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Submitted by
JohnM
a Weekend Warrior
from Boston North Shore
Date Reviewed: December 6, 1999 | | Favorite Trail: |
Harold Parker & Lynwoods | | Duration Product Used: |
less than 1 month | | Strengths: |
This bike handles best (once it is broken in)on hilly trails. Ascends very well and the rear actually stays ON the trail while turning on descents! | | Weaknesses: |
Move the cable braze ons for better cable angle.
Rear Mud Collection Problem...Way too much collects behind the seat tube on the Chain Stays...drill out where the U is.
If you prefer long, flat,fire road death marches, then buy a hard tail ;-) | | Similar Products Used: |
Turner Stinger, Aeon Isis. Thought about a Lefty Raven, briefly. Truth is the best in comparison.
Stinger is a very slight shade smoother, but it bounces you off the rear on steep descents...too light back there.
Aeon does not have the handling that either bike has. | | Bike Setup: |
RaceFace/XTR/Avid/Bomberlight/Vanilla-R/AirBomb | | Bottom Line: | I dont want the cushiest ride on the block. I wanted the best performance FS and I found it. This bike took exactly the factory suggested 8 hrs to break in. The first 4 rides were pretty stiff. But now all good. I have yet to experience any of the bushing squeek that the others gag about.
Thank You Airbomb.com ! | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Derek Dailey
a Cross-Country Rider
from Indianapolis, IN
Date Reviewed: October 31, 1999 | | Favorite Trail: |
any single track | | Duration Product Used: |
3 months | | Strengths: |
Flawless construction, clinbs like a mountain goat on steroids, bombs downhill faster than a cruise missle, Undestructable paint (shot-peened and anodized), and no one else you know has one! | | Weaknesses: |
Whatever!
OK, maybe price. | | Similar Products Used: |
GT xcr1000,Jamis Dakar Team,Santa Cruz Heckler | | Bike Setup: |
Ellsworth Truth, White Bros. SC92-UL, Race Face Cranks, XTR Shifting, Avid Ultimate L levers, Arch Supreme brakes, Ringle Zooka Stem, Easton CT2 bars, Ringle Slamma Jamma Headset, Thompson seat post. Weight 24.1 lbs | | Bottom Line: | This bike is the best mountain bike ever created. It climbs better than any other bike I have ever ridden. It corners like it is on rails. And it desends like no other XC FS bike on the market. This bike WILL make you ride faster, further, and you will have more fun than ever. Believe the hype. The bike is very forgiving, it has saved my butt many times. If you want the best on the market, then this is the bike for you. I give this bike 5+ chillies. | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Max
a Cross-Country Rider
from Wyomissing, PA
Date Reviewed: July 14, 1999 | | Favorite Trail: |
French Creek | | Duration Product Used: |
6 months | | Strengths: |
In a nutshell, it's light,easy to maintain,laterally and torsionally rigid,compliant without noticable biopacing, and high quality workmanship throughout. I bought my bike at JB mountainbikes (www.JBmountainbikes.com). After test riding his demo I immediately knew my search was over. JB allowed me to borrow various shock/fork and stem/bar combinations until I found what worked for me the best. Like most bikes, set-up is critical to get the most out of the design. With some shock/fork combinations I wasn't satisfied at all. Ask your dealer to supply the various shocks available so you can make a broad based decision. Previous full suspension bikes include a ProFlex 756,Kestral Rubicon, and Giant ATX 990. The ProFlex was a great climber, the ATX was very solid and firm, the Rubicon was very plush, and the Ellsworth is all of the above and light as well. The Truth is manueverable, climbs like a goat, and inspires confidence in rocky, rooty and gnarly single track. I have torture tested my bike for the past 6 months and the only problem I had was a squeak in the main pivot following a 2 hour ride in a torential thunderstorm. This was fixed with a little grease and 30 minutes of time. | | Weaknesses: |
My only complaint involves the cable routing for rear V-brakes. The frame mount for the rear brake housing is located on the right side thus requiring the use of a 120-150 degree bend leading into the rear V-brake. This requires you to set up the spring tension on the rear brake pivots asymmetrically for optimum trouble free operation since the cable housing itself tends to apply some lateral force to the brake pivot affecting the ability to return to center when releasing the brakes. Once this is set up properly there is no problem whatsoever. | | Similar Products Used: |
