General Impressions
• The Frame
The frame is, to put it lightly, stiff as f*ck.
In no situation did I ever feel like precision or lateral overloading were coming into question. I flexed out the wheels, but the weird chattery load and unload you get from a bendy wendy frame just never happened. Neither did I experience any of the bottom bracket swing effect, where you feel your feet moving to the outside of a turn when really digging in for traction. Loading the frame stationary from the side pretty much confirms this.
Some of the rear bracing in the chainstay assembly used to achieve this stiffness comes at a small cost. With the 2.35 Schwalbe Rock Razor, there wasn’t a whole lot of space in front of the tire. It would never rub but a larger tire might. When riding in muck, it might actually serve as a little bit of a mud scraper. But going huge with tire selection might cause some problems, at least with the 650b swingarm. Also if you know Schwalbe tires, 2.35 is pretty big in their world. But you can see the brace in one of the pictures below with the bike squished out.
• Pedaling
This bike is best for stand up mash climbing in a 32t ring. I switched out the 30t ring, since it caused the bike in all modes to stiffen up a little bit, akin to some of the DW-link bikes out there. In a few gear combos you could actually see the shock extending a tiny bit. It’s nothing compared to my current model plastic Norco Range, but it’s there if you look for it. It’s a good thing on dirt roads and smoother climbs because it drives the wheel into the ground and helps traction. But you will lose some suppleness on rougher uphills.
The 32t ring calmed things down a bit with the only shock motion occurring more from weight shifting, not squatting or extending. For seated climbing, the bike was calm and compliant with either ring.
• Weight
Although not exactly heavy, I didn’t notice the frame weight, even coming from an almost full-carbon bike. In fact, the complete build as sent from Guerrilla Gravity was exactly one quarter of a pound lighter than my Norco Range with Enve wheels and (also) Next SL cranks. That’s all tires, though (about 1 lb of extra rubber on the Norco).
Point is, I was surprised at the little-to-no difference. I admit to being a little concerned with the claimed 6.9 lb frame sans shock. As built, I’m not quite sure where that weight went. It’s not on the bike in the woods.
• Length
By the numbers, this bike was pretty long for me, with a 17.75” reach and a 46.7” wheelbase. The cockpit, however, felt immediately comfortable with some 760mm bars and a 35mm stem. I actually liked how over-the-pedals I felt with the seat scooted forward in the rails. It felt great motoring up steep climbs.
But what surprised me more was that it didn’t really feel like work moving it around. About the only thing left in my mind was that the chainstays felt a little long pulling the front out of corners. I’d like to try a medium with 26” wheels, because it would achieve the shorter chainstay and quicken up inputs a little better overall.
As sent, the bike felt great at mach looney (and even climbing), but a little less playful moving around on mellower, slower descents. Going with a recommended size small has me a little intrigued, although this experience has me thinking it may be too small.
This happened:
In Gravity mode with the Cane Creek Inline, and a 2.35 Schwalbe Rock Razor, apparently the tire brushed the seat tube. I never heard a buzz, and definitely never felt the tire seize up, so it was light. But it obviously happened. I noticed this when changing out the rear tire. For what it’s worth, in the same shock setting, with a 2.3 Maxxis High Roller 2, this is the clearance. The pic is a little angled but it’s about ¼” of free space.
It’s worth noting that in addition to being unable to replicate a rub with a 2.3 Maxxis HR2, I also couldn’t replicate it with the Monarch shock, or either shock in Trail or Super Gravity modes. But Gravity mode with the Cane Creek and a 2.35 Schwalbe did it.
I got in touch with Matt at Guerrilla Gravity, and this is what he had to say:
“We packaged everything pretty tightly in the design, and when rim widths started growing as well as it becoming more common to run a little higher volume tires than we originally predicted, some combinations can produce a small amount of tire rub from a hard bottom out in Gravity Mode. We have made a couple small adjustments to prevent it in as many combinations as possible.”
One omission on the bike was some ISCG tabs. Guerrilla Gravity supplies a bolt-on plate that, in the past, would run $80. Frames ordered from here on out will come with them. Personally I like the idea of making the tabs a consumable. After using taco-style/bolt on guards, I don’t like the idea of putting all that stress on the most expensive piece, the frame. If you want them, you’ll get them.
NEXT: Components, Bottom Line
This looks like a sweet rig, especially for a compulsive tinkerer like myself. Any comparisons to the Knolly Chilcotin? That’s my current rig and it sounds like it might share some similarities in design and ride characteristics.
Also for the record, I bought a CCDB Inline in September. Yesterday I finally got it feeling perfect. That little sucker takes some real dialing in.
