Forbidden Druid - Avinox Powered

What I was told, was pretty far off of the DV2. I wish it was close to the DV2.

I can probably in general describe what I saw. The L (required for a decent dropper insertion) had the Reach of a size Medium bike and the stack of a size XL. It had the chainstays, well nearly longer than anything I've seen. Like makes those stupid machined Al bikes that are glued together (POLE) look short, and this (I presume) was before the rear end extended under compression. If they were giving me the CS dimension at its max compressed, well then it would be in the range of normal/ long and something I'd be very interested in.

I suspect they are going for this new, even newer style geo where the rider sits up really straight, and to get front end traction they had to extend the rear end out.

The Bosch is competitive with the DJI motor. The Bosch is quieter and in July gets the new screen and a power bump. The DJI total (battery and motor) is 1# lighter and is better integrated. In short, I like the DJI but I'm going to pick my next bike based on the frame qualities it possesses, as long it has the Bosch or the DJI. At this time, I'm leaning towards the Regulator.
The reach on a S3 will be 467, I find a lot of larges are in the 470-480mm range, so it's not really that far off. I would say most medium ebikes now a days are in that 450-455mm reach. The S2 will be 447mm.

The rear center on the S3 eDruid is 456mm, a S3 Druid is 452mm. So I'd say it's not really that far out there with geo numbers.
 
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I'm hoping I can dial in my size choice/decide if I like the geo at sea otter. We'll see if they have demo rides. It's anxiety inducing to spend >$10k on a bike without even riding it.
 
I’ve read it in multiple sources, theloamwolf talks about it right in their review.


What do you weigh? And what level do you ride about? No slight at you but maybe you aren’t pushing the bike hard enough to get it to flex or riding rowdy enough terrain to bring out this character in the frame?
75kg and I’m pretty capable on a bike, have a V10 DH bike, nomad and a giga 290 for enduro. I race local DH and enduro formats. If you watch someone who can ride a bike (like Lewis Buchanan) on the Amflow, they don’t have any issues with flex?
 
75kg and I’m pretty capable on a bike, have a V10 DH bike, nomad and a giga 290 for enduro. I race local DH and enduro formats. If you watch someone who can ride a bike (like Lewis Buchanan) on the Amflow, they don’t have any issues with flex?
I don't know do they? Like I said, I've read it mentioned on a few occasions so it's something that comes to mind. I haven't personally ridden one so I'm not all in what was said about it. Just mentioned that the eDruid should be a beefier build after talking with Forbidden about the bike. The geo of the Amflow looks like more of a trail bike to me, am I wrong to think that? Low stack, wheelbase on the shorter side, 64.5 headangle?
 
Spoke to my dealer today. He said these bikes are going to be hard to get. Said he will not even get all of the ones that he has ordered. Very disappointed.
yeah my lbs said they have 20 on order for the whole year. They have no idea when they will get here and said the prices could go up depending on tariffs.
 
The reach on a S3 will be 467, I find a lot of larges are in the 470-480mm range, so it's not really that far off. I would say most medium ebikes now a days are in that 450-455mm reach. The S2 will be 447mm.

The rear center on the S3 eDruid is 456mm, a S3 Druid is 452mm. So I'd say it's not really that far out there with geo numbers.

Maybe it's not as far off as I recall although I feel a large should have a 485-490mm reach. Is that 467mm on the E-Core model as sometimes the long travel model ends up shorter?

CS is 456mm at full extension? Will it grow around 20mm at full compression like other Forbiddens?

Like I said, I'm still very interested, and acknowledge that I have a history of liking/ buying bikes on the long side and I'm trying to experiment with shorter bikes moving forward.
 
Cant blame them (Forbidden) for being hesitant to over stock/order given the market at the moment.
Spoke to my dealer today. He said these bikes are going to be hard to get. Said he will not even get all of the ones that he has ordered. Very disappointed.
I assume there will be no frame kit available? I'm also a bit disappointed its not longer travel.
 
Cant blame them (Forbidden) for being hesitant to over stock/order given the market at the moment.

