[mtg]

what's the story with the cassette? I see a reference to 42t, but it's a 10 speed. What adapter are you including?

We made our own 42t cog, called the BFC, and it's included in the Trail 1 and Enduro 1 build kits, also available on it's own, or as part of a drivetrain upgrade package for whatever you're riding now.

http://ridegg.com/wide-range-cassette-cog
http://ridegg.com/wide-range-cassette-cog-42-tooth-upgrades

If you look at post #182, it's in the pic, and it was on the bike that was used for the Vital review.

 

[Da Peach]

interesting. there's been quite a frenzy over the other manufacturers 42t cogs. I'd not heard of yours. Get the word out. Seems there's quite a high demand for these things.

 

[slyfink]

I'm not sure if I've asked before, but I'm really curious about those KOM rims. Other than the name, they seem really good on paper. But I've been reading mixed reviews. Are they as tough or tougher than the i23's? Of the aluminium rims available, I find WTB's design to suit my needs/desires best on paper, but I haven't really had good luck with them on the ground, the Stans Flow EX seem tougher. Are these KOMs a direct competitor to the Flow EX? or perhaps the Arch EX?

Also, I have to ask. I'm curious why frame manufacturers don't opt for a Horst Link when designing frames nowadays. Am I wrong in my understanding that the Specialized patent is expired? I kinda thought having the ability to decouple braking forces from suspension influence is important when designing a bike, and it seems the only difference between your design and a Horst is where the rear pivot is located (on chain stay vs. seat stay). You probably don't have time to answer such inane questions, but I thought I'd throw it out there anyways because ever since I saw this bike, I've been thinking to myself, "it's so hawt I'd buy it, but it doesn't have a HL..."

 

[mtg]

Yeah, we're working on getting the word out as much as possible with the BFC (and of course with the Megatrail). Turns out, that's harder than you would think.

We don't have long term usage on the KOM's yet, but initial rides have gone well. The rims feel pretty stiff, the rims are about 10g heavier than carbon, but an order of magnitude cheaper. The Frequency i23 is tougher, but a little heavier. If this helps, I'm using KOM's on my personal Megatrail, and Will is using Frequency i23's because he trashes wheels and isn't bothered by the extra grams.

 

[wydopen]

threw down a deposit!

pretty stoked!

 

[mtg]

Badass!

 

[mtg]

Also, I have to ask. I'm curious why frame manufacturers don't opt for a Horst Link when designing frames nowadays. Am I wrong in my understanding that the Specialized patent is expired? I kinda thought having the ability to decouple braking forces from suspension influence is important when designing a bike, and it seems the only difference between your design and a Horst is where the rear pivot is located (on chain stay vs. seat stay). You probably don't have time to answer such inane questions, but I thought I'd throw it out there anyways because ever since I saw this bike, I've been thinking to myself, "it's so hawt I'd buy it, but it doesn't have a HL..."

There are always pros and cons. First, leverage curve and anti squat are far more important to the overall ride than brake interaction. And, with where we have the pivot point, the brake interaction is pretty small. Nobody has ever ridden a GG/DH or Megatrail and said "the brake jack sucks". Moving the pivot down onto the chainstay also produces a situation where you have to balance brake interaction with anti-squat and wheel path, which could likely lead to compromises there.

Or, one of our riders told me one time when we were talking about this..."you don't optimize your bikes to go slow". Ha ha.

 

[jonKranked]

dammit. the more i look at this bike the more i like it. already trying to tally up what i could sell to see how close i could get to the cost.

 

[wydopen]

dammit. the more i look at this bike the more i like it. already trying to tally up what i could sell to see how close i could get to the cost.

dude i just pawned off some of my most prized possessions to get this new shred sled..i got the cash sitting in paypal ready to go..i literally can not wait to get on this thing..id say go for it

hope to get some good time on it before enduro racing starts in june....i think its going to be a game changer..

 

[wydopen]

For anybody who was nervous about ordering one due to the perceived extra long front end, dont be..

Went up to sea otter this weekend to check the megatrail out and see if I should go small or medium..

Im 5'10" and within 2seconds of sitting on the medium the geometry felt like home..

