Tuesday, May 22, 2007

Another vid and some comments from Chris on the WC

Chris weighs in on his thoughts about the bike and another vid... some of the last part is of one of the other EV crew that doesn't ride for Banshee.

"Hey Jay, Keith

Here is a another video of us riding, it isnt that great and is a little repedative, if you would like, Al and myself can make a better freeride video and find a better host so the quality isnt shit.



Also attached is a picture of the wildcard i got before riding it. Probably gonna do a quick write up, will send you what i write as well.

So far the proto is sick. I know i am supose to tell you all the bad points about it but i am struggling. The only things i can see is that there is a bit of fat that could be trimmed off it. The pivot above the bottom bracket seems pretty over built and the rear chain stay still looks over built to. When playing around with it, it also seems as if the frame bottoms out on the seat tube but i am sure you guys have already seen that. At first i didnt like the 1.5 steerer tube but after being able to put a flat bearing cup inside it i really like it now. The bearings give it no rise in the front end yet there is plenty of clearance for the fork to spin under the frame and plenty of clearance from the pedal forward and front tyre.

i really like the geometry of 5inch front and rear travel. The short rear end makes it so much better to flip, whip and 360. On 360s the rear end of my bike would get caught up on the lip when carving which no longer happens. on backflips the long chain stays created a heavy rear end which you could feel upside down. it felt as if the rotation was being pulled around from the rear end, like a bottle quater filled with water, the wildcard feels like flipping a hardtail, very controlled. tail whips are also easier purly because it is so lite.

First jumping on the bike i noticed it pedalled really well. there is little to no bob in the susspension whilest pedaling. but as soon as you jump or hit a bump you can feel the susspension work. it is really cool. the first day riding it i felt comfortable on it within a few minutes and within a few hours it was like i had been riding it for months. suites my style of riding really well.

When actually looking at the design of the bike it does look really good, one of my favourite parts is the rocker plate design.

i have only done a bit of riding on the 6.5 inch rear end travel. Hopefully tomorrow i will do some more riding on the longer travel because i was unsure on the geometry so will get back to you on that.

So far i am very excited about it and will try and find something not to like about it.

Thanks Guys,
Chris Soininen"

He does mention there might be a fit issue with the seattube/seatstay yoke which I don't think Keith had any issues on his. We'll make sure to increase the tolerance if there is a problem which should be really easy to do.


Keith shouldn't give me pics he doesn't want showing up on the internet... he's not as angry as he looks in the pic... hahaha