You would do the same: As a long-term test bike for one or more seasons, you need a test winner, a 10-point bike. After all, why ride an average bike when you can have a top bike? This time I chose differently. In the enduro test (Enduro Special 2022), the sand-coloured Radon Swoop caused a lot of discussion. One group of testers saw the high-propulsion 29-inch bike with its stylish carbon main frame and aluminium rear end as a very good enduro bike in the classic sense, i.e. an all-rounder with a wide range of uses. The other testers penalised it for its stiff rear triangle, as it had to let the downhill-focused EWS race bikes go downhill and became nervous more quickly. In the end, the 9er-Swoop in the test a meagre 7.5 points.
I myself was torn: What now? High speed potential or a fat range of use? Hence my decision: I will now ride the bike for a whole season, on any terrain. That's important to me: I want to be able to ride my bike everywhere, so I'm a fan of the classic enduro definition: mountain tours, trail rides, bike parks, epic rides - I even pedal my endurance tester 50 kilometres through the forest to the office and back every day.
So far, the Radon has proved to be a pleasant company car. It rolls over undulating terrain almost like a trail bike, accelerates well and keeps up the pace. At the same time, it is stunt-loving: the suspension travel (170 mm front and rear) leaves no room for excuses. Chickenway? Nope, with that much travel you have to get over the drop or the gap, otherwise you'll break a jag out of the freeride crown.
Conclusion from FREERIDE editor-in-chief Dimitri Lehner:
I'm giving the Swoop a second chance. And I'm going to tune it a bit to get the most out of the bike. I'll keep you up to date!
Technical data Radon Swoop 9.0
- Suspension travel: 170 mm / 170 mm
- Frame size: L
- Suspension: Rockshox ZEB Select / Rockshox Super Deluxe Select+
- Reach / Stack: 464 mm / 635 mm
- Steering / seat angle: 63.5° / 75.8°
- Wheelbase / rear: 1253 mm / 437 mm
- Operating weight: 15.4 kilos (without pedals)
- Price: 3099 Euro
Update from March 2023:
Although the Radon Swoop reeled off a decent number of kilometres, the freerider didn't see much action, but something did break.
Bike parks closed, drops snowed in, downhill trails too far south - over the winter I turned the Swoop into a trail tourer. I had equipped the standard bike with the new Rock Shox Deluxe Coil coil shock and the best Zeb fork.
SuperThe switchable anti-whip platform on the shock absorber - great, until the very thin aluminium spindle broke and the shock absorber then remained "closed". Warranty case.
Otherwise, the Swoop was as reliable as a German tax assessment notice. The only thing I struggled with was the trail handling. As long as gravity is tugging at the sand-coloured freerider - no problem. But on the trail, the bike requires full physical effort.
If you want to get the Swoop up in the air for a bunny hop, you should have completed a few weeks of Ruso-Bros strength training, otherwise the bike will stick to the ground. This is certainly also due to the large frame size (I normally ride a medium at 179 cm tall), but the bike doesn't feel too big.
BitingMagura's MT-5 brakes are powerful, albeit somewhat digital. Surfing on the rear wheel requires a little practice in modulating the crisp stoppers. More soon!
Update from August 2023:
The Radon Swoop took a beating in the test. Nevertheless, I decided in favour of the mail-order bike as a long-term tester. Now that over a year has passed, it's time to take stock.
Am I that sentimental? Or am I just damn smart in my choice of endurance test bike, because every time I seem to fall in love with the bike and never want to give it up? Last time I had real withdrawal symptoms and praised the Specialized Stumpjumper (old model) as the best classic enduro bike on the market.
This time I chose a bike that scored only moderately in the BIKE test because of a rough rear end. On the other hand, I liked its wide range of use, the propulsion, the martial look of the carbon frame in a matt military finish and the crazy price-performance ratio.
and the incredible value for money: Radon wanted 3099 euros for the 170-millimetre bike.
With many enduro bikes these days, you only want to ride downhill because they are too sluggish and too strenuous. The Radon is not one of them, which is why I put a lot of kilometres on the mail-order bike, abusing it as a commuter vehicle on the road, trail and forest. And I used it as a park shredder, a jump machine and a mountain tourer (to ride down technical alpine trails). I found out that the Rockshox Super Deluxe Select+ air shock in the Radon was actually overstretched. The rear didn't harmonise with the front and created a strange imbalance in the suspension. Front: flubber-flubber, rear: klonki-klonki. This was annoying, so I fitted a Rockshox steel spring damper to the rear and lo and behold: now the rear was also flubbering. Now the bike mutated into a freerider, with which I also dared to do drops outside my comfort zone.
Very pleasant: the quickly switchable compression damping. This allows the shock to be effectively stabilised on the uphill. I made a lot of use of this little lever. In general, I had little to criticise about the entire equipment, everything worked. Nice and powerful: Magura's MT-5, which I fitted with the red "Porsche" pads from Trickstuff for even more grip and less whining in the wet. I'm actually a medium rider, but once you get used to bigger bikes, it's like wide handlebars - you don't want to go back. The Swoop is still moderate. The chainstays aren't too long either, so that the bike can be willingly pulled onto the rear for manual (I'm a manual addict). And that despite the 29er rear wheel. I've also taken a liking to All-29, because it forces me, the old downhiller, into a nicely forward-orientated riding position.
Conclusion from Dimitri Lehner, FREERIDE editor-in-chief:
I have become happy with the Swoop. Great: the wide range of use. That's a lot of bike for the money. Now reduced to 2599 euros. Crazy!
Plus
- Field of application
- Equipment
- Optics
- Price
Minus
- Taut rear with air damper
Dimitri Lehner
Editor
