Metal Guru is our flagship high performance mountain bike. It balances comfort on long epic rides with the agility needed to float over aggressive terrain and all the transitions in between. We build it with hand-selected, triple-butted, premium steel tubing for a silky, smooth ride. By designing Metal Guru around this hand-selected tubing and our race geometry, we've made a bike that truly wants to fly.
Hand-selected premium steel tube set.
Available with disc or linear pull brake mounts.
Proprietary cable routing keeps housing from kinking.
All tubes sealed to keep out water, seat tube drain hole.
Submitted by
korbs
a Cross Country Rider
from philadelphia
Date Reviewed: May 18, 2010
Strengths: Light solid frame. Spectacular geometry. Climbs well and decends like a monster. Great control and handling. bottle opener.
Weaknesses: mine does not have disc mounts...
Bottom Line:
I have always wanted to own a mountain bike like this. Carls bikes all ride like a dream. A friend has an electric warrior and that thing is tight. Vicious' speed and controllability are impeccable. The metal guru is comfortable on long rides and handles rough terrain so well. Ive always admired Carl and his bicycle creations. Hand built cycles are where its at. You will pay a little more but the quality is worth every penny.
Similar Products Used: surly instigator, soul cycles dillinger, jamis
Bike Setup: marzocchi z-2 xfly. King hs, king hubs on mavic. LUST ingitors. Xtr derailleurs, shimano barcon thumb shifters w. paul thumbies, paul motolite brakes. raceface cranks. salsa stem. fsa carbon risers. wtb silverado on a thomson post.
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Submitted by
erringtonnc
a Cross Country Rider
from Connecticut
Date Reviewed: March 31, 2009
Strengths: Great steel hardtail. Geometry seems spot on for me. It excels at climbing and descends well too. Very fast, stable and quiet. Absorbs the trail. I can not say enough about how good this bike is. It just excels at everything.
Weaknesses: None. Price is high but in this case you get what you pay for.
Bottom Line:
All bikes\ frames in this price range should be very good. This is and then some. As for bling factor, cool factor or whatever you want to call it. This has it, a ton of it.
Weaknesses: Price- more specifically the fact that I can't afford other Vicious frames at the moment.
Bottom Line:
Great frame/build that is faster than I will ever be. It is light for climbing yet very stable and controlable on the descents. This bike tears up twisty technical single track like there is no tomorrow. The ride characteristics of steel can't be beat and this frame will not disappoint. I have raced/ridden it for 4 years and have not had any problems. The paint options are endless and I have had no problems with poor paint quality. Also has a bottle opener.
Strengths: light, nimble, better built than my volkswagen. also faster than my volkswagen. no other frame touches this one for q factor. bottle opener. I get email from the guy who welded my bike.
Weaknesses: i can't find any "real" weaknesses. $1000 is a lot for a hardtail frame, but it in this case its worth every penny. There are no disc mounts, but disc brakes on a bike like this our unnecessary anyway, not putting them on lets Carl not have to use heavy duty non drive seat and chain stays to take the force of the disc brake, therefore keeping the frame as light as it can possibly be.
Bottom Line:
this bike is very fast. it may even be able to beat the general lee in an overland race. its definatly pricy, but its worth the money, dare I say its a good deal. It will last forever. You can drop over a grand on many botique frames and not get something as well thought out as the Metal Guru. Steel is great because its so strong. You don't need to use a lot of steel to make very strong things. My 19 inch frame weighed in at 3.1 pounds. that's a little more than say, a Sub 22, but the steel bike will take much more of a beating and both frames cost the same, and can be built up to whiegh very close as complete bikes. if you're a weight weeny just go get some carbon piece of crap trek and ride that till you seperate a the head tube pretending to be lance armstrong in that postal service comercial. otherwise ride a bike that can open beer. have a nice day.
Similar Products Used: last bike was a high end steel Kona. ridden all sorts of things.
Bike Setup: 9.0sl stuff , raceface stuff, thomson stuff, chris king stuff. you get the idea.
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Submitted by
David DeMatteis
a Cross Country Rider
from Montclair, NJ
Date Reviewed: March 21, 2001
Strengths: Rocket in singletrack, climbs over everything, looks like a bike, light, steel, you can open your beer.
Bottom Line:
I finally decided to go all out and build my dream bike. What a frame to build it on. Carl puts something in these frames that makes them five times faster than any other bike around. I was immediately comfortable on this bike, there was about a five minute adjustment period. By the end of the first ride I felt like this had been my main rig for the last 3 years. If you don't believe me go up to New Paltz and let Carl take you out on a demo ride. He is about five min. from some of the most grueling, technical, and scenic singletrack on the east coast. If you love steel, you need this frame!
