Show us your 650b (27.5)

Awesome bike, but a question for you. At the risk of being insulting, is your saddle in climbing position in this photo? I know Knolly makes really short headtubes, and I notice a lot of spacers under your stem to get the bars up, but typically, experienced riders set up their saddle/bar height ratio to have the saddle about 2-4 inches above the hands when the saddle is in climb position. I guess what I am saying is, if your saddle is at climbing height, you can do away with about 30mm of spacer. Disregard all of this if your saddle is dropped in this photo.

On my XL Endorphin, I need to use 25mm of spacer and a riser bar just to get my hands into that 3-4" of drop from saddle height zone. The Warden's headtube is even shorter in an XL. Knollys are built to ride great with low hands, but for some, it's a little disquieting.

PS - Some fork manufacturers (X-Fusion) warn you not to exceed 30mm of spacer under the stem. Not sure if RS has the same warning.

 

Not insulted... KS LEV Integra 150; saddle is dropped in the pic.

 

Warden First Impressions...

As for a RR... only a quick few miles on the Backbone with my final Warden build before I headed east to Indy for work this week.

I picked up the large frame at OTE in Hurricane UT. My build kit was slow to deliver but was able to ride the Warden on Little Creek Mesa and Thunder Mountain with loaner parts from OTE. I had previously ridden all the Hurkin' Mesas and Thunder Mountain on my Chili. Even with the setup and fit not quite right, the first rides in Utah were awesome. As a high level review after I felt comfortable on the bike (and this should come as no surprise to any Knomer)... the Warden pedaled much better than the Chili and descended with no perceptible difference in suspension performance. The Pike was perfect for the climbs on Thunder Mountain and handled the loose, rocky final descent... the initial setup was spot on. My first shot at DBAir setup resulted in a harsh ride. By the end of day 2, I'm closer to where I want to be. I remember the Chili DBAir was an easier setup... of course that could the revisionist history of an aging mind.

However, there were two first impression items of note, Warden vs. Chilcotin that I needed to address...

More pedal strikes with the Warden... realistically, this may be more of a "me" issue. My Chili has 170 mm cranks and flats; my Warden 175 with ATAC MX8. I rode Thunder Mountain with the taller Time ATAC pedals and switched back to flats for Little Creek. Fewer pedal strikes with the flats but still many more than when riding my Chili. Only a few mm's of difference between cranks and pedal size but I think that improved rider technique and trail awareness will correct this issue.

The Warden appears to like momentum and trail speed. Could be improper fit with borrowed parts but on the first day I struggled riding technical sections at slower speeds. While my Chili would plow thru the same sections at the same speed, the Warden seemed to bog down a bit. Again this could be operator and/or fit issues as well as DBAir CS setup... or just new bike hesitation syndrome. When I carried more speed and rode aggressively, no issues.

Once back in LA with the setup/fit to my liking and more trail miles under me, I'll post a review...

Thunder Mountain



Little Creek Mesa

 

A lot of great looking bikes in this thread. I might/should be in the market for a 275 next year so great to hear your comparisons and ride reports. Keep them coming please! :beer:

I'd think that applies more to taller/long legged riders, maybe that's what you meant? With my short legs (29" inseam), on my last two somewhat modern frames, it would be impossible to have the bars 2" lower than the seat if running the recommended fork length, even with zero/low stack headset and flat bars (unless I ran an upside down stem). My seat and bars are about even and I like it that way. Don't mean to derail the thread, just don't think there's one seat-bar ratio/measurement to fit various sizes, types and preferences of all riders. :beer:

 

I guess there is a limit to that ratio, based on fork a-2-c and headtube length. Just seems all of the bikes I have seen under experienced riders have lower hands than saddle (when in climbing position). I'll pay more attention to you shorter people and how your bikes are set up... :wave:

 

yeah, everyones different. My grips are higher than my seat and if i try to ride with them any lower my back just kills me, and its just straight-up uncomfortable.

 

Or more accurately "it's just hunched-over uncomfortable" :lol:

I am now on a quest to see the percentage of experienced riders who ride with hands up, level or down relative to saddle. Sounds like a poll coming up...

Sorry for thread derail. I'll sort of tie this sidebar to the main thread. Do all 650b bikes put the front end higher than a 26er at the same amount of travel with the same BB height? For example, running a 150mm Pike on both?

 

Finally got my Bronson last Friday from Bike Co at 8:30pm rode Aliso Saturday morning and I gotta say, from 26" stumpjumper to a 27.5 bronson, it's like night and day. Absolutely love this bike! Can't wait to take it around places!

 

GREAT looking Bronson - congrats. Watch out for Lynx, it might bite you. It's almost as notorious as the Fully Loop!

Enjoy!

 

@herz yeah I saw your picture before, that step up is always something to watch out for.... Did Whitting today with this bad boy ...


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Are the wheels from a Rocky Mtn?

 

Sweet bike. What pedals are those?

 

@mfoga it's SUN Ringle


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@von. Thanks! They are the new HT KA-01


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I know that it just looks like they are take offs from a Rocky Mtn since they have the maple leaf logo and the colors are from there bikes.

 

@mfoga I have no idea... I bought them used since I am waiting for my diablo CK wheelset build...


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xflite - looks great! This thread makes me want to buy a new bike.

 

@tmpaints - here, they did it for you:

http://www.pinkbike.com/news/knolly-warden-review.html

 

As any good lemming will do, I followed the 650b, 1x11, carbon crowd.
Had one great ride on it so far, and ready to go for more!
Say Hello to my little friend!
http://