I assume there will be no frame kit available? I'm also a bit disappointed its not longer travel.
Why would it be longer travel? The Druid is a trail/all-mountain bike.
 
I was hoping they'd do a Ebike version of the Dreadnought :)
I was to, but there does seem to be a lot of new bikes in that 160/150mm travel range.

The Levo just dropped with that travel, Transition Regulator, Santa Cruz Vala and the new Norco Sight.
I guess they're just being conservative with their first ebike.
 
I was hoping they'd do a Ebike version of the Dreadnought :)
Apparently they will.... eventually. Just depends on how long you want to wait. What will be interesting to see is how the industry reacts to the DJI "disruptor".

What do Bosch, Shimano and the others do to match what DJI are doing not just in "power" but also in the tech supporting their motor. How quickly can they make adjustments and then when does this bleed out. They can't just start replacing existing motors, they need to sell all that stock off before "upgrading". So we'll see a lot of the existing stock hanging around for a while. I'm not sure if they can catch DJI with just "firmware" updates to existing motors.

Second, what is DJI's next move? I'm hearing they will look at another longer travel model in the near future (if they aren't already in development). Surely they will have learnt from the Amflow release and will stiffen up the frame, sort out the twisting headstem issue and tweak brakes etc. My suspicion is they will continue to offer a pretty good product at a price point under what most of the boutique brands like Orbea and Forbidden are offering. So I think there will be lots of options in the near future.

I'll see what the official Forbidden offering is once it's release to market over the next few days, take the winter here Downunder to consider all options and the look at perhaps pulling the trigger on something later this year.
 
Maybe it's not as far off as I recall although I feel a large should have a 485-490mm reach. Is that 467mm on the E-Core model as sometimes the long travel model ends up shorter?

CS is 456mm at full extension? Will it grow around 20mm at full compression like other Forbiddens?

Like I said, I'm still very interested, and acknowledge that I have a history of liking/ buying bikes on the long side and I'm trying to experiment with shorter bikes moving forward.
You can’t just isolate reach as a measurement without considering stack also. A bike with 485/490mm of reach with a low stack height (something Trek have been reknowned for) has a smaller span (hypotenuse) than a bike with a shorter reach & more stack & that’s before you start to add spacer & riser bars.

Forbidden had already started that approach with the V2 Dreadnought, they shortened the reach & increased the stack height, balanced the F/R centres more over the V1 bike.

A more wider view on all of the numbers is important, and being someone who sits usually at the upper end of a large bike, I’m all for more stack height, as it means I don’t have to mess about with stem spacers & high rise bars, eating into the size of the bike. I wish more manufacturers would get on board with truly size proportional measurements Above and beyond a couple of mm on a chain stay & stack.
 
It looks awesome, some interesting geo will be talked about, I hope it goes well for forbidden, it’s a beauty!
 
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You can’t just isolate reach as a measurement without considering stack also. A bike with 485/490mm of reach with a low stack height (something Trek have been reknowned for) has a smaller span (hypotenuse) than a bike with a shorter reach & more stack & that’s before you start to add spacer & riser bars.

Forbidden had already started that approach with the V2 Dreadnought, they shortened the reach & increased the stack height, balanced the F/R centres more over the V1 bike.

A more wider view on all of the numbers is important, and being someone who sits usually at the upper end of a large bike, I’m all for more stack height, as it means I don’t have to mess about with stem spacers & high rise bars, eating into the size of the bike. I wish more manufacturers would get on board with truly size proportional measurements Above and beyond a couple of mm on a chain stay & stack.

I hear/ read this over and over but just don't follow.

They have this thing called 'handlebar rise'. In fact, OneUp just released their new bar offering a 50mm rise version. I've always ran the least number of under stem spacers possible.

So as I result, I keep the same reach while choosing my stack. Ignoring the stem height, with the E-Core S3 I can choose an effective stack of 662 (0mm rise bar), 672 stack (10mm rise bar), 687mm stack (25mm rise bar), 697mm stack (35mm rise bar), or 712mm stack (50mm rise bars). Just in OneUp products.

