[vitox]

The new SWD bike is around 12#, not 9. A good friend of mine is one of Steve's semi-pro riders, and he is on the new design. The bike shown in the photo belongs to Rick, another local rider. The guys on the new design seem to like it better than the old one. Steve's bikes are what they are, affordable alternatives to pricier dh bikes. He wanted to build a bike that more kids could afford and thus be able to get into the sport. I don't think anyone would call then innovative, but they get the job done.

IMO thats much better than trying to use steel to make a really light frame, use it just like you said, to get more people into the sport, people that would otherwise be riding clapped out rigs or unsuitable frames.

 

[Total Heckler]

sorry man but no way, i actually dont think its 9 w/o shock either, and if it were, it either would be quite flexy, or very prone to dinging.

look in my "slickest of the garage frames" thread, those frames i would say have a lot more evolution behind them and they are around the 11lbs mark, to get any significantly lighter, youd have to use less than 1mm wall thickness in the tubes, one nasty tumble on rocks and youll see why thats no good idea. the swd probably is lighter than that other steel frame, less gussets and all, but 9lbs i think would be too much, just to put that in perspective, an m3 weighs 9,2 w/o shock.

You can keep thinking that. The new 2007 frame is 9.5lbs without a rear shock. The 2006 frame was actually 8.7lbs without a rear shock. With shock depending on what one you run in the rear its up to 11-12lbs. When I got my new Crazy 8 I weighed it and it was just that. Just to put it in perspective, isn't the demo 9 is somewhere around 12-14lbs without a rear shock? Right?

Here are the specs for the 2007 frame:
http://www.swdracing.com/crazy8.html

Go ahead and call up Steve and get technical with him. His frames are podium proven. Go ahead and try to argue that.

 

[vitox]

You can keep thinking that. The new 2007 frame is 9.5lbs without a rear shock. The 2006 frame was actually 8.7lbs without a rear shock. With shock depending on what one you run in the rear its up to 11-12lbs. When I got my new Crazy 8 I weighed it and it was just that. Just to put it in perspective, isn't the demo 9 is somewhere around 12-14lbs without a rear shock? Right?

Here are the specs for the 2007 frame:
http://www.swdracing.com/crazy8.html

Go ahead and call up Steve and get technical with him. His frames are podium proven. Go ahead and try to argue that.

cmon dont get things wrong here, mainly i was trying to sort out unrealistic claims about the weight and actually you are proving me right about that, plus it seems you and the manufacturer arent on the same page regarding weights, you say the crazy8 is 0.8lbs lighter than the new frame, the manufacturer says the new frame is 0,5lbs lighter than the crazy8.
anyhow, i can see how they can be that light but i will still stand by my previous asessment, this backed on the years ive been connected to the development of an extremely similar product, also "podium proven" as you say. its all a subjective matter really, with how steel works, you can make a reliable structure with relatively little material, the rear end might feel vague, but it wont break, no news there.