I figured now seems to be the time for out of production bike reviews that you can only get a hold of used (good work BMXConvert, you gave me an excuse to post this ). Actually, I should qualify that, I think there might be 2-3 lucky's left. Also, this bike is NOT to be confused with the brother's new downhill flagship, the jedi.
Anyway, I'll post the bike porn at the start and specs, and that way you can bugger off if you don't care to read how it rides.
Canfield Lucky, size large
Wheels are outlaws, guide is LG1, x9 der, xt cassette. sunline v1 bars/stem and hayes stroker carbons, FSA Orbit Extreme r headset. I think you can probably see everything else, but if you have any questions about the spec let me know. Its tubed at the moment, and its sitting at 41 lbs. If I remember correctly, the frame was like 10.5 without shock, 11.5 or something with.
At this point the only changes are a thomson seatpost when I have the dough, and a new crankset (either atlas FR's are diety vendettas. Just depends on which I can get for less money. I might run some evolve DH's if I can't get ahold of the atlas FR's, we'll see how it turns out). I'll probably go back to tubeless minions come summer/northstar. and keep the high rollers on my spare wheelset. At some point way down the line, maybe a ti spring, but I don't really care about weight at this point and the springrate is ok, so the only reason I'd do it is to bump up to a 425lb spring instead of a 450 lb spring. (I'm at 400)
rough geometry specs, 23.5 effective TT (or somewhere in that range) 13.9inch BB, 17.1 CS, I think the HA is sitting at about 65 or 64.8 or something, I'll get a protractor and measure it sometime. 29.5 bars, 45mm stem (I think, somewhere in the 40-50mm range, thats what it feels like, whatever it is, it feels pretty good). Geometry is absolutely spot on right now. No changes to come there, only little weight saving/strength things left.
It has a bit of rearward travel at the start, goes to reasonably vertical, and then comes forward. Or at least, thats what it feels like, and thats what I'm told it is, but at this point things like that concern me less then they used to. As long as it rides well, I'm happy. Its fairly progressive, very in fact. I've also never ridden a bike getting exact springrate is so important. It wallows pretty bad if you're under sprung, and gets pretty harsh. Now that I have the correct springrate its pretty rad. I wont pretend it tracks as well or pedals as well as my old glory did, because it doesn't. But, its for the better I think, because it has alot more of the poppyness some bikes have (such as a DHR or Commencial, although I'm sure there are plenty of others). Its a pretty fine blend of poppyness and rock solid tracking. I'm happy where it is. I wouldn't describe it as a plow bike, but I also wouldn't describe it as a finess bike. You can point and shoot and come out pretty quick, but it lets you muscle your way through rocky sections pretty easily, so letting it move around works out pretty well.
Fast rebound on this sucker is a must, otherwise it packs up pretty hard due to the changing leverage. Unfortunately CCDB's fastest rebound is incredibly slow (by my standards) so I'm working on a solution to that. Its fine, I just notice it getting bogged down slightly and packing a little bit in rocky sections. Still though, its pretty easy to float over stuff on it and have it track perfectly without it getting stuck. It pedals fine (just went for a 6-7 mile XC with some uphill ride yesterday) although the geometry is not ideal for climbing . No worries pedaling, and it certainly doesn't have excessive bob, it just doesn't pedal as well as meastro (which pedals fantastically).
Its got a bit of brake squat. I know, most people dread this because specialized and trek tell them to, but brake squat isn't all bad, it helps maintain the proper pitch of the bike when braking. Its actually been my favorite part of switching from old glory to this bike. On the glory, the back end gets kind of a floating feeling as you go over bumps and you pitch forward pretty hard. On this bike, it sinks back a little more and maintains a pretty good travel equilibrium, so the bike is quite stable, which is super important when braking. Give me a slightly harsher ride and good geometry over slightly increased tracking but bad geometry any day. I definitely agree there is such a thing as too much, but there is also such a thing as "too little." Everybody has to find their own balance though, but if you like it when your bike does that (especially you single pivot guys out there) and want better tracking, the lucky is pretty ideal. The CCDB matched to this bike for this regard is pretty amazing. Its like you get the best of both worlds, your back end sinks and you get lower/slacker, but because the shock is so sensitive it keeps tracking perfectly and doesn't feel real harsh. Rad.
It corners pretty well, it can really hold a line and feels rock solid through them. I really dig how progressive it is because it pops out pretty well, I'd prefer slightly faster rebound and a nicer engagement hub for coming out of the corners, but you can't have everything in life (although I'm gonna do my damn best to try! anybody wanna give me a hadly or king or i9 rear hub? )
Its very stiff. I have different tires now, but it holds a line on off camber loose stuff so much better now, even with tires that don't grip as well. I actually can't think of any downhill bike I've ever ridden thats as stiff as it. I'm sure some exist, but I've ridden alot of bikes at this point and nothing as been as stiff in my experience. The back end just doesn't, like, flex. At first I was a little peaved, because I felt like off camber cornering was alot harder, and then I realized I was going about twice as fast through them, sometimes faster, and pushing myself way harder through them. I get alot of confidence from this bike.
