2nd Mondraker ... total convert to the big bike mantra now

Vanquisher

New Member
Dec 13, 2023
45
31
Surrey, UK
I thought it marketing speak but transformed my riding overnight

20220303_184817.jpg
 

JP-NZ

E*POWAH Elite
Feb 17, 2022
1,034
779
Christchurch - New Zealand
LOL . . . . . to better than I was before I got into the longer Reach, longer Wheelbase thing Mondraker call Forward Geometry
FWIW, most bike manufacturers have been making longer reaches and bigger bikes for the past 4-5 years.

Glad your enjoying it! That same Crafty XR made it to the final 2 EMTB's when I purchased a new bike last year. Its a beast!
 

Plummet

Flash Git
Mar 16, 2023
936
1,352
New Zealand
LOL . . . . . to better than I was before I got into the longer Reach, longer Wheelbase thing Mondraker call Forward Geometry
Looking at the geo nothing is special other than. They have called a medium a small and large a medium ect. It's all marketing bs. You have just upsized from what you normally ride. So surprise, surprise it's more stable and harder to turn.
 

Vanquisher

New Member
Dec 13, 2023
45
31
Surrey, UK
FWIW, most bike manufacturers have been making longer reaches and bigger bikes for the past 4-5 years.

Glad your enjoying it! That same Crafty XR made it to the final 2 EMTB's when I purchased a new bike last year. Its a beast!
Yeah agreed. Most have moved in Mondraker's direction for sure. I think their Forward Geometry concept was one of, if not the first of the long / low / slack gigs.
They are still big though. My first Mondraker was the 2021 Level RR. For a Med, it had a 470 Reach and 1270 Wheelbase. So definitely up there and I am only 174mm. It was the most stable ground eating machine I've ever ridden. Better than any DH bike I've owned as well. Just got the Crafty XR to see how a slighly smaller and lighter eBike felt
 
Last edited:

Vanquisher

New Member
Dec 13, 2023
45
31
Surrey, UK
Looking at the geo nothing is special other than. They have called a medium a small and large a medium ect. It's all marketing bs. You have just upsized from what you normally ride. So surprise, surprise it's more stable and harder to turn.
I didn't say it was special. Whatever they are doing that allows me to comfortably ride a bike of 470 Reach and 1270 Wheelbase at 174cms tall is working very well for me. On average, Mondraker's wheelbase's are longer than normal for the equivalent Reach in other mainstream brands. It's not just a simple case of "you've just upsized"

Levo S4 at 477 Reach and only 1255 Wheelbase (short) is a good example. I rode it for a month. I didn't like it, yet it's the "upsizing" you refer to. The Mondraker is significantly more stable in the chunk, generates and holds more speed and is more planted in corners. Contrary to what you say, I don't find the Mondraker's harder to turn either. I'm quite an aggressive rider and I lift 4x a week.

At the end of the day, we're all different, there isn't just one riding style, we all ride different terrain/ track types and we all have different abilities.
 

Plummet

Flash Git
Mar 16, 2023
936
1,352
New Zealand
I didn't say it was special. Whatever they are doing that allows me to comfortably ride a bike of 470 Reach and 1270 Wheelbase at 174cms tall is working very well for me. On average, Mondraker's wheelbase's are longer than normal for the equivalent Reach in other mainstream brands. It's not just a simple case of "you've just upsized"

Levo S4 at 477 Reach and only 1255 Wheelbase (short) is a good example. I rode it for a month. I didn't like it, yet it's the "upsizing" you refer to. The Mondraker is significantly more stable in the chunk, generates and holds more speed and is more planted in corners. Contrary to what you say, I don't find the Mondraker's harder to turn either. I'm quite an aggressive rider and I lift 4x a week.

At the end of the day, we're all different, there isn't just one riding style, we all ride different terrain/ track types and we all have different abilities.
Wheel base is created by chainstay length + front center. Front center is reach + heat tube angle fork travel horizontal distance.

