Cannondale did this with the Jekyll when they relaunched it in 2000-something. It used a pull shock with a remote that locked out part of the travel and changed the geometry.
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Canyon did this too
Yeah canyon shape shifter is the closest I can think of re: frame dropper
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I used to want a Bionicon Edison real bad
How are you liking the tires?
Nice, I had to double take thinking this was your monster cross. Is the geo/intent based on the MC? Did that end up a loss due to mangled dangler hangler?
Iām liking them a lot
On dirt, much more braking and climbing traction than a slick. Not a ton of hookup in the corners on dry/dusty/loose-over-hard, but they feel real good on damp/soft dirt.
On pavement, you can hear the knobs on the rear tire doing their thing on slow/steep climbs - feels like the rear tire is gonna wear quickly on pavement. On flats, they feel fine - very little audible knob rumble, and they feel fast. Descending through twisties, you donāt even notice youāre on a knobby, you just roll over and pull Gs through the corner like you were on any other road tire. Thereās none of that feeling of āclimbing upā onto the side knobs and feeling them squirm around underneath you like you get on a more typical MTB tire when you try to go fast on paved switchbacks.
Generally, it seems like an A+ allrounder tire if you split your time between dirt and pavement and prioritize being able to bomb paved descents more than you prioritize getting maximally rowdy on dirt.
if you want some sorta data on āhow fast are they really on pavementā:
Very non-scientific, only eleven samples on five different bikes over 4+ years and never really hard-charging for a PR on this twisty downhill segment. But, every other time Iāve had a flying start coming down Skyline, while my one sample on the 700C x 55mm knobby Fleecer Ridge was from a standing start off a side road - and I was within seconds of some runs Iāve done on slick RH 650B x 48mm and 26" x 54mm tires earlier this summer.
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yeah, heavily inspired by the BlackMtn canticross and things Iāve mused about changing on it for the past several years. Aside from the obvious stuff like thru axles and discs, it basically just maximizes tire clearance while still being able to run narrow cranks and is sized to fit my long torso/short legs proportions.
The fix of the mangled dangler hangler hasnāt gotten re-mangled but yeah that bike is semi-retired now.
Very interesting. That lines up with what I have observed on my buddies Juniper Ridges. Way faster than they look. They do wear fast tho. Heās debating whether to do the Fleecers for a big event coming up. They cost insane amounts by the time they get to NZ.
Youāre living in a beautiful world.
Edit - how wide are those rims? They look huge for the frame
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Those cantis probably suck extra because of the ultra wide rims.
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What is the point of having drop bars if the drops at the height where a flat bar would be anyway?
stop right there.
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Tall stem backwards faster haters can leave, weāre old, out of shape, and VALID!
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YEAH!
Thatās a valid excuse. As long as you donāt tell me itās that way for technical descents.
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Isnāt, though? Better action on the brake levers from the drops. Having a bunch of different hand positions is nice on long rides, too.
Iām and out of shape andā¦
Do some yoga or sommat.
You can still use the drops when your stem is slammed and you can still get all the different hand positions on nice long rides.
Not trying to justify belopskyās 47th fop chariot, but road biking saddle to bar drop is not even remotely similar to what you might do on even a rigid mtb. I can run 8cm of drop easily on a road bike and be comfortable for 50 miles, but the same fit on a gravel ride would wreck my back. I can only get away with the tiniest amount of saddle to bar drop on a mtb. I tried to go slightly lower and longer for an xc race once and it was absolutely horrible.
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