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Guerilla Gravity Megatrail. Any Thoughts?

239K views 2K replies 163 participants last post by  342998 
#1 ·
#65 ·
Captain Spaulding:

Since the bike has such a slack HA I have found the dual position pike to be helpful, but only on very steep climbs. On everything else it just lives in tall position.

On more mild trails (at least with the build that I have) Megatrail honestly is not as fun as my Pivot was. For getting rowdy on milder trails the Pivot was flawless. But, I specifically got the Megatrail to take the place of the Pivot since I moved to an area with waaay bigger, badder trails (Southern Oregon from AZ) and the Pivot was in over it's head on a regular basis. However, for a big, capable bike the Megatrail is really versatile. It climbs surprisingly well, corners like crazy, handles the gnarly stuff like a boss and just feels stout and stable. And in trail mode, especially with a lighter build spec, the thing would be very much at home logging some more mellow trail time.

But the fact that a mid-20 lb, snappy, aggressive trail bike like the Mach 5.7 is more fun for mellower, pedally trail riding than a 30+ lb, low, slack 6" AM bike, dressed to shred shouldn't really be a surprise to anyone. It's all about picking the right bike for the stuff you actually ride most, not what you wish you rode most of the time. The Megatrail can cover a lot of bases well though, and really comes to life in the fast, rad stuff, as one would expect.
 
#154 ·
A little over a week ago I met up with Theron at Bootleg Canyon to demo the Megatrail. It was a large raw frame set up with an MRP Stage, CCDBA w/cs, Atomic carbon rims, x-7 drive train, xt brakes, and some other odds and ends. For comparison's sake, I'm 6'3", 225 lbs without gear, and I generally ride alpine trails. I'd describe myself as an intermediate+ rider with a current fitness level of 'meh'. If I could be on any trail right now, instead of in a cubicle, it would be the Whole Enchilada in Moab.

I would describe the build quality of the bike as 'industrial'. Everything seems a little bit bigger than I would expect from the big manufacturers. Various parts are machined to decrease the weight of the bike, and it is obviously well thought out and well constructed. The bike appears to be constructed with straight tubes formed and shaped to make the frame. Almost all bike brands seem to be using hydroformed tubes these days, so this gives the Megatrail an instant distinction in its looks. I wouldn't call the frame sexy, but I would call it manly, burly, and rugged (which is what I prefer in something I intend on abusing). I'm the kind of person that wants a bike for its functionality, not as a trophie to show off, so looks weren't high on my priority in making a decision, but I do like the bike's appearance and it's growing on me daily. There was a black and red themed small Megatrail (BAMF edition?) with the racing crew at Bootleg that looked very nice (as sexy as I expect this frame is able to be) and has me wanting to follow the same color theme.

The first ride I took it on was the Skyline trail to Girl Scout back to the loading area of the shuttle truck. The bike was in gravity mode for this ride. I had quite a few pedal strikes. This was the first time I've used flats instead of clipless pedals in six years; so take that into consideration. I had mixed feelings about the bike after that first little bit. After Skyline, I finished up riding down Girl Scout, and pedal strikes weren't much of an issue there. The bike was fun, fast, and cornered better than I expected.

After reaching the bottom, I switched the bike into trail mode and immediately felt the added clearance and more upright positioning. Having come from a 2008 Stumpjumper that I've tweaked the size on to fit me, I was surprised that the Megatrail felt even more comfortable than that bike. For all it's rugged appearances, it felt like relaxing into a favorite recliner. I substituted Skyline for Boy Scout and rode out on Girl Scout again (I tried to ride the same features so as to make an objective comparision between modes). For these trails, trail mode was the way to go. Pedal strikes were gone, and the overall ride was very enjoyable.

At last I swapped to my 2008 XL Stumpjumper to be see the difference. The stumpjumper has a proprietary fox triad on the rear and a 120 mm Fox Float 32 on the front. I decided to let a little air out of the fork to make it a little more plush and reset the air in the rear as well because I knew the bike wouldn't feel as nice as the Megatrail with it's superior components. The Stumpy felt like I expected it to, a bit more chattery and jarring than the Megatrail. My wife trailed me on all of these rides and had no problem keeping up with me on my old bike, whereas with the Megatrail I had to occasionally stop and wait for her. The difference in speed was apparent, and I had switched back to clipless for the the Stumpy!

Theron with the GG crew let me take the Megatrail I demoed home with me. While I don't really believe it makes a difference in the product, I enjoy supporting more locally based businesses, and the fact that I can get an email from the guys who are actually building these bikes. Guerilla Gravity is able to work with builds to help keep budgets in check to a degree that is fairly uncommon these days. It seems that bike manufacturers are only offering a couple select builds with their top end models, so seeing GG offer the flexibility they do was a breath of fresh air (the range of color options is pretty impressive).

Since then I've taken the bike to the Ogden Bike Park in Utah just to see how it felt on more jumpy terrain. I left the bike in gravity mode and it felt great the entire time. I had maybe 2 pedal strikes from pedaling when I shouldn't have over several hours of riding. My skill set held me back here and not the bike.

In summary, I was looking for as close to a do-it-all bike as I could get to replace the Stumpjumper (I can't really afford a stable of bikes) and the Megatrail delivered. It is a great bike built by a great group of guys for someone who still wants to climb like they are riding an XC bike while not having to feel like they are on an XC bike on the way down. It doesn't feel like there is any overlap between the Megatrail and the Stumpjumper; the Megatrail does everything better. My stoke level for riding hasn't been higher in years.

As a note, props to the Guerilla Gravity guys for working with my wife to surprise me with the demo at Bootleg Canyon. I was planning on taking a trip to Denver to demo the Megatrail while my wife was planning a surprise anniversary trip to Las Vegas. She planned on going to Bootleg before I had told her that the GG guys would be there and I could get a demo there instead of Colorado. Props to Will @ GG for helping her out to be sure I could get a bike to ride on and to Theron for delivering. Everything fell into place wonderfully and I'm happy it did. If anyone wants to check out a large Megatrail near Provo Utah, send me a PM and we can arrange something.
 
#168 ·
You could probably run a cane creek coil with a reducer if needed. As long as the id of the coil is close it should not cause you problems. It does sound like the push spec'd coils will be better or maybe lighter than standard steel.
ELEVENSIX uses a specifically engineered suspension spring, so using a standard compression spring found on a production MTB shock is not possible even with a reducer as it would interfere with the retainers and spring bearing system.

I think it's also important to point out that with ELEVENSIX we have the ability to alter how progressive the spring curve is by altering the bump stop used. The melon colored bumper seen in the photo that Matt posted up for instance generates an additional 600lbs of spring load over the last roughly 45mm of wheel travel. We have the rod bumpers in 6 different densities to alter that characteristic per application.

Really stoked to have had the opportunity to work on , and ride this bike. Big thanks to the GG crew. This bike rips! :thumbsup:

Darren
 
#175 ·
Hi Darren,

I would like to suggest that you offer a line of cosmetic covers for the ElevenSix shock to make it look like existing shocks on the market. My girlfriend is pretty observant when it comes to my bike and would definitely notice the switch from my current CCDB Air to the ElevenSix, and I feel as though a simple fabric cover printed to look like the DBair from afar may be enough to prevent her from going in for a closer look and discovering my impulsive (yet necessary) purchase.

I did some quick calculations, and I believe that this cover will allow deceitful spouses like myself to purchase the shock without fear of discovery, and this should increase your sales of the ElevenSix by roughly 500%.
 
#202 ·
View attachment 999104
View attachment 999105

That Smorgasbord looks huge for a 2.25. That thing pedal okay? Good call on the ChMonk, too. Big 27.5 tires are kind of hard to find...the 2.4 is easily on par with a 2.5 DHF, at least in 29er size. You find that to be true for the 650 version, cytoe?
The Smorgasbord pedals fine, but I like knobby tires. I ran this combo (now a DHR2 on the rear) on my Rip RDO. The knobs on the this 650 version looks a little shorter than the 29er one...weird. The 38mm LB rims makes the tires wider too. The widths for the Smorg and CM are the same as the 29er (same rim). I don't have a 2.5 DHF, so I can't say how they compare, but the price is right:)
 
#251 ·
Megatrail Update

So I've been on my Large Megatrail for close to six months now, and have racked up 400+ miles and 55k of climbing. This bike continues to be everything I want and need in a "do-it all" bike.

Rider Profile: Engineer with BS in Mechanical Eng, and MS in Manufacturing Eng. Tech. (I know a thing or two about product design and manufacturing, and I think that Guerrilla Gravity is doing a lot of things right on their bikes!). 27 years old, 6' 2", sitting at about 245 lb without gear, and I am currently in the best shape of my life, thanks largely to the Megatrail (not saying that the heft of the bike is helping me get in shape, just that the extreme amounts of pleasure I derive from riding the bike has me out in the hills more often than any other bike that I have owned). I have been riding primarily in Trail mode, and switch to Super Gravity when things get chunky; but even Trail mode is extremely capable so I don't tend to change it all that often.

I have been known in my area for a while now as being the big guy that can shred, and most people are very surprised when they find out that I am the Shawn that they have been seeing on the Strava leader-boards. Prior to receiving the Megatrail I had already racked up some KOM's and top 10's in the local area on some of the more DH oriented trails, but the Megatrail is enabling me to best all of my previous PR's/KOM's while adding new ones in the mix (ones that actually require some degree of fitness!). Some of this is due to the fact that I have lost about 20 lb since getting the Mega, and some of it is down to my skill level increasing, but there is one thing that is certain; The Megatrail is not a limiting factor at all when it comes to riding, up or down.

The takeaway of the previous paragraph is basically that I have no concerns about the durability of this frame. At my weight and at the speeds that I like to ride at, I am pretty good at finding component weaknesses, and over the years I have racked up my fair share of broken parts (frames, swingarms, cranks, pedals, forks, shocks, a crap-load of hubs, rims, basically everything there is to break). I do not think that the Megatrail frame will find its way on to this list.

I am hoping that as I loose more weight I will be able to get the DBAir to feel a bit better; the top of stroke feels pretty terrible at the pressures I have to run, but at sag and while riding the shock feels pretty darn good. This is not a function of the Megatrail leverage curve or something to do with the frame itself; I had the exact same thing occur on my last bike (Ibis HDR w/CCDBA), I simply have to run a lot of pressure in my shock to achieve the proper sag. I still have the dream of loosing enough weight to run the ElevenSix, but I am not sure if getting down to 210 lb's is realistic for my build, so I will have to wait until they expand their spring rate selection to cater to us big-boys.

Side Note: I am a part time employee of a local bike shop (been part time for 10+ years while going through school), and have access to EP pricing on Trek, Norco, Intense and Ibis frames; there is not a single frame that any of these manufacturers produce that I would consider trading my Megatrail for. Are there bikes that I wouldn't mind adding to the stable, yes, most definitely (enter ubiquitous N+1 equation), but there is nothing that these well known manufacturers produce that I can see matching the extensive range that the Megatrail possesses; and since I am relegated to be a "one-bike" man for the foreseeable future, the Megatrail wins, hands down.

I just wanted to give the guys/gals at Guerrilla Gravity a big thank you for producing the most bad-ass bike on the market, in my humble opinion.

Shawn
 
#322 ·
Just got back a little bit ago from the first ride and all I can say is wow! Bike performed super well and I even got some of my fastest times at my local trails on the MegaTrail. Not bad for a first ride! The bike is not the lightest with the coil, but I felt like it made up for that with performance (both up and down). Even on the climb up I messed with the climb switch turning it on and off to see what my preference was. To be honest I think I prefer to have the climb switch off and be able to feel exactly what the back wheel is doing and get great traction too. The weight was a non issue going up as I was able to climb everything I could on full carbon bikes and like I said early I was faster going down. On the descents the bike felt so confident and I liked the added weight for when going through chunky stuff. The MegaTrail was so confident and playful in Trail mode and I'm looking forward to experimenting with the different shock positions to see what suits my style best. As far as the coil goes it was great, even with the stock tune and settings. I messed with a few things to suit my style about half way down a long descent and now it feels even better then before. As with all the Cane Creek shocks I am sure I will be tinckering with it all the time, always trying to make things better. What is nice about this coil is I can make it super plush for the downs and just use the climb switch to stiffen things up a bit for the climbs. Overall I am super impressed with the bike and both Matt and Will at GG. They went above and beyond my expectations and made one hell of a bike!

Bicycle tire Bicycle wheel rim Nature Bicycle wheel Bicycle frame
 
#326 ·
Just got back a little bit ago from the first ride and all I can say is wow! Bike performed super well and I even got some of my fastest times at my local trails on the MegaTrail. Not bad for a first ride! The bike is not the lightest with the coil, but I felt like it made up for that with performance (both up and down). Even on the climb up I messed with the climb switch turning it on and off to see what my preference was. To be honest I think I prefer to have the climb switch off and be able to feel exactly what the back wheel is doing and get great traction too. The weight was a non issue going up as I was able to climb everything I could on full carbon bikes and like I said early I was faster going down. On the descents the bike felt so confident and I liked the added weight for when going through chunky stuff. The MegaTrail was so confident and playful in Trail mode and I'm looking forward to experimenting with the different shock positions to see what suits my style best. As far as the coil goes it was great, even with the stock tune and settings. I messed with a few things to suit my style about half way down a long descent and now it feels even better then before. As with all the Cane Creek shocks I am sure I will be tinckering with it all the time, always trying to make things better. What is nice about this coil is I can make it super plush for the downs and just use the climb switch to stiffen things up a bit for the climbs. Overall I am super impressed with the bike and both Matt and Will at GG. They went above and beyond my expectations and made one hell of a bike!

View attachment 1034510
Thanks for the preliminary impressions. South Mountain? I've ridden quite a bit in AZ (Phoenix, Tucson and Sedona) and can't imagine a better bike for those trails than the Megatrail.
 
#428 ·
Anyone else here think that GG have earned their own brand thread in the Bike Manufacturers section?? I don't own a GG bike (as of yet) but the strides they are making in the industry with their bikes, their new purchase option to include local bike shops and just overall great reputation for a handmade in the USA company certainly gets my vote for this! Plus there's more activity in a couple of threads than many of the manu threads - so only seems logical !! Moderators - what say ye??
 
#520 ·
fixed



Just following up to say thanks to Mike and the rest of the fine folks at GG for the quick turnaround on my frame issue once the communication went through. The bike is riding great now.

On another note, I've had the pleasure riding the PUSH elevensix shock on my megatrail. Without getting into much detail, I'll just say that it's a really impressive shock and it fits the character of the GG perfectly.
 
#602 ·
Figured i'd share my experience this past weekend. I have a megatrail with a 11-6 and I always just run it in the gravity or trail mode and never mess with the front shock bolt for super gravity and super trail. This past weekend we rode Tamarancho which has a lot of climbing with technical bits. I have to say in the super trail mode with the shock in DH mode it was amazing how efficient the bike climbs and scales up the technical bits compared to the normal trail mode. Also, on the down hill sections by having the bike in Super Gravity there is so much more pop and playful nature while still sucking up the hits and keeping your speed up.

I'm even more impressed with the bike now, I was contemplating getting the carbon patrol for a lighter build since mine is 32 lbs. but after this weekend I cant foresee me taking the chance and not having the versatility that this bike has.
 
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