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2 moar weeks: Evil Uprising non-vapor ware

ZoRo

Turbo Monkey
Sep 28, 2004
1,224
11
MTL
due to my comments this thread is actually interesting now.

and regarding Hadley. I tried to look up some info on their stuff a few months ago and basically gave up when it wasn't easy. I ended up sticking with Hope.[/QUOTE

Evil Surly Sinister Xprezzo Santa Cruz (not much anymore) don't make that many frames..
Surly produces a *hitload of frames every year!!! And it's been like that for quite a long time also.
 

Dude!

Chimp
Dec 18, 2010
24
0
Well, I finally got my Evil Uprising -woohoo! Well worth the wait. It is an awesome frame - super solid. I am still finishing the build. However, my around the neighborhood testing ground - feels great. Can't wait to ride on my local trails - this thing is going to rip! A better review to follow.

Big thanks to Kevin Walsh. The guy has been outstanding. Answered all of my questions. Even during my build last night- returned my call to answer a question. Now that is great customer service.evil_uprising.jpg
 
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Dude!

Chimp
Dec 18, 2010
24
0
View attachment 114299

Been on the Uprising for a few months now. It's not even fare. These bikes are too much fun.
Sweet set-up. I think I saw your build on vitalmtb.

Yeah man, it is a fun bike. I have only had a few rides on it so far, which have been a blast. The way it eat ups of the roots etc is downright scary at times.

I have mine setup with a Fox 36 Float 160mm. I notice you have the same fork. I was worried about it performance owing to this bigger fork. However, it is not bad at all. With the Fox 36, the head angle is a tad less than 66 deg, and bottom bracket is 13.75 inches. I am looking to drop the fork to 150mm and then use the low setting. I figure this will make the head angle the same, but the bottom bracket will be 13.25.

Also - what air pressure and sag are you running?
 
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canadmos

Cake Tease
May 29, 2011
20,189
19,155
Canaderp
Why would they have to go?

Is there a big difference in this frame compared to the Undead? From afar they look quite similar in construction, but obviously the shock area must be quite different.
 

Dude!

Chimp
Dec 18, 2010
24
0
Why would they have to go?

Is there a big difference in this frame compared to the Undead? From afar they look quite similar in construction, but obviously the shock area must be quite different.
I don't own an Undead, but I stared at a lot of pictures before getting my Uprising. They look very similar - just reduced in size and application. I have the Fox Float X, I doubt many bigger shocks will fit in there, but I don't this bike needs it.
 

Dude!

Chimp
Dec 18, 2010
24
0
PRELUDE
Over the last few years, I have been looking for an aggressive trail/AM bike to complement my Knolly Delirium. My Delirium has been my go to bike, it works well in so many riding environments. The Delirium has made me a better rider. I have built it for heavy duty for the parks/jumping and lighter duties for all day epics in Moab and Santa Cruz. However, in the end it is a burly bike and with everyone switching to lighter bikes, I too needed to match the riding group.

The problem is that every trail/AM bike that I have ever tried or purchased, never seemed worthy to the Delirium. In many cases, the Delirium's pedal performance was nearly as good or just a tad less, but never enough to warrant enough separation for when turning the bike downhills.

I made a list of things I wanted...trail-am bike that can handle abuse, slack head angle, longish wheelbase, iscg tabs, 26 inch wheels, progressive suspension curve, pedal well going uphill, and shred going downhill, separation from my Delirium, and it had to be a bike that had that "it" factor that makes you just want to ride it every chance you get.

These requirements eliminated many bikes, for example Santa Cruz bikes, Pivot Carbon Mach 5.7. There were other bikes that could replace my Delirium in a lighter form - Specialized Sworks Enduro, the Knolly Chilcotin, or the Ibis Mojo HD. Trust me I considered a lot of bikes - I have a spreadsheet of numbers with likes and dislikes, etc.

Along this journey, I came across the Evil Uprising. I followed the drama of Evil Bikes here on Ridemonkey, the interesting write-up by Seb Kemp. Even with this drama, people continued to rave about the Revolt. Revolt customers were given their warranty Undead carbon frame. To me, this said a lot about the company and the man behind it - Kevin! I gained a lot of respect for him, as most people would walk away.

