Spokewrench Cycles

Knolly Endorphin Reviewed

We've been antiously waiting for Dave's review of the Knolly Endorphin and here it is! Just a few quotes from this review..."This is the best pedaling full suspension bike I have ridden...", "This is the most silent bike I have ever ridden, total stealth..", "This is the stiffest bike I have ever ridden, resulting in awesome, confidence-inspiring tracking.." and "It is the best pedaling, non-XC bike I have ever ridden."  Now onto the review!

It was with great anticipation that I finally took delivery of the Knolly Endorphin to thrash.  Knolly has gained quite a reputation in a short time period for making fantastic free-ride bikes and fully supporting their customers.  They are probably the best-known Canadian maker of boutique full suspension mountain bikes.  Check out the Knolly forum on MTBR.com and you’ll get a pretty good idea of the general vibe surrounding this company and their bikes.  All 3 of the frames in their lineup get perfect scores in MTBR.com’s consumer reviews section.  The Endo is the shortest-travel in their 3-bike lineup, geared towards the epic riding, all mountain, and pedal up as well as down category.

The Endo was all black (my favorite bike color), hard-anozided beauty outfitted with a large volume Fox RP23 shock and a 36 TALAS RC2 fork and a Cane Creek 110 headset.  Shifting was handled by SRAM X9 with an XT front derailleur and cranks.  The new XT brakes with Servo-wave handled stopping duties (7” front, 6” rear).  Thompson looked after the stem (100 mm) and seatpost, while I used my own preferred seat, handlebar, pedals and grips.  The bike came outfitted with an Atomlab DHR wheelset (Formula front hub, Hope Pro II rear) shod with my current favorite tires:  2.35 Kenda Nevegal Stickies with a Kevlar bead.  As delivered the bike weighed a hair less than 34 lbs, which is respectable but a bit heavier than I had hoped for my type of riding:  fast and technical trails with lots of climbing.  After a couple of rides to dial things in, I swapped the wheelset for Mavic Crossmax XL’s and converted the tires to tubeless using Stan’s.  This shaved darn near 2 pounds off the bike, making a huge reduction rotating mass and vastly improving in climbing.

The bike is visually striking, although the ‘4x4’ linkage design looks complicated and, dare I say it, almost flimsy.  I was quickly proven wrong though, this bike has the stiffest rear end of any full suspension design that I have ridden, it tracks beautifully and is totally silent.  Cable routing is a little funky on this bike, favoring guides for full housing over the traditional housing stops on most bikes.  Sure, full housing increases friction a little bit, but it also helps to keep the cables free of contamination.  It also permits more swooping cable routing which reduces sharp bends and eliminates the potential for the suspension action to cause ghost-shifting.  Despite the full housing, this bike had the best, snappiest shifting I have ever experienced (front and rear).

I was very excited to try the new XT brakes.  The reach and contact point adjustments worked flawlessly, making it very easy to quickly set up the brakes according to rider preference.  Unfortunately, the brakes never quite lived up to my expectations.  While offering great modulation, they never quite had the top power that I expected.  In addition, applying the brakes in rapid succession (ie. less than 2 sec. between applications) caused the engagement point to move earlier in the lever throw.  Perhaps not a big deal for most, but I found it disconcerting to have such a significant change in lever feel.

Knolly Delirium-T Reviewed

Mark compared the Titus El Guapo and the Knolly Delirium-T last fall and here are some of this thoughts of the 2 different bikes.

This comparison is for the two bikes as built with the EG weighing about 34lbs and the DT weighing just over 36 lbs.

Both of these bikes are aimed at the "all mountain" category and both can do it all but you might not want to do it all on a regular basis using just one of these. If you were to draw a line bridging the gap between cross-country and freeride, the EG would lean toward the cross-country side and the DT would lean toward the freeride side. Yet, there would be a good bit of overlap in the centre. If you want a bike that you can ride cross country (for all but racing perhaps) yet still be able to do some occasional light freeride, the EG, as built, is a good contender. It is more versatile with two wheelsets. If you want a bike leaning more toward freeride (as I did) the DT is a better choice. However, these two bikes (again as built) are more alike than they are different.