I just pedaled her around for a minute but the thing feels amazing..both the 26" and 27.5" version manual sooo good..I couldnt believe how easy the front end was to get up for how roomy the cockpit is...There is obviously allot more to it than just the length of the toptube..it feels awesome..

decided to go with the 27.5..going to be running a pike with the CCDBair CS with Renthal 40mm stem and Fatbars, Race Face Next Sl cranks and Lightbicycle 35mm hookless carbon wheels on DT 240s and a reverb stealth..

Im seriously going to be pacing around for the next month and a half until it comes..I dont even want to ride my old bike anymore....havent been this excited in a long time

 

[ZoRo]

For anybody who was nervous about ordering one due to the perceived extra long front end, dont be..

Went up to sea otter this weekend to check the megatrail out and see if I should go small or medium..

Im 5'10" and within 2seconds of sitting on the medium the geometry felt like home..

I just pedaled her around for a minute but the thing feels amazing..both the 26" and 27.5" version manual sooo good..I couldnt believe how easy the front end was to get up for how roomy the cockpit is...There is obviously allot more to it than just the length of the toptube..it feels awesome..

decided to go with the 27.5..going to be running a pike with the CCDBair CS with Renthal 40mm stem and Fatbars, Race Face Next Sl cranks and Lightbicycle 35mm hookless carbon wheels on DT 240s and a reverb stealth..

Im seriously going to be pacing around for the next month and a half until it comes..I dont even want to ride my old bike anymore....havent been this excited in a long time

Can't wait too see that build! I'm pretty excited for that bike also. Looks like a legit machine, made by people who care.

 

[jackalope]

At the cost of eliminating bike related excuses for why I suck, I will be slowly shredding the gnar on one as well. Hopefully before wydopen

 

[wydopen]

Hopefully before wydopen

If you do, you better put an extra lock on your singlewide!

 

[jonKranked]

For anybody who was nervous about ordering one due to the perceived extra long front end, dont be..

Went up to sea otter this weekend to check the megatrail out and see if I should go small or medium..

Im 5'10" and within 2seconds of sitting on the medium the geometry felt like home..

I just pedaled her around for a minute but the thing feels amazing..both the 26" and 27.5" version manual sooo good..I couldnt believe how easy the front end was to get up for how roomy the cockpit is...There is obviously allot more to it than just the length of the toptube..it feels awesome..

decided to go with the 27.5..going to be running a pike with the CCDBair CS with Renthal 40mm stem and Fatbars, Race Face Next Sl cranks and Lightbicycle 35mm hookless carbon wheels on DT 240s and a reverb stealth..

Im seriously going to be pacing around for the next month and a half until it comes..I dont even want to ride my old bike anymore....havent been this excited in a long time

glad to hear the TT length wasn't an issue. what size stem was on the med you tried?

 

[mtg]

glad to hear the TT length wasn't an issue. what size stem was on the med you tried?

He rode a couple of them around, but I think the 35mm stem on the medium was the main setup referred to.

 

[wydopen]

glad to hear the TT length wasn't an issue. what size stem was on the med you tried?

Even the one with what I believe was a 50mm on it was good.

I picked up a 40mm Renthal so ill be right in the middle..

 

[norbar]

Do you have any distribution in EU/yurp or still US only? I know it would be doable since in the worst case I can smuggle the frame with one of my friends come AFM in Nov If I find the dough but it would be easier to just get it here.

 

[jonKranked]

dammit i need some monies

 

[mtg]

We don't have a distributor in yurp yet, but you can buy it direct from us and we can ship it. That wouldn't be the first time we've done that.

 

[djjohnr]

Nick: c'mon down to GG

wydopen: literally everybody that has hopped on and ridden a Megatrail has agreed with the sizing so far. At 5'10", you are a candidate to run a 35mm long stem on a medium. Recall that Dave Trumpore is 5'9" and chose the medium with a 35mm stem.
Also measure the amount of offset you're running at the seat post. I've heard people complain at the MT being too long, then they realized they had over an inch of offset at the seatpost, which effectively adds to the ETT length.
And, the last point is that longer reaches are the way things are headed for a reason. Even people that have doubted the length and have ridden the MT changed their minds and preferred the longer reach after riding it.