One of the things that supporters of Evil bikes continuously said was send Kevin (Evil Bikes owner) an email and he will promptly answer your questions. After seeing the basic geometry numbers for Uprising, I sent Kevin an email and I got a quick response answering my questions. The email exchange occurred over the next month to point that I wanted the Uprising. I was now on the list for getting an Uprising. Kevin kept me updated with the schedule and then one of day, I got an email that said " the eagle has landed" and within a few days I had an Uprising frame

REVIEW
The frame is beautiful and super solid - you know it can handle abuse. It is carbon fiber, but it has this unique quasi-rubberized finished (no scratches yet). It has a number of cable guides as part of the frame. It comes with a headset, seat clamp, maxle thru-axle, cable guide clips, and some extra stickers. It come with lower external downtube plastic protector. The headset cups are designed into the frame. I found my existing CaneCreek race on my fork fitted the lower bearing. All of the bolts have printed directions and torque specs on them. All of the bolts, even the rear post mount disc brake, have metal inserts on the back end. Only the ISCG tabs and water bottle nuts are build directly into the frame. I got the frame with the new Fox Float X CTD because Kevin said this makes the bike into a mini-DH machine.

Lastly - the bike just looks bada$$!

The build - I used many of the existing parts from my previous trail/AM bike attempts.
Uprising Medium
Fox Float X CTD shock
Fox Float 36 150mm RC2 (540mm axle to crown)
Industry Nine wheels (20mm front, 142mm rear)
XT brakes - 203mm front, 180mm rear
Schwalbe Nobby Nic 2.25 rear
Schwalbe Hans Dampf 2.35 front
Chromag bars
Chromag stem
Chromag grips
170mm Saint Cranks
Point One Pedals
SRAM clutch rear der
1x10 set-up
RaceFace Narrow/ride ring
MRP XCG bashguard
KS LEV seat dropper

Resulting geometry - 66 head tube, 71 seat tube, 13.75 bottom bracket, 44.5 wheelbase.

Suspension is a high - slightly forward single pivot with a progressive leverage. This results in good pedaler in the saddle and when out of the saddle the suspension is active. Once I dialed in the correct air pressure for the shock, the bike feels amazing - a nice combination of plushness, traction, and good pedaling. I have knocked the o-ring off the shock but never had a harsh bottom out.

To me, this bike has a huge fun factor - it is just a blast to ride. It pedals uphill so well and then turn it downhill and I am blown away. It eats up roots and spits them out. The geometry is great! Does the suspension brake squat - yes but not overly bad. Is there some monkey motion when out of the saddle in the very easy gears - yes, but not too bad. For the total package, this bike just rips and is so much fun that these negatives are just not that bad.

Every ride I am going faster and faster, and faster than I normally ride. I have hit jumps, flown through rock gardens, and railed corners. I have been completely comfortable with the bike since day 1, but because it rides so much different than my Delirium, I am figuring out how to operate it the best, when to skip, when to plow, etc.

I tend to keep the shock in the descend mode, as it provides the most traction when climbing and plushness for everything else. I use trail mode for jumping. For cheating on the fire roads, the climb position is quasi-lock out.

I am still tinkering with a few things (i.e. front fork) and still learning the subtle behaviors. I highly recommend this frame for anyone who is looking for a similar bike with a huge fun factor.

Thank you Kevin for answering all of my endless questions and helping me out! I want also thank Chad at Redbarn for the parts.

evil2.jpgevil3.jpgevil4.jpgevil5.jpgevil6.jpg
 
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manhattanprjkt83

Rusty Trombone
Jul 10, 2003
9,644
1,214
Nilbog
I dont want to start a wheel war but it will be interesting to see how evil reacts to this whole 27.5 thing, i see them as being late adopters (which is fine). But since this is an 'enduro' bike and that market seems to be getting heavily on board with it we will see...I would bet most if not all top competitors will have 27.5 at the start of next season.

I would like to see the option to run either on this bike via use of chips or something like that. I have been contemplating selling my dh bike for one of these next season, would be cool to have the adaptability and versatility...

good looking bikes btw folks.
 

ianjenn

Turbo Monkey
Sep 12, 2006
2,998
702
SLO
I dont want to start a wheel war but it will be interesting to see how evil reacts to this whole 27.5 thing, i see them as being late adopters (which is fine). But since this is an 'enduro' bike and that market seems to be getting heavily on board with it we will see...I would bet most if not all top competitors will have 27.5 at the start of next season.

I would like to see the option to run either on this bike via use of chips or something like that. I have been contemplating selling my dh bike for one of these next season, would be cool to have the adaptability and versatility...

good looking bikes btw folks.
Tom Doran still likes his 26" hoops. But if someone pays him next year his mind may change.....
 

Razvan Grad

Chimp
Oct 6, 2022
5
0
Anyone lurking around here? I need some deep Uprising knowledge. Really sorry for thread bump. I can't find anyone to enlighten me..