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Anyone at all out there riding an Ionic 29er frame??

1K views 16 replies 12 participants last post by  edouble 
#1 ·
Long term plan may be to turn my Karate Monkey into a dedicated single speed 29er by years end and add a second geared 29er to the stable.

I keep coming back to the killer price on the Ionic Cycles frames - but is anyone out there riding one? I mean $550 for theirTrue Temper OX Platinum geared Steehlead 29r hardtail frame seems damned good to me. But is it too good to be true??

Is the geometry the same as stock Dean 29er frames (if Dean does stock sizing?)

Their 17" frame size seems like it would be really great for me, but I wonder if what's on their web site reflects what the real frame geometry numbers come out to look like.

I posted this many months ago with very little response, so I figured I'd try again to see if someone has purchased an Ionic recently and if so, what you thought of it.

Can anyone help shed some light?
 
#2 ·
Do your homework

Most everyone I know has been seriously disappointed in their dealings with DEAN/Ionic. Be prepared to wait, be lied to, return your frame to make it right, hear excuses, make do, and what ever else they inflict in the course of leveraging a few greenbacks from your pockets.

You can do better with a used bike elsewhere. Just my two cents.
 
#3 ·
Lutarious said:
Most everyone I know has been seriously disappointed in their dealings with DEAN/Ionic. Be prepared to wait, be lied to, return your frame to make it right, hear excuses, make do, and what ever else they inflict in the course of leveraging a few greenbacks from your pockets.

You can do better with a used bike elsewhere. Just my two cents.
Well, dealing with the company is frustrating...but product rides sweet.
 
#6 ·
kustomz said:
You might check out Tom Teesdale for similar material and price.

http://www.tetcycles.com/Specials/specials.html
Although I just received my Dean, I personally would go somewhere else for steel since there are so many good steel builders. You can go truly custom for $750 or so with Curtlo, ( www.curtlo.com ) my personal steel frame builder of choice. Lots of good custom builders out there. If the off the shelf dimensions work well for you and you are patient, the Price for the Dean/Ionic stuff is hard to beat.

Teesdale, Vulture, Waltworks, the list goes on and on of good builders
 
#7 ·
There's a custom builder in my town named Mike Pofahl, (no relation to the shop.) He does great work. He quoted me a price of $600 for a Reynolds 853 full custom 29er with fork. This painted in any of a billion colors. I'm sure there are a ton of builders out there that can fill our needs. Any of the previous posts would be a good place to start. You might pay a little more, (or not,) but the service is assuredly going to be better.
 
#10 ·
It's alright, not great

No, I don't care. Funny, I don't even have that picture any more, nor do I have the frame. It's in the family though, my brother has it and likes it. He's currently rebuilding it as a SS with the sweet modular dropouts. He rode it to a 1:53 in the Iceman this past November.

I rode it for a a short time, but it was a shade small (almost identical to the XL Fisher in geometry). I expected more from a TruTemper OX frame, especially one with long tubes. It wasn't exceptionally compliant or stiff, it's just kind of "good". Of course, this is in comparison to my Waltworks. It's worth the $500 sticker, but absolutely no more IMO. My advice is spend the extra couple hun, and get the custom WW or Curtlo.
 
#14 ·
MichiganClydesdale said:
No, I don't care. Funny, I don't even have that picture any more, nor do I have the frame. It's in the family though, my brother has it and likes it. He's currently rebuilding it as a SS with the sweet modular dropouts. He rode it to a 1:53 in the Iceman this past November.

I rode it for a a short time, but it was a shade small (almost identical to the XL Fisher in geometry). I expected more from a TruTemper OX frame, especially one with long tubes. It wasn't exceptionally compliant or stiff, it's just kind of "good". Of course, this is in comparison to my Waltworks. It's worth the $500 sticker, but absolutely no more IMO. My advice is spend the extra couple hun, and get the custom WW or Curtlo.
What type of tubing is your Waltworks made from? Can you elaborate more on the ride differences between the two?
 
#15 ·
it's just better

MMcG said:
What type of tubing is your Waltworks made from? Can you elaborate more on the ride differences between the two?
If you read thru Walts website, you'll see he uses different kinds of steel for every bike, and often uses different types for downtubes, seat tubes and rear triangles. I'm one of those kind of people that doesn't care how stuff works, I just like it to work. The Walt is simply more compliant, more consitently smooth top to bottom. It's really hard to put a finger on exactly what, maybe some other Walt owners can define what makes the ride so special.

The IONIC had better ride quality than aluminum or 4130 (KM), but didn't absorb chatter/chop nearly as well as the Walt. I still felt "beat up" when riding the IONIC, like I used to from Aluminum. Maybe my expectations were too high for the IONIC, but I was really dissappointed in the ride quality - there was just nothing special to note about it. If I had nothing better to compare it to, I'd probably prefer it over Aluminum or straight guage steel, but not by much. It just helped reconfirm my opinion that custom steel is worth the extra money.
 
#16 ·
I have an Ionic Single speed

I have an Ionic Single speed (26 inch wheel model) and it rides great. I've used it for one season and it's worked out great. Great steel feel. I've also ridden a WaltWorks. I really couldn't tell a huge difference between the "ride feel" of the 2. I'm 6'2" and 165lbs for what it's worth.
 
#17 ·
im of the mindset that...

MichiganClydesdale said:
If you read thru Walts website, you'll see he uses different kinds of steel for every bike, and often uses different types for downtubes, seat tubes and rear triangles. I'm one of those kind of people that doesn't care how stuff works, I just like it to work. The Walt is simply more compliant, more consitently smooth top to bottom. It's really hard to put a finger on exactly what, maybe some other Walt owners can define what makes the ride so special.

The IONIC had better ride quality than aluminum or 4130 (KM), but didn't absorb chatter/chop nearly as well as the Walt. I still felt "beat up" when riding the IONIC, like I used to from Aluminum. Maybe my expectations were too high for the IONIC, but I was really dissappointed in the ride quality - there was just nothing special to note about it. If I had nothing better to compare it to, I'd probably prefer it over Aluminum or straight guage steel, but not by much. It just helped reconfirm my opinion that custom steel is worth the extra money.
its a bike by bike kind of thing. i have had 853 ( airborne blackwidow, jamis dragon, voodoo bizango, dean jester softail) bikes, 2 true temper (zero flux, curtlo) bikes, 1 631 (soma juice) bike, and 2 tange prestige ( voodoo bizango, norco team issue) bikes. all rode well but the tange bizango is smoother over rough terrain than the 853 bizango, without any loss of responsiveness. my tange norco team issue is as smooth as my curtlo w/ the banana stays and its more responsive. my soma juice (631 front triangle, tange prestige rear) is pretty smooth, though i need more time over different types of terrain to really know.
i used to believe custom was better and i still believe that guys like curtlo, waltworks, and other reasonably priced builders are great options to have. however, my norco and tange voodoo will surprise anybody that thinks custom is allways better. both of these bikes are awesome in everyway a hardtail can be. ive ridden both all day on tight, technical, rocky as hell new england singletrack without back pain nor a desire for full suspension.
my next custom will definately be a waltworks 29er ;) , but these 2 bikes ( and the rocky mountain blizzard, test rode) have taught me not to sleep on production frames. there are some great riding ones out there.
 
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