Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Monday, October 19, 2009
Da Bomb Dirt Bomb Reviews
The Frame:
First off it was quite frustrating to note that the Dirt Bomb comes in only one size: small or size 16 for the freeride and 16.5 for the DH versions.
Initially it was what kept me away from the frame thinking it would be far too small for me (I stand 5'11). But there's something about the sheer rawness and blunt hulk of the frame that was hard to resist. The thick 7005 tubing and quarter inch thick chainstays shouted: ride me to death you yellow livered bastard!!! The frame fits me as the later part of this review will reveal.
Seriously though, the bike was a pain to build from where I come from. The Da Bomb website may be very very entertaining to browse through but does not really give customers the information on how to build their bikes. What kind of things you might ask? Oh well you know things that may prove important like the SIZE OF THE BOTTOM BRACKET and the SIZE OF THEIR REAR HUBS!!!!!
As it turned out the Dirt Bomb needs an 83 mm bottom bracket and a 150mm rear hub. And to top it all of, it can only accept a 30.0 mm seatpost.
Anyway on to the review...just had to get that off my hairless chest.
The frame weighs like an obese elephant tipping the scales at over 5 kilos. But then one must remember this is a freeride frame built for abuse and some downhill thrown into the mix for good measure. It is as stiff as they come.
With 2.35 tires, Da Bomb Da Rim rims, Da Bomb Headspin 150mm TA rear hubs, Truvativ Hussefelt Dual Cranks and a Howitzer DH Team 83mm Bottom bracket, the whole bike tips in a roughly 35 pounds. Not bad I guess since my previous Jamis Dakar XC bike was somewhere in the realm of 34 pounds.
My only beef with the frame before riding it was the super soft shocks that didn't have any air in the main canister. Initially I thought the shocks must have damaged seals but when I filled it up, the pressure held and has been perfect ever since. There are however a lot of adjustments on this shock including the SPV piggyback canister which you also have to fill with air. I set my pressure according to my intended use meaning freeride and adventure riding. So 200 psi on the main canister and 150 psi on the SPV. The result is 25% sag with enough give during descents.
Downhill, the bike performs like a dream. The 6.5 inches of rear travel was more than enough for the rocky descents down my favourite trails in San Mateo. I haven't made any big drops yet but hops from stairs and benches only make this bike smile and beg for more.
Surprisingly, the bike is not hard to pedal uphill. The geometry of the bike is deceiving. Despite the 69 degree headtube angle and steep toptubes, this bike performs like an AM rig at the very worst. All it took was to extend the seat tube to normal AM bike height, meaning handlebar height and it was good to go. But even then the weight of the bike made it painfully clear that this frame was more at home carooming downhill than plodding uphi
First off it was quite frustrating to note that the Dirt Bomb comes in only one size: small or size 16 for the freeride and 16.5 for the DH versions.
Initially it was what kept me away from the frame thinking it would be far too small for me (I stand 5'11). But there's something about the sheer rawness and blunt hulk of the frame that was hard to resist. The thick 7005 tubing and quarter inch thick chainstays shouted: ride me to death you yellow livered bastard!!! The frame fits me as the later part of this review will reveal.
Seriously though, the bike was a pain to build from where I come from. The Da Bomb website may be very very entertaining to browse through but does not really give customers the information on how to build their bikes. What kind of things you might ask? Oh well you know things that may prove important like the SIZE OF THE BOTTOM BRACKET and the SIZE OF THEIR REAR HUBS!!!!!
As it turned out the Dirt Bomb needs an 83 mm bottom bracket and a 150mm rear hub. And to top it all of, it can only accept a 30.0 mm seatpost.
Anyway on to the review...just had to get that off my hairless chest.
The frame weighs like an obese elephant tipping the scales at over 5 kilos. But then one must remember this is a freeride frame built for abuse and some downhill thrown into the mix for good measure. It is as stiff as they come.
With 2.35 tires, Da Bomb Da Rim rims, Da Bomb Headspin 150mm TA rear hubs, Truvativ Hussefelt Dual Cranks and a Howitzer DH Team 83mm Bottom bracket, the whole bike tips in a roughly 35 pounds. Not bad I guess since my previous Jamis Dakar XC bike was somewhere in the realm of 34 pounds.
My only beef with the frame before riding it was the super soft shocks that didn't have any air in the main canister. Initially I thought the shocks must have damaged seals but when I filled it up, the pressure held and has been perfect ever since. There are however a lot of adjustments on this shock including the SPV piggyback canister which you also have to fill with air. I set my pressure according to my intended use meaning freeride and adventure riding. So 200 psi on the main canister and 150 psi on the SPV. The result is 25% sag with enough give during descents.
Downhill, the bike performs like a dream. The 6.5 inches of rear travel was more than enough for the rocky descents down my favourite trails in San Mateo. I haven't made any big drops yet but hops from stairs and benches only make this bike smile and beg for more.
Surprisingly, the bike is not hard to pedal uphill. The geometry of the bike is deceiving. Despite the 69 degree headtube angle and steep toptubes, this bike performs like an AM rig at the very worst. All it took was to extend the seat tube to normal AM bike height, meaning handlebar height and it was good to go. But even then the weight of the bike made it painfully clear that this frame was more at home carooming downhill than plodding uphi
Thursday, October 15, 2009
A new steed to see the world.
Rising from the waters of Ondoy, I've rechristened the bike Water Bomb. The frame was submerged in floowater and thankfully, the fork and rear shock has weathered the drying out process quite well.I've built this Dirt Bomb frame from scratch using the proceeds from the sale of my old Jamis XC. You see I wanted a bike that could stand the abuse of adventure riding and still be a fun rig to ride when going to work and taking the pictures that you will see in thi
s blog.That's my son patch with the Water Bomb. A few more inches and he'd be riding this bike instead of me.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