For reference, here's the reach numbers on the Megatrail:
Small: 16.75"
Medium: 17.75"
Large: 18.75"

Interesting, the reach is actually fairly middle of the road. My medium Reign X has a 17.4" reach measurement with a 23 inch top tube (calculated). I'm guessing the MT's setback seat tube with a steep actual seat post angle leads to the long TT.

 

[wydopen]

Are you sure about that ReignX reach measurement??
Thats what I have been riding..the quick measurement I took of the reach on my med ReignX was well under 17"..granted it is kind of hard to measure that by yourself..

the megatrail is way more roomy..the giant felt good to me until I tried the megatrail and pedaled my buddies process 153

Interesting, the reach is actually fairly middle of the road. My medium Reign X has a 17.4" reach measurement with a 23 inch top tube (calculated). I'm guessing the MT's setback seat tube with a steep actual seat post angle leads to the long TT.

 

[djjohnr]

It's calculated, so garbage in garbage out. However, I did this for a wide range of AM bikes a few years ago so you can look at the range to get idea of what's generally our there (or was a few years ago). https://drive.google.com/file/d/0Bw7OdfezzQYTUGZ2SDFwcWhXTU0/edit?usp=sharing

 

[mtg]

Where did you get the 17.4" reach number for the Reign X? The MT has a longer reach than most frames I've compared it to.

I just did some quick calcs, and with the published 23.2" ETT on a medium 2014 Reign X, 72.5º STA. With about 23" of stack (assumption), it suggests a reach of ~16.0". If it does have a reach of 17.4", the stack would have to be 18.4", which seems really short (ie not plausible)

The included offset in the ETT number of the Megatrail is 1/4"/6mm, so not huge. The length is really coming from the reach, as the seat tube angle with the included offset doesn't put you that far back on the bike.

 

[wydopen]

yea mine measured around 15.75"...feels like a clowns bike with a 50mm stem after riding something longer

Where did you get the 17.4" reach number for the Reign X? The MT has a longer reach than most frames I've compared it to.

I just did some quick calcs, and with the published 23.2" ETT on a medium 2014 Reign X, 72.5º STA. With about 23" of stack (assumption), it suggests a reach of ~16.0". If it does have a reach of 17.4", the stack would have to be 18.4", which seems really short (ie not plausible)

The included offset in the ETT number is 1/4"/6mm, so not huge. The length is really coming from the reach, as the seat tube angle with the included offset doesn't put you that far back on the bike.

 

[djjohnr]

I just went and measured mine, I get 16.75" actual at the center of the head tube. It's not to hard to measure if you have a really big level and a piece of chalk. That's only an inch shorter then the MT, so not nearly as outlandish as the 2" delta in top tubes would indicate (my Reign is an 07 which had a 23" tt and 17.3" stays).

I went back and looked at my notes on the calc sheet and found this-

"Standing Horizontal Reach: This is a measurement of the distance between the center of the BB and the center of the steerer tube along a completely horizontal path. The exact point on the center of the steerer used is the point at which the preferred bar height is reached. You can enter a control value for preferred bar height, but if it’s too low it won’t be realistic – the point you’re measuring would be in the headtube or lower. The default measurement is 24”. Use your own measurements from your current bike if you wish (measure floor to the center of your stem on the steerer and subtract static bb height). "

That explains the variation.

 

[Lelandjt]

Wouldn't measuring reach as the horizontal distance between the BB and crown race give the most comparable numbers? It seems like if you knew that, BB height, CS length, HT angle, and fork axle-to-crown you could compare the ergos and handling of every bike.

Was the linkage driven shock design chosen to get a longer seat tube?

 

[mtg]

Wouldn't measuring reach as the horizontal distance between the BB and crown race give the most comparable numbers? It seems like if you knew that, BB height, CS length, HT angle, and fork axle-to-crown you could compare the ergos and handling of every bike.

Was the linkage driven shock design chosen to get a longer seat tube?

I think that's debatable as far as whether it is better to measure from the crown race or top of head tube. There are pros and cons to each. Although, it's commonly accepted as standard in the industry to measure from the top of the head tube, it's a useful place to measure from, so that's what the Megatrail reach numbers are measured from.

