New Open Cycles One Gets Lighter, Upends Traditional Hardtail Mountain Bike Design

I could not agree with you more, sir

So, in order to save 50g they had to absolutely ruin the rear cable routing to the point that it has an outrageous kink in the housing? No doubt we’re talking about triathletes here….

Up for this challenge? Now make us a Full Suspension XC 29er under 1400g…..’with’ shock!

Let’s be honest, we’d all be happy enough to ride one…but I’m not buying the “upend traditional hard-tail design” idea 🙂 Giant XTC hardtails have just as much going on with their own factory-made carbon and it is good enough for a lifetime frame warranty. (Yes, I’m clearly a proud owner).

Show me your warranty terms, Open, then we’ll talk.

My vagina has sand in it!!!!

did they put enuf clearance for anything bigger than a 1.9 in there yet ?? modernize the geometry from 2002 this time around ?? mtn bike from a tri-guy. ahem.

Leave it to Cervélo (founder) to again puch the boundries of bike tech, this time in mtb! For those that don’t understand carbon frame tech or know the history of carbon road bikes need to open the history books.

Actually while building this bike, I was thinking the same. The cable bend is pretty extreme, but I can report that shifting was not compromised at all.Nevertheless this frame begs for Di2. For anyone that has put a leg over an Open Cycle, knows,these bikes are for the most discerning of riders. The feeling of riding an Open,let alone the One,is unlike any hardtail composite 29er I have ridden. Pure point and shoot acceleration all while never asking for more compliance.Once again Gerard has perpetrated his spirit into production of another discipline.

The kink is a showstopper. It makes a multi-K drivetrain work worse than Alivio (which I would argue, works OK). Give us external routing, please.

Guys, please stop completely misusing the word “showstopper” – it’s definition is pretty much the opposite of what you mean. I believe “deal-breaker” is the phrase you’re looking for.

I’d like to see a comparison of stiffness (lateral/vertical) to other more popular brands (S-Works SJ, C’dale Flash 29, Trek Superfly, etc). Looking at those chainstays and I’m thinking this rear end feels like a wet noodle.

This frame is the part. It would win any test compared to spesh, trek, cannondale and all that (deleted). Specially if you consider weight stiffness ratio. This is no asian crap, this is made by the German guys who are asked to do parts for quite a few formula one teams for a few years now. Those don’t work with asian (deleted).

That been said, at 4200€ (about 6000$), well…

Guys, a frame can only get but so stiff before it becomes a moot point. $6000 frame from Cervelo? That’s a joke, and it’s not even funny. Also, when you’re trying to compete in this kind of market, thinks like super janky cable routing do matter. You pretty much lose all credibility if you can’t get something as simple as that right.

I wouldn’t call this cable routing “super janky” – probably not ideal, but as Marc said, it seems like it doesn’t compromise shifting that much. And yet the comments about “this thing MUST shift like crap” keep on flowing…I’m willing to bet half the people criticizing don’t get the weird perspective going on in the photo. The housing loop is tight, but not pinched – it bends out quite a bit. And if you can’t get this to shift smoothly (even WITH alivio) then you clearly don’t know how to treat housing ends properly after cutting them.

First, It’s not a Cervelo. Secondly, I own an Open O 1.0 and can attest to the stiffness. I greatly preferred the rear braking performance of the Open over the Sworks stumpjumper. In full disclosure I also have a 29″ Epic (2014 carbon expert) and a 26″ epic (2012 sworks) and wanted to like the Spec product, just hated the rear brake chatter (XTR on demo). Additionally, I feel the Open has better stiffness when applying power and better handling. The low speed, climbing handling of the Open is exceptional and my favorite aspect of this bike. I have raced it since December 2013 (short track and one 100K race) and have been very pleased with the bike as well as the quality of customer service. As mentioned previously, I am the anti-bike rumor and own 2 specialized bikes and love them both. If I have an issue with my specialized there is a substantially longer paper trail and time delay in getting it addressed, it is still addressed and addressed well, some of what I like about specialized. With Open, I email Andy and he responds; rapidly. I’m not a UCI pro racer but it’s nice to be treated as one when you spend the money for a product such as this.

Thanks to those with constructive feedback. Regarding the kink in the cable, we definitely wouldn’t sell it like that. This exit position is perfect for something that wasn’t available quite yet at SeaOtter. For the standard set-up including XX1 which this frame in the end was built up with, it will have different routing.

As for those predicting lack of stiffness, shattering carbon in crashes, etc, sounds like the same things the same people were predicting with the O-1.0 and of course none of that ever occurred.

@TmonT Most run 2.1″ or 2.2″, some 2.25″ on their OPENs, so you must have been confused about something.

And to clarify the pricing, it is $4800 plus tax, the $6000 misunderstanding probably came from somebody converting the Euro price but that includes Euro sales tax. Not that $4800 isn’t high, it is.