This bike is a perfect example of why I question most of Steve from Hardtail Party’s opinions. He supposedly designed the perfect 130 travel Hardtail and on his first ride he wanted a 140 fork and to change the seat angle. People pay this guy to tell them what bike to buy and he can’t even design his own bike right. Do your own research. Ride as many demo bikes as you can and learn what you like and what you would change before spending a lot on a Ti bike
Everyone's entitled to their own opinion, and I respect that. However, you're making some incorrect assumptions here that I feel the need to clarify and set the record straight.
Here's how prototyping works (not all companies do this):
We send dimensions and drawings to the factory. They tell us they can build it. We pay them to make us a prototype. It arrives and isn't consistent with what we asked for. This feedback, in turn, makes it into the next model, and we prototype that before we press go on the order. This is the purpose of prototyping. Those unfamiliar with bike design and building don't understand this, many expect perfection first round.
The prototype bike was not built to my specifications regarding the seat angle. Somewhere along the line there was a communication breakdown, and the factory built the seat tube FAR too steep (at least 2* steeper than the already steep requested sta). I had nothing to do with this. Now... I know some people are skeptical and they're looking for reasons not to trust me, and I can't help that. However, doesn't the fact that I'd highlight some things I didn't love about my prototype indicate integrity rather than deception?
So many companies don't show the behind the scenes development process, including mistakes. Instead, they pay Pinkbike to become a sponsor and get their featured article in there, and then they hire a great marketing person, make a great shreddit, and sell a ton of the bikes.
I'm just a dude like most everyone else in this thread who loves bikes. I'm not a pro rider, I'm not a shredder, but I've been fortunate enough to ride a ton of amazing hardtails. I've been able to take what I've learned from my favorite ones, and improve in some areas where other companies aren't willing to go, and try to design a better bike. If that's not your cup of tea, no worries. I'm just here to spread the stoke of hardtails and try to make them better.
Stoked to see some of the completed maniaks here.
One more thing I'll say about the maniak... It's not a swiss army knife. It's not my first pick for green trails. It's not even my first pick for bikepacking, but I still bikepack on it. I understand most people don't have 5+ hardtails in their stable to pick from, so I wanted to make this as versatile as possible, without compromising its true design: to ride the types of trails I like to ride better than anything else I've found. I hope those who trusted my reviews and content enough to purchase one enjoy the bike and truly love it. I'm excited to hear more people chime in on how it rides and what they think of it.
binarybicycles.com
