Last year I switched from having a dedicated 8” DH bike to a 7” bike with DH geometry and a steep seatpost angle for pedaling with the goal of having a climbable DH bike. Initially I was on a 2015 Specialized Enduro EVO running a 27.5/26 setup to get it lower/slacker, this year I’m trying a 2016 Knolly Delirium. I had a Fox Float X2 rear shock on it for most of the season, and recently swapped it for a Push ElevenSix. I’m 5'10.5", fluctuate between 170lbs and 185lbs and am riding a medium.
UPDATE: I recently swapped my medium for a large. I'm 5'10.5" but with a 31.75" inseam - so a fairly long torso for my height. I'm just able to run a 150mm dropper on the large. 50mm stem with 780mm bars.
UPDATE#2: Searching for better rock garden performance I made the same modifications that the 2017 Knolly DH team is using: long shock (8.75 x 2.75 DHX2 instead of stock 8.5 x 2.5) and a -1.5 angleset. Additionally I've added a -2mm offset bushing to help bring the BB down. The result is 185mm of rear travel with a ~63 degree head angle and a ~350mm bb height (according to Noel the total bb height increase of this setup is 2mm).
*image with dual crown above has a -1 cup installed, not the -1.5 cup*
THE GRADES BELOW EVALUATE THE DELIRIUM AS A FULL DH BIKE, with the exception of seated pedaling and technical climbing which I’m evaluating as a FR/AM/Endurbro bike.
High speed cornering:
The long-ish wheelbase keeps the bike stable at mid-high speeds, however once you start going mach stupid the rear end can get a bit skitish, especially on loose terrain. I think the chainstays could be longer given the length of the front end for high speed stability in traction limited circumstances.
UPDATE: Since swapping to a large frame the extra length has improved high speed handling (as expected), although I'd still like slightly longer chainstays to improve high speed stability further as well as additional control of the rear on steep loose terrain.
Tight cornering: A-
The shorter chainstays come in handy on tight corners; it’s simple to pivot off the rear end and break it loose if needed.
Rock gardens:
The overall geometry of the bike is much closer to a full DH bike than an enduro bike, which lets you keep up DH speeds in rock gardens even with less travel, however that only holds true for a few runs, then the increase in fatigue starts to catch up with you. You definitely need to be on the ball - no point and plow.
This is where the ElevenSix has made a major difference over the X2. With the X2 I could get the rear setup with good mid-stroke support to carry speed, but mid to large sized square edge bumps gave more feedback than I'd prefer. I couldn’t get it setup for substantially less feedback without sacrificing mid-stroke support. A stiffer base tune may have helped, but I opted to solve with a coil spring via the ElevenSix. With the ElevenSix I’m getting good mid-stroke support with smoother feedback from square edge bumps. Additionally the traction of the ElevenSix is remarkable; my last 3 DH shocks have been the X2, an Ohlins TTX and a Push MX Tune, and the ElevenSix is noticeably stickier than all of them, which is impressive as both the TTX and MX Tune were really damn good.
UPDATE: The X2 went back to Fox during the recall. They asked for weight and frame info when I sent it in. The returned shock has much better mid-stroke support than before, so I'm able to run ~30psi less which puts me in Knolly's recommended psi range for my weight without blowing through the travel or having to run harsh high speed compression settings.
UPDATE#2: The long shock mod with the DHX2 made a very large improvement to rock garden performance; much more than expected for just an additional 15mm of travel. Where the bike would very obviously be reaching the end of travel through rock gardens with 170mm of travel, the 185mm setup smooths out the rough stuff much better. Also, while the ElevenSix sticks to the ground better than anything else I've tried, I'm able to better tune big hit and rebound performance to reach my goals with the DHX2.
Big hits:
Large square edge impacts are dulled well by the ElevenSix, better than they were by the X2 which wasn’t bad, but neither will make you forget that the rear travel is 170mm instead 200mm. In terms of big hit landings the bike handles great with either shock - it’s progressive enough to avoid any harsh bottoming events, and I don’t really feel like I’m loosing anything to a longer travel DH bike.
UPDATE#2: The long shock mod has really changed how I view the Delirium's big hit performance; it's much less tiring than the stock version on repeated large hits. The suspension now feels like you're on a full DH bike, with good small bump absorption without having to sacrifice big hit performance.
Jumps: A
Assuming you set up the shock to give adequate support the bike sails pretty easily. The shorter stays make it simple to pop off lips and the long wheelbase gives you good leeway on landings. The lighter weight with the single crown fork make it a breeze to move around.
Standing pedaling: A- (B+ for 185mm version)
Standing and hammering on the pedals results in a decent amount of monkey motion for 170mm of rear travel - for instance more that my 2007 Giant Reign X did, but there’s no strange mid-stoke changes in resistance and it’s much better than a full 200mm DH rig.
Seated pedaling: C+ (*versus Endurbro bikes)
The rear of the bike is more active than sprightly but it pedals up fire road climbs with little fuss provided that you’re running enough sag. If you try to climb a steep fire road running too much more than 30% sag the rear end will start to squat a lot. The slack head angle (64.25 claimed) wanders as expected.
Technical climbing: B (*versus Endurbro bikes)
I didn’t plan on reviewing this bike for technical climbing, however one of the most surprising attributes of this bike is how well it handles them. The active suspension, long wheelbase, longish reach (446mm for medium) and short chainstays make motoring over tough tech sections a breeze without having to do any major weight shifting. The only knockdown on grade is due to the cumbersome switchback negotiation due to the long wheelbase.
Overall -
I like this bike, and it does a solid job as a DH rig. It’s not perfect - I'd like longer chainstays and more rear travel, but it does a better job in this role than my outgoing Enduro EVO did, and thanks to the longer geometry I’m just as fast on this as I was on my last true DH bike (Yeti 303 RDH) - at least for the first couple of runs. When I go back to Whistler next summer it will be interesting to see if I’m tempted to rent a full DH bike by the 3rd day of riding.
UPDATE#2:
Long shock update changed the nature of the bike - while riding the stock version through rough terrain could get tiring compared to a standard DH bike, the long shock version resolves this issue. The only things I'd want changed if I could at this point would be 1) slightly longer chainstays 2) slightly lower BB - handling still feels good with the long shock mod once you install the angleset and bushing reducer, but an even lower bb would be welcome for improving ease of edge to edge handling.
Misc:
- I had to run significantly more pressure in the X2 then what Knolly recommends to achieve 30% sag. It's possible their recommendations are based on measuring when seated and in the neutral setting vs a standing DH attack position in the slack position.
- UPDATE: The X2 had to go back to Fox during the recall. They asked for weight and frame info when I sent it in. The returned shock has much better mid-stroke support than before, and I'm able to run ~30psi less which puts me in Knolly's recommended psi range for my weight.
- The X2 comes from Knolly with 5 out of 7 spacers installed. I tried 5, 6 and 7 and settled on 6, which gave me the most support without making the end-stroke ramp up too excessive.
- The bushings in the 4x4 linkage started to squeek. Conditions have been very dry. Applying some lube and re-torquing the pivots made the issue go away.
- The extra pivots of the 4x4 design mean more places to check when hunting down squeeks/micro-play in the linkage.
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