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I finshied my review this morning on the frame. Just giving you my true thoughts and feelings about this new frame.
It's long with alot of pictures....
https://light-bikes.com/news/
Xclusive G-nesis frame
by DIRT BOY
After a couple of weeks testing and 50+ miles my new frame from Xclusive Bikes, its time to share my thoughts.
Xclusive Bikes is a small bike company from Spain. They are out to produce some high quality frames and cater to the light-weight bicycle market.
They sell other light weights brands from Europe as well as the US.
Xclusive approached me a few months ago about their frames and I offered to review G-nesis frame here on light-bikes.com and mtbr.com
Frame s are offered in Disc-Only and V-brake versions.
The frame:
Xclusive's G-nesis frame is designed in Spain and built and welded in Taiwan, then it's shipped to over to Spain for the finishing touches like anodizing and and graphics.
The frame is built from a U6 alloy. U6 is a 6000 series alloy. The aluminium is then hard anodizedand is 100% recyclable and environmentally friendly.
You can choose form a smooth anodising finish or a ceramic shoot-peened finish.
Once the frame is anodised in one of several nice colors the frame is ready for it's graphics.
The graphics are computer generated then laser etched on the frame. This gives a very nice, clean and durable graphics.
Our frame is a second generation frame from Xclusive bikes. The frame is a 16" (M) Disc Only frame coming in at mere 1232g (claimed at 1270g.).
The finish on this frame looks very nice and well as the CNC work. The first v-brake only frame that we received also looked very nice except for a few little blemishes in the anodising process. We informed Xclusive of this and they regretted that a frame that was not perfect was shipped out and corrected the matter very fast.
The frame's cable routing is top mounted which is nice to keep your cables smooth running and appropriate disc house mounting along the top tube and seat stays. The shifting is via top pull, using a 31.8 TS FD. The BB shell is 68mm. More geometry numbers and be found here.
Overall the fit and feel to the frame is nice. We do wish the headtube was slight smaller in height (110mm). Especially if you really want a big drop from your saddle. It feels fine to me. It lets me run zero spacers on the bottom of my stem for a nice clean look. The 16.5" frame also comes with a top tube measurement of 55cm.The down tube is slightly oval in shape and gives the frame a nice look.
Pictures from Xclusive's website:
Our pictures:
The build and ride:
The frame is built up using the following build and specs can be found here. The complete build came in at 19.60lbs on our build sheet with a verified hanging scale weight of 19.612lbs. The build is solid in our minds and built light and reliable.
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Our test ride was over a period of 5 days and around 50-56 miles of singletrack, fire roads and some tarmac. During our rides I rode the trails, but also in doing so preformed several specific tasks to test the frame's feel and ride. We sprinted many times on the trails and the fire roads testing the frames stiffness. Rode several sections of rocky and root filled terrain over and over and back to back to test vertical compliance and uphill and downhill to see how the frame handled and tracked.
After a few miles the first thing I noticed that the frame has a slight tin like sound to it when the debris would hit the frame, or our disc brake housing bounced on the top tube. This could be due to the frame light nature and or the material. It was nothing that was annoying, but there and worth noting. Right-off the bat the frame has a nice feel and ride on the trails.
Coming from my KLEIN Attitude which is known to have a very stiff in the rear of the frame, I noticed that the G-nesis is more vertically compliant that the Attitude. This gave us a very nice feel and and has not not jarring on the back as I rolled over root filled terrain. On my KLEIN, I prefer to use a Titanium Seatpost to take some edge off, but there was no need on this frame. The Extralite Aluminium post was comfortable and not jarring at all on the back. I was not planning on this from alight weight aluminium fame. Some might feel this is a weakness in the frame, but I welcome it.
So we hit the firer roads next for some sprint intervals to see test the frame stiffness. I performed 20 sprints from short the med range and straightaways and into corners.
