006_007
04-05-2004, 09:54 AM
This is a personal review of the new Knolly V-tach www.knollybikes.com
It all started out for me on Sunday morning @ 10am. I departed for the
trails, with all my riding equipment bar one piece - my bike. It had been pre-organized through Noel and Dave of Knolly Bikes for me to meet them at the trailhead for a ride on their new prototype freeride frame - the V-Tach.
After stopping for a coffee to wake me up (damn time change) I arrive at the meeting spot, followed shortly by Noel and his crew. This is where my impressions of the bike really started to develop.
The bike LOOKS awesome. The pictures of it are nice. But to be able to see it, and the quality of workmanship in it, was very impressive. At this point I was asked to step away from the bikes as I was drooling all over the place.
As I go and lift one of the frames (similarly built up to my Bullit) I immediately notice a slight weight penalty. I am certain that this is due to the ruggedly built rear end/pivot locations of the bike. It looks very very solid. I am even more fascinated with the adjustable wheelbase, and the very slick system he has incorporated for adjusting the head angle.
We are shuttled to the top of the hill, and are assigned the bikes that have been setup for us. I get a nice little silver number, complete with a 04 Super T, and a set of 04 Magura Gustavs. As we pedal over to the trail entrance I am surprised at the pedaling efficiency of such a "heavy" bike. Even more surprising is the fact that it is pedaling comfortably with just a single ring setup. This is already turning out to be interesting. At the entrance to the trail there is a little drop that you can launch at a bit of a warm up. I go and push the bike off with no surprises, but what was the surprise was the landing. It just made a sort of "schwuck" sound, and then stuck to the ground. Noel assures me this is due to the BB height being lower then my Bullit. All I can say is I like this feature! I really noticed this going through rock gardens, and higher speed banked turns, the lower CG just carves through the turns with a huge amount of stability.
Technical trails: The bike was fantastic. The turning radius was very nice. It almost seems like it can turn tighter then many other bikes equipped with a dual crown fork. Only once did I misjudge and hook the slightly lower (then Bullit) BB/bash guard on a rock sticking out.
Steeps: This is where I struggled the most with the brake jack with my Bullit. On the V-Tach this is not a problem to even think about. You brake. The rear still keeps working away with no side effects. I purposely went super slow down one steep rock face just to see how it felt. Then I climbed back up and did it again just to double check. It was great.
Climbing: Although this was a shuttle run, there were a few sections that did require some uphill pedaling. The V-Tach is a heavy bike, but it still pedaled lighter then what it was. There was one uphill technical section that I rarely get through, I was able to nail it perfectly on this bike. Maybe that was just luck? I am not so sure of that.
Negatives: The biggest problem I had on this ride was the amount of dirt I ate. Everything I did on this bike produced a huge grin. At which point flying mother earth was consumed.
Thanks to Noel and Knolly Bikes, I look forward to riding one of your frames again in the near future.
TJ
It all started out for me on Sunday morning @ 10am. I departed for the
trails, with all my riding equipment bar one piece - my bike. It had been pre-organized through Noel and Dave of Knolly Bikes for me to meet them at the trailhead for a ride on their new prototype freeride frame - the V-Tach.
After stopping for a coffee to wake me up (damn time change) I arrive at the meeting spot, followed shortly by Noel and his crew. This is where my impressions of the bike really started to develop.
The bike LOOKS awesome. The pictures of it are nice. But to be able to see it, and the quality of workmanship in it, was very impressive. At this point I was asked to step away from the bikes as I was drooling all over the place.
As I go and lift one of the frames (similarly built up to my Bullit) I immediately notice a slight weight penalty. I am certain that this is due to the ruggedly built rear end/pivot locations of the bike. It looks very very solid. I am even more fascinated with the adjustable wheelbase, and the very slick system he has incorporated for adjusting the head angle.
We are shuttled to the top of the hill, and are assigned the bikes that have been setup for us. I get a nice little silver number, complete with a 04 Super T, and a set of 04 Magura Gustavs. As we pedal over to the trail entrance I am surprised at the pedaling efficiency of such a "heavy" bike. Even more surprising is the fact that it is pedaling comfortably with just a single ring setup. This is already turning out to be interesting. At the entrance to the trail there is a little drop that you can launch at a bit of a warm up. I go and push the bike off with no surprises, but what was the surprise was the landing. It just made a sort of "schwuck" sound, and then stuck to the ground. Noel assures me this is due to the BB height being lower then my Bullit. All I can say is I like this feature! I really noticed this going through rock gardens, and higher speed banked turns, the lower CG just carves through the turns with a huge amount of stability.
Technical trails: The bike was fantastic. The turning radius was very nice. It almost seems like it can turn tighter then many other bikes equipped with a dual crown fork. Only once did I misjudge and hook the slightly lower (then Bullit) BB/bash guard on a rock sticking out.
Steeps: This is where I struggled the most with the brake jack with my Bullit. On the V-Tach this is not a problem to even think about. You brake. The rear still keeps working away with no side effects. I purposely went super slow down one steep rock face just to see how it felt. Then I climbed back up and did it again just to double check. It was great.
Climbing: Although this was a shuttle run, there were a few sections that did require some uphill pedaling. The V-Tach is a heavy bike, but it still pedaled lighter then what it was. There was one uphill technical section that I rarely get through, I was able to nail it perfectly on this bike. Maybe that was just luck? I am not so sure of that.
Negatives: The biggest problem I had on this ride was the amount of dirt I ate. Everything I did on this bike produced a huge grin. At which point flying mother earth was consumed.
Thanks to Noel and Knolly Bikes, I look forward to riding one of your frames again in the near future.
TJ