[MMcG]

Earlier this year we had a brief stint where Voodoo Cycles sent us a Large Voodoo Canzo FS 29er to ride and evaluate and report back to you fellow Monkeys. We would have liked to have had the bike for a longer period of time, but the bike needed to head back to Voodoo so they could use it at Interbike Dirt Demo days and put it on display for the expo as well.

Toddre was able to ride it a few times, and I got a few good solid rides on it as well. Overall impression from both of us was very good. This is a great value in terms of FS 29er frame options in our opinion.

I'll let Toddre elaborate further and then from there I'll add my thoughts on the bike.

Again we had a size Large with a 24.5" ETT and it was slightly small for Toddre and a tad big for me, but we both made it work for testing purposes.

Que up Toddre for his thoughts now:

 

[Toddre]

I was able to do two rides on this bike and cam away pretty impressed.

First thing I have to mention is the sizing. The frame is considered a large which hovers around most companies 19-20" frame. Being 6'5" with an inseam of about 36", I did find the size a little cramped.
When Mark dropped the bike off, the first thing I noticed was the flat matte green paint. Kinda boring and cheap looking, but really it's my opinion, others may love it.

The bike came through with Sun/Ringle wheels (I forget which model) adorned with Nevegal tires, full XT drivetrain, Hayes Stoker brakes w/ 203 rotors and the Manitou Minute fork. Pretty impressive build. I don't know what msrp is on the build, maybe Mark does, but I do know Voodoo offers a value packed line.
I took the bike to West Hartford Resevoir for the first ride. Not super technical or exciting, but I know it really well and I can use it as a "control" trail.

I set the rear sag at about 25mm and kinda played around with the front and off I went.
First thing I looked for was the lock out for the paved portion into the woods.
I didn't notice an unreasonable amount of movement on the tar but locking it out made it a bit more effecient.

My rule of thumb tends to be that unless it's a really long smooth climb, I shouldn't have to lock it out when on a good suspension bike. So on the first climb I unlocked it and started to hammer a bit.
I gotta say I was pretty impressed. The suspension was pretty smooth and effecient through out the ride. Very progressive through out the stroke and I never once wished I locked it out through any of the ride. Very little bob or rider input.

Downhills were a blast on this bike. Very plush and effecient. The upright fit was perfect for this. It also seemed to hold up under my pansy a** drops and "extreme" lines too.
Remember, the bike was too small for me so read the next lines with that in mind. Climbing was a bit tough for me on this bike. Suspension wise it was fine, no bob or anything, but the front end was really light and the front end wanted to wander alot. I bet if the TT was longer and/or the fork reduced to 80mm, it would have helped a bit. But I think it's set up is more "trail" than "XC" (which is what I'm used to).

Parts wise, I had mixed feelings. The wheels held up well, but I found the tires rolled really slowly. I can't stand rapid-fire (I'm a twisty guy) and I really didn't like the fork. Seemed like rebound adjustment was just a suggestion and never really materialized. All the parts problems though, are personal preference.
I do really have to recommend this bike to anyone looking for a great bike that gives you quality suspension performance. If you're 6'2" and over, write to Voodoo and beg and plead for an XL frame.
I'd love to get and XL and XC it out and see how it preforms. I bet I would ride it with a HUGE smile on my face. Also, I'd be interested on how this bike would preform at a lower weight.

Basically, I would definately consider this bike a great deal in the arena filled with FS suspension bikes that cost hundreds more.

 

[MMcG]

A little update and additional thoughts to Toddre's regarding the Canzo:

I swapped out the stock stem for a short 60mm Easton Vice stem and also got some good ride time in on this FS 29er. My first time on a 29er fully. Here are some of my thoughts:

1. The frame with Monarch shock offers great bang for the buck. Sub $1K price tag (closer to $750 if you do your homework) for a nicely crafted FS frame with a well performing shock (I thought the Monarch worked great). Hard to beat compared to the pricier options from Kona. From there you sort of jump up into Boutique land with the likes of Niner, Lenzsport, Turner, Ventana etc. So the Voodoo is a nice alternative to those much pricer full suspension offerings for riders with a different type of budget in mind for their builds.

