Strengths: This frame is gnarly. It is WELL built, the swing arm is massive and looks like it'll take anything oyu can throw at it. At first you might think your cranks migt hit it, but it doesn't! It clears the swingarm by like a inch or so! The rear shock that came on mine (Vanilla RC) Is excellent! The swingarm is beefy! Humongous! Yet the frame is still very light for a freeride frame! I love the frame, I got it in a smaller size then I wanted it, but I don't mind! Just the ride of the bike is the real highlight, I just do anything on this bike! Its wicked awesome. It gets 6 Inches of Travel.
Weaknesses: Theres no rear disc brake ports, but there are a few screw holes which may be for a possible "specially" fabricated mount. The size I got is small, so I can't fit a water bottle in it (Who cares any ways? Its called a back pack!) The cable routing is OK. Theres nothing great about it, but it doesn't do anything wrong.
Bottom Line:
This is a killer frame for the price I got it for! I couldn'tve gotten a better frame. I am 100% satisfied with this frame. Its light enough to go up the hills, Tough enough to dish out the gnarliest downhill. Just look at the swingarm, and you can tell its a freerider! 6 Inches of travel!!!!! Thats awesome! This frame rules! The weasel is awesome!
Similar Products Used: Giant Warp DS1 2002. K2 Launch 4.0. Specialized Big Hit. Jamis Dakar Sport
Bike Setup: Rock Shock Judy XC front fork, Easton Monkey Handlebars, Wayless DH CNC stem, Deore Mechanical front brake, Sun Ringle Rhyno Lite front rim with XT hub. Cane Creek C2 head set. Mavic X138 Rear Rim with Shimano XT rear Hub. WTB Mutano Raptor Tires. Dia Compe rear brake. Titec Seat post. Race Face Turbine LP cranks with Race Face rings, LX/XT drivetrain..
Strengths: Solid Foes design, no flex, no play, no nothing funny. 6" of very active travel.
Weaknesses: Front derailleur is a pain in the arse to set up. Also, if you use the front derailleur, your chain line is pretty bad while using the large rear cogs. As a little trick, you can space your bottom bracket spindle over by using some 1" headset spacers between your BB bearings and drive side cup. It made my chainline a little better. Top tube is crazy short, I bang my knees on the fork top crown.
Bottom Line:
As I only like abusive trails, I use this bike for the rides that have long hard climbs followed by short fun DH. It is an excellent play bike, as I also use it on campus assault and at the BMX track. Let's face it, Foes makes rock solid handcrafted goodies that leave Taiwanese manufacturers in the dust. If Foes made a weasel with a slightly longer top tube (yes I realize they would sacrifice some angles and maybe some travel,) I would buy one again. If you set up a weasel with a 20mm front axle, it would be a bad ass rig. By the way, with all heavy duty componentry, it's 39.5 lbs in case you give a damn.
Strengths: Strong, Stiff, Good travel, Very little pedaling feedback, Longer wheel base for stability which actuially aids in going uphill as well as down.
Weaknesses: Possibly the weight, but it isn't meant to be light. The fact that it is not in production anymore.
Bottom Line:
Awesome bike. Made for freeride but I can keep up with my cross country friends on all the uphills and usually beat most of them. It weighs in at 32 pounds but pedals several pounds lighter. And of course going down hill is great. When you get on it you can almost here the motor start.
Bike Setup: Kore stem, carbon bar, Chris King headset, Fox 125r fork, avid front & rear disc, XTR drive train cept for crank which is Race face isis, mavic 519 on XT hubs, Fox vanilla RC rear shock, soon to be romic hopefully. Front WTB Weirwolf, rear panaracer fire xc.
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
Dano
a Cross Country Rider
from asheville nc "From Canada"
Date Reviewed: July 14, 2001
Strengths: sweet ride & a whole lotta bike!!! I was impressed with the plush travel after i dialed the shock correctly, lucked out when I purchased the bike- it came with a 500lbs/in2 coil. 16" frame comes with a smaller coil need to up grade if you wiegh 175+(but you already know that!!) smooth welds. decals look sweet.frame is very stiff, zero flex. It climbs surprisingly well. I suppose it is due to the high pivot, similar to the old proflex's. It flies down hill, smooth as butter. Gives me a false sense of security....
