction.

I’ve had it in slower speed, chunky, consequence riding conditions and the FOXY is really sure footed. The suspension absorbs what it needs without jarring you back off the other end as the shock rebounds.

The FOXY is really good at holding a line at a wide range of speeds and terrain.

Where does the bike shine brightest? Well, push that bike into fast, burly stuff and it just begs for more. Makes sense for an EWS level Enduro bike right? Yup.

The FOXY manuals well, jumps better than I do and is easy to control both front and rear wheels.

With the taller front end, between both fork travel and cockpit setup, I can control the front end in steeps as I don’t have to ride way way off the back wheel.

Mondraker FOXY Carbon FOX 38 Magura Brakes

Modern MTB bike spec from industry leaders like Ibis, Mondraker and Yeti are great starting points. Want to take your performance a little further? Chat with our team about how a part here or there will fine tune your bike’s personality. Morning ride before work in Whiting Ranch.

Semi-Custom Mondraker FOXY Carbon Review: My Spec

So let’s get this on the table – I buy all my parts. So, if you see it on my bike, I believe in it and I want it on my bike.

BikeCo has a similar feeling as a business – we offer the best in MTB for a wide range of riders and a wide range of preferences. I’m not saying my spec is the absolute for everyone because a lot of preference goes into spec.

In the spec review I’m going to let you know if its new to me, some thoughts and opinions.

Suspension

FOX 38 GRIP2 Fork, 170mm

I’ve run the GRIP2 as long as it’s been around, but in the 36 160mm fork. The 38 chassis is new to me. I wondered if I would notice the “heavier” front end but I haven’t. The 38 features bleed valves meaning I’ve lot one of my favorite tips and tricks of burping and lubing seals! I never noticed the 36 having any flex issues for me, but the 38 will have even less theoretically…

Float X2 Rear Shock

This is THE shock. It’s been several years since I’ve run the X2 and I did like the SB130’s DPX2 (probably would have loved an X2 on that bike BTW but never made it happen between pandemic availability, etc, etc). The X2 is literally the most special shock I’ve ridden. When setup correctly the high and low speed compression on the X2 provide unbeatable control. In my opinion better than even the computer controlled shocks. Splitting low speed and high speed compression means you can have a shock that offers a lot of pedaling support, but has the ability to instantly open from a small weight shift to prepare for your descent. The X2 is tuneable with air pressure, volume spacing, and both high and low speed compression and rebound.

Getting the suspension setup right allows your bike to float where it needs to float, support where it needs support. BikeCo Pro Tunes take the FOX performance window and narrow it to a particular rider’s weight, ground speed, terrain, and abilities.

Suspension support is important as your ground speed increases and you ride in bigger terrain. There are a lot of ways to work on this and compression setup or PSI (sag) are typically the first you’ll look at. But, no one wants a bike that rattles your teeth out right? So where do we find more small bump compliance to make up for the stiffer suspension? Tires.

Tires

2.5” Maxxis Minion DHF EXO+ 3C MaxxTerra front
2.4” DHR II EXO+ 3C MaxxTerra rear

Love the original Mondraker spec. I’ve run these tread patterns on a bunch of my bikes over the years. This is the first time I’ve run the EXO+ on the front. I was a little concerned about adding weight to the front of my bike and how much it would change the amount of input needed for turning or manualing the bike. Haven’t really noticed it.

The EXO+ gives good support allowing me to maximize, err, well I suppose minimize the air pressures I run. Getting your PSI right means balancing grip with support in high load corners or terrain.

The Mondraker name is building in the USA but it’s been a staple in World Class racing in Europe for ages now. More than a sexy euro trailer queen the Mondraker lineup has proven it can provide riders trail experiences parallel with the top tier expectations from any brand in MTB.

Wheels / Rims

DT Swiss 350 hubs, straight pull spokes on EX 1700 rims

I’ve run DT 350 stock builds before although this is the first time with straight pull spokes and the smaller diameter hubs.

I love the EX1700 rims 30mm internals. It’s my favorite inner dimension as it gives a great shape to the typical 2.4/2.5” tires that most enduro or trail/enduro riders enjoy. I tend to ride pretty hard particularly on the rear wheels. The EX1700 have stayed true and have taken a pretty good beating. I haven’t put any rim protection on these wheels either. Oh, and they mount tires easily – which – on your own bike isn’t necessarily that big of a deal but helping at the shop I mount a lot of tires on a lot of wheels. It’s always a little easier to see those rims in my pile of work to do!

This is my first go around with straight pull spokes. No real input on that yet. I prefer J-bend for a lot of reasons we’ll see if I find my reasons justified or not over some time I suppose.

