Mondraker bikes?

[alan93]

Anyone have any experience of Mondraker bikes?

There's a Mondraker Factor 2011 frame for sale for reasonably cheap and I was pondering the idea of building a bike around it.

Mostly what I'm wondering are there any concerns around general build quality and ruggedness, handling, mass of the frame, etc. etc. etc.

You don't see many of them around online, so I wont be surprised if anyone has even seen one let alone ridden one

[seanryan]

Saw one or two at the gravity enduro last year, nice looking, they have a downhill race team aswell which Brook McDonald was on before moving to trek. He had a few podiums and wins aswell so they ain't the worst.
My own opinion I'd buy one if I found one for a good price and if I was looking..

Others may have a different opinion from maybe experience or hearing stories but I like them just going by visual appeal.

[neil_]

I've never heard anything to indicate they're any worse than any other bike manufacturer.

Their newer frames are very long however, so I would find a full geometry chart of that frame and compare it to something you have ridden (e.g. the club's wicked).

[alan93]

Good shout Neil, I didn't think of that.

Head Tube Angle: At 68.5 degrees it's right between the trance at 70.5 and the YT at 66.5 so best of both worlds.

Wheelbase: Within 30mm of the YT so quite long in that department but I wouldn't consider that the end of the world.

[neil_]

Good shout Neil, I didn't think of that.

Head Tube Angle: At 68.5 degrees it's right between the trance at 70.5 and the YT at 66.5 so best of both worlds.

Wheelbase: Within 30mm of the YT so quite long in that department but I wouldn't consider that the end of the world.

Toptube length is what'll mess you up if it's too long

[alan93]

Its 25mm longer than the trance and 5mm shorter than the YT. So should ride just fine

[seanryan]

Playing around with stem length then will get you the sweet spot!!


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[Psycholist]

If it's the wheelbase that's 25 mm longer then there's not much to worry about, but if the top tube length is that much longer you're going to need a very short stem to make it feel like a DH biased bike.

I wouldn't go near that bike though, mainly because the teflon of the shock is directly exposed to the spray from the back wheel. This layout is not necessary for a suspension bike to work as evidenced by most bikes having the sense to not do it, so it reduces reliability and increases maintenance for no reason.

[alan93]

If it's the wheelbase that's 25 mm longer then there's not much to worry about, but if the top tube length is that much longer you're going to need a very short stem to make it feel like a DH biased bike.

I wouldn't go near that bike though, mainly because the teflon of the shock is directly exposed to the spray from the back wheel. This layout is not necessary for a suspension bike to work as evidenced by most bikes having the sense to not do it, so it reduces reliability and increases maintenance for no reason.

The wheel base is a bit longer than the trance (68mm longer to be exact), it was the top tube length that's 25mm longer than the trance.

That's a fair point regarding the shock location although it wouldn't be the end of the world to fashion some sort of mudguard or use a marsh guard of some description to protect down there.

[Psycholist]

If the top tube is longer than the Trance and you find the Trance the correct length for XC use then it'll more than likely be useless for you as a DH bike even with a short stem. Making extra parts to put on the bike to solve problems the bike's designer engineered in for no reason is solving the wrong problem too.

[dannyk]

Check out this link: it explains the longer top tube and what they're getting at with it. suffice to say that if you set the bike up as mondraker are intending, then it should work perfectly. http://www.mondraker.com/12/imagenes/banner/Forward_Geometry_PDF_eng.pdf

[seanryan]

Oh yes I forgot about the forward geometry thing they had going on! That would make sense!

[alan93]

I'm not sure if the forward geometry is only on the 2013 range forward? I'll check the geometry charts later and see where the 2011 frames are at in comparison.

Here's Fabien Barel explaining the forward geometry:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TW0TkI9ffrM

[Psycholist]

Gary Fisher did this over a decade ago and called it Genesis geometry. The downside of a stem that short is that lifting the back wheel to place it where you like as you roll is much more difficult as you have no leverage over the front axle.