Although I did not ride the bikes back-to-back, my memory of the EG was that it was heavy but not inordinately so. This is the same feeling I get from the DT.  The difference in the weight is where I felt it. My impression of the EG is that the wheels were heavy and slowed the bike down almost as though you were riding through loamy soil - not quite like mud but there was a definite drag. I felt that if the EG had a lighter wheelset, it would run like a dog unleashed. By comparison, the DT just feels generally heavy. The weight feels centered and there is not the feeling of pent up power I got from the EG. Perhaps because of the centered feeling, I didn't always feel the weight of the DT. In fact, the only time I felt like I was paying a price was on gradual inclines - the kind that on a lighter bike you can just spin a bit faster to keep up your speed. On the DT, extra effort was noticeably required. Interestingly, the DT did not feel heavy on flats or declines. The heavy wheels on the EG felt heavy even on flat ground. On stronger climbs, both bikes felt heavy but both pedal so efficiently that there does not seem to be a weight penalty. Further, the suspensions on both keep the rear wheel on the ground which makes both bikes climb well on technical terrain. The DT does get floppy in the front end with the fork in the 6.5" setting and benefits well from an adjustable travel fork.

Titus El Guapo Reviewed

The long awaited Titus El Guapo review is complete!  We've been telling you about this review for a few months now and there are not a lot of EG reviews so we hope this will give you a good sense of how the bike is.

My first bike test was the Titus Motolite II, which I gave a pretty good thrashing over about 6 weeks last summer. As a boutique-type, 5” travel trailbike; it is definitely a top contender. In fact, in comparison to my main ride (an Ellsworth Epiphany), it almost won me over. Its main deficiency, in my opinion, was a slightly less plush rear suspension; which reduced technical descending and climbing as well as overall rider comfort.

This year’s serving is the Motolite’s bigger brother: the El Guapo. This is Titus’ newish 6” travel, all-mountain platform which has replaced the Supermoto at the aggressive end of the lineup. At about 2 lbs heavier that the ML II frameset, this bike is definitely built to take some abuse. However, it lacks any unsightly gusseting and has done away with the interrupted seat tube design of the SuMo. This certainly enhances the visual appeal of the bike as well as the obvious practicalities of a full-length seat tube. The frame is also designed with the 1.5” head-tube, which enhances its compatibility with the burlier lineup of fork options. The downtube has a slight curve to it as it meets the headtube, which provides ample clearance for fork top-caps.

There are no water bottle mounts on the frame; which surprised me since there is obviously room under the down-tube. This is somewhat limiting for those who have water-bottle style batteries for their lights or like to carry a bottle of supplementary energy drink for those epic rides, without contaminating their hydration bladder.

Titus El Guapo Complete

The Titus El Guapo is finished! Our resident test Dave has it and will be taking it through its paces in the next couple of month.  We'd be interested to see how the Cane Creek Double Barrel shock performs on it compared to the stock Rock Shox Pearl air shock.  The bike came together very nicely and tipped the scale at ~34lbs with pedals.  It's not your XC race machine but for all moutain riding and trails like Hilton Falls, you really want something like this.  Long travel full suspension is the only way to go.  This is completely different than the ML2 that Dave test rode last year.  He is at home both on an XC race bike and on his Kona Stinky so we're looking forward to what he thinks of the El Guapo.

We have an initial review of the El Guapo already!  Dave's amazing...

"I went to do a little tuning, specifically swapping the bar and stem for something a little more suited to the bike (bar 5 cm wider, stem 15 cm shorter).

And then there was the threat of rain later...kinda nudged me out the door. All of a sudden I was riding towards my normal trails (Guelph Lake, 5 min ride away). Most of GL is pretty tame but if you know where to look there are some pretty steep hills and a couple of stretches of extremely technical terrain.

Wow, what a bike! I felt comfortable on the bike right from the start, no awkwardness at all...just increased confidence. The ride in the rough stuff is simply sensational...I was cruising though stuff that I usually have to carefully pick my way through. The steering is a little slower than I'm used to, so that took some extra work (and some practice in counter-steering). One of my biggest concerns was the tall fork would harm climbing, but I had no trouble at all in that department. My other concern about the low BB also did not play out, but I consciously avoided pedaling on the sharper curves. The rear suspension is amazing. It's very tight with no unwanted flex and it just eats the big hits like they little ripples in the trail. I was very impressed with the shock, and I can't wait to spend some more time fine-tuning it to my riding style and terrain. The bike is unquestionably heavy, certainly on the porky side for a trail bike but it pedaled extremely well. It handles like my Stinky, but pedals like my Epiphany. Overall I am extremely impressed. I can't wait to get it onto the rocks at Hilton Falls."

Thanks Dave for the preview.  Once Dave tunes the CC Double Barrel, we suspect the bike will really perform.

