RideMonkey How To Series: Throwing a Tantrum in Public
I must be missing something...
'Twas wondering the same thing....re linkage
I know they say it doesn't, but it seems that it would jack-hammer the pedals when switching modes?
What about pedaling through the chop? Can't see this being a lot of fun in this case.
Still - Interesting...
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alittle clearer photo of the magic lsd link
i saw one this weekend and i just dont get it
Magic link; I have test ridden - awkward would be the best way to describe it.
(It was an old Coilair(?) if memory serves.)
It switches between short and long travel, but the spring-rate and damping do not change.
Pedalling pulls it into short travel mode, hitting a bump releases it into long travel mode - kinda hobby-horse like.
(It was an old Coilair(?) if memory serves.)
It switches between short and long travel, but the spring-rate and damping do not change.
Pedalling pulls it into short travel mode, hitting a bump releases it into long travel mode - kinda hobby-horse like.
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Sometimes when you add Moar Linkz, you miss a few.
Looks regressive as fuck, fitting for a potential Trump presidency.
Looks regressive as fuck, fitting for a potential Trump presidency.
Buh buh but the bright orange aluminum frame is "future proof"!
Indeed, I wasn't quite sure where to fit the gearbox and electric motors though?
The next iteration "metric link" will be moar.
Is this 2002, are we still reading MBA and praising dh bikes for their uphill capability?
I thought we were over obesessing with ultimate pedaling performance in longer travel bikes and we are happy with decent to good pedalling as long as the susp provides great performance when going down?
I thought we were over obesessing with ultimate pedaling performance in longer travel bikes and we are happy with decent to good pedalling as long as the susp provides great performance when going down?
That explains the positive yet uninformative review
No, it is just called Enduro now. Didn't you get the memo?
Do you even endurbro, bro?
Not really. Enduro doesn't time uphills. I like enduro. People who hate it are just people who haven't heard enough about plus sized bikes. (ie. the new cool thing to hate)
Super efficient tantric suspension is clearly the next step. It gets you up with maximum efficiency, then it gets you off.
I'm so sick of bikes that prioritize pedaling at a severe compromise of a leverage curve.
We pedal up for descents. Just make it tolerable. The down is the good part. Quit fucking it up. Especially if your pedaling characteristics still aren't really that great.
We pedal up for descents. Just make it tolerable. The down is the good part. Quit fucking it up. Especially if your pedaling characteristics still aren't really that great.
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Klein Mantra Edition 2016
That thing was around when I was about 5 minutes into mountain biking and even I knew how completely stupid that design was as soon as I saw it.
That fact that Vernon Felton can speak honestly about that bike and then in the same piece praise its designer's 'genius' blows my mind.
http://www.pinkbike.com/news/1996-klein-mantra-pro-now-that-was-a-bike.html
People always talk about that design as a suspend the rider/suspend the bike discussion........that design does neither. It just puts the rider on a bike that folds in half with a human body spanning the crease
You should remember him. (back when you were the endless boxxer hater before udi)
He used to post here under the name 'shock'. Seemed like a nice guy. Definitely was struck by lightning.
http://ridemonkey.bikemag.com/threads/now-for-something-completely-different-a-33-lb-m-1.103325/#post-1340867
Don't you bitches ever doubt my memory
I've mentioned it because I find it quiteThat thing was around when I was about 5 minutes into mountain biking and even I knew how completely stupid that design was as soon as I saw it.
That fact that Vernon Felton can speak honestly about that bike and then in the same piece praise its designer's 'genius' blows my mind.
http://www.pinkbike.com/news/1996-klein-mantra-pro-now-that-was-a-bike.html
People always talk about that design as a suspend the rider/suspend the bike discussion........that design does neither. It just puts the rider on a bike that folds in half with a human body spanning the crease
interesting that Vernon's article appeared only four days before this Magical review. Coincidence? 
This bike is nowhere near the stupidity of that mantra. Seriously, that thing shouldn't have even made it to a rough sketch. As soon as he envisioned it, Gary Klein should have punched himself in the face.
It's a dentist bike. It doesn't have to ride well. The most important suspension characteristic is static wall mount stability.
Jesus I just saw that leverage curve. NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE. Kill it with fire or send it to santa cruz.
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I remember riding a brand new one back when they were tha shizzz and feeling overly stupid at the first curb I dropped. My balls almost ended next to my ribs. That thing was still lighter than my hardtail.
They were never tha shizz.
I meant Klein had a reputation back then for making good bikes. The mantra was an obvious exception.
And this is why GK is actually a genius. First, the guy recognized that he could be successful by making things look pretty - so then we have bad ass Miami Vice paint jobs and smooth welds. After awhile, he gets bored and says "people are so stupid, I bet I can put wheels on a undersized oil derrick and sell them for same price as a new Datsun". And he piled on even more by offering a crabon version, that somehow even out-sucked the crabon K2 Proflex.
Put it this way, he beat Crank Brothers (i.e. aesthetics > functionality) to the punch by 20+ years and also identified the predecessor to wealthy cosmetic dentists (i.e. orthodontists) as the materialist rubes he would target. Hell, he even made his own headset "standard" before that became all the rage. He then managed to parlay all this success into being acquired by Trek, which lets face it, couldn't have happened to a better company.
Like it or not, GK was the Nostradamus of the bike industry.
Has been a while since I have had a long travel bike, but don't most shocks have a low speed adjustment these days? Can't we compromise suspension for pedaling and have good suspension with the turn of a dial without a shitty linkage? Is turning a dial too hard? Perhaps electronic dial turning is the next big thing.
Magura has been there done that.
http://www.gizmag.com/magura-elect-electronic-bicycle-suspension/27706/
IMO, it is even better than that. With a proper low speed compression adjuster, you can setup a bike that pedals well up climbs without a lot of movement, and with the same shock setup, you can rail downhills because the shock actually gives you support by being adjusted properly. In other words, you can rip entire rides without touching your shock, and it will still perform great everywhere. In truth, my float x2 shock does move a lot more than most air shocks, but my bike still climbs great and the shock provides better traction than a less active shock.
I was thinking more of a forward looking aser scanning scanning system that predicted terrain and proactively adjusted the suspension. I call it Forward Active Reactive Technology