Knolly Endophin:
We basically came away with the same impressions we had last year- an extremely solid bike in every regard. It pedals superbly, handles brilliantly, and it's easy to get comfortable in the rangy cockpit. At first glance the 165mm Zoke 55 ATA may seem like a lot of fork for this bike (which I think normally seems to lean towards the rough side of epic XC more akin to the Spot et al.), but the 55 complimented the Knolly very well along with the big and grabby Maxxis ADvantage tires. In fact, as a package I can not think of any changes I would make to the Endorphin for Bootleg Canyon riding. Noel said he had learned from last year's feedback concerning bike setup and was going to make an effort to cater the setup more to desert riding and I have to say he came through in spades. The somewhat slack seat angle could make sizing an operation in careful seatpost selection (layback verses straight) and I wonder if the Gravity Dropper style posts would play nice, but it seems less slack than the Delerium's. The cable routing is clean and everything neatly in its place and well thought out. It cut through rock gardens and landed small drops with confidence. A super bike in every regard.

The 55 fork felt great but just a little less plush than my (very broken in) 06 66SL. The 55 had a somewhat more "mechanical" feel to it which may have been seals, and it exhibited perhaps a bit more brake dive and a softer midstroke. The PAR chamber is quite different compared to my 06 and so some of this can probably be tuned out. The thru axle simply screws in until it comes snug. Nothing fancy or expanding like the Maxle. You need to depress a spring loaded safety tooth on the far side of the axle to unscrew it from the fork, but other than that it is very straight forward. It was plush like a good Zoke is, and the ATA offered very noticeable detents though it takes a fair number of turns to run through the range. The TST Micro is very similar to Rockshox' Motion Control in application. You preset the preload on the damper orifice via the Micro knob (a bit similar to RS's Floodgate) and then dial in the amount compression damping via the TST knob. You have 5 detents unlike RS's smooth turning knob. The chassis is stout and the arch huge compared to recent Zokes. THe TST is supposedly still a bladder but housed in a cart like in the Fox 36 forks. Time will tell if this is good or bad.

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Very nice..........probably one of the most interesting designed frames I've seen in awhile ( meaning I'm interested ) ! :cool: The one thing that kinda bugs me is the slacker seat tube angle than what I am accustomed to on frames I've owned ! Also , to get picky it looks like the FD cable will rub the main pivot shell ! If I get a Knolly this will be the one ( Endorphin that is ) ! :) TIG.

Very nice..........probably one of the most interesting designed frames I've seen in awhile ( meaning I'm interested ) ! :cool: The one thing that kinda bugs me is the slacker seat tube angle than what I am accustomed to on frames I've owned ! Also , to get picky it looks like the FD cable will rub the main pivot shell ! If I get a Knolly this will be the one ( Endorphin that is ) ! :) TIG.
The slack seat tube angle still puts the saddle in the same place (in conjucntion with the seatpost/saddle rail adjustment). I don't have an Endorphin, but my Free Radical is the same design and I position the saddle on the rails where it needs to be when I'm in my normal seated climbing/riding position. When I lower the saddle for tech stuff or DH'ing, the saddle also moves forward by virtue the slack angle. Works very well.

Re: the FD cable rubbing the BB shell/pivot, if you look closely at this pic, you can see there is a guide in place to address this. Pretty standard practice.

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1401/1436509054_0ee036eedd_o.jpg

The slack seat tube angle still puts the saddle in the same place (in conjucntion with the seatpost/saddle rail adjustment). I don't have an Endorphin, but my Free Radical is the same design and I position the saddle on the rails where it needs to be when I'm in my normal seated climbing/riding position. When I lower the saddle for tech stuff or DH'ing, the saddle also moves forward by virtue the slack angle. Works very well.

Re: the FD cable rubbing the BB shell/pivot, if you look closely at this pic, you can see there is a guide in place to address this. Pretty standard practice.

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1401/1436509054_0ee036eedd_o.jpg


Yeah thanks ..............should have known better all my recent frames have been using a top pull FD set up ! :rolleyes: If I like what I hear about the new Endorphin in the next few weeks it will be a safe bet I'll own one by next Spring ! Sure wish I could try one but no dealers in my neck of the woods !

Oh yeah.........nice Interbike show pictures & reports as usual tscheezy ! :thumbsup: TIG.

Sure wish I could try one but no dealers in my neck of the woods !


And where might your neck of the woods be? We have been opening dealers across the country since Interbike. Who knows your luck.

Thanks for the kind words, BTW.

Tim

tscheezus !~!

now, where is the dealer in my neck of the woods ?~?

Nice post Tscheezy! Wondering if I can justify owning A Sultan AND an Endorphin . . .

.... and I position the saddle on the rails where it needs to be when I'm in my normal seated climbing/riding position. When I lower the saddle for tech stuff or DH'ing, the saddle also moves forward by virtue the slack angle. Works very well.

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1401/1436509054_0ee036eedd_o.jpg

Exactly.
Plus you wouldn't know how great(for lack of a better word) this feature is(seatpost/seat out of the way for the steep and tech stuff) until you try it.
Lets you concentrate on your line more, I don't know why, but it's true.