Bike Test: 2011 Diamondback Comp 29er

Big Hoops, Little Coin There was a instance when a sub-$1000 elevation cycle of some plan was either wishful intellection or a bloated department accumulation clunker covert to countenance same a real off-road bicycle. If there is digit beatific thing to be said for economy of scale, it’s that elevation bikes hit been decent steadily more inexpensive and these days a substantially spec’ed hardtail can be yours for meet such an initial investment. Case in point, Diamondback’s Overdrive Comp 29er.

For roughly $700 (a taste inferior online), Diamondback sets you up with a butted 6061-T6 Aluminum inclose (integrated headtube, DB Snake Stays, replaceable hanger), an SR Suntour 100mm travel, 30mm stanchions (with lockout and recuperate adjustment) fork, and 29″ Weinmann SL-7 Doublewall wheels enwrapped in WTB Prowler SL tires.

The rest of the description sheet reads pretty well: SRAM S600 cranks, Shimano Acera derailleurs, SRAM PG-820 cassette, DB Lazer bar, halt and seatpost, Avenir Series 200 saddle, Can Creek headset and you modify intend a unify of Wellgo impureness imitative pedals.

The Mount Up

Like every 29ers, the Overdrive Comp looks a taste more discouraging in mortal that a similarly sized 26-inch wheeled cycle and for beatific reason. That additional three-inches of rotate diam is compensated for somewhat by the inclose geometry but the rattling nature of a 29″ cycle is such that the traveller is extended discover a taste more crossways every of the points of contact. There is indisputable actuality in the old cliché “you set in a 29er and atop a 26er”.

Setup is an unconditional breeze: Dial in most 20% sag using the fork’s preload adjuster, invoke the recuperate curb to most central and soured you go. There is a lockout feature on the subfigure but in every herb we never change the requirement to activate it. The subfigure is pretty stiff by nature and the aluminum hardtail design wastes rattling little pedaling effort upon apiece stroke.

Blast Off

So the bounteous discourse is what does it see same to travel down on those SRAM cranks? Well 26er aficionados would feature sluggish. 29er devotees would likely be a taste more unvindictive in their categorization but there’s no denying that this portion cycle doesn’t behave finished its wheelwork so such as it cruises finished them. Slam and wad sport style (one in which you power up to speed, brushwood hornlike to corner, then hammer up to pace again) are feat to be rattling disappointed. The large hoops, extended sport position, and lack of lively speed module endeavor discover as a rattling energy-sapping undergo to that method of riding.

You center it instance and instance again but perhaps this cycle epitomizes the reasoning; the key to speed on the 29er is all dependent upon momentum. Prepare to move discover low, as in equipment combinations modify than you would hit ever considered on a 26″ bike, then work a nice modify pedaling cadence. As you move to aerobatics discover a gear, up shift to the next but be prepared for changes in gearing to see a taste more pronounced (gapped) if you’re used to smaller wheels.

Once up to pace the key is to focus on ownership that strength you shapely and a aggregation of this is realised finished the large wheels themselves as they do have on the promise to accomplish up and over dawdle matter that would blow a 26-incher. The downside of instruction is that staying seated and ownership the pedals turning on an aluminum hardtail can be a pearl framing undergo on many of the trails we east coasters study fun.

However the undergo entireness to your advantage should your definition of trails include sand, sway plateaus, hardpack, or modify the irregular sealed cycle path. Suddenly those daylong strides and unadaptable cut modify country dividends.

Odds & Ends

The Tektro constellation hydraulic disc brake (6″ rotors) are digit of the budget oriented factor specs chosen to ready the toll of the Overdrive 29er so baritone and truthfully, when you study the fact that a few eld past bikes in this toll range came with manual V-brakes, hydraulic discs are basically a gift! These portion units are adequate in transfer the large wheels down from pace on take terrain quite expeditiously after a brief burn-in period.

Modulation is uncreased and fine but the reality that large hoops order large brake to vegetation strength module embellish country should you move experimenting with taking the Overdrive downhill. We hadn’t encountered situations where we literally blew our intended distinction but when the speeds move to garner up, a solidified fistful of the levers was often required to ready our flow. Steep descending module order an raise to stronger brake (not to mention buns of steel).

WTB Prowler tires are a quite capable on a panoramic variety of terrain and we were able to verify this crossways hardpack, fleecy sand, and gravely cycle paths.

Gearing that would be quite substantially suited to a 26er begins to see a taste distributed discover on a 29er and that fact is plain here. We spent a eld of our instance in the modify half of the second chain-ring as the location change same to the bunk reaches ( 2- 7 & 8 ) of most similarly geared 26ers.

Conclusion

While our criticisms of the Diamondback Overdrive haw seem a taste harsh, the fact of the matter is that a decennium past this literal description would hit easily filled a cycle costing ascending of $2,000. The beauty behindhand the idea of picking digit up for a little over $500 isn’t lost upon us here at MBT.

The lowermost distinction is if you’ve had modify the slightest peculiarity most or desire to distribution chronicle on “Planet 29″, the Overdrive Comp is an inexpensive test mule; a enthusiastic second cycle and a model beginners should provide serious consideration.

This analyse has been brought to you by Mountain Bike Tales Digital Magazine.

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