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Morewood's Mbuzi

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atsunD

Chimp
Feb 7, 2008
10
0
Melbourne
this has been a very helpful thread - so maybe time for a silly question
would a Hadley 10mm axle go in OK (135mm of course)
33LBs is a pretty good weight for something that burly
cheers
 
profro

profro

Turbo Monkey
Feb 25, 2002
5,617
314
Walden Ridge
Hadley makes conversion caps to convert your 10mm to 12 mm. I was running a Hadley and now I have a sweet set of I9s.

Did a sweet trail ride the other day on this thing. 22 miles with 5000 ft of descending.



And then 2 days later did a sweet miniDH race on the bike with no setup changes.



 
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primo661

primo661

Monkey
Jun 16, 2008
412
0
Pietermaritzburg, South Africa
Dangerous E said:
Because I know you're all wondering, Mbuzi means "goat" in Swahili.

You're welcome.
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and who ever told you that is still laughing at you;) yes mbuzi means goat but not in swahili!!! swahili originates in northern africa, not south africa where morewood is made. mbuzi is goat in zulu, and i know cause im fluent in zulu:cheers: and im white:) haha

and incase the rest of you are wondering,
izimu means canabal because its "eats" all other downhill bikes
shova means pedal because duh, its a freeride(lt) and xc(st)
mbuzi means goat because its like a mountain goat
ndiza means fly because its their dj/4x frame
 
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Dangerous E

Dangerous E

Monkey
May 24, 2006
214
0
Coorstown, CO
primo661 said:
and who ever told you that is still laughing at you;) yes mbuzi means goat but not in swahili!!! swahili originates in northern africa,
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Check your Swahili dictionary my friend (I'm sure you have one handy;))I'm not fluent anymore, but i ate enough roasted goat to remember how to order it.:biggrin:

Swahili is a pidgin (sp?) language that has elements of many different languages, including Zulu.

Here's to totally derailing this thread with some international flavor:cheers:
 
profro

profro

Turbo Monkey
Feb 25, 2002
5,617
314
Walden Ridge
I have ridden both and the only plus for the Air would be the weight savings. The CCDB is on a different level. The separate low and high speed circuits allow the shock to tune in great pedal performance yet the have DH like high speed damping.
 
B

BlackElvis

Chimp
Dec 5, 2007
65
0
Slovenia, Europe
Well i'm seriously considering buying one of these and i'm unsure about gears.
How do you uphill w/o granny gear?

I have two options:
- 34T + e13 LG1
- 24T +36T + e13 DRS

now which configuration to choose? hmm....
 
al-irl

al-irl

Turbo Monkey
Dec 9, 2004
1,086
0
A, A
I can't help but tell people about how good this bike is. I've never ridden a jack of all trades bike that is so accomplished at both up and down as this. Theres nearly always some form of trade off. I don't own one but our shop has one built up as a demo bike and i've taken it out on some of the longer all mtn spins i've been doing. First impressions where that it climbed exceptionally well way better than I expected. Theres a pair of the 10th aniversary z1s on the front and with the eta you could just drop the front and switch the propedal on on the dhx air rear shock and spin away. No problem with nearly 1000 meters of climbing. Come the first descent and i was a little aprehensive after having my front wheel disapear into a hole in the peat bog we where trying to ride down. Once i schook that off and got my confidance back it was unreall. After the first descent was over it was on for more savage climbing with a bit of a hike a bike bits. The reward was going to be an epic descent, that unlike the first one I had ridden before. Man was it worth the pedal/hike to the top. The bike just took off it was everybit as capable as my old izumi and my sunn radical when pointed downhill at speed. The back end took everything i could throw at it from the fast rock littered bits and was really nimble and cornered effortlessly on the singletrack. I really can't give this bike enough praise. One feature that would be cool would be a maxle rear end. Its a pain having to dig out the allen keys when you have to change a tube trailside.
 
profro

profro

Turbo Monkey
Feb 25, 2002
5,617
314
Walden Ridge
I'm running a 36T x 11-32 cassette. The 36T is a tall order and has me walking a little more than I would like. I use this more as a miniDH bike, so I opted for the LG1. However a DRS would be killer.

I rode my Mbuzi on our DH trails and I loved it. I had plenty of travel and it was so agile. Good times.
 
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BlackElvis

Chimp
Dec 5, 2007
65
0
Slovenia, Europe
So you guys suggest DRS? I just can't make my mind.

The half of my brain says go with single, you dont need granny anyway and the other one says you will need granny sometimes.
Is there a huge difference between 32T and 34T at uphilling? 32T for descending is a bit too low.

thanks in advance
 
A

atsunD

Chimp
Feb 7, 2008
10
0
Melbourne
I had a DRS (not on an Mbuzi but on an IH7.) and they're pretty awesome - it never skipped a beat and I raced my bike DH a few times too
 
S

SpasticJack

Monkey
Feb 25, 2002
344
0
Pretty sure you want the top swing. Doesn't look like enough room under the swingarm to use a high clamp/bottom swing f. der.
 
stoney

stoney

Part of the unwashed, middle-American horde
Jul 26, 2006
22,043
7,971
Colorado
# 30.9mm one piece, butted seat tube -> Seatpost Size
# 34.9mm seat clamp (provided) -> Seat Clamp
# 34.9mm top pull/ low band front derailleur (SRAM compatible) -> looks like an error, 34.9mm Top pull, Top Swing.
 
primo661

primo661

Monkey
Jun 16, 2008
412
0
Pietermaritzburg, South Africa
Dangerous E said:
Check your Swahili dictionary my friend (I'm sure you have one handy;))I'm not fluent anymore, but i ate enough roasted goat to remember how to order it.:biggrin:

Swahili is a pidgin (sp?) language that has elements of many different languages, including Zulu.