Weaknesses: Little stupid things.very disappointed with the cable routing, my hydraulic lines wore the paint off the frame first ride. type-E front derailer is a b*tch to set up. 3month warranty Oh ya!!!, its fat like a pig!!!!
Bottom Line:
great bike for all around riding. a little heavy on the climb, the pain is worth it for the downhill. I have wrecked two cross country suspension frames in the last two years pretending they were downhill bikes. this bike is going to last a long while! over all very pleased .
Strengths: Simple, low maintenance, cheap, stiff, not many on the Shore,
Weaknesses: simple, creaky, Vanilla R (not RC), 90 DAY WARRANTY
Bottom Line:
Its been good so far but only time will tell how strong it is. The warranty is already up so I'm a little worried about that but the shop told me Foes would help me out if it broke. It handles well, very similar to a Bullit. The fork is great too but, like the frame, if something goes wrong it is tough to find parts in stock. You also have to make your own fork guards for the F1. It would be better with a Vanilla RC.
Submitted by
Damien
a Weekend Warrior
from Seattle, WA, USA
Date Reviewed: November 17, 2000
Strengths: beefy frame nice gussets good overall workmanship
Weaknesses: no replaceable derailleur hanger on older swingarms no disc tabs on older swingarms new swingarms difficult to find...haven't found one yet.
Bottom Line:
This bike is probably way more bike than I'll ever need. Roots and big rocks get sucked up well and one hardly notices them. This bike also laughs at 2-3 ft. drops and beckons for more stupidity. Frame is gusseted from here to there meaning I'll likely break in two before the bike does.
I've found that the relatively high pivot on the swingarm works well to reduce pedal bob and I've not noticed it at all when riding. I've found that the thing climbs surprisingly well considering everything and the suspension does its job in keeping the rear wheel glued to the dirt when doing so.
My only complaint so far is that on the older swingarms, the relatively weak aluminum derailleur hanger is not replaceable and I ripped mine to shreds when JRA - stick got eaten by derailleur. The steel bolt on my XTR derailleur was much stronger than the hanger so it ripped right through it. Luckily my LBS was able to graft on a replaceable hanger - still looking for newer swingarm though, preferably one with disc mounts.
In short, its an awesome do anything anytime bike that rips up fast singletrack and any kind of free riding.
Similar Products Used: old school Trek FS dinosaurs, steel hardtails
Bike Setup: Marzocchi Z1 Alloy, Truvativ cranks, XT/XTR, Fox Vanilla RX, Gripshifts, Titec, Time ATACs
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
James Bond
a Cross Country Rider
from New Zealand
Date Reviewed: August 28, 2000
Strengths: Its a Weasel 2, so awesome build quality Very plush travel Can still stuff a hardtail Totally maintenance free strong bike Swing arm lets you remove chain without breaking to clean Fox Vanilla shock... say no more
Weaknesses: Maybe a little heavy.
Bottom Line:
After 3 hours plus, your body feels fine, no sore back at all. Best run with a bomber up front and a 100 to 110mm stem. This bike totally kills singltrack!!! it raelly motors and nothing gets in its way. Totally maintenance free. Wouldn't recommend it for high level XC racing, but it is still good for local stuff, maybe a little heavy. And not an extreme DH bike either.
Strengths: Very plush travel with fox shock, easy maintainable bushings etc. Exceptional build quality, well thought out design(loads of standover height)Nothing can go wrong!!
Weaknesses: Unless it snaps in two... Doh!
Bottom Line:
I loved it right up until the day the top and down tube snapped in two, but thats aluminium for you. awesome downhill, jumped good, pretty hard to manual because it's so plush. I rode this bike everywhere and it only complained once (see above).A true freeride bike. I'm off down the shops to buy an RM6.
Similar Products Used: Hardtails before, wouldn't go back now!!
Bike Setup: Stratos MX6, Hope brakes/hubs on mavic, pro-taper blah blah blah.
