Interesting bike!

[jameso]

http://mattercycles.com/collections/bik ... s/ghostcat

looks like a lot of fun.

[Hoojum]

I really like that.

[Charliecres]

Very nice. That back end is waaaaay short.

[mountainbaker]

Nice frame, and interesting idea. Two trendy wheel sizes all in one package!

Those enve forks are munting though.

[FLV]

I dont like it. i think it looks wierd.
I suppose they were going for the handling of a short back end.

I didnt like it when trek did them either (slightly different I know)

[Ben98]

That's truly hideous
The different wheel size looks like the whole bikes at an angle, the fork is gopping and the bar/seat post combo looks so out of place

[Bearbonesnorm]

Nope, not for me. I can have slightly 'interesting' tastes at times but that pushes the boundries a bit too far. I've nothing against different sized wheels front and back and like 69ers, etc but that just looks wrong ... it might ride really well but I'll never find out because of the 'slapped with the ugly stick' looks

EDIT: White doesn't do it any favours either.

[jameso]

I did say interesting / looks like fun, not 'is aesthetically pleasing' which I think is only a significant consideration for steel road bikes : )
MTB = Ride experience first, looks later.

I would want a steel fork on it though, agreed that the enve is no selling point. A truss would be nice : ) I guess I like bikes where someone does something relatively new or different purely to improve the ride and makes no concessions to aesthetics which can have technical compromises involved.

[Pyro]

It might just be the angle it's shot from, but I'm with the 'that's gopping' crowd.

And James, aesthetics obviously aren't just for steel road bikes, or the Whyte PRST-1 would have sold better...

[Cheeky Monkey]

It might just be the angle it's shot from, but I'm with the 'that's gopping' crowd.

And James, aesthetics obviously aren't just for steel road bikes, or the Whyte PRST-1 would have sold better...

Err, the preston sold badly because when you went downhill the J profile of the fork travel meant it dived at the worst possible time.

As for the bike above, mleh, s'alright I guess

[Alpinum]

That fork looks odd. Like its got half a meter of trail. Then the HA isn't slack at all at 68.5. Don't get to what the front is up to on that bike.

Then the rear.
My enduro (26") has 428 mm chain stays and long front and feels great in tight, techy stuff.

I recently tested the BMC Trailfox (29") with 435 mm stays, felt great too, albeit beeing to high off the ground (150 mm suspension). Despite the long travel, thus throne like feel of it, it was one of the most lively 29" I rode 'till now.

Note to myself:
Go as short as possible without sacrificing the options of componentry you’re opting for. I think that’s a good way to go. Best for HT clearly is sliding drop outs…

I believe that for a snow bike a long rear is better (tracking in groundless fluff), but J. Petervary seems to believe otherwise and he's deffo the expert...

[jameso]

68.5 is pretty slack for 29+, depends what you like etc, it'll have a fair bit of trail at least. Anyway. I'd like a spin on it, nothing more than that.

[Bearbonesnorm]

Anyway. I'd like a spin on it

I'd just like to re-paint it

[JohnClimber]

Belt drive on a bike that can go off road avoid, avoid, avoid at all costs....... unless you only ride on tarmac.

[jameso]

Agreed. I'd happily do without the belt.

[Ray Young]

Belt drive on a bike that can go off road avoid, avoid, avoid at all costs....... unless you only ride on tarmac.

I think that belt drives on bicycles are worth pursuing. After all, regular chains snap too and if belt drives can cope with large capacity 1,340 litre Harley Davidson motorcycles chucking out huge amounts of torque at irregular intervals (v twin) then i'm sure reliable belt drives for bicycles can be produced.

[ZeroDarkBivi]

This could be the best riding bike in the world, but it is just so fugly I would never give it a try - perhaps my loss. BIkes don't have to be works of art, but they cannot be this aesthetically challenged.

[mountainbaker]

Fixed.

[mountainbaker]

Looking over this carefully, it's basically proof that you can't polish a turd. It's hideous, covered in super expensive crabon parts, but still just looks like a recycled kebab.

[jameso]

I've owned enough bikes where fun overcomes grimness of aesthetic.. Still got a couple perhaps.

[evilgoat]

There's an old adage in engineering that goes something like ' if it looks right it'll go alright.'

That looks so totally wrong I wouldn't want to even touch it.

It looks like a cut n shut!

Mountain bikes can (should) look pretty too.







I think you had a bit of a hand in the design of that l last one James.

[Ian]

Belt drive on a bike that can go off road avoid, avoid, avoid at all costs....... unless you only ride on tarmac.

Is that a recent development John - yours I presume?
How many miles has it done?

[jameso]

Still think it looks fun.. Angles, dimensions, dropper, short stem and wheels. Don't care about the rest : )
I liked the trek 69er tho.

[JohnClimber]

Belt drive on a bike that can go off road avoid, avoid, avoid at all costs....... unless you only ride on tarmac.

Is that a recent development John - yours I presume?
How many miles has it done?

I have the prototype Travers built up with it and rode it for 350+ miles on dry summer trails off road, fire roads and tarmac.
Then 1 mile after it's first deep puddle


and after 1/2 mile of pushing the bike covered in Dorset's finest gloopy sticky mud

Belt drive still in tact above

I knocked off as much mud as I could and on a flat farm track I jumped on and pushed down normally on the pedal and then "snap"

This is the dried on mud the day afterwards that caused the problem


Did I mention the 7 miles walk back to the road and flagging down a guy in a pick up truck to take me back to my car and spending the full day afterwards not riding but sorting out parts, tools and having a chain drive fitted?

Belt drive = Avoid, avoid, avoid

[Dave42w]

John,

Scary.

I have done about 5,000 miles on my Shand Stoater with Centretrack belt and Rohloff.

I did get a free replacement belt after the 1st developed a crack. The new belt is slightly different to the 1st (it has side to side ridges across the outside of the belt).

I have not done any deep mud off road riding.

It does make me think I'll carry a spare belt with me on my Sabbatical ride next year (1,500 miles in 3 months). Although the only real off road will be the WRT