DT Swiss 350 hubs. I’ve had good luck with my last set of DT hubs. This might be set 3 for me but I can’t remember for sure. What I’ve learned about DT Swiss 350 hubs over the years:

First, the driver isn’t “fixed” onto the hub. Makes it super easy to service or mod parts. BUT! When you mount tires and are thumping them to slosh the tire sealant around MAKE SURE you have the cassette up and have a hand on it. I make this mistake about once a year. Mount a tire, banging the wheel and cassette, ratchet system and springs are all over the floor!

I run the 36t ratchet. The 18t feels clunky and the 54t is delicate in my opinion, not something I need as a heavier rider with poor pedaling technique.

This is my first go at the smaller diameter and smaller spoke flange design. I do notice that in really hard corners I can hear the front rotor “tinging” suggesting that there’s some flex somewhere. But, as long as it’s not leading to premature wear or failure it’s not a big deal to me at the moment. Makes you feel kinda cool like ya, that’s a corner. Haha…

Mondraker FOXY Review Whiting Ranch

Another morning ride in Whiting Ranch before work. What other sport consistently gets the views we get in MTB??

Drivetrain

I tend to run GX level drivetrains. I find the performance / value is hard to beat. I think that the XX1 and X01 likely has a slightly longer service life though. A well lubed SRAM drivetrain’s service interval overall is pretty much impossible to beat in my experience.

SRAM GX 10-52T Cassette (pinned)

This is my first 52t cassette. I find it’s a really notable bail out gear from the 48t – however – it does feel like a big shift so I don’t want to dump shift into it as I’m sure that’s hard on it. I could see a lot of riders preferring the 50t option if they’re strong climbers. I prefer the extra little bit available with the 52t so far.

KMC X-12ti Chain

While I run GX level bits I do spend a bit more on the chain. Typically I run XX1 chains as I feel like the surface conditioning as well as manufacturing techniques give better performance longer than the less expensive chains. On this bike I put the KMC X-12ti on as I wanted the gold highlights to remind me of my daughter’s cancer fight (gold is the universal kid cancer color fyi – we’ve got it removed and 6 months of clear scans so life’s good).

AbsoluteBlack Oval Chainring

The AbsoluteBlack Oval chainring is the first oval I’ve ridden more than say twice in a row. I’ve gotten used to it and really don’t feel it anymore. When I first rode it I felt like it was more notable as the leverage changed through the stroke. Since I’m kind of a churny climber I feel like the oval ring does give me some advantage. If you’re spinning high cadence it might feel a little funny. Setting up the Mondraker chainguide was a bit of a compromise but I haven’t had any issues dropping the chain thus far with the setup.

SRAM GX Alloy Cranks, 175mm

These new GX cranks are really, really nice in my opinion. They look good and are pretty light given their position in the SRAM Eagle lineup. I run 175mm cranks. I used to have a more distinct opinion on who should ride what – but then I measured 5mm. It’s like three quarters stacked on top of each other. Run what you want! I’m not sure that distance is causing or negating any pedal strikes for me…

RaceFace Atlas Pedals

The Atlas pedals have made it to either their third or fourth bike. Maybe this is the third. But, considering that they’ve been in service since Nov 2018 for a bigger rider without a rebuild – got my value out of those…

Seating

Ergon SM Enduro Men’s saddle

I can’t recall if I’ve run this exact Ergon saddle before. I ride Ergon saddles as they tend to have a comfortable balance between the seating area and the relief areas. I typically don’t notice them. Which is my goal with saddles.

175mm FOX Transfer post

Wondering if I want to go to the 200mm – not because I need any more drop when riding, but with the taller BB height compared to my last bike I can’t quite flat foot the bike getting on and off. Maybe I’m getting older and my leg doesn’t go as high when I kick over?

Mondraker FOXY Carbon Review Magura MT5

One of the tricks to spec’ing your dream bike: knowing where you can find extra performance at a great value. Magura MT5 brakes work excellent balancing unbeatable modulation and power. With a proper first bleed these brakes will work amazing with just an occasional bubble bleed for years.

Cockpit

Wolf Tooth Light Action Remote

I’ve been running these for several years too. I prefer the longer lever Light Action since it requires less force, although it does need further throw, to activate. I have bad hands and every little bit helps.

Ergon GE1 Evo Grips, Regular Diameter

I’d run WTB padloc grips for years – but – they seem to be a casualty to covid. So, I went beack to the Ergon GE1 Evo. They have some of the additional padding at the edge which was my favorite aspect of my previous grips. The GE1 grips are left and right specific and have a designed shape for improved ergonomics. With a single inner clamp they don’t need the raised outer edge required for a second clamp, which I absolutely hate the feel of. I tend to run my hands slightly off the grips and that rise hurts. The one complaint on the Ergons is they are slippery when wet. I climb without gloves and I have to be aware on any quick descent or whatever to wipe them well or the sweat makes them really slick. Gloves solve this so they’ve stayed on the bike so far.