2. This Canzo rides more like a 29er trail bike than a 29er XC bike. It isn't race-lite, but the build was solid with lots of XT, Hayes Hydros, and a nice Sun Ringle wheelset. If I were to spec one out I'd opt for a more trail oriented wheelset vs. the XC side of the spectrum - I think that's the type of wheelset this frame calls out for to really shine on the trails. The Monarch Shock outperformed the Manitou fork by a wide margin. The Manitou was okay - but not spectacular. Damping and rebound were less than stellar for a fork of this caliber in my opinion.

Climbing - the bike handled technical climbs very well. The rear tire stayed planted and if you had the legs, the bike had the will to make just about anything. It is a little more difficult to get this long chainstayed fully to get up to speed fast, but for sit and spin ability it was very good.

Descending - the bike really cooked on descents...very confidence inspiring and I was riding some steep rocky tech stuff with a lot of confidence. The Hayes brakes could use some better modulation capabilities, but they were definitely plenty powerful to stop the bike quickly if need be. The Nevagal tires hooked up well, but were slightly slower rolling than other 29er tires I rode. But in turn they also provided a lot of confidence in terms of their traction on the trail.

Tight Twisty Stuff - the bike was adequate to good here. However I felt the bike to be a bit hard to get going again after slowing down for some tight twisty maneuvering. Perhaps it was the suspension or perhaps the gearing or the chainstay length that was causing this (perhaps it was all of the above). It was different than a FS 26er and way different from the hardtails (obviously) that I've been riding over the last two years. Some folks might not even notice it, others might notice it in a big way. I suppose you would get "used to it" but for me it was present and was noticeable. I'd prefer shorter stays.

Bottom Bracket Height was fine four our East Coast Terrain - even with proper sag, pedal strikes were pretty much a non-issue.

Paint quality was not stellar - but it wasn't horrible either. At the Canzo's price point, the paint quality was acceptable.

The Ritchey components did their job well.

The XT stuff was really nice IMO, and I'm normally a SRAM kinda guy. Shifting felt crisp to me and was pretty intuitive with the XT drivetrain. I dug it.

Overall - I'd give this bike two thumbs up. I'd spec it out a bit differently, with more all mountain type wheels and I'd opt for a Fox or Reba fork-wise, but those are just nitpicky things.

I think Voodoo has a great platform in the Canzo 29er. I think they would benefit by adding an XL or maybe even XXL size to their line up for the taller guys like Toddre and others. Done in the right numbers, they'd sell them for sure.

So if you are looking for a trail oriented FS 29er that won't break the bank - definitely put the Canzo 29er on your short list.

Well done Voodoo!

 

[MMcG]

A little update and additional thoughts to Toddre's regarding the Canzo:

I swapped out the stock stem for a short 60mm Easton Vice stem and also got some good ride time in on this FS 29er. My first time on a 29er fully. Here are some of my thoughts:

1. The frame with Monarch shock offers great bang for the buck. Sub $1K price tag (closer to $750 if you do your homework) for a nicely crafted FS frame with a well performing shock (I thought the Monarch worked great). Hard to beat compared to the pricier options from Kona. From there you sort of jump up into Boutique land with the likes of Niner, Lenzsport, Turner, Ventana etc. So the Voodoo is a nice alternative to those much pricer full suspension offerings for riders with a different type of budget in mind for their builds.

2. This Canzo rides more like a 29er trail bike than a 29er XC bike. It isn't race-lite, but the build was solid with lots of XT, Hayes Hydros, and a nice Sun Ringle wheelset. If I were to spec one out I'd opt for a more trail oriented wheelset vs. the XC side of the spectrum - I think that's the type of wheelset this frame calls out for to really shine on the trails. The Monarch Shock outperformed the Manitou fork by a wide margin. The Manitou was okay - but not spectacular. Damping and rebound were less than stellar for a fork of this caliber in my opinion.

