Mountain Bike Reviews Forum banner

First 10+ mile ride DB Mission 2

1K views 17 replies 8 participants last post by  Ktse 
#1 ·
Finally had the chance to take my 10 Mission 2 for a real ride. Been out a few other times but nothing over 5 miles. I do have to say this bike kicks some serious ass. It blew me away at how well it climbs. I am certainly not in the greatest of shape and was riding with 2 other people who ride weekly. 1 on a giant the other on a specialized. Needless to say after 5+ miles of ascending they were no where to be found. Never even engaged the propedal. The descent was fairly technical steep narrow trails with lots of rock gardens etc. The mission took it all in stride. Did manage to take a couple of spills 2 of which i can blame on still not being used to clipless. All in all i couldnt be more pleased with this bike and if you are looking for a great all mountain rig at pretty decent price i would give this bike a a hard look.

 
See less See more
1
#4 ·
Played with the shocks on some shorter rides and pretty confident ive got em dialed. Also been dealing with fox shocks for awhile now as i run them on my atv. They are pretty similar across the board. My friend on the other hand had his way to stiff. Jumped on his bike for awhile and it was like riding a hardtail. The knucklebox system on the db works amazing. When you climb you dont get hardly any bob but it still soaks up the terrain very very well. And we were going over some pretty uneven rocky terrain.
 
#6 ·
I got my sortie in today at work, need to build it up this weekend! I took it out of the box for a peek and man the finish is amazing on it. DBs lower end bikes like the response series the paint is flaky, but the finish on these bad boys is top notch.

I'm really excited to see how the Knucklebox works, it should work exactly how you say it does. And if it does, I'll be ordering a mission next year fo sho. I'll post up a ride report on mine as soon as it gets build and ridden.

Jealous though.
 
#7 ·
YamiRider1316 said:
Played with the shocks on some shorter rides and pretty confident ive got em dialed. Also been dealing with fox shocks for awhile now as i run them on my atv. They are pretty similar across the board. My friend on the other hand had his way to stiff. Jumped on his bike for awhile and it was like riding a hardtail. The knucklebox system on the db works amazing. When you climb you dont get hardly any bob but it still soaks up the terrain very very well. And we were going over some pretty uneven rocky terrain.
Cool. I have the same Mission 2 as you, and definitely noticed some bob with properly set sag. Technically knucklebox does very little to prevent bob. The main advantage of knucklebox is that it allowed the frame designer to set a specific shock leverage ratio.
 
#8 ·
Vertr said:
Cool. I have the same Mission 2 as you, and definitely noticed some bob with properly set sag. Technically knucklebox does very little to prevent bob. The main advantage of knucklebox is that it allowed the frame designer to set a specific shock leverage ratio.
steep ascents and when im standing yeah theres definitely some bob. A good portion of this most recent ride though was a very long gradual rocky grade and it was here that i guess my "review" or whatever you want to call it was referring too. Honestly i am new to full susp bikes so there prob was some bob goin on but overall i was pretty blown away at how the bike climbed even with the propedal turned off.
 
#9 ·
Vertr said:
Cool. I have the same Mission 2 as you, and definitely noticed some bob with properly set sag. Technically knucklebox does very little to prevent bob. The main advantage of knucklebox is that it allowed the frame designer to set a specific shock leverage ratio.
I own the 2011 Diamondback Mission 2 and I am in the same shoes as YamiRider1316. I have taken my bike out only a few times this year so far since the trails are all really wet from the spring weather, but the 13+ mile ride I did take, the Mission climbed like a goat. I was keeping pace with a XC rider on a hardtail through some of the climbs even. I did notice a tiny bit of bob, but never was there a moment where I felt it dipped more than a half of an inch, nor did I lose any power or traction from it. I did flip the propedal on once to see the difference, and the bike felt like a hardtail in the climbs. It's not needed, and it does not make a huge difference, but the propedal does help a tiny bit with climbs.

Overall though, to add to the stoke of this thread, I have ridden this bike two times at Ray's MTB park in Cleveland here, going through the jump lines even (I definitely didn't get as much air as a DJ bike, but) this bike maintains a ton of speed because of how smooth it is. The one trail ride I took, I played around with the flow of the bike on the trail, and this bike is like a kid in a sand box. It loves to play! ... Coincidentally, so do I! I did compare this bike to the Giant Reign 2 before buying it, and overall the Mission won out for the slightly better spec sheet and a very similar ride. Demo one at your local shop if they have them. Great bike!
 
#11 ·
That would be his fault, not the bike's. I didn't have a problem at all, and that's two rides that were fairly aggressive. I mainly rode it there to get on the bike and ride considering the snow was just melting, and I've been far too busy with school to get out and check out any local trails right now. The bike was bomb proof and a blast at Rays, and the same on the trail!
 
