Forbidden Druid - Avinox Powered

I called another US dealer and they intimated arrival won't be till fall, but they would get back to me since everything for the US market is in flux due to the bankrupt windbag in office.

I wanted something with more range for self-shuttling this summer. Guess I'll wait another couple months to see how things shake out.
 
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OZ-E said:
Curious why not a single person or media outlet has ridden one of these yet.
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Small companies don't seem like they have a bunch of extra bikes to send around. Also they might not even have S3+ frames yet, and I can't think of any MTB reviewers that are small.
 
jbrown15 said:
If there is, do share?
You seem to have insight that we don’t know about.
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Another
www.youtube.com

MTB ALAN

My name is Alan, and I am long-haired, dark-skinned mountain biker in my 50s out here having rad days on bikes. I share my adventures with you because I hope that whoever or however you are, you'll be inspired to get out there and have a rad days too. Trail rides, product reviews, vlogs, and...
www.youtube.com www.youtube.com
 
B Rabbit said:
Maybe they are holding off on reviews till there is some stock. 2 bites at the publicity cherry.
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Yeah I think there are a few complete bikes out there somewhere like this fella.

- YouTube

Enjoy the videos and music that you love, upload original content and share it all with friends, family and the world on YouTube.
youtube.com youtube.com
 
Turns out I've watched more manlet MTB Youtubers than I thought. There should be a disclaimer.
 
OZ-E said:
Another E-MTB Review, Electric Mountain Bike Review, Emtbr

We haven't even left America yet
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Sorry, are you posting YouTubers clips of just seeing the bike at Sea Otter and considering that a review? Or are these people actually riding the bike?

I plan on heading over to Forbidden’s headquarters in two weeks to go see them and hopefully check out the bike in person.
 
So I made it to Sea Otter with one of the express purposes of seeing this bike and so it was my first stop. The booth was a modest setup compared to the usual suspect companies and so it could have gone unnoticed as another high-pivot entry. But those in the know, took notice.

IMG_2498.jpeg


The bike is more commanding in the person than the photo’s suggest, yet not overbuilt or ungainly. These eyes would have preferred a better paint motif, as the paint hides are rather nice, shinny carbon exterior. A naked version would be just fine in my book.

View attachment IMG_2494.jpeg

Speaking to one of the company reps, I got the sense that they thought hard about shock placement compared to the analog version and wanted to make sure that there was plenty of seat post insertion depth to be had and enough room to get the correct placement of the motor (and more importantly the BB location) to get a targeted rider position/balance. Essentially, they avoided the analog Druid’s interrupted-seatpost design with this model, which ironically is what Unno exactly didn’t do with their DJI attempt. I was happy to see that there is clearly better tire clearance compared to the Mith, but I won’t say it’s roomy, given what mixed wheel configuration should allow. The mud flap rightfully protects the main high-pivot area - something I would like to see more with even low-pivot bikes. And that idler guard is a nice touch.

IMG_2491.jpeg


The rep did spin some hope for us U.S. folks as they seem committed to servicing our market despite our country’s leadership maladministration on multiple fronts. The real issue is production DJI’s supply chain commitment as DJI is probably scouting for a large Trojan Horse to get their motors into our market. Forbidden got the early drop on it, but that’s hardly a guarantee of supply meeting the demand for this bike.

IMG_2497.jpeg
 
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OZ-E said:
Curious why not a single person or media outlet has ridden one of these yet.
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The eDruid is probably more rare than [insert name of exclusive supercar] in the world.

Sadly, guessing we are some time from reviews dropping.

In under 9 months, we went from a system reveal at Eurobike to a bike on display at Sea Otter. Very little time for any bike company — especially a small one — to get test units from DJI, design a bike around it, get the molds made, test and validate it, put the order in, etc.

(Assuming Forbidden already had test mules with other motors already in July '24 they could modify.)
 
ShapeThings said:
The eDruid is probably more rare than [insert name of exclusive supercar] in the world.

Sadly, guessing we are some time from reviews dropping.

In under 9 months, we went from a system reveal at Eurobike to a bike on display at Sea Otter. Very little time for any bike company — especially a small one — to get test units from DJI, design a bike around it, get the molds made, test and validate it, put the order in, etc.

(Assuming Forbidden already had test mules with other motors already in July '24 they could modify.)
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Yes, I totally get that.

There is however bikes at Sea Otter and half of those testers were probably there. Perfect opportunity to get a few bums on seats.
 
OZ-E said:
Yes, I totally get that.

There is however bikes at Sea Otter and half of those testers were probably there. Perfect opportunity to get a few bums on seats.
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I don’t think they had any demo bikes, only the display booth bikes.

I highly doubt they were letting people ride those.
 
OZ-E said:
Yes, I totally get that.

There is however bikes at Sea Otter and half of those testers were probably there. Perfect opportunity to get a few bums on seats.
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They've probably done extensive inhouse testing with their designated riders (they'd be mad not to), however probably wanted to keep it pretty tight and under cover before announcing. I have no doubt they have thrown out a few bikes to people they consider "key industry influencers" to now ride and review. I'm pretty confident they will have done their homework and this bike will be a machine like it's analogue counterpart.

There will probably be a number of reviews hitting the net shortly as I reckon there would be a handful of bikes out in media land.
 
Looks like the first bikes are mid October in Aus. That’s a lot of opportunity to buy something else!
 
slickrock said:
The rep did spin some hope for us U.S. folks as they seem committed to servicing our market despite our country’s leadership maladministration on multiple fronts. The real issue is production DJI’s supply chain commitment as DJI is probably scouting for a large Trojan Horse to get their motors into our market. Forbidden got the early drop on it, but that’s hardly a guarantee of supply meeting the demand for this bike.
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Across the board China has already started limiting manufacturing, telling people not to come to work, closing factories etc. I'd be very concerned if I had to depend on anything out of China for a while, no matter what the product it but especially tech related items like a DJI motor.
 
John_likes_bikes said:
Across the board China has already started limiting manufacturing, telling people not to come to work, closing factories etc.
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The big companies like DJI will survive since the Chinese economy depends on them, but the small ones may bleed
 
What I was told by a local dealer today:
For the US, if you are already on the list, you might have luck with the small July batch. Otherwise, seems like it's fall at best.
 
OZ-E said:
Curious why not a single person or media outlet has ridden one of these yet.
Click to expand...
Probably the same reason the new Trek Rail+ took 6+ months to get some reviews out, after it was available to the public.
Quite simply - a lower marketing budget allocated to the bike.
 
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