This guy is a lightning bolt. As soon as you give the "Go!" for the descent, Johannes Fischbach disappears from your field of vision, while you struggle with the first root field and take the next turn far too slowly. Fischi, as Johannes Fischbach is known in the scene, likes it fast. He recently proved this impressively when he finished in the top 12 at the Downhill World Cup in Australia. That makes Fischi the perfect big bike checker! We engaged the fast man from the Upper Palatinate as a celebrity tester to describe his professional impressions of the entry-level big bikes.
Buy or stay away?
Big bikes for around 2000 euros - this is the cheapest entry into gravity biking and is particularly interesting for all those who want to buy a big bike as a second bike for occasional park visits. Or for schoolchildren and students who simply don't have the money to fork out for a Trek carbon "Session" for an amount that would have been enough to commission a murder years ago. Big bikes for 2000 euros - what do you get for this competitive price? Some high-tech forks cost more than the whole bike here (see page 114). This begs the question: are these bikes cheap junk or are they really serious sports equipment? In short: Are these offers really a bargain that you will still be happy about after a few bike seasons, or is it like the drills for € 19.95 in the DIY store? At first glance, a valuable tool, but after a short period of use, it's already hazardous waste.
The big bike soul: the chassis
This has never happened before: a test field in which only identical suspension elements were used - every bike had RockShox's "Boxxer RC" fork and "Kage RC" shock. In the meantime, the suspension elements have become so good that even these inexpensive models deliver amazing performance. Even racer Fischbach, who normally only rides with absolute high-tech, had to recognise this. "The suspension elements are perfectly adequate if you don't haggle over every second of the descent. Hey, not so long ago we raced with them in the World Cup!" RockShox man Elmar Keineke also assures: "There is proven technology inside. 90 per cent of bikers will be happy with these suspensions and won't be able to push them to the limit so quickly." The advantage of these suspensions: They work according to the "plug & play" principle. It is easy to find the right setting. If the spring fits: Rebound, compression - ready and go! No flood of buttons like in the Airbus cockpit with the constant guilt of not having optimised something. All the other bikes were also sensibly equipped. With the exception of the Votec, they all rolled on high-quality downhill tyres, so that this time we could even do without the standard tyres.
Personality test
We took the bikes down the test tracks for a character analysis and it quickly became clear what makes them tick. Two bikes stood out: Radon's "Swoop" and the Votec "VF 195" stood out from the trio of Canyon, Rose and YT. The Radon wanted to be ridden fast and impressed with its smooth ride, but lacked a bit of playfulness - more of a racer than a playful bike for the park. Quite the opposite: the short Votec with its somewhat dusty geometry. It couldn't keep up with the rest of the test field. Canyon, Rose and YT performed like triplet siblings. If we could ride downhill blindfolded, it would have been difficult to pick the right bike. All three impressed with a wide range of use, solid downhill performance and playful handling. "Freeriders who want to use their bike everywhere will be happy with these three," says Johannes Fischbach confidently.
The unfair comparison
We also happened to have two Canyon "Torque DHX Rockzone" bikes with us for testing. Both equipped with CaneCreeks "Double Barrel" shocks. One was fitted with the new DVO "Emerald", the other with a "Boxxer Worldcup". This was ideal not only for comparing within the test field, but also for pitting the low-cost suspensions against high-end suspensions. Switching to the luxury suspensions revealed an aha experience - the increase in comfort was clearly noticeable. The ride was faster, safer, quieter and more pleasant. Well, it would have been strange if it wasn't. But this extra performance comes at a cost. It's probably like everything else: the VW Golf gets me from A to B, as does the Maserati. Faster, sportier and more stylish - but I have to invest a lot of money for that.
"The bikes are serious sports equipment. Fully developed. If it's not about the last fraction of a second, the bikes are also race-ready and completely sufficient for beginners, hobby bikers and amateur racers. The suspension elements are now really good. Of course, the expensive models have a lot more control options. I can set the first two thirds of the travel to rebound faster and the last third to be more damped. This is not possible with the simple elements. Here I can only adjust the damping over the entire length. The result is that the shock is too slow in half of the travel and starts to bounce. But you really need experience to feel that. In my first World Cup year, I wouldn't have noticed that at all."
The test results of these big bikes are available below as a PDF download:
- Canyon Torque DHX 2014
- Radon Swoop 210 7.0 2014
- Rose The Unchained 2014
- Votec VF 195 Comp 2014
- YT Tues 2.0 2014
This test was published in FREERIDE issue 2/2014.
Buy edition here!
Downloads:
Dimitri Lehner
Editor