Jumping is fun on this bike, but its pretty big and super stable, and I'm waiting till summer when I get to hit some bigger jumps at northstar (or when I finally make it out to pacifica) before I make a final verdict. Little jumps and such become alot more boring, but I guess thats their nature. Doing them on a 5x6 inch bike is exciting. Doing them on an 8x8 inch DH bike is "meh....I guess that was a jump" All I'll say on jumping for now is that it pops up pretty easily, its easy to move it around in the air, and its very stable coming off lips. We'll see how it goes when I get a chance to hit bigger jumps then the little ones on the local trails
So it corners well, it tracks well, it doesn't bottom out easily, it pops pretty well, its very stable, it gets the perfect amount of brake squat (doesn't feel like the back end is locking out by any means!), pedals reasonably well (not as well as some, but better then most, especially given a lack of platform and 35% sag). I was gonna try and find some negative here, but thinking about it theres nothing really evident to me that needs to be improved on. Yes, it'd be sweet if it pedaled better then any other bike out there, but I'd have to give something up for that, and I'm ok with where its at right now.
I rode on my friends BLT2 at the local "DH" trails and realized how much better a short travel bike is for them. I could rocket up the hills, where this bike its more of a slog, and the 8 foot gap type airs felt HUUGE on it, rather then "did I just leave the ground?" I was on the verge of selling it to get a little bike. Then I rode it again and realized how much fun it is even for small stuff I should have a smaller bike for, and that for the trails I live for such as those in SB, or at northstar, its everything I want and more. I decided I'd keep it. One hundred percent stoked on this bike, its absolutely rad. Its a joy dealing with the bro's as well, I've gotten a hold of Chris at like 8 AM his time, thinking I'd get a message and he'd call me back, and I've gotten a hold of him at like 9:30pm his time, again, totally cheerful to talk. I felt bad both times, expecting to get a message machine, but hey, can't really complain about great CS! He's called me from the middle of a DH sesh, and we've talked about riding moab for about an hour. Pretty cool that I get to do that with one of the dude's who designed and built my bike.
I have no idea of their availability. Last I heard, they had like 2 larges left and 2 smalls. No idea if they're still around, but they're pretty inexpensive since they're closing them out for the move to the Jedi. I think they're doing 1500 for frame+DHX5.0. Worth calling them if you're thinking about a new frame, very helpful with questions and never pressuring.
Also, I always hate not knowing who's doing the reviewing, so a little about my riding. I'm moderate to good sport class, I could probably enter expert and do mid to back of the pack if I pushed myself, but I don't really care enough about racing to do that. I just like riding, and don't like waiting in lines to do runs down the same hill over and over. Here are some pics.
hucking:
Vertical roller:
Jumping:
Cornering:
Anyway, I'll post the bike porn at the start and specs, and that way you can bugger off if you don't care to read how it rides.
Canfield Lucky, size large
Wheels are outlaws, guide is LG1, x9 der, xt cassette. sunline v1 bars/stem and hayes stroker carbons, FSA Orbit Extreme r headset. I think you can probably see everything else, but if you have any questions about the spec let me know. Its tubed at the moment, and its sitting at 41 lbs. If I remember correctly, the frame was like 10.5 without shock, 11.5 or something with.
At this point the only changes are a thomson seatpost when I have the dough, and a new crankset (either atlas FR's are diety vendettas. Just depends on which I can get for less money. I might run some evolve DH's if I can't get ahold of the atlas FR's, we'll see how it turns out). I'll probably go back to tubeless minions come summer/northstar. and keep the high rollers on my spare wheelset. At some point way down the line, maybe a ti spring, but I don't really care about weight at this point and the springrate is ok, so the only reason I'd do it is to bump up to a 425lb spring instead of a 450 lb spring. (I'm at 400)
rough geometry specs, 23.5 effective TT (or somewhere in that range) 13.9inch BB, 17.1 CS, I think the HA is sitting at about 65 or 64.8 or something, I'll get a protractor and measure it sometime. 29.5 bars, 45mm stem (I think, somewhere in the 40-50mm range, thats what it feels like, whatever it is, it feels pretty good). Geometry is absolutely spot on right now. No changes to come there, only little weight saving/strength things left.
It has a bit of rearward travel at the start, goes to reasonably vertical, and then comes forward. Or at least, thats what it feels like, and thats what I'm told it is, but at this point things like that concern me less then they used to. As long as it rides well, I'm happy. Its fairly progressive, very in fact. I've also never ridden a bike getting exact springrate is so important. It wallows pretty bad if you're under sprung, and gets pretty harsh. Now that I have the correct springrate its pretty rad. I wont pretend it tracks as well or pedals as well as my old glory did, because it doesn't. But, its for the better I think, because it has alot more of the poppyness some bikes have (such as a DHR or Commencial, although I'm sure there are plenty of others). Its a pretty fine blend of poppyness and rock solid tracking. I'm happy where it is. I wouldn't describe it as a plow bike, but I also wouldn't describe it as a finess bike. You can point and shoot and come out pretty quick, but it lets you muscle your way through rocky sections pretty easily, so letting it move around works out pretty well.