I have ridden a Chilcotin for a day. I thought it descended well but the headangle was a little steep for my tastes, and I wasn’t really impressed with how it pedaled. Whether descending or climbing, it seemed like the rear end was in a pretty constant state of squatting and catching on things. Take that for what it’s worth though, I certainly don’t know the bike as well as an owner would and I only messed around with air pressures and rebound damping on the shock. Coasting descents, I thought it was a pretty solid ride. As far as a comparison, I’d say the angles of the Megatrail in one of the longer travel modes make it something the Chilcotin probably couldn’t compete with.
Good to hear about your tuning adventure on the shock. It seems to be a common theme with most of my friends who have ridden them.
Cool, thanks for the reply. Did you try the Chilli in slack or steep mode? It makes a massive difference IME. No doubt in my mind that the Chilcotin is a very suspension dependent bike. When I first bought it I thought I might have made a mistake, but I’ve since discovered that it was just set up wrong for me.
The Megatrail looks really, really cool though. I love the adjustability of it. The range of personalities you can give it seems huge. Badly want to play with one after reading this review, which is really the first I’ve heard about how it actually performs.
I believe it was in the slacker setting but I wouldn’t bet my life on it.
“even when taking into account a number of tomahawks into rock gardens”
I love this phrase. I have had this bike since October last year and been to Moab three times with it, and I plowed through Porcupine significantly faster than any of my friends, several of who are better riders than me, because of both the geometry of the bike (slack head tube, low BB) and how well built it is. Oh, and I was in trail mode. After reading this review, I wish I had put it in Plaid mode, but I am worried that I would’ve destroyed my rims going at warp speed, given how fast I was already going in trail mode. If you want a bike that can handle abuse (I am 195lbs, 6’1″ and ride sloppy), this is the bike to go with.
Kevin, I loved your review. Very open minded and honest. I test rode one at Bootleg over a month ago and am expecting mine to arrive in about a week. For many of the same ride qualities you expressed, I’m selling my SC 5010c wunder bike.
my question is the shock. I put a monarch plus on my 5010 and it was night and day better than the fox it had. I really like the shock, but the guys at GG advised the cc inline. I still have time to change it, what would you suggest? I’m 150lbs, love the gnar…but usually do a ton of climbing. So I need something that has good mid stroke. Also love to play and “pop” on the bike. Thanks for your feedback, Rod.
Thanks Rod. I would say the easy answer is that the Monarch is the simpler setup of the two. I’ve got a CC inline shock that I just put on my own personal bike (2014 Norco Range Carbon) and to be honest, I’m having to revise my opinions a bit. I’ve only got a few rides on it but I’m not getting the same problems I had on the Megatrail. I’m now wondering if there was something up with the individual shock. Neither bike has a very complex leverage curve so I doubt it’s the difference in frames.
I’ve had good longevity out of the Monarch shocks I’ve had. You won’t have the minute precision in damping adjustments that you do with the inline but it will probably get you riding the bike comfortably a little sooner. The few friends I’ve had with inlines had both difficult setup times, and most of them have had to send theirs back for service within a year.
I don’t really feel comfortable making a choice for you as I honestly think either shock will work well, but hopefully that helps. If you do get the inline, I would definitely try to get some volume spacers with it.
Solid review, I’m going to try the “plaid” shock setup next ride. I really like my small Megatrail, Guerrilla Gravity is a great company and has excellent customer service. Will worked closely with me to get the best parts spec for my budget, we went through the parts +$ or -$ and pros and cons. Plus they are equally responsive to questions after I took delivery. Fantastic to get a bike with exactly what you want!
A note on sizing, I am 5’8″ and rode the medium and small. The medium was a bit more comfortable going uphill but the small was better for me going down. I have a short inseam at 30″ and the stand over on the medium seemed a touch high. That said, the small is awesome with a 40mm stem and 760mm bars.
Hey Kevin, what trail is this? I just moved to reno about two years ago and I’m still scouting trails. Thanks.
Thanks for the feedback Kevin. I think I’m going to give the CC Inline a try and see how it goes. The guys at GG have been great to work with so far and I’m sure they’ll stand by their product…so If I can’t get it sorted out in the first month or so, I may get a hold of them to see if I can swap it out for the Monarch Plus.
The MRP fork seems to be getting some good press. One thing that’s especially appealing is their advertised axle-to-crown, which is 10 mm lower than a 27.5 Pike of Fox 34 in the same travel. This means you could potentially run the MRP Stage with 10 mm extra travel without affecting geometry.
That said, I don’t fully trust that different brands measure things such as axle-to-crown the same way. Has anyone measured the Stage in comparison to, say, a Pike?
Multiple leverage rates and geometries are great and all, but I wonder if Guerrilla Gravity could shave a little weight off the frame by eliminating the adjustable geometry. ??
Probably like 7 grams.
Holes surrounded by aluminum don’t tend to weigh that much.
So they’re using holes, then. Dialed.
Great review. I now have narrowed it down to two frames, MT and the Norco Range Carbon, which you mention is your personal bike. I have had a short test ride on the Range and liked it. How does the MT compare to the Range?