Cheers!
"_I associate the "plunk-kathunk" feeling with slow speed ledgy stuff where the fork drops into a hole and rebounds before the back wheel drops down... which does feel weird on the Arrival, but doesn't it feel ungainly on any bike?_"
Exactly. Think of tight and steep corners with little drop-offs or up-and-over roots or rocks. Think awkwardly stepped roll-ins with tight turns at the bottom.
I find the Arrival is much more of a fight - ungainly - than other bikes. Partially because it's so great at creating momentum. Partially because of how the front and rear suspension play together in plunk-kathunk moments. My example of a bike with similar travel that's much more natural to ride in these situations was the Banshee Titan but you could insert any number of more mainstream rigs - Trek Slash, Kona Process, Rocky Slayer.
Actually, the Slayer is a magical bike in my mind - even compared to the other Rocky Mountains - in its combination of being very reasonable to climb and fun descending every type of trail.
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The Arrival is quick in pumpy terrain, particularly so for the travel it brings, but my angleset-equipped Rifty and most other 120mm-ish bikes are too while also being better in slow-speed jank.
The place that it blows the Rifty out of the water is steeper more open DH tracks. It's not that it isn't great lots of places - certainly, it would be ridiculously fun in Cumberland - but I wanted to highlight where it's better than other bikes.
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Just a note on the wheelbase versus other XL Enduro bikes. This is always a challenge with brands making limited frame sizes, but I think it would be more fair/exact for We Are One to call the sizes Small-Medium, Medium-Large, and Large-XL. Especially if riders are piling spacers under their stem.
This is one of the smaller larges I've ridden recently - I'm 5'9" and thought the fit was excellent.
Oct. 24, 2022, 8:01 p.m. - Andrew Major
Cheers! "_I associate the "plunk-kathunk" feeling with slow speed ledgy stuff where the fork drops into a hole and rebounds before the back wheel drops down... which does feel weird on the Arrival, but doesn't it feel ungainly on any bike?_" Exactly. Think of tight and steep corners with little drop-offs or up-and-over roots or rocks. Think awkwardly stepped roll-ins with tight turns at the bottom. I find the Arrival is much more of a fight - ungainly - than other bikes. Partially because it's so great at creating momentum. Partially because of how the front and rear suspension play together in plunk-kathunk moments. My example of a bike with similar travel that's much more natural to ride in these situations was the Banshee Titan but you could insert any number of more mainstream rigs - Trek Slash, Kona Process, Rocky Slayer. Actually, the Slayer is a magical bike in my mind - even compared to the other Rocky Mountains - in its combination of being very reasonable to climb and fun descending every type of trail. \-\-\-\-\-\- The Arrival is quick in pumpy terrain, particularly so for the travel it brings, but my angleset-equipped Rifty and most other 120mm-ish bikes are too while also being better in slow-speed jank. The place that it blows the Rifty out of the water is steeper more open DH tracks. It's not that it isn't great lots of places - certainly, it would be ridiculously fun in Cumberland - but I wanted to highlight where it's better than other bikes. \-\-\-\-\-\- Just a note on the wheelbase versus other XL Enduro bikes. This is always a challenge with brands making limited frame sizes, but I think it would be more fair/exact for We Are One to call the sizes Small-Medium, Medium-Large, and Large-XL. Especially if riders are piling spacers under their stem. This is one of the smaller larges I've ridden recently - I'm 5'9" and thought the fit was excellent.