I bid notice just a very very small hint of some flex from the BB area, but nothing that seems unusual under my 166lb frame. I prefer bigger gears and I am more of high-torque rider than a spinner. Some others have complained that the BB was very flexy, but this might have been on the 1st generation frames. Stiffness of the frame in hard cornering seems normal and the frame did go where I pointed it. Now I am not some Expert Class racer, but moderately strong and decent rider and found now stiffness issues with the frame.
Overall my KLEIN was stiffer in the rear seat stays and BB.
The frame tracked pretty well on the singletrack over roots and and rocks and gave a nice compliant ride. Now we don't have any big hill or mountains here in Florida, so I can comment how he frames stiffness and feel would be in that terrain. What we do have is very good technical terrain and the bike did fine. Nothing spectacular, but was a nice smooth ride.
Overall impressions:
Compared to other hardtail frames I have used/ridden from TREK, Giant and Specialized on a personal level over a period of time and this frame seems to be on par with them on it's overall ride and feel. I guess the main thing is that this frame does not really separate it's self from the others in any big way.
Some would have issue with it's geometry issues and other frame in it's class will offer 7000 series aluminium or scandium.
The frame overall feel and construction and workmanship like the welds and CNC looks good. Again nothing special against others in it's class.
Now it DOES have the others beat when it comes to overall weight of the frame. A MED 16.5 Disc frame in our book with some good stiffness is nice. It comes in as one of the lighter full aluminium frames on the market and this was it's design and intent from Xclusive Bikes.
The price tag on this frame is €450 or $500 from Light-Bikes coming soon. This frame is priced around the same as the other "big names" in it's class of bikes.
Xclusive does need to make sure that their frame always come out top-notch in finish to be competitive on the market and this was our only complaint and we were assured that it was a mistake. For the frames in it's price range and class, it's not the best but a very nice buy!
If you are looking for a hardtail frame with a good ride and feel, and you want it from a small brand and not the same old frame as everyone else, the the Xclusive G-nesis might just be the frame for you.
Even after my beloved KLEIN gets re-painted in a fews months, i will probaly keep this as my main ride. The KLEIN will be built up again with a rigid carbon fork and some lighter components than it had before and a little more bling.
I am happy with the frame and hope in the long run it holds up nicely!!
It's long with alot of pictures....
https://light-bikes.com/news/
Xclusive G-nesis frame
by DIRT BOY
After a couple of weeks testing and 50+ miles my new frame from Xclusive Bikes, its time to share my thoughts.
Xclusive Bikes is a small bike company from Spain. They are out to produce some high quality frames and cater to the light-weight bicycle market.
They sell other light weights brands from Europe as well as the US.
Xclusive approached me a few months ago about their frames and I offered to review G-nesis frame here on light-bikes.com and mtbr.com
Frame s are offered in Disc-Only and V-brake versions.
The frame:
Xclusive's G-nesis frame is designed in Spain and built and welded in Taiwan, then it's shipped to over to Spain for the finishing touches like anodizing and and graphics.
The frame is built from a U6 alloy. U6 is a 6000 series alloy. The aluminium is then hard anodizedand is 100% recyclable and environmentally friendly.
You can choose form a smooth anodising finish or a ceramic shoot-peened finish.
Once the frame is anodised in one of several nice colors the frame is ready for it's graphics.
The graphics are computer generated then laser etched on the frame. This gives a very nice, clean and durable graphics.
Our frame is a second generation frame from Xclusive bikes. The frame is a 16" (M) Disc Only frame coming in at mere 1232g (claimed at 1270g.).
The finish on this frame looks very nice and well as the CNC work. The first v-brake only frame that we received also looked very nice except for a few little blemishes in the anodising process. We informed Xclusive of this and they regretted that a frame that was not perfect was shipped out and corrected the matter very fast.
The frame's cable routing is top mounted which is nice to keep your cables smooth running and appropriate disc house mounting along the top tube and seat stays. The shifting is via top pull, using a 31.8 TS FD. The BB shell is 68mm. More geometry numbers and be found here.