#12 ·
Glad you like your bike! Another happy Mission owner here. This is my second season on my 08 Mission 3 and I get more and more impressed! Last year I always engaged propedal for climbs because I thought that's what I was "supposed to do". Well this year I played with it flipping it back and forth and I have to say I think it climbs better without the propedal. I only get any noticeable bob if I'm standing and really getting after it with higher speeds like on a fire road or something. For slower speed stuff (even standing) I like to leave the shock open. In fact, the only time I engage it anymore is if there's a climb along a fire road or something. If the climb it technical at all the shock stays open.

People can theorize about what the suspension system should or shouldn't do all they want, but until you ride it you won't understand. Excellent bike!
 
#14 ·
It's mostly because of the bad talk that Diamondback's get on the bike shop level. A perfect example of this was at a trip to Ray's, I demo'd the Scratch Air by Trek, and really had fun on it. I then ran into a guy from a LBS in the area that talked with me about what I thought about it, and such. When I mentioned to him that I was thinking about a Diamondback Mission 2, he instantly said, "What? Why? You just tried out a bike that is ten times better then anything Diamondback has to offer. I know. I used to sell them at another shop I used to work at." So, I then probed and asked him "Why?" His response was that the suspension design, even on the Sorties and Missions was too flexy on the rear of the bike. I'm not sure if this guy had only sold them in their first year, or what, but I thought he was off of his rocker when I heard this. Granted, I have heard of the Sortie have a minute amount of rear frame flex, it's nothing that you won't feel in other bikes... and it's probably the wheel frames rather then the swingarm. But anyways, my point is... every bike shop that I've been in, when I objectively ask them what they think of the Diamondback Mission line, to get their opinions, I usually only get negative responses. It's rather funny though. The one shop I did this to shot down the DB Mission, and proceeded to try and convince me to buy a specialized enduro. I then said, "I'll be right back" got the mission out of my car, rolled it in, and asked them if they carried the Jagwire Ripcord cables so I could see how they looked on my bike... the few customers that had overheard the conversation were pretty impressed and the bike tech sneered at me, pointed to the cables, and then walked away. haha.

Anyways, that's my little rant/story. Really, it comes down to the people that do have the Missions, let a riding buddy try it out (if you trust them enough with your bike) and just see how they like it compared to what they have. The people that I have heard of doing this say that their buddies roll back with a huge grin on their face.
 
#15 ·
YamiRider1316 said:
Seem like everybody that owns a mission is really happy with it. I wonder why you dont hear more about DB or see more of them out there. I had a couple people ask me "what the hell kinda bike is that?" on that last ride.
It's because they also sell another line up of bikes that are comparable to toys. While I was browsing Sportchek (basically the Canadian version of Dick's) I saw this bike on the floor. At first I thought it was a Sortie or a Mission because it looked like it had a very similar suspension linkage like the knucklebox. After closer inspection I realized it was all junk except for maybe the fork. It's stuff like that which does no favour for the brand in terms of prestige or quality.
 
#16 ·
In Aus if you want to buy a diamondback mission you can get one of these!!!! http://www.bigw.com.au/BIGDEALS/bpnBIGW_0000000253862/diamondback-mission-66cm-dual-susp-mtb
frame actually looks similar, parts??? anyone have any idea on these frames? would they be made in the same factory (i cant imagine so). I find it odd that they use the same mission name!
Can imagine people will think I bought a bike from Big W (like walmart etc) and decked it out with fox and sram gear!!
Ha ha if only they knew!! :D :D
This is the Aussie Diamondback website for you- http://www.diamondback.com.au/
 
#17 ·
Ktse- I would be curious if you would be able to call up Diamondback customer service in the USA here and ask if that is indeed the actual sortie frame that they sell here. If it is, you could possibly see about upgrading everything on the bike. You would need one of the real knuckle boxes, enduro bearings, and all of the components, etc. You'd have to weigh the prices and see if it's worth it, but it looks like the frame of the bike on that link you gave is a sortie frame in disguise, minus the real knuckle box.

Pow77- The bike you're showing looks just like the same case as Ktse, but the frame on the bike that they're selling to you guys down in Aus is a '07-'08 mission frame. Again, maybe contact Diamondback here and see if they can confirm that it's the same bike and not just a knock off.
 
#18 ·
Dagair002 said:
Ktse- I would be curious if you would be able to call up Diamondback customer service in the USA here and ask if that is indeed the actual sortie frame that they sell here. If it is, you could possibly see about upgrading everything on the bike. You would need one of the real knuckle boxes, enduro bearings, and all of the components, etc. You'd have to weigh the prices and see if it's worth it, but it looks like the frame of the bike on that link you gave is a sortie frame in disguise, minus the real knuckle box.

Pow77- The bike you're showing looks just like the same case as Ktse, but the frame on the bike that they're selling to you guys down in Aus is a '07-'08 mission frame. Again, maybe contact Diamondback here and see if they can confirm that it's the same bike and not just a knock off.
Though it does look similar, it's most definitely not the same frame, the rear triangle is not the same. The welds are also a dead giveaway... appalling.

I can tell you already it's far cheaper to just buy a new sortie than sink at least 500-700 bucks into this bike shaped object for all the parts that may not even be compatible with the frame.
 
You have insufficient privileges to reply here.
Top