Submitted by
James Barnes
from Brussels, Belgium
Date Reviewed: 8/31/2007 8:09:22 AM
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| Duration Product Used: |
Less than 1 month |
| Price Paid: |
$850 |
| Purchased At: |
Cycle Solutions, Toronto Canada |
| Strengths: |
Beautiful, strong, all the benefits of steel (ride etc)
Fantastic flexible geometry, suits an adjustable travel fork; 70 deg @100mm, 68 deg @ 140mm |
| Weaknesses: |
I haven't found one yet. Not light, but then you're not buying a steel freeride hardtail frame for lightness.
Oh, European price. Fly to the US and buy one there, you'll save enough to pay for the flight (no, really) |
| Similar Products Tried: |
really, I've never ridden a hardtail quite like this before.
Nearest thing was probably my old Nigel Dean Nevada (yes, I am that old :P ) for strength and twitchiness up front. This bike is a whole other proposition though, really |
| Bike Setup: |
light(ish) DH wheels, Shim XT, RS Pike coil U-turns, Avid J7s |
| Bottom Line: |
This bike is a singletrack bomber. With the Pikes dialed down (95mm) it turns faster than an italian who's just realised he's on the wrong side. I use this set up for trail riding or falling off at jump parks. Dial them up (140) and you can point it down a DH race track with confidence, which I did at Blue Mountain and it was superb. At 120mm, you have a well behaved bike (but who wants one of those :P )
If I had the budget, I would have set it up with Fox Talas (110-130-160) and an AM (sub 2kg) wheelset and cranks, say Easton Havocs or DT Swiss 1750s and Race Face Atlas. That would bring the build weight under 30lbs (currently about 33-34) and make a big difference for trail riding (what I do most of)while still having the strength to bomb down hill
Also worth considering is that they only do 2 sizes, long and regular. I got the regular, for fear that the long would be too, err long. Probably I should have got the long, especially as most of my riding is trails. nvm, slide the seat back on the rails a bit and it's all good.
One thing (which happened to me) the downtube is oversized and they use a shim to size it for a 31.2 seatpost. I assume they do this partly because the wall thicknesses mean they get some overweld inside the down tube, at teh junction with the toptube. In my case, this overweld has a couple of blobs that need filing off to allow the seatpost to go down fully. This should have been done at the factory, but I guess tehy missed it (no big). The shop who put it together unfortunately misinterpreted this as a tapered tube (at least that's what they told me, I'm dubious) and cut the seatpost short (really short). Now I need to get a file and a new seatpost as teh one I have is a good 2" too short to be comfortable. Meh, it's still ace
I would heartily recommend this bike to anyone who is looking for a steel hardtail flexible enough to ride anywhere, down the alps or down the shops, and is not too sensitive about weight. Believe me though, the weight is well spent and the bike as I have it set up rides considerably lighter than its 33 or so lbs |
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Submitted by
Mark Horacek
a Weekend Warrior
from Manchester, England
Date Reviewed: 4/24/2007 12:29:34 AM
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| FavoriteTrail: |
Holmbury Bombholes |
| Duration Product Used: |
Less than 1 month |
| Purchased At: |
UK |
| Strengths: |
Finish, attention to detail. Feels like your sat 'in' the bike rather than on. |
| Weaknesses: |
UK price? Ridiculous. Customer contact with Evil/E13. Evils email address doesnt work anymore and E13 dont comeback to you via email. Maybe concentrating on servicing Distributors hey? |
| Similar Products Tried: |
Santa Cruz |
| Bike Setup: |
King h/set, king rear hub, hope front. X321 rims, Michelin AM tyres, Thomson post and stem, Hayes brakes and Pike 426 forks. |
| Bottom Line: |
Off road apart from local tracks/woods I've only ridden the bike around Llandegla so far to set up properly after building up. The Z1 FRs (150) were too long in my opinion and the front washed out (fell off three times)/too steep a head angle for trails. I think a 130/140 max would suit the medium perfectly for trail centres/XC work.
Will report back when Ive ridden more.. |
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Submitted by
Mark
a Weekend Warrior
from Glasgow
Date Reviewed: 7/21/2006 12:33:06 AM
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| FavoriteTrail: |
Blackwater Dam |
| Duration Product Used: |
Less than 1 month |
| Price Paid: |
$1200 |
| Purchased At: |
Frame only at Craig MacMartin Cycles |
| Strengths: |
This is a great frame with a beautiful finish...I ride this every day and only use my 6.6 for the big DH stuff at the weekends now, but I'm sure this would be capable and good fun down at Innerliethen! :-) |
| Weaknesses: |
None yet |
| Similar Products Tried: |
Hardtails: Cove Stiffee, SC Lizard, Orange Sub Zero (cracked) |
| Bike Setup: |
Fox Vanilla 130 (will replace with Van 36 next week, Maxxis Minnions, Thomson, Hope Brakes, Mavic 729 & 721 rims etc |
| Bottom Line: |
This bike excels at scary, steep, twisty, rocky, rooty technical trails and manoverures amazingly...this is a bike that wants to be ridden hard and rewards the rider with a huge smile! Buy one ...well worth the money! |
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Submitted by
Paul
a Cross Country Rider
from Stowe, VT
Date Reviewed: 5/5/2006 4:47:52 PM
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| FavoriteTrail: |
Sniggle |
| Duration Product Used: |
Less than 1 month |
| Purchased At: |
Skiershop |
| Strengths: |
Lightish, super quality steel, full seatpost extension, great drop-out system, rides perfectly when you're on your game |
| Weaknesses: |
No water-bottle cage mount. That's it. |
| Similar Products Tried: |
Other Evils, Steelhead, Surly, Santa Cruz, Intense, Balfa, etc. |
| Bike Setup: |
Singlespeed, 130mm Z1-Freeride, Juicy Carbon 185mm, DT Swiss 5.1D Wheels, Nokian/Hutchinson rubber, Race Face Parts. |
| Bottom Line: |
Perfection at a price. I can't imagine a hardtail that rides trail, jumps, and flows better than this one. Evil did their homework and it paid off big time. I'll have this bike for years and still be loving it. Throw down. Buy one. You will NOT be dissapointed. |
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