On a recent trip to N Az I decided to do a side trip to Hurricane Utah where OTE Sports
bike shop was located , mainly to demo the Endo. I got to demo the Firebird and
the 2009 DT as well, but that was a short ride. I have been trying to figure out what to replace my stolen EVO with, and it has not been an easy process deciding what direction to go in. It turns out that all bikes I've ridden so far have qualities I don't like, so theres no perfect bike out there. The challenge is finding the one with the least amount of negative traits and good enough all around riding characteristics to justify the purchase.
I demoed these on the Hurricane Rim trail just outside of Hurricane Utah.
Here are what my impressions were:
Endo:
Demo bike was fitted with RP23, a large. and a Magura 140mm fork(dont remember model name). Stock Hi compression on rp23 set to high.
Overall impressions were bike felt somewhat ineffecient. I noticed a fair amount of movement at the shock, like some of my energy was being wasted.
It also didnt feel very plush on sharp/square edged hits. To be fair, the bike felt a bit large for me, like I was more stretched out than I would have liked.
I also didnt feel that comfortable descending rocky sections, like too much of my weight was towards the front. Again, could have been a result of the sizing.
The bike had a heavy build, around 34 # . It was also outfitted with a chain tensioner, which was later removed. With it removed the pedaling was improved,
but not enough to change my overall impression of the bike.
Firebird:
I was able to ride a lot farther on the Firebird without feeling tired. Balance between front and rear on medium felt perfect. Everything felt pretty good overall.
A tiny bit of knee pain after the ride that didnt last. (I am hyper-vigilant about this with virtual pivot designs because of my experience with a Blur that I had owned a few years ago)
These were the 2 bikes I demoed the first day, and I was ready to go with the Firebird after the first day of riding. The advantages over the Endo were pretty clear.
Day 2 -
On the second I was offered a ride on the DT, and I decided why not, I'll give it a short spin, but I was eager to get back to the Firebird so I could solidify my decision.
The DT ended being quite a surprise. Even though the demo bike weighed 38 #, sitting and spinning felt fairly efficient, in fact, I couldnt see much movement at the
DHX Air shock with normal pedaling. Square edged hits were handled as well as with the Firebird, and technical climbing was definitely smoother, the DT out handled
the Firebird in these situations. The DT just tractored up stuff regardless of the line you took. So suspension wise, the DT ended being my favorite overall.
But at 38#s, its about 5 #s over what I would want for a typical build (with mostly XT type components) for AM/light freeride trailriding.
I can only afford one bike, so it has be light enough for general trail riding also.
My second ride on the Firebird ended up being not quite as good as the first. I did the same trail, but took some different lines on short, rocky granny ring climbs
to further investigate how much pedal feedback I would be dealing with were I to go with the Firebird. On this ride, on doing one rocky granny ring climbing section
I did notice a small knee tug with a little bit of knee pain at the same time. It was not a lot, and I had no pain after the ride, but that got me to wondering - if I went
with the Firebird would this become an issue ? (Even though it's been a minor one so far on my four demos)
So I would have to weigh whether the advantages would outweigh this negative, but back to the DT :
I did get to ride Quinlan's (the owner of OTE) 2010 DT around the parking lot there, and the pedaling felt pretty snappy ifor a 36 # bike.
So I'm tempted to go with the 2010 Delirium. But I'm doing a lot of trail riding in addition to the more aggro stuff, so I need for it to weigh in the
33 - 34 lb range with light, sturdy (but not stupid light) parts. I was thinking of getting the Delirium with a lightweight Endo parts kit + the 1 1/8" '10 Talas
which I've already partially paid for(was going to put it on the stolen EVO). So then I could go with a lighter stem, and hopefully keep the weight
somewhere in the 33 - 34 # range.
Any opinions on this ? What wheelset should I go with if this were an option ? I can afford around $2000 for the build kit.
Any input would be appreciated, thanks.
bike shop was located , mainly to demo the Endo. I got to demo the Firebird and
the 2009 DT as well, but that was a short ride. I have been trying to figure out what to replace my stolen EVO with, and it has not been an easy process deciding what direction to go in. It turns out that all bikes I've ridden so far have qualities I don't like, so theres no perfect bike out there. The challenge is finding the one with the least amount of negative traits and good enough all around riding characteristics to justify the purchase.
I demoed these on the Hurricane Rim trail just outside of Hurricane Utah.
Here are what my impressions were:
Endo:
Demo bike was fitted with RP23, a large. and a Magura 140mm fork(dont remember model name). Stock Hi compression on rp23 set to high.
Overall impressions were bike felt somewhat ineffecient. I noticed a fair amount of movement at the shock, like some of my energy was being wasted.
It also didnt feel very plush on sharp/square edged hits. To be fair, the bike felt a bit large for me, like I was more stretched out than I would have liked.
I also didnt feel that comfortable descending rocky sections, like too much of my weight was towards the front. Again, could have been a result of the sizing.
The bike had a heavy build, around 34 # . It was also outfitted with a chain tensioner, which was later removed. With it removed the pedaling was improved,
but not enough to change my overall impression of the bike.
Firebird:
I was able to ride a lot farther on the Firebird without feeling tired. Balance between front and rear on medium felt perfect. Everything felt pretty good overall.
A tiny bit of knee pain after the ride that didnt last. (I am hyper-vigilant about this with virtual pivot designs because of my experience with a Blur that I had owned a few years ago)
These were the 2 bikes I demoed the first day, and I was ready to go with the Firebird after the first day of riding. The advantages over the Endo were pretty clear.
Day 2 -
On the second I was offered a ride on the DT, and I decided why not, I'll give it a short spin, but I was eager to get back to the Firebird so I could solidify my decision.
The DT ended being quite a surprise. Even though the demo bike weighed 38 #, sitting and spinning felt fairly efficient, in fact, I couldnt see much movement at the
DHX Air shock with normal pedaling. Square edged hits were handled as well as with the Firebird, and technical climbing was definitely smoother, the DT out handled
the Firebird in these situations. The DT just tractored up stuff regardless of the line you took. So suspension wise, the DT ended being my favorite overall.
But at 38#s, its about 5 #s over what I would want for a typical build (with mostly XT type components) for AM/light freeride trailriding.
I can only afford one bike, so it has be light enough for general trail riding also.
My second ride on the Firebird ended up being not quite as good as the first. I did the same trail, but took some different lines on short, rocky granny ring climbs
to further investigate how much pedal feedback I would be dealing with were I to go with the Firebird. On this ride, on doing one rocky granny ring climbing section
I did notice a small knee tug with a little bit of knee pain at the same time. It was not a lot, and I had no pain after the ride, but that got me to wondering - if I went
with the Firebird would this become an issue ? (Even though it's been a minor one so far on my four demos)
So I would have to weigh whether the advantages would outweigh this negative, but back to the DT :
I did get to ride Quinlan's (the owner of OTE) 2010 DT around the parking lot there, and the pedaling felt pretty snappy ifor a 36 # bike.
So I'm tempted to go with the 2010 Delirium. But I'm doing a lot of trail riding in addition to the more aggro stuff, so I need for it to weigh in the
33 - 34 lb range with light, sturdy (but not stupid light) parts. I was thinking of getting the Delirium with a lightweight Endo parts kit + the 1 1/8" '10 Talas
which I've already partially paid for(was going to put it on the stolen EVO). So then I could go with a lighter stem, and hopefully keep the weight
somewhere in the 33 - 34 # range.
Any opinions on this ? What wheelset should I go with if this were an option ? I can afford around $2000 for the build kit.
Any input would be appreciated, thanks.