There's no magic sauce, just differing geo numbers. Here's a comparison to the mondraker level, levo and my pole voima.

Levo has shorter chainstay by 12mm. that is here contributes half to the reduced wheel base. The rest will be in fork offset and travel.

Interestingly my K1 Voima has a reach of 450 but a wheel base of 1283. That is because the front is slack AF and and 190mm travel giving me a longer again wheelbase.

Anyway. Rather than falling into the marketing hype of each brand I go by the geo numbers.
Long chainstays and wheel bases stabilize up a bike considerably. But its at the compromise to agility. You rob Peter and pay Paul....

I'm glad that you are loving the bike. Get out there and ride it like you stole it.
Personally at 178cm I don't enjoy a 470 reach. 450 is the gravy for me.


1702580489908.png
 

E Bob

Well-known member
Feb 15, 2021
357
353
torfaen
I didn't say it was special. Whatever they are doing that allows me to comfortably ride a bike of 470 Reach and 1270 Wheelbase at 174cms tall is working very well for me. On average, Mondraker's wheelbase's are longer than normal for the equivalent Reach in other mainstream brands. It's not just a simple case of "you've just upsized"

Levo S4 at 477 Reach and only 1255 Wheelbase (short) is a good example. I rode it for a month. I didn't like it, yet it's the "upsizing" you refer to. The Mondraker is significantly more stable in the chunk, generates and holds more speed and is more planted in corners. Contrary to what you say, I don't find the Mondraker's harder to turn either. I'm quite an aggressive rider and I lift 4x a week.

At the end of the day, we're all different, there isn't just one riding style, we all ride different terrain/ track types and we all have different abilities.
I'm with you on this, im 173 tall and prefer a big 29'er, like to have to pull a bike over to steer it, Mullets seem to steer too quick break loose at the rear, Plummed plus others might call it agile, party at the back etc, But its just loose to me, and at speed dodgy...
 

E Bob

Well-known member
Feb 15, 2021
357
353
torfaen
Wheel base is created by chainstay length + front center. Front center is reach + heat tube angle fork travel horizontal distance.

There's no magic sauce, just differing geo numbers. Here's a comparison to the mondraker level, levo and my pole voima.

Levo has shorter chainstay by 12mm. that is here contributes half to the reduced wheel base. The rest will be in fork offset and travel.

Interestingly my K1 Voima has a reach of 450 but a wheel base of 1283. That is because the front is slack AF and and 190mm travel giving me a longer again wheelbase.

Anyway. Rather than falling into the marketing hype of each brand I go by the geo numbers.
Long chainstays and wheel bases stabilize up a bike considerably. But its at the compromise to agility. You rob Peter and pay Paul....

I'm glad that you are loving the bike. Get out there and ride it like you stole it.
Personally at 178cm I don't enjoy a 470 reach. 450 is the gravy for me.


View attachment 130722
Aint that a small pole, medium mondraker and a large levo ?
 

HGmtb

Active member
Patreon
Jan 16, 2019
142
115
Sydney
I treated myself to a Mondraker Dune 7 years ago and it transformed my riding too. Geometry was radical at the time - close downhill numbers, but now it equates to a 160 mm travel downcountry bike.
 

irie

E*POWAH Elite World Champion
Subscriber
May 2, 2022
2,017
1,963
Chichester, W.Sussex, UK
Personally at 178cm I don't enjoy a 470 reach. 450 is the gravy for me.
I'm 178cm and mine is 460 reach, but I have a very large wing span. Had to muck around quite a lot with my 2022 Trek Rail Large (alloy) to get it how I want it. My wife's Medium is definitely too small for me. A piece of utterly useless information :rolleyes:
 

Plummet

Flash Git
Mar 16, 2023
936
1,352
New Zealand
Aint that a small pole, medium mondraker and a large levo ?
Thats why its important to go by the geo numbers and not the letter on the side of the frame! There's a wild difference in what brands market there sizes in. PS k1 used to be the size small for pole and its a medium as they have dropped K4 and introduced K0.
 

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