Built with the finest titanium available - 3/2.5 Vr seamless radial aerospace grade titanium that is machine butted, cold worked and stress relieved for increased rigidity and durability
Similar Products Used: I rode steel hardtails from Rocky Mountain (Altitude / Blizzard), and my Dean is based on Altitude geometry. Other ti hardtails were either too expensive (Moots, Seven) or cookie cutter (Litespeed) - but I didn't ride any of these. Didn't like Merlin's use of Headshock.
Bike Setup: XTR, Chris King (hubs, hset), Fox fork, Syncros, Titus and Race Face (bar, stem, pillar).
Strengths: Price, weight, durability, made in the U.S.A. Custom option, attention to detail from the Dean crew. You think where you want to go and the bike does it. Great for the tight twisty trails, awesome for ski resort racing with the long climbs. Surprisingly comfy on the descents.
Weaknesses: The wait! All the other posts are dead on. Waited 6 months enduring false delivery date promises. The Dean guys are nice enough, they're just overly optimistic on their delivery estimates. Decals are pretty flimsy. One guy here says it's too flexy. No problems for me, but I'm about 155 lbs...
Bottom Line:
Great bike for the money. Unfair advantage for the climbs, surprisingly cush on the descents. This bike is the perfect NORBA national series racer.
Similar Products Used: Intense Spyder, Titus Racer-X, Litespeed Ococee, Specialized Stumpjumper, Giant XTC.
Bike Setup: DEAN post, stem, bars. American Classic wheels, Rock Shox SID race, SRAM X.0 rear derr., XT front derr., SRAM 9 Gripshifts, XT cranks, Eggbeater pedals.
Strengths: excellent craftsmanship. rides great. beautiful frame for the $.
Weaknesses: none
Bottom Line:
loved it on the first ride. handles great. fast, responsive, light, nice flexi feel like a fs. well crafted - very pretty and the people at dean were great. they took alot of time talking to me about what i wanted. it took 3 months to get the frame but it was worth the wait. i i would buy from dean again without hesitation.
Bike Setup: magura martas, xtr crankset, thomson masterpiece seatpost, fsa os115 stem, easton ec90 flatbars, sram xo trigger shifters, rear deralliuer, selle italia slr saddle, custom wheelset with chris king hubs, kenda karma.blue groove tires.
Strengths: High quality welds, price, weight, titanium, custom, interchangable dropouts.
Weaknesses: A metal headbadge would be nice
Bottom Line:
This is a classy frame that packs a punch. Have ridden it for over a year now and am very impressed. The custom geometry has really helped make long climbs so much easier and has completely eliminated the back pain that I used to get on my last steed. On fast single track trails the bike is responsive and rigid. Overall I can recommend DEAN, their frames are considerably cheaper than the competition i.e. Litespeed, Moots and Merlin and in terms of build quality are as good as if not better. I think it would be very nice to see DEAN producing nice metal headbadges, it would give the frame a more "edel" finish.
Bike Setup: XT/XTR gears, Race Face Next crankset, Race Face Next handlebars, Roox stem, DT SWISS 240 wheelset, Avid Ti brakes. Marzocchi Marathon Forks, Chris King Headset. Gore cables all round.
Strengths: its great. its got that beautiful flexy feel only found in titanium, but not too flexy! REALLY REALLY light
Weaknesses: hmmm....cant think of one, maybe price?
Bottom Line:
DAMN! this is one suhWEET frame. i built it up at sum-20 pounds, which is light even by carbon fiber bike standards. its really flexy and i dont even need a rear shock cause it flexes so much. the best part is the service of dean: i got it in 3 weeks, even though they promised 4.
Bike Setup: Sram x.0/shimano xtr, fsa carbon crankset, ritchey wcs pro stem, dean ti handlebars, fsa carbon seatpost, magura marta sl disc brakes, selle italia slr tubular ti, cusotm built wheelset. total weight: 19.89 pounds
Strengths: I hear it's a good bike, wish I had one.
Weaknesses: I don't have my bike, and I ordered it 6 months ago.
