Opus Clutch 2011 - First Look from Rewoga

I've seen Opus road bikes around but I don't really know much about their mountain bikes. Andrew Gower is shedding some light for us though.

Be illuminated here...

the suspension talk in this piece confused me (not hard to do i'll admit)

firstly, i didn't understand the part about the opus' fork crown being higher than the spitfire's. different length fork? less sag?

secondly this

doesn't look like a dw link to me. maestro maybe?

:dizzy:

looks like maestro.

re: front end lifting on climbs, possible issues (individually or combo), sorry if you already know all this (i don't know you), not trying to be insulting:
frame size too small, stem too short, shock too soft (or fork too firm). at least move the steer tube spacers above the stem to start, that's easy enough. will descend better too, get some weight on your front wheel.

hello rebadged astro frame

hello rebadged astro frame

You've beaten me to post that!

looks like maestro.

re: front end lifting on climbs, possible issues (individually or combo), sorry if you already know all this (i don't know you), not trying to be insulting:
frame size too small, stem too short, shock too soft (or fork too firm). at least move the steer tube spacers above the stem to start, that's easy enough. will descend better too, get some weight on your front wheel.

It looks like you could also move your seat forward about 10mm, which won't compromise position over the pedals too much, but would really keep the nose down.

Why even bother writing a review on a catalog frame that was conceived by stealing someone else's design?

Why even bother writing a review on a catalog frame that was conceived by stealing someone else's design?

" However, with some weight shifting, the Clutch motors up technical descents"

^You're doing it backwards!

What's their reasoning for the 2 different head tube styles? Can't you do everything with a tapered head tube that you can with a straight head tube? Production wise wouldn't it be easier and more cost effective to use 1 head tube style?

Why even bother writing a review on a catalog frame that was conceived by stealing someone else's design?

lols

Why even bother writing a review on a catalog frame that was conceived by stealing someone else's design?

^this

Nice old Proflex on the wall!

Looking at it another way, do Astro have a Canadian distributor? I know of various companies that use Astro frames but I've never seen an Astro badged frame in a shop.

Why even bother writing a review on a catalog frame that was conceived by stealing someone else's design?

What about all the other companies who have, in some way or another, taken a design and tweaked it for a ride that they want…??…

Giant copied Intense, Intense copied DW, Santa Cruz copied Intense, Banshee copied Intense… oh but wait, what about ALL those companies who copied Cannondale's single pivot stuff? Oh, and what about the companies that have "licensed" FSR stuff… but that's not copying, because they (well, actually we did, because they defer the cost to the consumer) paid for it… right? Come on….

I don't know how many times we (the community) has to have this debate around who copied who… who gives a shit?

Get your head out of your ass, and the sand out of your vagina, and stop pouting over the fact that you probably paid more for your Intense with a lesser spec because somehow, someway, you're convinced the Intense is better than everything else…

I think it's great that the technology filters through the industry, especially when it comes to suspension designs, and companies making an attempt at tweaking/improving it for how they want to design a bike. Yes, it may be similar to this design, or to that design, but in the end it creates competition in an industry that NEEDS competition so that we don't have to pay thousands of dollars for an Intense or Santa Cruz frame, that really, at the end of the day, probably doesn't have THAT much better of performance to justify the premiums you pay…

Hey, if a company tries it, and it sucks, then no body will continue to buy it, and it will fall to the wayside, but otherwise, lets be stoked on the fact that there are more (and less expensive) options out there.

From what I've heard about the Opus stuff, is that it rides very well. Take a look at their Nelson bikes (and the prices), and I think you'll be hard-pressed to find many competitive alternatives, price/spec wise…