Just wondering if anyone has or has spent any time on either of these bikes? Starting to look for a new all mountain bike and like the look of them both but can't find any reviews on either of them. Thanks
Mondraker Zenith or Dune
- Thread starter Oldm8
- Start date
Start off with do you like it? Living in Australia, I have no chance of ever test riding one. What is it like on the climbs? Is there any flex in the frame? What sort of terrain do you ride it on and how is the geo? Any problems with it so far?
Sorry if any of these questions seem silly but I just can't find anything on either on them. Thanks
Sorry if any of these questions seem silly but I just can't find anything on either on them. Thanks
hey,
yeah i do like it - i got the frame brand new pretty cheap so i jumped on it not knowing what to expect- but my old frame was gonna give up sooner or later so i took the oportunity to replace it....
well on the climbs its not bad for a 160 mm bike - its got a 1,5 cm longer wheelbase than the sunn kern lt i had before but the toptube is shorter - so the Large frame fits me very well beeing 180 cm tall. i run it single front ring, so i have a chainguide on - which makes some noise on the uphill (since you are supposed t run the bike with 35-40 % sag - forgot the exact number but its on the mondraker website!) - with the propedal from the rp23 you can get it to be a bit more stable and not make noise - but i stopped using it mainly because it climbs better without it in my opinion
i rarely do any technical climbs - most are fireroads and stuff - but it hasnt let me down in the technical climbs either - not better not worse than the sunn
as for the flex - i'm rather light at 73 kg and have a rather smooth riding style so i didnt feel it flex anywhere yet - but honestly, i think i tend to not feel flex in the frame anyway
I'm from austria, but having a downhill bike as well i use this one mainly for single trails and all day tours or the occasional after-work ride - basically anything from medium size hills to anything you could call alpine. The geometry is pretty bang on i really like it - with the bit shorter top tube and the longer wheelbase and the slack headangle its made for going downhill fast
one thing i noticed is - that compared to my sunn before is that this frame really seems to accelerate over rough stuff much better - came in to some corners really tight on the first ride- it jumps pretty well too if matched with a fork with similar characteristics!
Geometry chart of the 2010
thats the geometry my Large frame has - but they changed some parts for 2011 i think - just google it
i didnt have any problems with it yet - just one thing that bothers me a bit is that if you run your stem without any spacers below - your shifters and breaks will probaly touch the arch in the toptube if you crash....
and if you plan to run a chainguide- be prepared to do a lot of fitting !! that really bothered me and its still not perfect in my opinion as i like a very silent bike...
hope this helps so far!
yeah i do like it - i got the frame brand new pretty cheap so i jumped on it not knowing what to expect- but my old frame was gonna give up sooner or later so i took the oportunity to replace it....
well on the climbs its not bad for a 160 mm bike - its got a 1,5 cm longer wheelbase than the sunn kern lt i had before but the toptube is shorter - so the Large frame fits me very well beeing 180 cm tall. i run it single front ring, so i have a chainguide on - which makes some noise on the uphill (since you are supposed t run the bike with 35-40 % sag - forgot the exact number but its on the mondraker website!) - with the propedal from the rp23 you can get it to be a bit more stable and not make noise - but i stopped using it mainly because it climbs better without it in my opinion
i rarely do any technical climbs - most are fireroads and stuff - but it hasnt let me down in the technical climbs either - not better not worse than the sunn
as for the flex - i'm rather light at 73 kg and have a rather smooth riding style so i didnt feel it flex anywhere yet - but honestly, i think i tend to not feel flex in the frame anyway
I'm from austria, but having a downhill bike as well i use this one mainly for single trails and all day tours or the occasional after-work ride - basically anything from medium size hills to anything you could call alpine. The geometry is pretty bang on i really like it - with the bit shorter top tube and the longer wheelbase and the slack headangle its made for going downhill fast
one thing i noticed is - that compared to my sunn before is that this frame really seems to accelerate over rough stuff much better - came in to some corners really tight on the first ride
- it jumps pretty well too if matched with a fork with similar characteristics! Geometry chart of the 2010
thats the geometry my Large frame has - but they changed some parts for 2011 i think - just google it
i didnt have any problems with it yet - just one thing that bothers me a bit is that if you run your stem without any spacers below - your shifters and breaks will probaly touch the arch in the toptube if you crash....
and if you plan to run a chainguide- be prepared to do a lot of fitting !! that really bothered me and its still not perfect in my opinion as i like a very silent bike
...hope this helps so far!
i have the dune r. had it powder coated cause i got it second hand, then got decals from slik graphics.
bought it as a bit of a gamble and to be honest, i couldn't be happier. climbs much better than expected. running single chainring 33 up front and 11-36 rear with fox talas 36 180's.
really really happy with the bike. surprised there isn't much talk of them in the magazines and web etc.
check mine out. colour scheme might not be to your liking
image | Flickr - Photo Sharing!
bought it as a bit of a gamble and to be honest, i couldn't be happier. climbs much better than expected. running single chainring 33 up front and 11-36 rear with fox talas 36 180's.
really really happy with the bike. surprised there isn't much talk of them in the magazines and web etc.
check mine out. colour scheme might not be to your liking
image | Flickr - Photo Sharing!
I have Foxy (smaller than Dune, but the same suspension system), and I agree with what daday wrote. The bike is really fast on rough and accelerates very well. Propedal makes nothing on Foxy (maybe thats the difference between foxy and dune, except the amount of travel) as its anti-squat is more than 100%, so the shock rather extends, than compress with pedal stroke. Pedaling efficiency is very good. I have fox 36 in front, so its slack and pretty stable on downhills. Suspension feel is much much much (10x) better than on my old Tansition Bottlerocket (same travel). Foxy holds up agressive alpine riding and bikeparks (saalbach, bikepark semmering), so I don't see the reason why Dune would not do well there.
EDIT: Forgot to mention that the frame is very light and well thought out. Only problem is with pivot bolts getting loose, but loctite fixed that.
EDIT: Forgot to mention that the frame is very light and well thought out. Only problem is with pivot bolts getting loose, but loctite fixed that.
Last edited: