Submitted by
philb_bmc
a Weekend Warrior
from ACT, Australia Date Reviewed: September 22, 2008
Favorite Trail:
Stromlo, Majura
Duration Product Used:
3 months
Price Paid:
$2500.00
Purchased At:
Jenson
Strengths:
Built tough and reasonably light (reasonably). Very nice geometry and absolutely blows through the big, rocky rough stuff at speed. Confidence inspiring at speed. Not too bad pedaling up, the VPS gives it a *tonne* of traction in the really brutal technical climbing.
Weaknesses:
It's a little heavy (it's a strength and weakness), the top linkage that actuates the shock is a little bulky and over engineered. Other than that, none.
Similar Products Used:
Giant Yukon hardtail with 'Zocchi Bombers and a bunch of aftermarket gear.
I spent ages looking at what bike to buy, eventually I decided to build one. I looked at various frames such as the Dabomb Cheery Bomb, etc then saw that Jenson are offering the 2008 model of these frames cheap so after doing some research decided to bite the bullet and purchase it.
I'm 6'4 and weigh abt 110kgs (~215lbs), I prefer going down fast than going up, but seem to speed a hell of a lot of time going up anyway :).
Three months on, a couple of hundred hard k's of single track up and down, one three hour XC race and I'm glad I bought it.
First off, these fall into the all mountain category but realistically are quite bit more freeride/downhill oriented than cross country. It'll climb for sure and I spend 90% of any ride climbing but you can feel the weight going up. Fully built mine's about 16 kilos, you could probably knock 2-3 kilos off with lighter components and rims, but I was more interested in strength.
Thankfully it climbs gracefully. Sure and steady does the trick and making sure you know when to pedal hard and when to just relax and not waste your energy goes along way on this bike. It doesn't respond well to random bursts of rapid pedaling, rather, building momentum and holding it gets it up the mountain with less effort. While climbing the rear suspension works beautifully and with Propedal on it's what I used to wish for when I was riding my hardtail; just enough movement to soak up the rocks and roots on a hard steep long climb, but not so much that it gets annoying and sucks all your power away.
One thing that did amaze me is the amount of traction you have when climbing. These have a VPS system, and when your really in a pinch, down to granny gear, struggling to keep the front wheel touching the ground on the steepest rocky loose surface, lungs busting and two steps till the top it's a nice feeling that with each stroke of the pedals you can feel it jamming the back wheel into the ground hard. Sections that I used to not a have chance on I can climb through without drama now.
When you finally reach the top is when the fun begins on the Superstroke. Reach down and flick that Propedal off and the suspension goes from being quick and solid to soft and plush. Push off the edge and be ready this thing *flies*. It comes into its own on slightly open highspeed tracks, (it'll handle a tough DH track in a pinch for reference). Going down and it's like a completely different bike than the one you were riding ten minutes ago when climbing, smooth, confidence inspiring and absolutely rock solid in it's lines. Obstacles and sections that I used to have to slowdown and pick my way through I now bomb through at full speed. I love the feeling of the suspension working hard, hitting big jumps at full speed with total control. You can get nice and far back over the suspension when dropping fast through rock gardens which inspires confidence. That's how good the rear is suspension is, you feel like, it doesn't matter how out of control you are as long as you keep the front light the rear will soak up whatever comes along. A dangerous attitude but you can't help thinking that after riding it!
It steers a little slow through tight switchbacks and tight 180degree berms, it's not a harley by any means but it's not twitchy. This is of course the reason that at high speed it feels quite stable and lets you carve the sweetest lines you could imagine.
A perfect example of this bikes place in the XC, AM, FR spectrum could be seen in the recent 3 hour I competed in. The XC bikes were passing me on the climbs, not totally dominating, but generally I was working harder, but once the track sped up a bit and started to go down, they were working like crazy just to stay on and I was just cruising, recovering from the climb and keeping up and re-passing many of them with no problems (to their annoyance I'm sure).
So in conclusion, if you don't mind putting in a bit of extra work climbing for a huge reward when going down the BMC is for you. If you love bombing down the tough stuff, hitting big solid jumps on the way down and just mucking around a bit, but like too climb as well don't fret buying it...it doesn't take long to build up the leg muscles. :)
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
Submitted by
SHOGUN
a Downhiller
from ny Date Reviewed: August 12, 2008
Favorite Trail:
diablo
Duration Product Used:
Less than 1 month
Price Paid:
$2000.00
Purchased At:
everywhere
Strengths:
pops well on the lip of any hit. pedals pretty well anytime i have to pedal. looks fresh.
Weaknesses:
none..maybe a coil would feel nicer.
Similar Products Used:
enduro sl, intense 5.5, azonic
Bike Setup:
maverick duc32, sunringle 31's with hope hubs, dmr v8 and wingbar, fsa gravity cranks/seatpost, x9's, saint 8"ers, maxxis high roller 2.5/2.35,
Bottom Line:
The bike is sick for an all around do it all machine. a bit heavy for all mountain, but i manage, for downhill it was fresh and on tables and gaps it was crazy smooth. It took me over a year to source and build...if it didn't ride well it would be fresh just to hang it on the wall... its a beauty.
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
Submitted by
B
a Downhiller
from BC Date Reviewed: June 6, 2008
Favorite Trail:
Whistler
Duration Product Used:
3 months
Price Paid:
$799.00
Purchased At:
jenson usa - framese
Strengths:
Stiff, light good rear progressiveness
Weaknesses:
Design?? I reluctantly bought this bike - I'm a design engineer and I couldn't help but wonder - why! Why stop the top tube short to add a bent & welded piece - where's the structural or manufacturing benefit? There are a lot of areas of the design where the same result could have been accomplished with less cost and fewer components or machining. I suppose it all looks really cool - maybe the marketing folk got their hands on it.
All that being said it's a nice riding bike, pedals well and descends well so the end result is good. This is due mainly to the rear suspension geometry and floating pivot, less to do with all the wierd junctions and extra weldings. The rear design is much Giant's Reign series. BMC seems to ADD complexity to their bikes, not sure why. Seat post clamping is simply retarded - again "WHY?" why have two bolts and no quick release - was there something wrong with the industry using a simpler design for ???years?
Can't get a frame with a rear suspension design like this for the price.
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
Submitted by
Chris
a Weekend Warrior
from Prince William, VA Date Reviewed: May 1, 2008
Favorite Trail:
Fountainhead Regional Park
Duration Product Used:
Less than 1 month
Price Paid:
$800.00
Purchased At:
JensonUSA
Strengths:
Fast on the downhills, switchbacks and everything. Solid, strong, beefy frame but still light weight and well balanced
Weaknesses:
The top tube is a little short, but just get a slightly longer stem and push the saddle back a hair.
Bike Setup:
Full SRAM X-9, BB7 brakes, Fox Talas 32 RLC, CrossRides, Sunline stem and handlebars
Bottom Line:
Awesome value from Jenson. After the bike was fully built it was weighing in at 31 pounds! Awesome for a 6 inch travel bike. This bike likes to jump over everything which is real fun and you can climb all day. I recommend this bike to anyone looking for a nice full suspension frame.
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
Submitted by
david
a Weekend Warrior
from tucson, arizona, USA Date Reviewed: April 17, 2007
Duration Product Used:
Tested or demo'ed only
Purchased At:
TriSports.com
Strengths:
This is a really nice bike. Stiff as all get out and really quite burly. Travel is plush and progressive. Very active under braking and climbing.
Weaknesses:
I really found none. Had Kenda Nevegal tires on it that were very underwhelming in the Desert Southwest.
Similar Products Used:
Santa Cruz Bullit FR/AM style Turner Afterburner set up for AM style riding
Bike Setup:
Rockshox Lyric 2-step, FOX AVA RP3, DTSwiss 540 wheels, XT shifters/Cranks, Kenda Nevegal Tires, WTB bars, stem, grips, and saddle, Hayes El Camino brakes with 7" rotors, CB eggbeaters.
Bottom Line:
This is a really nice ride. The geometry fits an XC chassis, quick and agile yet it also had a nice stablity in the rough stuff. Like all VP suspension the chain was really noisy on the chainstay/lower link but not unbearable. The Lyric was a tolerable but the bike would be better with a Marzocchi 6" or a Fox 36 fork. The lyric seemed to be a poor match for the rear suspension too many agjustments and too much rebound dampening. The bike was really easy to get behind on drops and popped off jump faces. Climbing performance was the best that I have come across. Descending performance was on par with 6" travel bikes. Cornering was tight due to geometry, had to be careful not to turn in too tight.
Wheels were both thru axle: rear-10mm/front-Maxle 20mm (very nice system).
33.5lbs with no pedals 34.2lbs with chromo eggbeaters.
Price wise I have no comment but the Superstroke is available as a custom build situation where you can spec out parts for the needs/$$$ that you have available and this includes the rear shock.
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
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