Similar Products Used: voodoo tange bizango, stowe custom steel frame
Bike Setup: white bros xc-4 fork, xtr rear, lx front, xtr v-brakes, sram rocket shorty shifters, 517 cd rims w/ sram hubs thompson stem and post, easton monkey lite riser, king hs, salsa flip offs, wtb velociraptor rubber, titec bezerker saddle, cooks f cranks w/rf rings and race face bb.
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Submitted by
Ed
a Cross Country Rider
from Philadelphia, Pa.
Date Reviewed: December 18, 2000
Strengths: This bike climbs extremely well and absorbs the rough stuff better than anyone would believe. It is also a very well balanced frame which became evident the first time I rode it. This frame is smooth as butter and very light!
Weaknesses: Mine came without the bottle opener :(
Bottom Line:
I basically replaced an old Diamondback chromo. frame with this high end steel frame. I was actually thinking of a dual suspension frame when the guys at Guy's showed me the Metal Guru. Everything transferred over without a hitch and man am I happy. This is one SWEET ride. I don't know what Carl "Snarl" Schlemowitz has up his sleeve but whatever it is he shouldn't change it. Bottom line...I have lost my desire for a full suspension bike. Buy this frame if you like Steel and want a fast, smooth, hardtail that can hold its own with frames twice its price.
Strengths: AWSOME very light strong sweet paint jobs. very smooth and very stiff carves single track perfectly awsome!!!
Weaknesses: are u kidding????
Bottom Line:
This is the sweetest bike I have ever ridden and it comes with a sweet paint job and a bottle opener. THis bike is awsome and is perfect for technical riding as well as fire roading. Works very well for trials and steep technical tight down hill and uphill.
Call carl up and buy one of these NOW!!! also ask about the 29 INCH TANDEM!!!
Strengths: Steel is real!!! Awsome ride, flexs in all the right places. super smooth on singletrack.
Weaknesses: Some may say price, yes you can get a whole bike for the price of the frame but if you want the best you ride a GURU if you want to settle for less ride your gay ass GT.
Bottom Line:
This bike foams at the mouth for singletrack. I have road it on some sick Virginia Blue Ridge Mountain singetrack, and just recently had it on the Jim Thorpe PA single track. This bike is crazy, just point and go. If you ride on the EAST Coast where the real trails are this bike is for you, and If you ride those scenic flat trails without rocks and roots on the worst coast, I mean west coast then this is still the bike for you but you should be a man and take a trip to the EAST Coast and meet the BEASTS of the EAST.
If you want a sweet ride nothing beats EAST Coast steal. Get a Guru
Strengths: This bike REALLY goes. It is as easy to RIDE as a POINT and SHOOT Camera.... It makes you want to go FAST in the TWISTY, WINDY TURNS, UP the SHORT STEEP climbs or DOWN the Technical Sections of ANY trails. It is a GREAT overall Bike with many positive characters. It can be ridden by the RACER or the rider looking for a HIGH QUALITY, VERY RESPONSIVE and UNIQUE BIKE!!! Ps. The word custom is very appropriate here. Carl can build it anyway you want it!! The FIT and FINISH are GREAT with Custom Paints available..For a $$ that is!! PS. The Bottle opener option is a MUST!!!!!!
Weaknesses: Custom Steel is a bit pricy but...THIS one is WELL worth Every Penny spent!!!!
Bottom Line:
I truly LOVE this bike, so much so, CARL is building me a ROAD bike to MATCH..... I would put this against any bike in a head to head test ride.... Do yourself a favor....GO test ride one....In the Philly Area, go to GUY'S Bicycles in FEASTERVILLE.....
Check out the innovative 29 inch Wheel VICIOUS coming to a STORE near YOU!!!
Strengths: Hand Built, did I mention Hand Built. Overall: Very nible & comfortable. Single track: The twistier & narrower the better. Decents: Scary Fast but always in control. Climbs: Very precise and tracks well. Materials: Ritchey WCS tubes (#1 steel). Bonus: Ti Bottle opener option.
Weaknesses: Handbuilt Frames will cost you more.
Bottom Line:
Handbuilt Frames and wheels are the most important places to spend your money. Do yourself a favor and consider a Vicious and get a good set a wheels.
Strengths: Frame details and craftsmanship are the bomb- Tube set is exotic- try to find anyone else using vitus cromo. Rides like titanium
Weaknesses: paint chips a bit too easy.
Bottom Line:
Wow, what a sweet machine; The top tube slopes a bit making at handle like a slot car; frame is so responsive without making your teeth rattle out. If you are looking a very nice custom frame- look up Kark at Vicious Cycles in New Paltz, NY.
Similar Products Used: GT LTS, Schwinn HOmegrown, Kona Stab, Manga POS,
Bike Setup: I built it up like a wet dream: XTR, XT kit, Manitou SX TI, Cane creek wheelset, Grip shift, control tech stem, club roost riser bar, SDG saddle and USE suspension seat post
