I searched to see if anyone had posted anything about riding the Judge but did not see anything. There was a thread with some questions about it so I hope this helps/ isn't redundent.
First off, I only had 2 runs on it at Plattekill the first weekend in November so don't look for anything super in-depth. I'm only sharing my impressions of the bike.
I have never ridden a Gemeni so I can't compare the 2. I currently rine an M1 w/ a 5e, Ti spring, and a Shiver if that helps you get some perspective. I have also owned/extensively ridden a Specialized S-Works DH w/ a Manipoo XVert, Foes DHS w/ Boxxer, and Trek Pro-Issue DH (The O-G one).
Suspension on the Judge was a Fox DHX 5.0 (or whatever the top of the line is) with a steel spring and a 2005 888 up front w/ the flat Marz crown. I don't know what the spring weights were but they mostly correct for my size (225#). The rear spring was 1 weight too stiff- front and rear sag was identical so the bike rode a litttle funny on steep stuff but was fine on everything else. It was noticeable but not bad. The bike was in the care of a cdale employee who is a friend of friends and weighs the same as me. He said that he had never touched the bike and suspected that heavy springs were put in it to make those awsome parking lot tests a little easier.
The rest of the parts were "normal" CDale DH parts- e13 guide (38T I think), Hayes brakes, Truvativ cranks, Mavic rims, 2.5 Moster tires f+r...
My only real annoyance was that the lock-on Roughian grips were way too thin for my liking. Rogues are my prefered grip. When I ride thin grips I lose a lot of control.
Now for the ride:
I would not recomend this bike to a novice rider or someone who wants a free-ride rig or who has little/no interest in racing. The bike is long and likes to be ridden fast. The head angle is slacker than on my M1 and the swingarm is much longer. The bike rides kind of crappy at slow speeds but made me smile more and more the faster I rode it. The bike I rode was a meduim and cockpit sizing felt no different than my M1. Novice riders will find the bike very unforging as will those who are mre interested in slower technical trails. The fork is slack enough that it will bring you to a stop if you ride into things going too slow.
Going of drops of any size required much more speed than my M1, but the suspension was bottomless. B/c of the long swingarm I really had to focus on keeping the front end up while riding off of things. The biggest drop I hit was ~5' to almost flat and I was pleasantly surprised at how soft I landed.
The bottom line is that the harder you push the bike the better it rides. It rides like a race bike should. It will reward advanced riders and punish novices.
Lastly, the "owner" of the bike said that frames were currnetly in production but did not say when they would be out. I was asking about how close the Gracia I rode was to production (I was riding the final pre-production version, but there was a big "Gracia" badge on it). CDale already knew at that point that Gracia wasn't coming back so I am speculating that there were not any rebadging issues.
First off, I only had 2 runs on it at Plattekill the first weekend in November so don't look for anything super in-depth. I'm only sharing my impressions of the bike.
I have never ridden a Gemeni so I can't compare the 2. I currently rine an M1 w/ a 5e, Ti spring, and a Shiver if that helps you get some perspective. I have also owned/extensively ridden a Specialized S-Works DH w/ a Manipoo XVert, Foes DHS w/ Boxxer, and Trek Pro-Issue DH (The O-G one).
Suspension on the Judge was a Fox DHX 5.0 (or whatever the top of the line is) with a steel spring and a 2005 888 up front w/ the flat Marz crown. I don't know what the spring weights were but they mostly correct for my size (225#). The rear spring was 1 weight too stiff- front and rear sag was identical so the bike rode a litttle funny on steep stuff but was fine on everything else. It was noticeable but not bad. The bike was in the care of a cdale employee who is a friend of friends and weighs the same as me. He said that he had never touched the bike and suspected that heavy springs were put in it to make those awsome parking lot tests a little easier.
The rest of the parts were "normal" CDale DH parts- e13 guide (38T I think), Hayes brakes, Truvativ cranks, Mavic rims, 2.5 Moster tires f+r...
My only real annoyance was that the lock-on Roughian grips were way too thin for my liking. Rogues are my prefered grip. When I ride thin grips I lose a lot of control.
Now for the ride:
I would not recomend this bike to a novice rider or someone who wants a free-ride rig or who has little/no interest in racing. The bike is long and likes to be ridden fast. The head angle is slacker than on my M1 and the swingarm is much longer. The bike rides kind of crappy at slow speeds but made me smile more and more the faster I rode it. The bike I rode was a meduim and cockpit sizing felt no different than my M1. Novice riders will find the bike very unforging as will those who are mre interested in slower technical trails. The fork is slack enough that it will bring you to a stop if you ride into things going too slow.
Going of drops of any size required much more speed than my M1, but the suspension was bottomless. B/c of the long swingarm I really had to focus on keeping the front end up while riding off of things. The biggest drop I hit was ~5' to almost flat and I was pleasantly surprised at how soft I landed.
The bottom line is that the harder you push the bike the better it rides. It rides like a race bike should. It will reward advanced riders and punish novices.
Lastly, the "owner" of the bike said that frames were currnetly in production but did not say when they would be out. I was asking about how close the Gracia I rode was to production (I was riding the final pre-production version, but there was a big "Gracia" badge on it). CDale already knew at that point that Gracia wasn't coming back so I am speculating that there were not any rebadging issues.
ink:
