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A Whole New World

4K views 37 replies 12 participants last post by  Erock503 
#1 ·
No not Aladdin, but me on a hardtail. I've been on full suspension 29ers exclusively for the past 6 years with most of those having 120+mm of travel. So to say that moving to a hardtail, albeit a carbon badass one, was somewhat frightening especially without the option to demo one first.

Background: I live and ride in NW Georgia with frequent trips to Chattanooga, TN. If you've ever ridden here, you'd notice that a lot of folks are on hardtails with a large percentage of those being rigid SS. This got me to thinking, am I missing something here? Am I buying and riding bikes that suit my trails? Don't get me wrong, if you want to find a trail that has punishing long climbs and sustained DH you can, but I find myself riding mostly trails that are punchy with quick/steep ups and just as quick downs. Generating as much speed as you can in about 50 yards or less is the difference between jumping those rollers or just pumping them.

I was one of the first people to get on the Riot pre-order list because the geometry simply blew my mind. I was very familiar with that category of bikes in terms of travel, but had never seen one with such perfect geometry. The Riot was my first Canfield bike and I must say I was blown away. I made several trips over the course of the fall to trails that I had ridden on lesser bikes, but the Riot is so capable and comfortable that it made it seem almost too easy. Fast forward a few months and I've got kid #3 coming in May, my soon to be 6 year old is wanting more and more to come along for rides(which I'm super happy about) and the frequency with which I was making those hour long drives to Chattanooga and the like was getting less and less. On the weekends I'd rather ride with my son and the Riot was sadly under-utilized on those types of trails as you could imagine.

In the meantime I keep reading review after review about how awesome the Canfield hardtails are and the thought of owning an EPO became more and more tempting. After a series of PM's with EPO owners(you know who you are) and emails with Vin and Sean, I took the leap.

I got my frame this past Monday and had my first ride on Tuesday. Going from the Riot to EPO was both familiar and polar opposite at the same time. The fit and geometry of the EPO felt immediately natural to me, yet the lack of 140mm of Formula suspension was...lets just say noticeable.

Now not noticeable in a bad way, just different. I was now paying attention to the trail more, picking lines, standing up and attacking, pumping etc. Skills that I was getting somewhat lazy about honing since the Riot is the ultimate mistake-eraser. All that aside, the end result was a sigh of relief. I knew that I was onto something good.

Second ride was today, twice as long as Tuesday, and much more rocks and sections of flat-out eye watering flow and berms. In the car on the way to the trailhead I started second-guessing myself. Did I make a huge mistake? Am I a moron for selling the Riot? Within the first quarter mile there is a short downhill that is littered with rocks and roots. I hit it at Riot speed and was quickly reminded that I was on a hardtail. Not horrible, but definitely different. Luckily, I felt at ease as soon as I hit the first section of twisty, undulating trail. I found myself standing with the dropper down for the first 2 miles, trying to get in as many pedals strokes as possible before tucking and diving into the berms. I was carrying plenty of speed and the handling was superb. I had to pay much more attention to those occasional rocks and roots, but with the razor sharp steering of the EPO I was able to navigate them without much trouble. I noticed today that I skidded my rear tire more than ever(sorry) since I was able to bob and weave through the woods at a higher rate of speed than I was used to.

It's still early and I know some of this is seen through the eyes of new bike stoke, but I'm excited about what's to come.

The obvious question is, which is better the Riot or the EPO? The answer is simple. Both. Neither. They really aren't comparable in my opinion and depending on your wants/needs/terrain one will definitely be better than the other.

I'd say the closest comparison that I could make would be to my old Evil Following. Geometry wise the EPO fits me better (long legs/short torso) and I'm faster on the EPO on the same trails. I do think the EPO handles more precisely with a 140mm fork than the Evil did with a 130mm fork in the High setting. The Evil obviously is more forgiving, but for my 2.5-3 hour ride today I don't feel any more beat up than usual.

TLDR version: The EPO is legit. If you haven't ridden one, you are missing out on some magic from the Canfield boys.
 