RaceFace Turbine-R Stem 40mm

I’ve been running this stem since it was labeled Easton before the buyout! It’s an elegant shape with a nice finish but most importantly it was one of the first stems to come out machined flat at the top, so you tighten the faces together there and then torque the bottom bolts. I love attention to detail.

Tag T1 Carbon Bars, 40mm rise stock 800mm width

I went with the Tag T1 Carbon Bars as I like the concept of the ovalized design to fine tune and help damp trail vibration. It’s not something that you’re going to be like oh, I feel it so much – but every little bit helps. Some bars speed handling, typically not what I’m looking for at speed while others can slow handling (didn’t need it on this bike). The Tag sits in the middle as a neutral option.

Magura MT5 Brakes, 180mm HC Rotors

Figured I’d close with these. If you’ve read much of our stuff you’ve come across my love for Magura brakes. Unbeatable power and modulation (although, I’m told the new Hope V4 have brought more power to the Hope options which also have great modulation). I love the stock lever on the MT5 which is slightly longer adding to the modulation feel (like the seatpost remote – longer lever = longer throw to full engagement which translates to more modulation on brakes). Even as a larger rider I run 180mm rotors unless its really a big day or trip. I find the balance is good although more and more riders are setting up in the 203/180 or 203/203 range.

 

Hope you learned something in this Mondraker FOXY Carbon Review! Geo, suspension on trail personality and a bit on the what’s and why’s of my spec!

Mondraker FOXY Carbon Review: extended Trail Rides
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Understanding Maxxis MTB Tires

Understanding Maxxis Tire Technology: PSI, Sidewall, Compound & Tread

Want to learn more about the technical details of Maxxis MTB tires? BikeCo.com explains tires including PSI, sidewalls, compounds and tread patterns to help you fine tune your bike’s performance.

Maxxis MTB Tires

One of the things you’ll take away from this video is how riders are using sidewall technology to fine tune PSI as well as small bump compliance allowing them to ride firmer suspension for better support in corners and steeps. How does that work? Check out the video and read more below!

With the available options of SIdewall, Compound and Tread patterns the Maxxis lineup offers a wide range of riders the perfect tire.

Check out the 29″ Maxxis Tire Matrix below and shop the best in MTB 29″ tires here or 27.5″ tires here!

Maxxis 29 Tire Matrix for MTB

More on Maxxis Tires:

BikeCo Tactile Scale Durometer Surface Tension Damping Measurements

BikeCo Tactile Scale: Durometer, Surface Tension and Damping

In order to help our clients better compare products we’ve developed a Tactile Scale for items like Tires, Grips, Shoes, etc. We measure the durometer, surface tension and rebound to provide points that can be more accurately reviewed.
The higher the durometer the “harder” the material.
The higher the Surface Tension the “stickier” or more tacky the material is.
The higher the Damping number the more energy is absorbed by the product during a drop test.

Maxxis 3C Compounds

A hard compound or base layer supports a medium compound center tread section as well as a softer outer tread section of the tire. The softer cornering lugs provide additional grip at lean angles. The harder center section is faster rolling and longer lasting for those climbs before your favorite descents. Each 3C layup has three different layers of rubber compound utilized in varying depths.

3C tires are available in three different layups.

MaxxSpeed: is the fastest rolling and longest lasting of the 3C lineup. It accomplishes this with slightly harder rubber giving up a bit of grip.
MaxxSpeed Tactile Scale – Center: 63-tbd-0.96, Edge: 55-tbd-1.28

MaxxTerra: the intermediate option designed to offer more grip than the MaxxSpeed but is longer lasting with less rolling resistance than MaxxGrip options.
MaxxTerra Tactile Scale – Center: 55-7.56-0.87, Edge: 48-11.2-2.19

MaxxGrip: this 3C option is the stickiest layup. Along with the additional grip the rubber utilized in MaxxGrip tires also has damping properties to help control tire rebound. This adds a bit more confidence to your setup.
MaxxGrip Tactile Scale – Center: 47-8.36-2.39, Edge: 48-11.8-2.6

Maxxis Dual Compound

Features a softer edge and harder center section. Tends to offer less damping and slightly harder durometer for more miles, but gives up some grip.
Dual Compound Tactile Scale – Center: 59-6.71-1.27, Edge: 49-11.2-1.61

Sidewall Technologies

Various reinforcement options are available on modern MTB tires. These help minimize pinch flats and sidewall tears. Depending on speed, terrain and level of aggression riders have a variety to choose from. Recently more and more riders gravitate to the more burly sidewall technology as provides additional damping to help control tire rebound.