Pro-Flex 756, Giant ATX 990, Kestral Rubicon. | | Bike Setup: |
Set up includes: Cane Creek AD10 rear shock(excellent fell and very adjustable),White Bros. SC 90 coil spring fork,Machine tech hubs, Ti spokes, Mavic 517 rims,XTR 9 speed shifting, XTR V-brakes, Easton carbon low rise bars, Race Face stem, crankset, seat post and BB. | | Bottom Line: | This bike is a solid 5 stars. Its light, quick, manueverable, excellent climber, plush and yet solid. The best overall performer I've ridden. | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Matt
a Weekend Warrior
from Gilroy, CA
Date Reviewed: June 19, 1999 | | Duration Product Used: |
tested or demo'ed only | | Strengths: |
Well, its smooth | | Weaknesses: |
As an engineer, the frame tends to have a weakness near the main elbow joint when i computer modeled it and simulated it. | | Similar Products Used: |
Trek Y-550 | | Bike Setup: |
stock | | Bottom Line: | Its so-so, too expensive for what you get, not good for hard-core shredding | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Phat-Daddy
a Cross-Country Rider
from Boston
Date Reviewed: May 26, 1999 | | Favorite Trail: |
Bow Ridge/Lynn Woods | | Duration Product Used: |
tested or demo'ed only | | Bottom Line: | I currently own a TREK Y....Y the F**K did I buy that piece 'o crap? Anyway, I have researched and road the hell out of every dually out there. The Ellsworth Truth is the best, no really, it's the BEST. I'm currently having one built and I'll be back to rave some more about it when I have a chance to bond with my new steed. I give 5 chilis 'cause this bike gives me a stiffie. | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Bruce Jacobs
a Cross-Country Rider
from Boonton, NJ
Date Reviewed: April 4, 1999 | | Favorite Trail: |
Mahlon Dickerson | | Duration Product Used: |
1 Year | | Strengths: |
Absolutely the safest Sfooted bike you can ride. Climbs like a goat. Easy to maintain. | | Weaknesses: |
None | | Similar Products Used: |
Other full suspension, all were good, this was better. | | Bike Setup: |
All XTR, X-Vert, Stratos Expert, Crossland wheels, and very fat tires | | Bottom Line: | My wife and I bought the frames from Dreanride in Moab. We both had been riding top of the line HTs. They stay on the bike rack. The bike is like driving a great Swiss watch. It does everything that was promised and more. My wife feels absolutely safe on the bike. We ride some nasty stuff. You get in a downhill position and trust the bike. It gets you there. In Moab we climbed sand hills. We are finesse riders - old and slow, but we can ride anything on the Ells and enjoy every minute of it. Both bikes are under 25 lbs even running 2.25 tires | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
jim hardy
a racer
from bayshore ny
Date Reviewed: September 25, 1998 | | Bottom Line: |
ellsworth bicycles you can't really figure out whats better the bike or the people behind the bike, Tony & Teres Ellsworth. Great Performance and Great service
Going up and going down Ellsworths are the Best!!!!!! This bike is super light
weight.
very very very very killer!!!!!! | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Steve
a
from Croton-on-Hudson,N.Y.
Date Reviewed: September 9, 1998 | | Bottom Line: |
This is the best xc fsb around period! This is my 4th bike in 6 years and probably my last xc bike. It climbs, it decends, it halls ass in the big ring.Its light as hell.Its cheap to buy considering what you get. Its forgiving as hell also. Ellsworth, as a company, rocks, you call them, they send you what you need pronto.When I broke my Kona it took months to get them to do a crash repacement. You can take the TRUTH apart with practaclly one allen wrench! | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
matt post
a cross-country rider
from ramona california
Date Reviewed: August 30, 1998 | | Bottom Line: |
i like your bikes, i think they are the best out there. they look like they work really well, i like the frame style. if i had the money, i would buy one, but i'm a little short on cash flow. tony see you at church on sunday. matt post
ramona 1st ward | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Tim Monk
a cross-country rider
from Bellevue,Washington,USA
Date Reviewed: August 23, 1998 | | Bottom Line: |
I rode the demo down at my LBS and fell in love,the bike is soooo sweet and I can not make it bob in the granny while sitting.I'm thinking about saving up to get one but It will be only a few months I hope!I can't even rate this bike the way I want to!