Team Spokewrench

Rohloff Speedhub Longterm Review

We've been using the Rohloff Speedhub on the Moots Cinco for over 2 years now riding it in pretty much all seasons having using it in several Uxbridge Icebreaker races, several 24 Hour Solo and Team races, the Lost in the Rocks and Trees race a few times plus all around riding in the local trails. 

For those not familiar with the Rohloff Speedhub, it's an internal geared hub offering 14 evenly spaced gears all sealed from the elements meaning less maintenance compared to a traditional derailleur system.  It operates from a single grip like shifter with 2 full length cables that goes to an external gear box that does all the shifting.  The Rohloff is disc compatible and uses it's on proprietary bolt circle.  Different rotors are available to work with the major disc brake manufacturers.  We're using a Magura Marta SL but they offer rotors that work with Shimano, Hope, Hayes, etc. 

Build & Setup

Building the wheel isn't any more difficult than your traditional disc hub.   The only thing is that you have to order spokes from Rohloff that are shorter than what is commonly available for about the same price so no problems there.  I would order a few more to keep as spares if you're going on an extended trip because typical bike shops are not going to have these lengths in stock.  The nice thing about this hub is that spokes are equal length on both sides and there is no dish so the wheel comes out stronger than the typical disc wheel.  What we recommend is using a UST compatible rim such as the Mavic X819 or if not UST, get Stan's No Tube tubless kit.  More later in regards to that.  For setup, it's quite straight  forward.  The manual is very clear with nice pictures and instructions.  Measure the shifter cable lengths carefully, it is important.  We ran into shifter problems during our 1st 24 Hour race because of incorrect shifter lengths and took us quite a bit of time to sort out.  The cable routing can be an issue as well for your bike if it's not designed for Rohloff in mind.  The good thing is that Rohloff offers cable clips that can be mounted on the top tube or downtube of the bike to make it easier to keep the the full length housing in place.  If we were to do it again, we would have asked Moots right from the start to put in full length cable guides, much like the one for the rear disc brake.  This would have made the routing easier and give it a much cleaner custom look.

Ride

Once installed, the hub needs to be broken in in order for all the gears to mesh properly.  This can be done simply by riding a lot.  At times, the hub would freewheel a bit while riding but once broken in, this never happens.  Just something to be aware of but certainly not an issue overall.   Shifting is all from the single shifter so there is no front derailleur or cross chaining to ever worry about.  We've never found chain suck to be an issue either during our time with the Rohloff.  We initially had the Rohloff setup with with a Singleator on the Moots Cinco because of the rear travel of the bike, the chain would lengthen and shorten as rear of the bike goes through it's travel.  There has to be a way for the drivetrain to take up the slack.  We were hoping this would be enough but the long travel of the bike was too much for the Singleator to handle and we found the chain skipping off the sprocket at the worst times during our 1st 24 Hour Race with the hub.   In the end, we got the Rohloff chainguide and chain tensioner so that the chain stays put on the sprocket.  It meant adding a bit more weight but the  result was much more consistent performance.  If someone was using this hub on  a  hardtail, this would not be an issue.

Titus Motolite 2 Reviewed

Our tester Dave Llewellyn has been riding bikes pretty much his whole life and knows a thing or two about riding.  He got a chance to test our ML2 for a month or so and here are some of his thoughts.  In this review, he compares the Ellsworth Epihany to the Titus ML2. 

Intro

Before I begin my review of the Titus Motolite II, I would like to introduce my self and give a bit of background.  I am 33 years old and have been a passionate (some would say obsessed) mountain biker for over 20 years.  I like to ride hard on challenging terrain with lots of technical climbing.  I never really cut it as an expert-level racer so now I just ride a lot, year round (I have been known to say that winter is my favorite riding season).  I generally do one 24-hour team relay every year to feed my competitive side.  I really enjoy the punishing rocks of Hilton Falls and I have a dedicated bike for that type of environment. I have also dabbled in trials (too many broken bones) and use those skills frequently on the trail (my friends call me Hopper).  I also do a lot of road/trail commuting to work…taking the long way of course.

Last summer I began looking for a new trail bike.  I needed a do-everything bike that could handle everything from road/trail commutes, hard club rides, all-day epics to the odd race.   I was looking for something with about 5” of rear travel, preferably with a Horst-Link design and could be built up in the 27-28 lb range.  This was going to be my first new bike in more than 10 years and I was looking for something pretty special, without totally breaking the bank.