Bottom Line:
These guys are nice enough, but always seem to bite off more than they can chew. Seriously, order yours 1 year out. I've been waiting 6 months with false estimates of delivery dates. It was originally 5 weeks! I was deployed in the desert hoping to come home to a nice new ride, but instead find out that they shelved it to work on other bikes. I broke my old bike finally in a race, and am in the middle of one of my best racing seasons without a ride, and these guys do not return calls. I have called everyday for a month straight, and still can't talk to anyone who will give me straight answers. What a waste of my time. Since I haven't even ridden it yet, I'll give it 4 flaming turds. Overall rating: One. You guys need to give your customers a chance...maybe when I get it I'll firewall the rating to make up for this low score on the X-lite...
Similar Products Used: Specialized SJ, KHS hardtail, Yeti ARC
Bike Setup: When/If I get it, SRAM X.0, Avid ti, American Classic 350s, Hutchison AL, Dean post, stem, handlebar, XTR front DR, XT int. cranks, WTB saddle, SID World Cup fork.
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
Erik Trogden
a Racer
from Vista, CA, USA
Date Reviewed: June 10, 2005
Strengths: Light, beautiful welds, affordable relative to other ti.
Weaknesses: Frame is as rigid as a wet noodle (non-carbon wraped version). Dean customer service is appauling. If you ever have a warranty problem, just throw the Dean in the garbage and go to Moots, Litespeed, Strong, whoever. You'll save yourself a lot of headaches. I wasted over 3 months with these guys!
Bottom Line:
I ordered a Scout frame in February, returned it immediately for bottom bracket problems, ordered a Colonel x-lite, waited 9 weeks (they promised 3-4), and got another frame I couldn't build due to BB problems. It is now mid-June, and I finally got my $$ back... most of it. This is the worst consumer experience I have had in my entire life. There is not enough room on this page to describe all of the lies and false promises these guys gave me. It is more pleasant to deal with insurance adjusters and corrupt third-world border officials than Dean. I bought a Litespeed and was on the road (trail) in a matter of days.
Strengths: The Lightest Ti Hardtail on the market (my 18" weighs 1.3 lb), CUSTOM FITTING MEANS THAT IT FITS LIKE A GLOVE, PERFECT WELDS, MUCH CHEAPER THAN RIVALS, HAND MADE.
Weaknesses: A NICE METAL HEAD BADGE WOULD BE NICE !! Long wait times
Bottom Line:
Went for custom after riding a YETI ARC for 2 years that was the wrong size. DEAN were the cheapest custom builders on the market undercutting LITESPEED and MOOTS by more than 700 $. John at DEAN was very helpful and offered me a custom build at no extra cost, he even threw in a post for free. Very nice chap indeed !!! I had to wait 7 weeks for the frame to arrive which was a couple of weeks longer than I had been quoted, but what the heck, it was well worth the wait. I ride marathons and therefore sensibly built the bike up to be quite light (20lbs with pedals) without going silly and sacrificing durability. The fact that it has been custom fitted makes it so comfortable to ride, it is really responsive on both fast and technical trails and goes exactly where I point it. The welds are spot on and are as good as those on my mates MOOTS Rigor Mootis. The difference is that I paid 700$ less than him and have a frame that is both custom and 0.5lbs lighter. My DEAN came fitted with MPD's or Multiple Personality Dropouts. If in future I decide that I want to convert to disc brakes, I will just have to order a new DISC dropout from DEAN with an integrated DISC tab. This is an ingeniuos device that DEAN has pioneered. Overall I am really happy with my Colonel X-Lite, being Ti means that it will outlast me and that little extra money that I layed out will be worth it. I recommend anyone on the market for a Ti hardtail to check DEAN out, they might not be as big in the Ti market as MOOTS or LITESPEED but they are much cheaper and in my opinion as good as if not better !!! Happy Riding
Bike Setup: 18" custom frame, Pace RC31´s, Next LP, Shimano XTR 8 speed all round, HÜGI 240's, Mavic 717's, DEAN Ultra Ti post, Race Face carbon riser, Chris King, Avid Ti's, Ti bolts all round. bike weighs 20 lb