Overall the fit and feel to the frame is nice. We do wish the headtube was slight smaller in height (110mm). Especially if you really want a big drop from your saddle. It feels fine to me. It lets me run zero spacers on the bottom of my stem for a nice clean look. The 16.5" frame also comes with a top tube measurement of 55cm.The down tube is slightly oval in shape and gives the frame a nice look.
Pictures from Xclusive's website:
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The build and ride:
The frame is built up using the following build and specs can be found here. The complete build came in at 19.60lbs on our build sheet with a verified hanging scale weight of 19.612lbs. The build is solid in our minds and built light and reliable.
Our test ride was over a period of 5 days and around 50-56 miles of singletrack, fire roads and some tarmac. During our rides I rode the trails, but also in doing so preformed several specific tasks to test the frame's feel and ride. We sprinted many times on the trails and the fire roads testing the frames stiffness. Rode several sections of rocky and root filled terrain over and over and back to back to test vertical compliance and uphill and downhill to see how the frame handled and tracked.
After a few miles the first thing I noticed that the frame has a slight tin like sound to it when the debris would hit the frame, or our disc brake housing bounced on the top tube. This could be due to the frame light nature and or the material. It was nothing that was annoying, but there and worth noting. Right-off the bat the frame has a nice feel and ride on the trails.
Coming from my KLEIN Attitude which is known to have a very stiff in the rear of the frame, I noticed that the G-nesis is more vertically compliant that the Attitude. This gave us a very nice feel and and has not not jarring on the back as I rolled over root filled terrain. On my KLEIN, I prefer to use a Titanium Seatpost to take some edge off, but there was no need on this frame. The Extralite Aluminium post was comfortable and not jarring at all on the back. I was not planning on this from alight weight aluminium fame. Some might feel this is a weakness in the frame, but I welcome it.
So we hit the firer roads next for some sprint intervals to see test the frame stiffness. I performed 20 sprints from short the med range and straightaways and into corners.
I bid notice just a very very small hint of some flex from the BB area, but nothing that seems unusual under my 166lb frame. I prefer bigger gears and I am more of high-torque rider than a spinner. Some others have complained that the BB was very flexy, but this might have been on the 1st generation frames. Stiffness of the frame in hard cornering seems normal and the frame did go where I pointed it. Now I am not some Expert Class racer, but moderately strong and decent rider and found now stiffness issues with the frame.
Overall my KLEIN was stiffer in the rear seat stays and BB.
The frame tracked pretty well on the singletrack over roots and and rocks and gave a nice compliant ride. Now we don't have any big hill or mountains here in Florida, so I can comment how he frames stiffness and feel would be in that terrain. What we do have is very good technical terrain and the bike did fine. Nothing spectacular, but was a nice smooth ride.
Overall impressions:
Compared to other hardtail frames I have used/ridden from TREK, Giant and Specialized on a personal level over a period of time and this frame seems to be on par with them on it's overall ride and feel. I guess the main thing is that this frame does not really separate it's self from the others in any big way.
Some would have issue with it's geometry issues and other frame in it's class will offer 7000 series aluminium or scandium.
The frame overall feel and construction and workmanship like the welds and CNC looks good. Again nothing special against others in it's class.
Now it DOES have the others beat when it comes to overall weight of the frame. A MED 16.5 Disc frame in our book with some good stiffness is nice. It comes in as one of the lighter full aluminium frames on the market and this was it's design and intent from Xclusive Bikes.
The price tag on this frame is €450 or $500 from Light-Bikes coming soon. This frame is priced around the same as the other "big names" in it's class of bikes.
Xclusive does need to make sure that their frame always come out top-notch in finish to be competitive on the market and this was our only complaint and we were assured that it was a mistake. For the frames in it's price range and class, it's not the best but a very nice buy!
If you are looking for a hardtail frame with a good ride and feel, and you want it from a small brand and not the same old frame as everyone else, the the Xclusive G-nesis might just be the frame for you.
Even after my beloved KLEIN gets re-painted in a fews months, i will probaly keep this as my main ride. The KLEIN will be built up again with a rigid carbon fork and some lighter components than it had before and a little more bling
.I am happy with the frame and hope in the long run it holds up nicely!!