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#8 ·
Nice write up man. The bike looks fast just sitting there, so good looking!

I've been toying with the idea about letting the N9 go and sell the splitboard setup to help me afford some epo. Though at this stage I think I'll wait for when the epo becomes stealth friendly.

Weight?
 
#23 ·
Nice review, nice build and nice pics.

A couple of questions if you don't mind:

1. Clearance on the 2.35 Ikon in the rear looks a little tight. Any rubbing?
2. How difficult was it to drill the hole in the hanger? And is that some sort of cover that you have on the hanger?

Thanks in advance.
No rubbing. I'd say about 5-6mm per side and even more at the yoke. It's hard to get a good picture, also I have the driveside chainstay wrapped with mastic tape so there would be a few mm's more without it.



Sent from my D6708 using Tapatalk
 
#24 ·
Nice review, nice build and nice pics.

A couple of questions if you don't mind:

1. Clearance on the 2.35 Ikon in the rear looks a little tight. Any rubbing?
2. How difficult was it to drill the hole in the hanger? Did you have to mod the MRP cover for the cable to fit behind?

Thanks in advance.
It's just aluminum so it drills pretty easily with a newish bit. I started with a 1/16th and worked my way up to the appropriate size. I went in at an angle to help with cable management. It took all of 5 minutes.

I drilled out a MRP cover to help both cosmetically and also to help hold the housing in place, although I'm not as pleased with my effort on it. I could had made the hole smaller and it would've worked better in terms of holding the housing.

Props to Morandi for leading the way with the tutorial.

Sent from my D6708 using Tapatalk
 
#26 ·
Yes, Morandi's tutorial is very helpful - thank you. I appreciate another perspective as it helps me get more comfortable with the idea. Seems easy enough. I love my Fall Line dropper and would want to run one (or similar) should I get an EPO. Thanks again.
I have the Turbine aka Fall Line, so I'm with you.

The lack of stealth routing was the only thing holding me back and once I saw that someone had solved it, I took the leap. After 2 glorious rides, I'm mad at myself for not getting one months ago.

Sent from my D6708 using Tapatalk
 
#27 ·
Do like the looks of those EPOs and as usual yours is your usual "budget build" :D

OK, while I fully understand you're a real bike whore Colin, I honestly do not understand why you would sell the Riot when buying the EPO, just makes no sense at all, perfect 2 bike stable. Doesn't look like there's room in there, but if there was going the 650B+ route would add back a bit of the cush you're missing, I know it did with my Paradox, just waiting now for the new Ikon/Rekon 2.8"s to become retail available so I can get back on some Maxxis rubber.
 
#33 ·
So I slapped the smartphone angle finder on the EPO tonight.

Fox 36 @140mm with 2.4 WTB Trail Boss front tire and 2.35 Maxxis Ikon EXO rear on 941 rims.

HA-65
SA-71.5

*not guaranteed to be 100 % accurate

No wonder I had such a good time ;)

This bike is fast and more fun than a barrel of monkeys.
 
#34 ·
I'd say the closest comparison that I could make would be to my old Evil Following. Geometry wise the EPO fits me better (long legs/short torso) and I'm faster on the EPO on the same trails. I do think the EPO handles more precisely with a 140mm fork than the Evil did with a 130mm fork in the High setting. The Evil obviously is more forgiving, but for my 2.5-3 hour ride today I don't feel any more beat up than usual.
Guess I should have read this first eh? Lol. Couldn't agree more with your assessment. Absolutely loving the EPO into another season. That kind of gives me following gas now though, if it's comparing to the EPO. :p

A combo between this and a Riot in carbon would be quite an animal. :D
 
#35 ·
Guess I should have read this first eh? Lol. Couldn't agree more with your assessment. That kind of gives me following gas now though, if it's comparing to the EPO. :p
The Following is a great bike. A few tweaks here and there(steeper seat angle, threaded BB and more shock options) and it would be even better IMHO.

Sent from my D6708 using Tapatalk
 
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