All have the exact same 467 Reach on the S3. I choose stack based on an appropriate lean angle to my torso, and secondly sometimes I raise or lower my bar rise based on front wheel traction.

Please explain how my reasoning is incorrect. I really want to understand but just don't.
 
So as I result, I keep the same reach while choosing my stack. Ignoring the stem height, with the E-Core S3 I can choose an effective stack of 662 (0mm rise bar), 672 stack (10mm rise bar), 687mm stack (25mm rise bar), 697mm stack (35mm rise bar), or 712mm stack (50mm rise bars). Just in OneUp products.

You cannot ‘chose’ your stack, it’s a fixed measurement between two points on the frame, what you are referring to your bar height I’m assuming?

If we talk about ‘effective stack/effective reach‘ above the points of measurement on the frame, trigonometry means every 10mm of height above the point of measuring (centre of head tube usually) you gain about 9mm of ‘effective stack’ but you lose about 4.5mm of ‘effective reach’ (because of the HTA, the bars aren’t going up vertically).

Look at the span/spread/hypotenuse (whatever you want to call it) of frame for a more relevant reference of size.
 

Do you have the geo for the lite version? I assume a shorter front center/wheelbase.
 
You cannot ‘chose’ your stack, it’s a fixed measurement between two points on the frame, what you are referring to your bar height I’m assuming?

If we talk about ‘effective stack/effective reach‘ above the points of measurement on the frame, trigonometry means every 10mm of height above the point of measuring (centre of head tube usually) you gain about 9mm of ‘effective stack’ but you lose about 4.5mm of ‘effective reach’ (because of the HTA, the bars aren’t going up vertically).

Look at the span/spread/hypotenuse (whatever you want to call it) of frame for a more relevant reference of size.

If you tilt your bars back at the same angle as your HTA, yes, you lose reach.

I don't. Since when I stand and have lots of impacts I'm over the bars I have the bars straight. So 100% of my bar rise increases 'effective' stack while making no difference in 'effective' Reach.

I understand Trig just fine, that's not the issue here.

My current bike has a 497mm Reach and a 552mm Stack with a 20mm riser bar and I like how it sits.

If I buy the S3 E-Druid I'd have a 467 Reach (30mm shorter) and a 562mm Stack. I'd mount a 10mm riser bar and the 'effective' stack would be identical to my current ride. No two ways about it.

I guess the question is could I stick with the 20mm riser bars on the e-druid and maybe add 13mm to my stem length and end up feeling comfortable again? I'd be sitting up straighter, which may or may not be a good thing.
 
If you tilt your bars back at the same angle as your HTA, yes, you lose reach.

I don't. Since when I stand and have lots of impacts I'm over the bars I have the bars straight. So 100% of my bar rise increases 'effective' stack while making no difference in 'effective' Reach.

I understand Trig just fine, that's not the issue here.

My current bike has a 497mm Reach and a 552mm Stack with a 20mm riser bar and I like how it sits.

If I buy the S3 E-Druid I'd have a 467 Reach (30mm shorter) and a 562mm Stack. I'd mount a 10mm riser bar and the 'effective' stack would be identical to my current ride. No two ways about it.

I guess the question is could I stick with the 20mm riser bars on the e-druid and maybe add 13mm to my stem length and end up feeling comfortable again? I'd be sitting up straighter, which may or may not be a good thing.
Your headangle isn’t 90 degrees. I don’t understand your logic about increasing bar height? If you raise your stem 40mm for example you’re still going to lose reach no matter how much you roll your bars forward.

Plus on top of that if you really roll them forward your hand positioning will be off.
 
Your headangle isn’t 90 degrees. I don’t understand your logic about increasing bar height? If you raise your stem 40mm for example you’re still going to lose reach no matter how much you roll your bars forward.

Plus on top of that if you really roll them forward your hand positioning will be off.

Stems go back at an angle. Bars tilted at the angle of the HTA go back. Bars set up level, don't go back a single mm.

Anyways, back to the e-druid.
 
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