Instead of Weight vs. Protection we now see riders looking at Weight vs. Protection, Support and Damping as we look to improve trail feel through the tires allowing the suspension to run more support for cornering, steeps and other terrain.

 

Maxxis Sidewall Definitions: EXO, EXO and DoubleDown

EXO Sidewall: these tires feature a cut resistant material from the bead up the sidewall just below the cornering knobs. This additional layer is designed to be lightweight and flexible giving the tires a bit of support without compromising performance.

EXO Sidewall: As the name suggests this is the EXO sidewall plus an additional Silkshield layer stretched from bead to bead. Without adding too much weight this additional layer does provide notable improvement to tire damping and cut protection.

DoubleDown (DD) Sidewall: Want even more protection and trail damping? Check out the DoubleDown option.  Build with two 120 TPI casing layers with a butyl insert these offer the support and protection of a downhill tire but save a bit of weight on the scales!

DH Sidewall: Double 60 TPI casings. More Damping than Double Down tires.

TPI: Threads Per Inch

60 and 120 TPI comparison Maxxis MTB Tires

60 TPI shown on the left, 120 TPI on the right.

120 TPI provides improved performance and protection but is a bit heavier.

Interested in more details on our tactile scale? Check out some review footage we put together to see some of the differences in compound rebound between 3C MaxxGrip, 3C MaxxTerra and Dual Compound Maxxis Tires.

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Five Ten Stealth vs Ride Concepts Max Grip

Five Ten Stealth vs Ride Concepts Max Grip

A lot of flat pedal riders ask about the difference between the Five Ten Stealth vs Ride Concepts Max Grip soles. Well let’s take a look at why we stock both the Five Ten and Ride Concepts shoes here at BikeCo.com.

So what’s similar? They both work well. Confident and predictable grip is critical to enjoying your ride. Both of these shoes offer that.

Both the Stealth and Max Grip utilize lugs flat with the shoe’s edge and a gap left between pads.

The Five Ten use a circle while the Ride Concepts design features hexagons. Pretty close size between them as well.

Differences Five Ten Stealth vs Ride Concepts Max Grip

At BikeCo we’ve been working to provide our online shoppers as close to an in-store experience as possible. To that end we’ve developed a series of tests that allow us to publish a scale to help with product comparison.

With experience on both of these platforms the Five Ten and Ride Concepts shoes were a big part in developing a system that provided numbers that passed the experience test.

Let’s look at the three numbers in the scale and how they apply to the Stealth and Max Grip soles.

Durometer

Durometer is a basic “hardness” test – but if you really get researching it durometer is kind of vague on what it actual measures. In the world of MTB shoes it’s a decent barometer for wear as well as how easily pedal pins will “bite” into the shoe. When measuring durometer a series of readings are taken and averaged.

With our durometer scale Five Ten Stealth rubber measured 65 on average

Five Ten Stealth Rubber Durometer measurement

The Ride Concepts Max Grip sole on the TNT shoe measures a bit softer on the durometer scale coming in at 55.

Ride Concepts Max Grip Durometer measurement

Surface Tension, or Tack, or Grip, or Sticky…

So durometer doesn’t necessarily dictate how much “tack” there is on the sole of a shoe. A lot of variants go into that – but we wanted to have a repeatable test and developed this weighted drag reference.

Dragging this sled across the sole, averaging the results and taking into account the contact patch size we define a value (watch the video if you want to learn more about what we’re up to!)

Five Ten Stealth Rubber Surface Tension test

The Five Ten stealth rubber tested to 16.1 on the sled test.

As a reference, a standard pair of Puma casual shoes I had in my office tested to 5 and the Five Ten gum sole tested to 10.8…

Ride Concepts Max Grip Surface Tension

The Ride Concepts shoe came in with the highest surface tension of anything I’ve tested so far at 22.4.

This result compared to the Stealth rubber makes sense to the “finger test” when you have the shoes in your hand – which really was the goal of putting these metrics together. We want to have some tangible comparison for clients reviewing product here at BikeCo.com.

Finally we looked at the sole’s ability to damp impact.

Damping Test

Five Ten Stealth vs Ride Concepts Max Grip Damping

This is probably the most exciting test, with a drop rig, steel balls, electromagnets… And comparing shoes it’s probably pretty close overall since the shoes all went onto the same jig in about the same way.

We take an average of 3 to 5 drops, disregarding any way off the average since they might have hit funny or whatever. We divide the drop height by the average rebound distance (and move the decimal point) so that the higher the number the more damping it has (or the smaller rebound measurement on the bounce).

The Five Ten Stealth came in with the most damping of anything we’d tested so far, a 5.8.