Fast rebound on this sucker is a must, otherwise it packs up pretty hard due to the changing leverage. Unfortunately CCDB's fastest rebound is incredibly slow (by my standards) so I'm working on a solution to that. Its fine, I just notice it getting bogged down slightly and packing a little bit in rocky sections. Still though, its pretty easy to float over stuff on it and have it track perfectly without it getting stuck. It pedals fine (just went for a 6-7 mile XC with some uphill ride yesterday) although the geometry is not ideal for climbing . No worries pedaling, and it certainly doesn't have excessive bob, it just doesn't pedal as well as meastro (which pedals fantastically).
Its got a bit of brake squat. I know, most people dread this because specialized and trek tell them to, but brake squat isn't all bad, it helps maintain the proper pitch of the bike when braking. Its actually been my favorite part of switching from old glory to this bike. On the glory, the back end gets kind of a floating feeling as you go over bumps and you pitch forward pretty hard. On this bike, it sinks back a little more and maintains a pretty good travel equilibrium, so the bike is quite stable, which is super important when braking. Give me a slightly harsher ride and good geometry over slightly increased tracking but bad geometry any day. I definitely agree there is such a thing as too much, but there is also such a thing as "too little." Everybody has to find their own balance though, but if you like it when your bike does that (especially you single pivot guys out there) and want better tracking, the lucky is pretty ideal. The CCDB matched to this bike for this regard is pretty amazing. Its like you get the best of both worlds, your back end sinks and you get lower/slacker, but because the shock is so sensitive it keeps tracking perfectly and doesn't feel real harsh. Rad.
It corners pretty well, it can really hold a line and feels rock solid through them. I really dig how progressive it is because it pops out pretty well, I'd prefer slightly faster rebound and a nicer engagement hub for coming out of the corners, but you can't have everything in life (although I'm gonna do my damn best to try! anybody wanna give me a hadly or king or i9 rear hub? )
Its very stiff. I have different tires now, but it holds a line on off camber loose stuff so much better now, even with tires that don't grip as well. I actually can't think of any downhill bike I've ever ridden thats as stiff as it. I'm sure some exist, but I've ridden alot of bikes at this point and nothing as been as stiff in my experience. The back end just doesn't, like, flex. At first I was a little peaved, because I felt like off camber cornering was alot harder, and then I realized I was going about twice as fast through them, sometimes faster, and pushing myself way harder through them. I get alot of confidence from this bike.
Jumping is fun on this bike, but its pretty big and super stable, and I'm waiting till summer when I get to hit some bigger jumps at northstar (or when I finally make it out to pacifica) before I make a final verdict. Little jumps and such become alot more boring, but I guess thats their nature. Doing them on a 5x6 inch bike is exciting. Doing them on an 8x8 inch DH bike is "meh....I guess that was a jump" All I'll say on jumping for now is that it pops up pretty easily, its easy to move it around in the air, and its very stable coming off lips. We'll see how it goes when I get a chance to hit bigger jumps then the little ones on the local trails
So it corners well, it tracks well, it doesn't bottom out easily, it pops pretty well, its very stable, it gets the perfect amount of brake squat (doesn't feel like the back end is locking out by any means!), pedals reasonably well (not as well as some, but better then most, especially given a lack of platform and 35% sag). I was gonna try and find some negative here, but thinking about it theres nothing really evident to me that needs to be improved on. Yes, it'd be sweet if it pedaled better then any other bike out there, but I'd have to give something up for that, and I'm ok with where its at right now.
I rode on my friends BLT2 at the local "DH" trails and realized how much better a short travel bike is for them. I could rocket up the hills, where this bike its more of a slog, and the 8 foot gap type airs felt HUUGE on it, rather then "did I just leave the ground?" I was on the verge of selling it to get a little bike. Then I rode it again and realized how much fun it is even for small stuff I should have a smaller bike for, and that for the trails I live for such as those in SB, or at northstar, its everything I want and more. I decided I'd keep it. One hundred percent stoked on this bike, its absolutely rad. Its a joy dealing with the bro's as well, I've gotten a hold of Chris at like 8 AM his time, thinking I'd get a message and he'd call me back, and I've gotten a hold of him at like 9:30pm his time, again, totally cheerful to talk. I felt bad both times, expecting to get a message machine, but hey, can't really complain about great CS! He's called me from the middle of a DH sesh, and we've talked about riding moab for about an hour. Pretty cool that I get to do that with one of the dude's who designed and built my bike.
I have no idea of their availability. Last I heard, they had like 2 larges left and 2 smalls. No idea if they're still around, but they're pretty inexpensive since they're closing them out for the move to the Jedi. I think they're doing 1500 for frame+DHX5.0. Worth calling them if you're thinking about a new frame, very helpful with questions and never pressuring.
Also, I always hate not knowing who's doing the reviewing, so a little about my riding. I'm moderate to good sport class, I could probably enter expert and do mid to back of the pack if I pushed myself, but I don't really care enough about racing to do that. I just like riding, and don't like waiting in lines to do runs down the same hill over and over. Here are some pics.
hucking:
Vertical roller:
Jumping:
Cornering: