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Astrix sports Havoc DH frame? Good, Bad, Ugly?

6K views 19 replies 13 participants last post by  ScaryJerry 
#1 ·
Has anyone seen, ridden, heard, smelled, tasted, sexed this bike?
 
#4 ·
i really liked mine... i still have the frame forsale... it is a really good frame... it is really fast, i liked it... it flows of rock gardens better than other bike i have ridden... i would recommend it... a couple of guys on my team ride them as well, and they really dig it as well
 
#6 ·
i ride one, its rides big, it always feels big. It destroys rock garden and drops, really smooth at high speeds and is pretty stable in the air. Only thing I have noticed in the two years i have ridden mine is its not the best bike to turn, its cornering ability is pretty average. Bike has a long wheelbase with a lot of rake, once you get your suspension dialed for your weight and the feel of how the bike handles you get use to it pretty fast. Big open turns are fine, its more of the short turns that you come into with some speed, you end up doing full bike drifts. But yea its a heavy frame, but the weight is low and more towards the rear. Hope that helped.
 
#7 ·
the good:
brutal strong frame. typical very long travel bike, lots of sag. eats the ground in front of you regardless. one of the only long dh bikes that jumps not too bad. land it wrong and the suspension fixes it for you. medium weight for a long bike. very stable. good for southern utah or other go big terrain


the bad:
can't pump anything(bumps or turns). slow off the start, slow outta the turns, slow in the air. hard to recover your line once you lose it. hurts when it lands on you. build ups are made up of bombproof heavy parts to match the frame.


the ugly:
need new frame colors. a bit thick looking.


all in all IMO it is the best long dh bike out.........v10,norco dh, other 10" monster bikes.



BTW i now ride a huckster. much more fun and i am faster on it too.
 
#8 ·




I LOVE my Havoc. My previous bike was an M3 built nearly identical and in review the M3 was a waste of time. Don't get me wrong, the M3 was great, but the Havoc kills the M3.
My havoc is FAR more compliant to small bumps. Pedals better. Far more stable at speed. The floating brake cancels out brake jack. I love the bike.

Where I race it really plows at speed over rocks and rails corners. Sharp tight corners can be a bit slower, but I wouldn't say that it's enough to call them slow turners. I still haul through the tight twisties. You just need to unweight the rear and weight the front between tight switch backs. I also have a fine time sprinting with mine as well. It's extremely snappy!

They are wonderful bikes. I HIGHLY encourage you to really consider one.
-Kevin
 
#9 ·
bmxconvert said:




I LOVE my Havoc. My previous bike was an M3 built nearly identical and in review the M3 was a waste of time. Don't get me wrong, the M3 was great, but the Havoc kills the M3.
My havoc is FAR more compliant to small bumps. Pedals better. Far more stable at speed. The floating brake cancels out brake jack. I love the bike.

Where I race it really plows at speed over rocks and rails corners. Sharp tight corners can be a bit slower, but I wouldn't say that it's enough to call them slow turners. I still haul through the tight twisties. You just need to unweight the rear and weight the front between tight switch backs. I also have a fine time sprinting with mine as well. It's extremely snappy!

They are wonderful bikes. I HIGHLY encourage you to really consider one.
-Kevin
your sig tells me you have a completely unbiased opinion. Thanks
 
#10 ·
mravery said:
your sig tells me you have a completely unbiased opinion. Thanks
It's there because I really enjoy the bike and I know that Astrix is a lesser known/used company. The Havoc is certianly an underated frame and alot of people just don't know the quality and ride of the product. I'd love to see more Astrix out there. I know it's certainly not the frame for everyone, but I know that if there were people around to give me some of their opinions when I was buying I probably never would have bought the Session10 or M3 that came before the Havoc.

-Kevin
 
#13 ·
rep_1969 said:
What the heck are those tabs on the seat tube??
To pop your tire as a punishment for bottom out your suspension?

Really, I had a Astrix Huckster and liked it. It was a medium and I changed to a large Faith. But I didn't get rid of the bike, it was too nice and now my wife is getting into DH so she rides it:thumbsup:

The mono link suspension does eat bumps well and still jumps confidently. The Huckster jumped better than my Faith does, but the Faith is definitely more DH oriented. I was considering a Havoc or just getting a large Huckster, but the Faith was a good price and its a great bike too.

I would consider an Astrix again for a future bike for sure.
 
#14 ·
187 said:
remote shock reservoir?
Bingo!

My frames and '05 and was designed around the Stratos El Jefe. The newer frames have the clearance for the piggy backs to be mounted opposite of mine. They also use an 83mm shell where as mine is a 100mm. The newer frames are slightly lighter as well. My build comes in a 40.16lbs so it's very reasonable.

Remote resevior shock mounted




-Kevin
 
#16 ·
ScaryJerry said:
I loved my Havoc (had the newer version with 83mm shell and an Avalanche rear shock.)

However, I hate the company, and I hated my Union. The Union was the worst 4X/DJ bike I've ever ridden. ISCG tabs welded incorrectly, poor dropouts, etc.
What's your reasoning for hating the company? They provide excellent customer service, quality bikes and all of it at a great price.

I'm sorry you had trouble with your Union. We've got 2 built up and running right now and they hold up great. One is built with a 145mm fork and used for DH, the other is mine and used for slalom/urban/4x and commuting. We both love ours. The bike is nice and stiff, the adjustable dropouts allow us to get our bikes dialed the way that we like them and the welds and alignment is spot on.

Please provide reasoning for the hating and how the Union is so terrible.

-Kevin
 
#17 ·
I have to say Astrix has been good about getting back to me for my Huckster. I changed the spring when I bought it, then again when my wife started using it, I gave them our weights and they told me what they designed the bike for. Then I had another question about bolts and fittings I believe. I got a hold of them here on mtbr and they were always good about responding (usually a day or so).
 
#20 ·
Hating the company: constantly felt like I was dealing with an upstart pretending to be a bike manufacturer out of someones garage. They'd frequently refer me to BTI as they were unsure of their own inventory and figured it would be easier for me to work with them. Didn't seem very professional, hence the reason we dropped the brand.

Hating the Union: total pedal dragger. Unless I had a 150mm fork on it (for 4x? no thanks), I would constantly dig my pedals on flat turns. No way you could pedal through unless you were running 160mm cranks... My personal Union had the ISCG tabs welded on crooked, not parallel to the face of the BB shell. They recommended I attempt to fix this by placing shim washers between the tabs and chainguide. This might've worked if the tabs weren't already welded flush with the BB face. Any shims would push the chainguide way out of alignment. ISCG standard calls for a 3-5mm setback of the tabs from the BB face. Also, the dropouts were prone to slipping backwards, even with the bolts torqued above spec. The built in tension bolts are a great feature, but did little to prevent slipping backwards on the non-drive side.

Now, I'm not saying Astrix makes a bunch of ****. I loved my Havoc, I love the Rook, the Huckster is an awesome bike. The Union needs to get it's act together though.

Final thoughts for the OP: if it seems like you'd like the Havoc, get it.
 
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