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Let me first say one word "PLUSH". I got the Monk ( http://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?t=205601 )out for a couple of hours this morning for a little test ride. The trail conditions were hard pack with a little loose over hard pack, rocky, rooty southeast single track. The first few miles were tight and twisty, the bike was very smooth thru this section. There were no handling issues, the WB BW1.0 is a great match for this frame. A couple of short parts of these trails on the top of Monte Sano are very fast and the Monk zipped right thru it. I then dropped off the top down to some more technical rocky trails.
The first thing I noticed is the bike is not thrown off course on the rocky downhills. I guess this is mainly due to the weight being 4 lbs heavier than my Leviathan. The Monk ate up anything I could throw at it, I took lines I normally wouldn't take just to see what it would do. I say again, PLUSH, PLUSH and more PLUSH. I didn't do a lot of climbing today but the couple short steep climbs I did the bike seem to climb very well. It seemed like I was pushing at least one bigger gear most of the ride, I think this is due to the efficiency of the suspension. I could not detect any pedal bob. The Swinger SPV shock seemed to work quite well, the end of today's ride is 1 1/2 mile climb on the road back to the top. I pushed the o-ring on the shock up to the seal and at the top it had moved only 1-2mm.
The only negative I could find is the rear is a bit flexy side to side. I'm not 100% sure if it's all the frame or if some of the flex is from the wheel, or maybe a combo of both. The rear wheel is a AC hub laced to a Alex TD-17 rim, which is a bit flexy. I may try another wheel to try to determine if it's the wheel or the frame. I guess the weight may be a negative for some folks, but with the right build kit this bike could be under 30lb easy.
Having ridden a Leviathan, an Asylum and now a Monk, I would have to put the Monk close to the "All Mountain" category. The Asylum would lean toward a all out XC race machine. The Leviathan I would put as a pure cross country ride, but could be raced if needed. The Monk is a bit different, it's a all day, all mountain, do anything bike.
I know I don't have a lot of time on this bike yet, but this is my initial impressions. I guess time will tell.
Steve
The first thing I noticed is the bike is not thrown off course on the rocky downhills. I guess this is mainly due to the weight being 4 lbs heavier than my Leviathan. The Monk ate up anything I could throw at it, I took lines I normally wouldn't take just to see what it would do. I say again, PLUSH, PLUSH and more PLUSH. I didn't do a lot of climbing today but the couple short steep climbs I did the bike seem to climb very well. It seemed like I was pushing at least one bigger gear most of the ride, I think this is due to the efficiency of the suspension. I could not detect any pedal bob. The Swinger SPV shock seemed to work quite well, the end of today's ride is 1 1/2 mile climb on the road back to the top. I pushed the o-ring on the shock up to the seal and at the top it had moved only 1-2mm.
The only negative I could find is the rear is a bit flexy side to side. I'm not 100% sure if it's all the frame or if some of the flex is from the wheel, or maybe a combo of both. The rear wheel is a AC hub laced to a Alex TD-17 rim, which is a bit flexy. I may try another wheel to try to determine if it's the wheel or the frame. I guess the weight may be a negative for some folks, but with the right build kit this bike could be under 30lb easy.
Having ridden a Leviathan, an Asylum and now a Monk, I would have to put the Monk close to the "All Mountain" category. The Asylum would lean toward a all out XC race machine. The Leviathan I would put as a pure cross country ride, but could be raced if needed. The Monk is a bit different, it's a all day, all mountain, do anything bike.
I know I don't have a lot of time on this bike yet, but this is my initial impressions. I guess time will tell.
Steve