The linkage driven shock layout is there for a few reasons, including a long, straight seat tube, amount of progression in the leverage curve, shape of the leverage curve, and the ability to make two different suspension setups by just moving a bolt. We looked at doing a no-linkage system similar to the GG/DH, but ultimately, we couldn't get what we wanted out of the design going that route for this bike.

 

[marshalolson]

yo mtg, rad to see you the other day.

am i stupid and missed the seat tube lengths? didn't see them on the ridegg.com page.

thanks!

 

[mtg]

You too!

Seat tube lengths:
XS: 15.5"
S: 16.5"
M: 18"
L: 19.5"

 

[wydopen]

FedEx man brought me a present yesterday!!!

So stoked..The GG guys were awesome to work with..they answered every one of my hundreds of stupid questions...

Getting built up tomorrow...

This is a medium 650b
Build is going to be:

Pike Dual Position
Cane Creek Angleset at -.5
Renthal bar/stem
Sensus Disdaboss grips
Light-Bicycle 35mm carbon rims on dt240 hubs
X9 shifting
Race Face Next cranks with 32t ring (going to be running my old xt cranks and 34t as Im waiting on the spindle for new cranks)
MRP AMg carbon guide
Reverb Stealth


If anyone is interested in checking one out to see how the sizing is this bike will be available in Southern Ca..Im located in Santa Barbara

Ill also be at several of the Ca Enduro Series races if anyone wants to try it...just send me a pm if interested

 

[jackalope]

I should negative rep you.



She's a real beaut, and I'm looking forward to the full build pix and ride report. Although for some reason, I thought you were getting a yellow frame (but I love the raw, especially since that's what I ordered).

 

[wydopen]

I should negative rep you.



She's a real beaut, and I'm looking forward to the full build pix and ride report. Although for some reason, I thought you were getting a yellow frame (but I love the raw, especially since that's what I ordered).

I was undecided on raw or flo yellow..Im stuck with a white and black fork because I need a dual position so I think that will look better with raw..would have liked to have a black fork and flo yellow frame

 

[Nick]

.Im stuck with a white and black fork because I need a dual position ..

Pike?
FWIW: you can get the 2-position in black as well as white.

edit: sorry. I just read your build post a few post up there ^^. Clearly you have your parts already. Ignore me.

 

[wydopen]

Are the all black dual positions out yet?? As of two weeks ago they weren't available.

Pike?
FWIW: you can get the 2-position in black as well as white.

edit: sorry. I just read your build post a few post up there ^^. Clearly you have your parts already. Ignore me.

 

[blindboxx2334]

my vote goes for black fork. i think it would look better with the raw frame and other carbon good-nesssssss

 

[wydopen]

my vote goes for black fork. i think it would look better with the raw frame and other carbon good-nesssssss

already have the fork unfortunately....you couldnt get a 2014 dual position in black...trust me I tried..I even went so far as buying a black solo air and tried to swap the air springs..turns out the stanchions are different..

I hate the white

 

[TrumbullHucker]

i saw a GG DH at highland opener and.. you might be getting a call from me next season

looked great

 

[mtg]

already have the fork unfortunately....you couldnt get a 2014 dual position in black...trust me I tried..I even went so far as buying a black solo air and tried to swap the air springs..turns out the stanchions are different..

I hate the white

If the rest of your parts still have some lead time, you can paint the crown and lowers. With good prep work, it'll last for quite awhile.

I'm looking forward to seeing the finished bike!

 

[blindboxx2334]

bummed to hear about that.. oh well, its just a color!

 

[wydopen]

If the rest of your parts still have some lead time, you can paint the crown and lowers. With good prep work, it'll last for quite awhile.

I'm looking forward to seeing the finished bike!

Im too anxious to shred it...Im used to doing 10k+ of climbing a week and I havent even done a pedal stroke in nearly a month...I literally cant sit still! That bad boy is getting assembled tonight..should be destroying rock sections by Friday!!!

Maybe I'll tear it down someday and paint the frame and fork..floro paint should be good for shaving at least a few seconds a run...