Here's to totally derailing this thread with some international flavor:cheers:
Click to expand...

ey.. my bad... i eat my words, although it was named in zulu, not swahili. pat is from pietermaritzburg, south africa not kenya. also all the other morewoods have zulu names. mbuzi may mean goat in swahili by a freak chance but swahili happens to not exist here, xenophobia took care of it all(all you south africans here know what im talkin about) i must agree zulu is a pidgin language too but i didnt think it would have influnces for so far away, i could go into a full history lesson but zulu as a language was only formed in the areas between zimbabwe and south africa and then different dialects broke off forming languages such as xhosa, shona and the rest:rant: my bad though and props to a great bike:biggrin::biggrin:
 
DH Rules

DH Rules

Chimp
Jul 13, 2006
90
0
On the trails of WNC - Mostly
There are many similarities between most East and Southern African languages. Mbuzi means goat in Zulu and Swahili, Ndiza/Ndege means bird, Makulu/Makubwa means big. Nyeumthi/Zaidikuni means Morewood....it's easy :brows:
 
bikeslikestars

bikeslikestars

Chimp
Jul 24, 2008
9
0
England
Sorry to resurrect an old thread but I wanted to know more about this bike...and there's very little rider feedback anywhere else on the net! I'm contemplating a new purchase soon & the Mbuzi could be the one I'm after...!

Currently riding a 2003 Santa Cruz Bullit with 5th and Boxxers (7inch f&r). Great bike but has taken its fair share of knocks over the 4 years I've owned it...& it is pretty warn out . Was about to go down the 'light weight' dh bike route (Radical/Izimu/Socom etc)...but have been turned onto the idea of 'down-sizing' to a shorter travel bike like this, set up for dh duties.

Just got a couple of questions:

al-irl: you said that - "I've never ridden a jack of all trades bike that is so accomplished at both up and down as this." - just wanted to know what other similar bikes you have ridden and how the Mbuzi compares. Is it in the same kind of category/league as an SX Trail or Nomad? (thanks)

profro: I would be running a similar setup as yourself - single chainring, coil rear, Lyric/36/Totem up front. My local spots, where I probably do 80% of my riding, are short dh trails only 30sec - 2mins long with berms small jumps & drops. Not overly rough so I'm sure the nimble nature of the Mbuzi would be perfect (a full on dh bike is a little overkill to be honest). But I just wondered how you thought it would handle the burlier terrain, as I 'occasionally' do uplift days where the trails are a lot longer, faster and rocky. Plus it would have to cope with a week or two in Whistler or the Alps once a year. Has your frame stood up to the abuse...? (thanks)

Sorry for such a long post...thanks for the help.
 
al-irl

al-irl

Turbo Monkey
Dec 9, 2004
1,086
0
A, A
i'd imagine its along the lines of an sx trail but a good bit lighter i haven't had much time in the saddle on an sx trail or a nomad. It seems to make an awfull lot of sense for the type of riding your doing. The trails i ride are kinda simialr to you and i usually have a week or two in the alps in the summer. Fortunatly i have 2 bikes a radical and a older enduro sx (the 4x one) which between them cover everything the mbuzi would be perfect for. I've ridden the mbuzi a fair bit as we have one in the shop where i work as a demo bike. Also one of my best mates bought one from me and he loves it to bits. He had been out of riding for a good while and was looking for a one bike for all. His other rides where a dirtworks pirahana and a gt i drive. He's pretty much resigned the two of those to the bin as the mbuzi is way better at climbing and trail riding than the gt and much better at the dh stuff than the dirtworks. I'm seriously considering getting one next year to replace my enduro which is set up with a single ring and 36s up front etc and i get the feeling my dh bike won't see much use after it arrives.
 
bikeslikestars

bikeslikestars

Chimp
Jul 24, 2008
9
0
England
Cheers mate, that's really helped! I think you're right, it would be perfect for the type of dh/freeride I do week in week out. Still not sure how it would take a big mountain descent. I'm aware it won't be as capable as a dh bike, but as long as it copes I'll be happy. Only get to ride big/long dh trails now and then anyway.

Anybody else had any hands on experience descending on this bike...?

Cheers!
 
al-irl

al-irl

Turbo Monkey
Dec 9, 2004
1,086
0
A, A
im just back from 2 weeks in alp d'huez at the mega avalanche and there was a good few mbuzis around and they didn't seem to be holding anyone back infact they seemed like the perfect bike.
 
Stan_Ireland

Stan_Ireland

Chimp
Jul 25, 2008
27
0
Hey Al...i think you have me convinced too:banana:

Need to save up the cash i think.

Looks like im gonna sell my Cove Handjob to pay for it :lighten:
 
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