Overall Rating:
Submitted by
Jimbo
a downhiller
from Massachusetts, USA
Date Reviewed: December 22, 1998
Bottom Line:
FOES Slammer!!! I know this is supposed to be reviews for the weasel, but I got a slammer and it ROCKS!!! Keeping a frame design simple is the way to go. My Foes is way stiffer and more durable than my friends M1, and about $550 cheaper, and it does come with chain guides. Can't say enough good things about this bike. The steeper and gnarlier things get, the faster it wants to go. Parts on it include a Boxxer. Have had frame and fork since June. For all you who knock the Boxxer, try changing your oil once in a while. You'll be amazed at the results.
Submitted by
SIMON DUBÉ
a racer
from CHICOUTIMI,QUÉBEC
Date Reviewed: December 13, 1998
Bottom Line:
THE FOES F-1 IS THE BEST FORK THAT I EVER RIDE. THE TRAVEL IS SO SMOOTH AND PLUSH. I DO DOWNHILL RACE SINCE 1994 AND BY THE WAY, F-1 IS NOT SIMPLY A DOWNHILL FORK, IS THE BEST DOWHILL FORK.
I got the 98 Weasle 2. It's got bigger tubes, a new swingarm design, and the Fox Vanilla Rx. In a word...awesome. A big step up from last year's model. The new swing arm is mega rigid and the fatter tubes provide more structural rigidity. No more flex! I run a UD150 on the front, a good match with the coil shock rear. Total weight is exactly 35 lbs. Light for a full-on downhiller. Would I recommend the Weasle? Definity. It has the travel. It's bombproof. And it's made in the USA!
Submitted by
Stuart Smith
a downhiller
from Aliso Viejo Ca
Date Reviewed: August 19, 1998
Bottom Line:
Lots of travel at a reasonable price. I have 97 it came with the bushing kit which I had to replace with the bearing kit. I went to there shop and everyone was very nice. They got me going again the day before a race. I race expert downhill and the frame performs very well. It tends to extend the rear suspension durring hard braking but this can be over come by keeping your weight back. Over all this frame handels great in the tight stuff as well as at high speed.
Submitted by
Ian
a cross-country rider
from Philadelphia, PA
Date Reviewed: November 29, 1997
Bottom Line:
I purchased the frame used (although barely) and set it up with parts off of my old XC bike plus a used Z1. I recently built up new wheel using old Mavic Oxygens, Ringle D-hub, and a '95 XTR rear hub and have notice a bit of improvement in handling. The bike is PLUSH! It actually climbs well as long as you stay in the saddle. And it decends like nothing short of a M1 or a Straight 6. I love the bike because it's so comfortable and it's totally different from my HT (see Independant Fab. review) Components: Z1 fork, Ringle HS, Bont. 150 bars, XT RF+ shifters, no-name stem (for now...), '95 XTR cranks (24,36,48), Syncros 425mm seatpost (it's a 14 frame and I'm 5'10), Flite, Conti tires, Magura brakes
I love my Weasel. It´s the best bike on earth. This year was my first Downhill-Racing Season without any technical problem´s (like Super V or LTS) Thank´s to FAB FOES for this bike !!
Submitted by
Geoff Nicholls
a downhiller
from Wellington, New Zealand
Date Reviewed: November 8, 1997
Bottom Line:
Brilliant frame! (I tried to post the F1 fork review but the system here turned me down.) I have a Foes F1 with the long travel kit (6 inches) and the ride is very plush with no noticeable flex. The adjustable rebound damping is a real bonus, but more for learning what type of damping is required. My favourite trails have a lot of sharp impacts and the rebound damping is backed right off, to avoid the fork packing down. The heavier rebound damping is good for larger low-fork-compression-speed trails, which I don't ride too often. Steering is as-sharp-as. The Weasel has 6 inches of travel from a Fox Vanilla Rx on the back and a triple chain ring on the front. No trouble with trail-riding, it flies over terrain in the same way that hardtails don't. It certainly doesn't climb steep-steep-steep smooth trail like a hardtail does, but that's not what I'm there for, after all.The high bottom bracket height seems like a problem when you first get on it but it's fine except for dead-stop trials-type riding. Any type of technical riding where you have even a little bit of momentum becomes dead easy as it's pretty much a motocross bike with pedals, so you just pop the front wheel up with a light tug on the bars and glide/wheelstand/jump right over it.Awesome bike, and that's not a word I use lightly. Everybody needs one in their garage!