I quickly narrowed the choices to a handful of bicycles including Devinci Remix, Giant Reign, Norco Fluid and a few others.  Then I stumbled upon the Titus Motolite and I was instantly hooked…its specs seemed to fit me perfectly.   In addition, the Motolite had an excellent reputation and an extremely loyal following.  Furthermore, Titus has the ‘sex appeal’ of a boutique brand but was considerably cheaper than its competitors.  The Motolite instantly moved to the top of my list.  After all, what could be better? 

Then Fate intervened and I came across another bike that I hadn’t given any thought to, the Ellsworth Epiphany.  The deal that I had stumbled upon was simply too good to pass up. So after some frenzied research (the reviews were all awesome) I went for it, without even testing the bike.  Oh my, what a ride it has been!  I have been mountain biking now for over 20 years, and I never dreamed that I would love riding a bike as much as the Epiphany. 

While I have been extremely happy with my bike, I couldn’t help wondering how the Motolite would stack up…a little bit of the ‘grass is always greener’ phenomenon I suppose.  Anyway, then Fate intervened again and dealt me another trump card…the chance for an extended test-ride on the Titus Motolite II!!!!  What an opportunity.

The Motolite is the most versatile frame in the Titus lineup and it and is offered in several versions to satisfy most end-users.  These include the standard all aluminum version, the Motolite II which has carbon seatstays, a titanium frame and the high-zoot Exogrid model where carbon fiber is fused into titanium skeleton…very sexy. 

Titus Super Moto Review

Our resident Spokewrench tester Jack has finished his long term review of the Titus Super Moto.  Here is what he has to say about the bike.

I have now been riding this bike for the past year and have had the opportunity to ride it in almost every environment from cross county to downhill, and in every weather condition from winter to summer. I would not necessarily consider this an all-mountain do anything bike, but short of XC racing and steep climbing, it is can be built up to handle pretty much anything else.

Looking at the geometry of the size large frame, the key dimensions are a head tube angle of 67, top tube length of 23.75”, wheel base of 43.96” and a bottom bracket height of 14.65”. From these dimensions it is apparent that in relative terms to other bikes in its class, it is a short and tall bike with some nice middle of the road angles. It is tall, steep and short for a DH bike but has a great balance for an all-mountain or freeride bike with an emphasis on technical capability.

Shimano XTR M970 Pedal Review

I recently installed the pedals and I took them out for a ride and here are my initial thoughts.  The M959s that this pedal is replacing has had very good reviews from our test reviewers and generally regarded to be a very good pedal in the industry.  So when it came time to introduce the new line of XTR, Shimano didn't really have to reinvent the wheel but rather clean it up a bit and shave off a bit of weight while claiming to be more rigid then before. 

Installation

Installation was a breeze as with any pedal really.  You just have to find a big enough allen key as this pedal doesn't have the option of installing with a 15mm wrench.  It's a fairly large allen key so keep it handy in your tool bag if you plan to remove your pedals for transportation.

Look and Feel

The pedals look great with the 2 tone matt dark grey and light titanium grey coloured aluminum body coupled with the shinier silver chromo spindle.  It matches well with the other 2007 XTR parts.  The XTR logos on top and side of the pedal lets your friends know that you're riding XTR.  It's obvious but not overly obnoxious.  If you're paying for XTR quality, then it's fine to display it on your ride but it's nice that it's understated rather than look at me bling.  The 2007 line has a more industrial feel to it that I much prefer rather than the jewel smooth finish of the 2006 line. 

Both pedal bearings feel smooth out of the box with no binding or roughness.  No play detected so it is what you'd expect in an XTR branded component.  There is a way to adjust the tension on both side of each pedal but I don't see an indicator as to how much tension  is set.   So you basically have to set the tension by eyeing how much the set screw has turned.  It would have been nice to have a visual indicator but it's not a deal breaker by any means.  It's not something that is adjusted very often anyway so not a big deal.

Shimano hasn't had too many bad apples when it comes to pedals.  Other manufacturers certainly offer other types of pedals and certain pedals work better for different people.  My suggestion is to try as much as you can even though it can be a hassle changing cleats going from one pedal to the next but well worth the effort in my opinion.

Technical

The trail is a mix of everything thrown in except for really thick mud as the weather was fairly dry and cool.  There was morning dew in the air so some parts of the trail was quite soft and the rocks were quite slippery at times.   So this trail is just about perfect for testing these pedals. 