My rating Is 10 flaming chilis | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Tim Gill`
a racer
from San Diego, CA USA
Date Reviewed: July 21, 1998 | | Bottom Line: |
I own and sell Ellsworth Truth Bikes out of my shop Bike Empire in Poway, CA.These bikes are HOT! First of all, the frame pictured here is two years old. Everything looks much better now. The bikes are light, have plenty of travel, and just plain out-perform everything out there. For info on the frames call me at 800-896-4913 or e-mail me at bikeempire@aol.com. You can also go to our website at bikeempire.com and link to Ellsworth's site. | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Truth Rider
a cross-country rider
from Hawaii
Date Reviewed: June 24, 1998 | | Bottom Line: |
Jason what do you care how much someone spends on a well designed comfortable bike. There are $2000 Ti hardtails frames that are works of art, but
they don't have nearly the comfort of a full suspension bike.
You may be a hot rider riding a $l000 bike so what. You obviously haven't tried riding the bike or can't afford one.
It's all relevant on what you spend on a sport or pasttime, but I rather laugh at all the jokers spending all their dough on drugs.
By the way I'm getting tired of reading bogus reviews at this site. Just review the
product and give it a honest rating so consumers will benefit from the feedback.
The Ellsworth Truth is worth the money if you can afford one and for those who can't , have fun riding on what you got. | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Paco
a cross-country rider
from San Diego, CA
Date Reviewed: May 27, 1998 | | Bottom Line: |
Since I first tried an Ellsworth I knew that was the Bike I wanted to buy. Thanks to Tim at Bike Empire in Poway for the great setup and price. You are the best. I have beeen riding it since October 1997, and it is even better than what I had ever expected. Even getting better after each ride. | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
fuzzy
a racer
from pennsylvania
Date Reviewed: February 23, 1998 | | Bottom Line: |
i have about 100 miles on my truth and i think i can start to fairly evaluate it. i've ridden a ti ht for the last year but the ellsworth is the fifth fs bike i've owned. for my style of riding, this bike performs very well. it has a quality that i find too rarely in products; it begs to be pushed to the limit. i find when i'm riding it that the harder i ride it the better it performs. i know my style of riding has changed from racing a ht but it translated quickly to the ellsworth. hammering the hills is easier with not a trace of flex from the frame. it is a very efficient climber. when there is gnarly shit like roots on the climb, the bike eases over them without interrupting your cadence. in tight singletrack it can be flicked around as quickly as my litespeed. on xc type dh it is more stable than most fs bikes i've ridden. in my opinion it is not best suited for sit-on-the-saddle and don't get up riding (get a urt) but if you like to wail thru the woods and if you can only afford one bike to do it all, i think this is worth a test ride. i can see this bike being my choice for all but the smoothest races--it's simply faster than a ht when the going gets rough.my setup--i have the canecreek ad10 shock at 215 psi ( i weigh 195 and this is a little higher than recommended pressure), atombomb fork, mostly xtr drivetrain and brakes (raceface cranks, of course) synchros seatpost and bb and a gorgeous set of bsb built king/517 wheels. the total weight is pushing 26lbs for a large frame, but the light wheels make the bike feel very responsive. i think another pound could be shaved on fork, brakes and shifters but i don't care--this works for me. btw the frame +cancreek was 5.0 lbs.fuzzworth | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Leonard
a cross-country rider
from Austin
Date Reviewed: December 17, 1997 | | Bottom Line: |
These bikes are great! They are the best FS XC design yet, and as the
other reviewers have said, they deliver all of the advantages of full
suspension without all of the drawbacks. Excellent quality, beautiful
anodized finish(spend the extra money, you wont be sorry), and a ride
that always leaves you wanting more. More ride time, that is. | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Brian
a cross-country rider
from New York
Date Reviewed: November 24, 1997 | | Bottom Line: |
Got my frame this last June and built it up nicely. This is the best bike i've ever ridden in my life. I tried some other full suspension bikes, over the last couple of years, but wanted to wait until you weren't making a sacrifice in some area for good performance in another. Let me tell you now that this bike does it ALL!! It's light, laterally stiff, and plush. This baby won't biopace, and climbs like a cat. The pivots are top notch and I haven't even thought about maintenance yet. This is a great all-around bike for those who don't do XC or downhilling exclusively, but want a bike that's capable in all types of riding. Even my wallet doesn't regret this one... | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
tony
a
from weekend warrior
Date Reviewed: November 18, 1997 | | Bottom Line: |
I just bought the '97 Ellsworth Truth frame with the red paint. It is the best bike I have ever ridden. I tried every single full suspension bike before buying the Ellsworth and Im glad I spent a little extra. It really performs like a hard tail and maintains its plush ride under heavy terrain. My bike fully decked out weighs about 24.8 lbs and is stiff. The customer service from Tony Ellsworth is awesome. If you want the best bike for the 2500 range seriously test ride the Ellsworth!!! | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Dave W.