The Ride Concepts also had good damping at 4.8.

Improved damping helps neutralize trail vibration back into the rider. As a reference the gum sole Five-Ten had much more rebound with a score of 3.2.

Riding the shoes I believe that the Ride Concepts insole actually provides a lot of additional damping as well, and I’m not sure how much of that is factored into this particular test.

The TNT is a slightly more “robust” or aggressive shoe and the insole feels slightly taller than the Freerider.

So, our final numbers came out as follows:

Five Ten Stealth: 65-16.1-5.8

Five Ten Stealth Rubber Sole design

The Ride Concepts Max Grip sole on the TNT model came out slightly softer and tackier.

Ride Concepts Max Grip: 55-22.4-4.8

Wrapping It Up…

My experience with the shoes, which I have to admit end up as both riding and work shoes – both at the shop and chores around the house, parallels what we’d expect to see from numbers like we calculated.

Both shoes are MUCH more tacky than others giving you great pedal feel and grip. Pedal pin penetration (how’s that for alliteration) is confident in both while you can still move your foot when you want.

It’s interesting that the Five Ten’s sole has more damping properties and that in general Ride Concepts uses a thicker, more aggressive in-sole. I imagine that’s how they end up with a similar trail feel between the two shoes.

If you’re using them solely (more shoe puns right?) as riding shoes both offer good wear intervals. Doing a bunch of walking and working in them? You’re going to notice the Ride Concepts will wear faster than the Five Ten. Both have good grip when hiking even in wet conditions (albeit I don’t get to test much in the wet here in SoCal…)

I would recommend either of these options – since we only offer the best in MTB it’s easy to get it right shopping at BikeCo.com. Other shoes may have one of these factors similar to the class leaders, but getting them all balanced and right is harder than it looks. The slight differences are really notable on trail.

For instance, the Five Ten gum soles I tested (my daily shoes since they’re non-marking) tested at 72-10.8-3.2. And those shoes are horrible to ride in frankly. Part of it is the model (which we don’t stock) is too soft and part of it is the sole is too slick.

Interested in learning more about this new scale?

Well we have you covered. Check out this quick video with more examples of how these tests will bring a better understanding to riders about the performance of grips, tires and shoes.

BTW, looking at Five Ten or Ride Concepts models that will be right for your riding? Shop them here!

BikeCo Tactile Scale

Over the years we’ve worked to provide online shoppers as close to an in-store experience as possible. One thing we felt could be expanded on was a scale to better define the feel, particularly of items like Tires, Shoes and Grips.

BikeCo.com wants shoppers to be able to have more than “it’s stickier, because that’s what they say” when picking #thebestinMTB

This video is a quick explanation of the system that you will see being applied across our site over the next few weeks and to new product offerings.

In short, we’re measuring the durometer (or surface “hardness”), the surface tension with a weighted drag test, and the damping with a drop test measuring rebound percentage. Our system will allow you to more easily compare apples to apples across a range of product manufacturers.

Shop the best in MTB at BikeCo.com including Ibis, Mondraker and Yeti factory completes, customs, semi-customs and more!

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Comparing FOX GRIP2 and Ohlins RXF Forks

Comparing FOX GRIP2 and Ohlins RXF Forks Trail Test

It’s our goal to ensure we know what parts are right for what rider. Sometimes that means trying a new part, although mostly that’s left to our racers. Sometimes it means looking at a new tune option. This time, it meant finding the edge of the Ohlins suspension on my Mondraker Foxy Carbon. Let’s take a few minutes and compare the Ohlins RXF and the FOX GRIP2 platform.

Not currently shopping forks? Well, keep reading you might find some ways to improve your setup based on the notes on which fork did what on trail and how the fork’s controls affected that.

Take a look at some comparative footage and go through the details comparing the FOX GRIP2 and the Ohlins RXF 36 M.2 forks!

First, Mondraker spec’ing Ohlins on the FOXY is a good choice.

BikeCo owner Joe Binatena tested Ohlins forks as well as shocks, and it’s the first time I’ve seen him run stock suspension in, maybe ever. Joe ended up with Ohlins on his personal Crafty eMTB.

Our purchasing agent Mike has a FOXY Carbon with Ohlins RXF and TTX which he loves. Mike tends to prioritize compliance and traction to add to his riding confidence on bigger bikes. He’s told me that the RXF is notably more planted than this current Rock Shox fork on a similar sized bike.

Both Mike and Joe are on the slightly skinnier than average I would say. Between the two of them a good deal of trail disposition, ground speed and feel can be assessed.

I know both had the Ohlins suspension dialed in within a couple rides since I didn’t hear any behind the scenes chatter about it.