Pedals in a nutshell have a pretty simple function.  They have to clip in when the rider steps into them and clip out when the rider is finished riding.  If only it were that simple.  First of all, there's float where the pedal allows the natural movement of the leg to pedal without unclipping.  People in general would benefit with some form of float in the pedal as everyone's pedal stroke is different and having your foot locked in one position can be pretty hard on the knees.  There's angle of release, different pedals have different angles and Time ATAC pedals allow you to change the angle by switching the cleat around from right foot to left foot.  There's also tension adjustment, this is the amount of force you need to twist your foot to release from the pedals.  Again, some pedals have an adjustment for this and others do not.   And last but not least, the pedals have to work in varying conditions from dry dusty trails to wet, clay sticking onto everything mud.  Oh and they have to be light weight, sealed well and be able to take a beating against rocks, logs and other hard inanimate objects along the trails.  So not only do pedals have to perform well in different conditions, they almost have to be able to read minds to know when the rider wants to get in and out of them.   There's a reason why there are only a handful of reputable clipless pedal manufacturers in the industry.

Kenda Nevegal DTC Tire Test

Jack our resident tester just had a chance to submit his review on the Kenda Nevegal DTC tires.  We've switched all our bikes now to Kenda since last season and we've been very happy with the performance.  Below is Jack's review.

If you are looking to improve the performance of your ride, one the key areas to consider are the tires.  After all, the contact patch between the tires and the ground is all what keeps you glued to the trail.  So I was anxious to try Kenda’s newest tire in the Nevegal line, the 26x2.1 DTC.  The 1.9 Nevegal Lite was Mountain Bike Action’s 2004 top pick tire, and repeated with the 26x2.1 Stick-E rubber with Stan’s sealant as the top pick last year.  With great reviews like this, you inherently are expecting a great all around tire.  As well, I have been running a set of Blue Groove 26x2.1 Stick-E front and Nevegal 26x2.1 Stick-E rear, both with Stan’s sealant for light free ride stuff with great results.

The 2.1 DTC tires are listed at 580 to 640 grams.  The pair of tires that I received covered a large portion of the publish weight range.  I like the fact that Kenda is now listing their tire weights with a range that represents that anticipated in production.  If you are a real weight weenie, you know what your target is.  At this weight, these are not lightweight tires for XC use, but are quite comparable to other full knobby large volume tire in this size range.  By European metric measurements the 2.1 tire measures as 52mm across the sidewalls and 56mm across the tread.  These tires are also quite large in circumference and really pushed the limits of clearance on my Whyte.

The DTC version uses the same construction and tread pattern as the Stick-E version, and both are very close in weight.  The difference comes in the rubber compounds used.  The Stick-E tire uses 50 durometer slow rebound rubber for the whole tread.  The DTC dual tread compound version uses the Stick-E rubber on the side knobs but uses a 60 durometer L3R Pro rubber for the center knobs.  This rubber is faster rolling and longer wearing while still offering great grip.  This compromise should better suit all around riding with only a small sacrifice on ultimate grip in technical terrain compared to the Stick-E version.

Magura Marta SL Reviewed

Dan Dakin, one of our resident testers has spent some time on the Magura Marta SLs and below is his latest review.  Dan has been testing parts and writing reviews for Pedal Magazine and Pinkbike.com for a number of years now so he knows his craft.  We're very happy to be associated with Dan and his experience in the biking industry.  You can read more of his reviews at thebikinghub website. 

Magura Marta SL Disc Brakes

If you want a lightweight disc brake for cross country use there are only a few really good options. In many of the head to head tests on disc brakes, the offerings from Avid have come out as being the standard that other companies have to live up to. The Avid BB7 mechanicals are simply the best and most powerful cable-actuated disc brakes on the market, and the Avid Juicy7 are among the best hydraulic disc brakes available. When SRAM/Avid unveiled the Juicy Carbon with a lighter weight and the same ease of use, it gave competitors another bar to try and clear.

But at the same time Avid was working on the Juicy Carbon, Magura was already tweaking and refining it’s Marta SL brake. For 2006, the Marta SL offers a visibly gorgeous setup that performs as good as it looks.

To set up the proper environment in which these were tested, they were installed on my Cannondale Rush 1000, which is now sporting a SRAM X.0-dominated drivetrain with Shimano XTR cranks. I had been running the Avid Juicy 7s, which worked fit perfectly with the X.0 triggers, were highly adjustable, powerful and generally just a fantastic brake. So the Martas had a lot to live up to.