What?! I can't hear you...the turbine engines are pretty loud, we really need better sound insulation in this hangar ffs.Guerrilla gravity? No space plastic anywhere in the line up and they are dumb enough to call their pathetic metal boat anchors "aluminum" rather than "alloy" which means they are probably flexy and crack often. Plus a little bird told me @mtg spent all their ill gotten proceeds on a private jet made entirely of (ironically) carbon and replete with not one but two hot tubs.
I know a guy who works for a different company owned by the conglomerate that bought Ellsworthless, and was part of the team that was supposed to learn all about Tony's technological genius. He's still scratching his head as to what exactly he was supposed to learn. He offered me a frame at employee pricing, I politely declined.
Wasn't Airborne a PricePoint brand? I guess they Lost most of their line when PP got dismantled.
Foes manages to keep going on life support, a local "dealer" (a guy with a garage?) has a Foes Mutz, I remember passing it twice on a 46 mile ride and being glad I wasn't pushing that much weight around. The guy was also trying to push it at the enduro race, where he was offering rides and raving about how awesome it was. I saw it once, as we started. Never saw it again. Hell of a slow way to ride IMO. I think I've seen one other Mutz up here. There was a guy in the fatbike forum on mtbr raving about his, ended up selling it a few months later. Foes kinda sucked at designing suspension for a while, but as far as I know they didn't piss off droves of owners and potential customers like Chumba.
Foes was selling a shitpile (by tiny frame company standards) through Sport Chalet before they died, and they still seem super popular in Eastern Europe. I always liked my Gen 2 Fly, but don't know that I could justify owning another Foes, there are just too many other better frames for less money, and if I want something made in Murica, there are tons of other options these days.
REI is like a clearing house for shitty designs and unsuspecting bicycle customers. The stores are just saturated by these two brands. I think without this distribution, we wouldn't see Ghost in the US and CrackNFail would probably be dead. There's much better available from the mainstream US brands, like Giant, Kona, Trek, etc., but in many places there's just many more bikes in these REI stores and people looking to put down dollars towards their dividend.
Tons of us-built fullies? GG and who else?
I have to wonder about some of that.
It’s been 25 years since the first Ellsworth mountain bike saw dirt. After a great run as one of the premier brands, Ellsworth started an uphill battle in a struggle to remain current. The ride of their iconic Instant Center Tracking suspension design is very rarely called into question, but the forums echoed concerns about aesthetics and frame stiffness.
To address those concerns, Ellsworth decided it was time for a new owner. BST Nano Carbon was chosen due to their desire to build new carbon bikes in the United States. While BST did a lot to help Tony and his engineering and design crew redesign the bikes, Ellsworth has a new owner. Again.
But this time, if Tony Ellsworth’s body language is any indication, things are looking up for the legendary brand…
The new Ellsworth Epiphany Carbon 27+. Also available in 27.5 and 29″ versions.
One of the biggest points that Tony stressed to me during our time at PressCamp was that even though none of their bikes are completely made in the U.S. at the moment, Ellsworth still has one of the highest percentages of domestic components in the industry. For the carbon bikes that means around 45% domestic, while the aluminum frames are up to 65%. BST’s goal was to build an entire carbon bike in the U.S., but apparently aluminum bikes weren’t high on the priority list. Ellsworth still wants to have those halo carbon builds, but knows that to survive, aluminum frames will be important to the brand.
New Ellsworth Epiphany Carbon in 27.5″ with 150mm ft/140mm rr travel.
However, BST’s contribution to Ellsworth design is easy to see on the new frames. The rocker links are shorter (a common complaint against the old aesthetics), the rear end is completely redesigned and much more stiff, and the paint and finish of the frames is stunning.
Ellsworth’s previous rocker design for comparison.
Stiffness of the rear end has been increased substantially thanks to the new rocker arm design as well as the locking Hex Taper Axle. To improve the rocker link, the new two piece design uses an ovalized connector to prevent the two pieces from twisting. It also uses larger dual row, encapsulated bearings that use a 15mm locking pin where the seat stays attach to the rocker.
Using 12×148 Boost spacing on all of their suspension bikes, Ellsworth is employing a very interesting take on a thru axle with something of their own design. The theory behind their Hex Taper axle is that instead of round or threaded surfaces where the axle meets the frame, this design uses a tapered hexagon shape that physically can’t rotate. Tony says this increases the stiffness of the rear dropout area dramatically. To change the axle tension and lever position it can be rotated in the dropout with the numbers indicating its current position. Clearly the skewer lever is on the “wrong” side, but it’s designed to not interfere with the derailleur. There will also be a bolt on option in the future which will clear up the drive side dropout.
Additional changes include Di2 compatibility for the carbon frames (aluminum frame Di2 compatibility is coming), as well as a removable direct mount front derailleur mount. Tony mentioned that with so many bikes going to 1x, he hated the idea of this bulky derailleur mount left on the frame. Instead, a mount for Direct Mount front derailleurs can be added. Most riders will also probably be excited to see threaded bottom bracket shells on almost every bike.
New Ellsworth Epiphany Carbon 29″ with 130mm ft/120mm rr travel.
To keep up with all of this new momentum, Tony looked to an owner who would be able to take care of all of the business stuff – things he admittedly doesn’t want to deal with. Instead, as the Vice President of Product design, Tony is free to work with his team to develop the product while the new owner Jonathan Freeman keeps the machine running. With the deal officially completed in December, Tony said that Jonathan has some serious business chops and great operational strengths which will help strengthen the Ellsworth brand.
As to the current state of Ellsworth? Tony claims they are selling every bike they can land. Product development is continuing with a goal to reshore some of the composite production this year, and a goal of a completely made-in-the-USA bike in the next product cycle. With a great staff and a bright future, it’s easy to believe Tony when he says, “the team has gelled together and has become more focused, and even more resolute.”
Also story here:
These could have been good...if they were designed by like you know, engineers or something...
Whenever I hear Lenz, I think of Rotec. Both were making concentric pivot DH bikes back in the day...
Goddamit, now you've said too much. 16.375" chainstays. It's been a government coverup all this time.
I had the 1st ever Prowler with a sealed bearing main pivot , I got one of the very 1st batches that where made and it had UHMW bushings , worked great for Cali , but not so well up here in BC . A couple weeks into wet weather riding season the swing arm seized up . I then designed and machined up my own sealed bearing set-up , ended up giving the design too the 1st owner and it was modded for the 2nd generation using Fox shocks .
Yeah, Cannondale moves a shitton of road bikes (I've got one). Haven't paid attention to their MTB stuff in ages, but their road stuff is nice.
do you even coda bro? (CannondaleOnlyDesignApplication)-the original new standard!
The Truth and Absolute Truth. Late 90s they were THE full suspension XC bike to have.
Since I discovered the Breakout Tough Casing tires a couple years ago I can't use anything else. Most of my friends too.
And the first Moment frame. After the WTF-ness of the Id, with it's first version with auto-collapsing rockers, snapping chainstays and of course that classic 15.25" BB height, the Moment fixed much of the retardeness of the Id and made something much more comparable to the Turner 6pack/RFX that was on the scene. Again one of those "damage was done by now" type deals, the Id kind of soldiered along for many years being offered alongside the Moment, you know, if you wanted like a really stupid bike with a lot of travel and really dumb geometry.
no, but for a period a little over a decade ago there was just too many other bikes that were worse than ellesworth.