2022 Mondraker US Dealer BikeCo

BikeCo Owner Joe Binatena riding his Ohlins’ equipped Mondraker Crafty Carbon XR

First, Mondraker spec’ing Ohlins on the FOXY is a good choice.

BikeCo owner Joe Binatena tested Ohlins forks as well as shocks, and it’s the first time I’ve seen him run stock suspension in, maybe ever. Joe ended up with Ohlins on his personal Crafty eMTB.

Our purchasing agent Mike has a FOXY Carbon with Ohlins RXF and TTX which he loves. Mike tends to prioritize compliance and traction to add to his riding confidence on bigger bikes. He’s told me that the RXF is notably more planted than this current Rock Shox fork on a similar sized bike.

Both Mike and Joe are on the slightly skinnier than average I would say. Between the two of them a good deal of trail disposition, ground speed and feel can be assessed.

I know both had the Ohlins suspension dialed in within a couple rides since I didn’t hear any behind the scenes chatter about it.

Jumping ahead a couple months, I pulled the trigger on an Ohlin’s spec’d Mondraker.

Even has a heavier rider I didn’t have many reservations purchasing the FOXY with Ohlins suspension. After all, Joe’s riding an eMTB which carries additional mass, and he candidly speaks highly of the platforms.

I knew Ohlins design parameters and goals weren’t a mirror of my previous suspension: Ohlins was looking for a more plush and linear feel for ultimate traction.

Ohlins RXF Fork Main Air Spring Side

If you read my first ride thoughts on the Mondraker FOXY you’ll know I felt like I had the rear pretty close and the fork in a workable area, albeit I knew I could be looking a bit outside the box.

As I continued to ride I found the Ohlins, particularly the fork, lacked midstroke support at my weight and ground speed.

What it felt like and what it was doing on trail just wasn’t there for me. I felt some of it and put it in my notes. Some I spotted in footage. (BTW: the ride footage actually illustrated how well the HSC worked even as the rest of the fork was pushed past it’s limit for me)

Now, I’m not saying that the Ohlins RXF doesn’t work, I’m saying at 275 and looking for a punchy suspension it didn’t work for me. This review isn’t as fair as it could be since the RXF is pushed beyond its limits a bit. If you’re a lighter rider who wouldn’t have that issue keep reading to learn more about how a fork without enough mid-stroke support and too fast of a rebound setting will ride on trail – maybe you’ll unlock your existing or next fork with that knowledge!

Lack of Support: On Trail Symptoms & Adjustments

Here’s a look at the symptoms, why the RXF didn’t make the grade for me (and how the RXF does for both Joe and Mike) and a comparison to the FOX GRIP2 platform.

Early on I was looking for more mid-stroke support from the RXF. The front end would dive into the corners deeper than I expected. On lips or rocks it lacked a bit of the punch back that puts you up and over instead of driving you “backwards”.

I never quite found that in the fork settings.

2022 Mondraker FOXY Carbon RR Review

Ohlins RXF 36 M.2 Settings

I maxed the Ramp Up Chamber PSI. This would give the fork the maximum ramp rate like adding volume spacers. (make sure you fill the ramp up chamber prior to filling the main air spring – it makes a huge difference.)

I also maxed the main air spring. This put the sag into a fairly standard 15-20%, so I didn’t feel like oh no, I’m just plain too heavy for the RXF 36.

I began with Ohlins rebound and compression setup, but I steadily increased the low speed compression until it was maxed. I worked with the high speed compression as well (more on HSC later). I was running the rebound at max and it still was fast, working hard trying to compensate against the main chamber’s PSI.

After the early rides I chatted with our suspension tuners. We tore down the air shaft assembly (it is very very nicely made fyi) to get a better idea how the three chamber system was implemented.

Ohlins RXF Fork Air Spring Disassembled 1

Ohlins RXF Air Cartridge

At first glance the Ohlins system is reminiscent of an older design concept: adjust the main chamber PSI on top, adjust the negative chamber on bottom.
But, on the Ohlins’ lower port you’re not charging the negative chamber. As mentioned, the RXF uses a third chamber.

When setting up the Ohlins RXF you first charge the Ramp Up Chamber at the bottom of the fork. This controls how linear or progressive your fork will feel and there is a range of PSI suggestions assigned to your weight.

After setting the Ramp Up you set the main chamber PSI. As the fork cycles slightly the piston passes an equalization port and charges the negative air chamber.

In short:
Ramp Up = Ramp rate control. Adjustable. Set first during setup.
Main Chamber = Supports your weight. Adjustable.
Negative Chamber = Prevents top out and minimizes initial piston stiction. Fills based on main chamber PSI.

Early on the fork felt kinda close. But no matter what I did I couldn’t force it into a state of too much support, from which I would need to back down either Compression or Ramp Rate.