a weekend warrior
from
Date Reviewed: October 31, 1997 | | Bottom Line: |
I'd just like to say that I dont know what that last poster is talking about as I've had compact drive on my Truth for the last year!?! LX cranks, Real 42&32 rings, Topline 20t granny. | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Brent Peffer
a weekend warrior
from Austin, Texas
Date Reviewed: October 31, 1997 | | Bottom Line: |
Excellent bike. Customer service outstanding. Beware that you cannot use a compact drive on the Truth Frame due to clearance factors of chainstay. Bike is a good cross country bike and very good decending. Rode the bike in Crested Butte, Fruita and Moab and could not find any condition where the frame could be faulted. | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Ryun Noble
a cross-country rider
from Provo, Utah
Date Reviewed: October 20, 1997 | | Bottom Line: |
I just returned from hammering this bike down in Moab, Utah at the Fat Tire Festival. I ride very hard and am very tough on equipment. I was hesitant at first on the Truth because of the lack of weight. As miles progressed on the Porcupine Rim trail the agile tail section proved to be an apt climber, passing by many whom were walking thier steeds. After cresting the incredible overlook, this lightweight work of art became a rocket locked to my feet! It was easier to look further down the trail because the bike was so predictably smooth even through the hellacious terrain under the tires. You hardly had to even think and the bike would be right there. We passed a group of Cannondale freerides on the trail. Back at the Festival one of them confronted me and said, 'That was the smoothest I have ever seen anyone piece together a section that gnarly!' This bike is one well-built machine. I rank it among the best bikes no matter the dollar amount! This bike just plain works!!! I wouldn't hesitate one bit to race this on any course over my hard tail! | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
dave wilhelmy
a weekend warrior
from san diego, ca
Date Reviewed: October 28, 1996 | | Bottom Line: |
Oops! Forgot to add that the rear triangle is stiff enough that rear braking is one-finger-good even with '94 LX cantis. | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Dave Wilhelmy
a weekend warrior
from San Diego, CA
Date Reviewed: October 28, 1996 | | Bottom Line: |
I love this bike. Just yesterday I rode it up a mountain in Big Bear that, on a different bike, almost did me in in a race this Summer. What a difference -- even with all that travel it's a great climber! I've had it for over 3 months so far with no frame-related problems. Mine's built up to just under 24 pounds with light (but not always the lightest) components. The bike's gonna get a little heavier soon: my leaky Englund fork air cartridges are going to be replaced with something more reliable, but that's another review... | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Hugh Tanner
a racer
from Kaysville, Utah
Date Reviewed: October 27, 1996 | | Bottom Line: |
The only word that comes to mind is smoooooth. This frame/bike eats up everything it encounters. I have raced AMP, Trek, and Titus and none of them compare to the TRUTH. Mated with a long travel front fork (3 Judy) this could very well be the ultimate XC full suspension race bike. It stays active when the going gets rough or when you really have to jam. Not to mention Ellsworth is an incredible company to work with, Tony and Therese treat their customers like family. They take the time to answer questions in a prompt and friendly manner. Maybe this is why I am planning on purchasing my second Truth. | | Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
JESE LARKIN
a downhiller
from FAIR HAVEN, VERMONT
Date Reviewed: August 20, 1996 | | Bottom Line: |
THIS BIKE PUT OUT ONE OF THE MOST AMAZING FULL SUSPENSION RIDES THAT I HAVE EVER
RODE. IF I HAD TO NAME A COUPLE OF OTHER BIKE THAT COMPARED TO THIS ONE,
IT WOULD BE WITH NAMES LIKE FOES, OUTLAND, AND GT. NO LIEING, THE THRUTH IS
AN AWSOME BIKE. IF I COULD CHANGE ONE THING ABOUT THE TRUTH, I WOULD BE ABLE
TO PUT A CUSTER OR A FOX 4R ON IT BECAUSE SOMETIMES FOUR INCHES ISN'T ENOUGH TO
TAKE THE ABUSE OF SOME DOWNHILL COARSES. | | Overall Rating: |
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