Climbing - the bike handled technical climbs very well. The rear tire stayed planted and if you had the legs, the bike had the will to make just about anything. It is a little more difficult to get this long chainstayed fully to get up to speed fast, but for sit and spin ability it was very good.

Descending - the bike really cooked on descents...very confidence inspiring and I was riding some steep rocky tech stuff with a lot of confidence. The Hayes brakes could use some better modulation capabilities, but they were definitely plenty powerful to stop the bike quickly if need be. The Nevagal tires hooked up well, but were slightly slower rolling than other 29er tires I rode. But in turn they also provided a lot of confidence in terms of their traction on the trail.

Tight Twisty Stuff - the bike was adequate to good here. However I felt the bike to be a bit hard to get going again after slowing down for some tight twisty maneuvering. Perhaps it was the suspension or perhaps the gearing or the chainstay length that was causing this (perhaps it was all of the above). It was different than a FS 26er and way different from the hardtails (obviously) that I've been riding over the last two years. Some folks might not even notice it, others might notice it in a big way. I suppose you would get "used to it" but for me it was present and was noticeable. I'd prefer shorter stays.

Bottom Bracket Height was fine four our East Coast Terrain - even with proper sag, pedal strikes were pretty much a non-issue.

Paint quality was not stellar - but it wasn't horrible either. At the Canzo's price point, the paint quality was acceptable.

The Ritchey components did their job well.

The XT stuff was really nice IMO, and I'm normally a SRAM kinda guy. Shifting felt crisp to me and was pretty intuitive with the XT drivetrain. I dug it.

Overall - I'd give this bike two thumbs up. I'd spec it out a bit differently, with more all mountain type wheels and I'd opt for a Fox or Reba fork-wise, but those are just nitpicky things.

I think Voodoo has a great platform in the Canzo 29er. I think they would benefit by adding an XL or maybe even XXL size to their line up for the taller guys like Toddre and others. Done in the right numbers, they'd sell them for sure.

So if you are looking for a trail oriented FS 29er that won't break the bank - definitely put the Canzo 29er on your short list.

Well done Voodoo!

 

[MMcG]

I was revisiting this and noticed that Toddre's perspective would be to build a more XCish build and my thoughts were to trail bike it up.

I guess that means the frame offers good versatility in terms of how you might want to build it up eh?

 

[MotoLite-MoFo]

I was revisiting this and noticed that Toddre's perspective would be to build a more XCish build and my thoughts were to trail bike it up.

I guess that means the frame offers good versatility in terms of how you might want to build it up eh?

Just wondering if you were able to spend any additional time on the Canzo and your thoughts? I'm considering buying one as my 1st 29er. I believe I have a solid parts spec.

Thanks.

 

[mattybfat]

MMcG how tall are you that you thought it was bit big, I want to get the right size. Also do you think the fox 120mm it to much for this frame.

 

[MMcG]

MMcG how tall are you that you thought it was bit big, I want to get the right size. Also do you think the fox 120mm it to much for this frame.

I'm 5'9" and should have been on an 18" Canzo but the 20" was all they had to send us.

120 fox would rock IMO.

 

[Sandwich]

Any updates, mmcg? There's one for sale local to me, wouldn't mind picking it up (it's cheaper than I could sell my trek for) to get a taste of the 29er life.

 

[MMcG]

Updates - well no.

I saw the one you are looking at on craigslist. That's newer version with slight geometry changes from the green model we tested. Those Canzos are a solid value IMHO though and that one on C-list is priced very well.

Rumor has it that there will be a re-design of the Canzo for 2012 or thereabouts.

Hope that helps!

 

[Sandwich]

There's two on the local CL...seems like a fair price to dip my feet into 29er territory. Did you come away with any great realizations...like it's better to spend the money on a more expensive bike, or this blows away the competition @ $1000 less? Just trying to gain some insight. I suppose I should pour through the MTBR thread, but it's pretty long and includes every iteration of the frame.

 

[MMcG]

I really liked the one we tested. With that said - I haven't been on a lot of FS 29ers. Mainly hardtails for this ffella.

Two of them you say?

Send me links via PM and I can tell you more about the forks on them etc. etc.