I didn’t even find a “this is the right amount of support but I have everything maxed” feel.

With more rides I noticed performance attributes I didn’t particularly like but hadn’t put my finger on the solution or given up on the product at that point. I spent some time looking at my notes and watching some footage.

Extended First Ride Mondraker FOXY Carbon Review

My initial riding notes: Ohlins RXF 36 M.2 Fork

Felt too soft into corners, couldn’t counter steer into turns and drive off feet. It felt like to change direction requires a lot of steering input.
(Turning in with your hands increases the chance of folding the front end and going over the bars compared to counter steering and leaning, which tends to generate and outward slide when traction is lost and is easier to “catch”.)

Too soft landing and taking up bumps on takeoff. Lacked “punch back” in rocky or chunky sections and pop off lips.

High speed compression is works WELL! With the fork notably soft, I tried to compensate with the HSC.

I was hoping to “cheat” the HSC into activating lower in the travel.

But, the RXF High Speed Compression seems truly isolated to high shaft speeds (which is how it’s supposed to work). The fork didn’t bottom out when I had the HSC cranked way up (like just short of a pedal platform feel) it kept me out of the last 20-30mm of travel. (more on this in just a second)

I started to come to terms that the RXF wasn’t for me when I began to work with lower tire pressures. My first few rides had been on aggressive tire pressures. As I started down in pressure the lack of midstoke support was much more notable.

Also, in bigger terrain I couldn’t slow the rebound down quite enough to maintain traction. I hadn’t noticed in the flatter terrain as I was able to compensate with knees and elbows, and a bit of slide didn’t hurt. But at speed in bigger terrain the bike wasn’t quite as sure footed as I expected.

The final straw, trying to new content angles I mounted a GoPro on the front triangle with the fork stanchion in frame. The video is choppy as hell (I was trying to pull stills from it) so I doubt I’ll publish it – but it showed an interesting attribute.

Through a series of bermed corners I noticed when I jumped (or more like floated I suppose is a better word) but if I was in the air, landed and changed direction the fork was riding taller in the travel compared to corners I just “rode” into.

I attributed this to landing pushing the fork at speeds that engage the HSC, even lower in the travel. This improved mid stroke support, albeit not in a way that was useful consistently. It also gave me an idea why sometimes I felt the bike cornered better than others.

Well, that was enough for me to call it a game.

Mondraker FOXY FOX X2 Float 38 with Nate

So why didn’t the Ohlins fork work for me?

Well, Mike and Joe are both notably lighter, even with the extra mass of Joe’s Crafty eMTB.

Mike runs the ramp up chamber at a higher psi then listed for his weight to fine tune the ramp of the RXF. But running at the top end of the PSI charts I didn’t have that adjustment window.

It seemed like adding standard volume spacing to the main chamber would have pushed the fork into the realm for me, but, based on the way the air shaft is produced it would be a lot of machining bits and would be difficult to adjust.

In short, I was looking at a lot of work that wasn’t very consumer friendly to try to make the Ohlins ride punchier, like a FOX GRIP2, when, you know, there’s a FOX GRIP2 on the market…

FOX Factory 38 GRIP2 170mm

I’ve got a lot of years on the GRIP2 at this point. My previous bike had the 36 GRIP2 and I find it’s personality very parallel to the FOX 38 that I put on the Mondraker FOXY.

Why the 38 on the FOXY? I wanted the 170mm option – but I’ll have another writeup on my Extra FOX FOXY… haha..

So. Put the 38 GRIP2 on the FOXY. I decided to set it up the air spring similarly to the RXF – so I looked at the leg and found the highest number and set it to 123 PSI (which it stated was for 250lb riders). When I looked deeper at the FOX manuals I found that the fork has a max PSI of 140, however I had pretty good sag at 123 so I’d probably keep it in that range either way.

I increased the stock 2 volume spacers (20cc) with an additional 10cc. At 170mm the fork has a max capacity for 5 volume spacers.

Even in the parking lot the bike had a better disposition. On trail it unlocked the bike.

I could counter steer and lean deeper into corners. The bike punched over the rocks and chunk instead of stuttering into it.

With more support in the front end the bike felt dramatically more confident in steep chutes or rocks by taking advantage of the headtube angle instead of nosing in making the bike “steeper”.

Rear braking, which was already ridiculously good on the FOXY, improved notably as well without as much front brake dive.

When the front end dives in it will slightly unload the rear wheel. Re-weighting your feet can help to drive the wheel back down into the ground, but simply having less rake change under braking is an easy way to achieve the same thing.

In short, the bike did all the things my previous GRIP2 bike did that I loved so much…

Mondraker FOXY Carbon with FOX 38

But what definitely seals the deal on it the rebound and compression controls were both in an adjustable range, not fully max’d out. Even if my bike works at a max adjustment it still sits in my head like “hmm, I wish I had one more just in case” hahaha…

With the 38 GRIP2 on my FOXY I have tons of low speed compression still available – although – if you go too high into the low speed settings it tends to make a bike harsh and hard to hold onto in big, fast terrain.

So I would say I’m in the proper range on the LSC – I wouldn’t want to add more than a click or two without starting to wonder about it.

High speed compression on the 38 is in the right setup range as well. It didn’t require a very polarized setup to adjust the bottom out and high shaft speed control.

Both high and low speed rebound are set with some adjustability in either direction.

After my first two rides on the 38, the same rides as the RXF, I reviewed my notes. Maybe the 38 could use just a touch more to balance with the X2 rear shocks setup (I changed rear shocks too – more on that in other posts!).

I chatted with Joe and we decided that going to the 4th volume spacer would probably be the play. But while researching a couple things for this writeup (never want to give you guys bad info – we appreciate the reads!) I found that the max PSI for the FOX 38 air chamber is higher than the 123 I saw on the sticker. (when all else fails check out Manual right?)

According to page 3 of the manual the 38 has a max PSI of 140. So, There are two choices to increase the PSI or increase the volume spacers and thus increate the ramp..

The beauty of options right? Which is really what I’m going to conclude on here.

Mondraker FOXY Carbon with 170mm FOX GRIP2

UPDATE: Soft Support & Fast Rebound = Harsh Ride

OK a quick addition to this blog. Working on the video supporting this FOX GRIP2 versus Ohlins RXF comparison (above) I sent rough footage to a handful of riding buddies and reviewed it with Joe and our suspension team to better understand what story the footage told versus what I felt versus what we knew mechanically about the different forks.

I hadn’t laid up any graphics or anything, just two images next to each other timed at the beginning of each section. When I mentioned one was the FOX with much better support almost everyone initially thought the fork that visually was riding harsh had to be stiffer option. Maybe I confused them since I had the FOX on the left and they knew I rode the Ohlins first? I dunno. But no, the harsher looking fork was actually the setup that was too plush overall for me.

The combination of running through travel and rebound that couldn’t be slowed into an ideal range created a harsh ride visible on the video. The harshness is probably mostly attributed to the rebound speed, although the overwhelmed LSC and air system weren’t helping that.

In the video you can see a handful of turns that the RXF does well at when landing before the turn engaging the HSC (which worked really well even on a fork that I was pushing outside it’s performance window).

The lack of support is notable in the footage by the increase in “hand” steering. As the fork would sit in deeper it would require more input to change direction and MUCH more input to exit the corner. Compared to the more supportive fork which would turn in easily, allow the bike to lean in to take the rest of the turn “through” my feet before exiting the corner, usually with an increased exit speed compared to the softer fork.

Like I mention in the video, and above – this isn’t a truly fair “comparison test” between the GRIP2 and the RXF since the Ohlins was pushed beyond its capacity. But, you can look at this data comparing a better setup versus a setup that’s too fast and without enough support.

Mondraker FOXY Carbon with FOX 38 GRIP2

Am I saying the FOX 38 GRIP2 is better than the Ohlins RXF?

For me? 100%. Done and done. Heavier rider, prefers punchy suspension, decent ground speeds. Ideally (even if its just mental) want to have a bit of range on my setup to fine tune.

The RXF didn’t have it in the tank at my size. (also, full disclosure having the BikeCo Pro Tune options on the FOX 38 and X2 allows me to improve my adjustability range even a bit more)

For you?

Not going to tell you the GRIP2 is better or worse than the RXF without knowing more about your size, riding style and preferences!

Riders I know well, who know suspension well, who really enjoy the Ohlins product.

Are you in the 140-220 range? Looking for a slightly more linear, high traction, planted setup? Well then the Ohlins is 100% on your short list for review.

As a product review, without being in my shoes, or similar shoes I suppose it’s hard to look at the two top suspension options and say you should always do “X”. In fact, maybe you’re on the right product with the wrong setup? That’s one of the reasons we continue to work with our clients after bike or suspension delivery to help continue to dial in performance to unlock your rigs full potential.

Like we mentioned at the top, even if you’re not shopping forks right now some of the ride notes might resonate with you and you can improve your setup. We work hard with our clients to ensure initial setup as well as helping with developing setup as their riding speeds and skills increase.

Check out some pics of the 170mm “Extra FOXY” Mondraker FOXY Carbon with FOX 38 and Float X2 here.

 

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FOX 38 Manual & Details: Fox’s Site

Ohlins RXF 36 M.2 Manual & Details: Ohlins’ Site

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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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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

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