Evil has been bringing the “salt” to its mountain bikes lately, and now its short-travel trail bike, the Following LS, gets that treatment too.
Want salty? Check out the two limited edition colors: “blackout drunk” and “protein powder.” (I gotta say, the unappealing beige is right on.)
Mechanically, the Following LS updates focus on two inclusions that aim at making maintenance and part replacement easier. SRAM’s Universal Derailleur Hanger (UDH) is on board to help you swap out derailleurs at will. And in a slight tweak to the suspension, Evil moved the trunnion shock spacers inside the linkage, so they’re no longer so easy to drop when you’re monkeying with your setup.
Why? Because “riding is far better than wrenching,” Evil said.
If you’re a rider or a mechanic, you can’t want the UDH enough. It reduces the hideous toil of figuring out which derailleur hanger works on which frame, with every other component it needs to jibe with, every time you want to switch up your style.
It’s an especially big deal because if you ride SRAM, there’s almost no doubt you’ll need a UDH to keep updating your drivetrain as new ones show up.
Bottling the spacers inside the linkage accomplishes a similar end for anyone doing maintenance or swapping out parts.
Evil kept most of the Following LS characteristics true to the original build. Short-travel 120mm RockShox Deluxe Ultimate RC Debonairs and Fox Float DPS Factory EVOL inline shocks, plus a fairly tight 1,177mm wheelbase, give it the same pop riders knew the original for.
When it’s time to climb, an aggro, over-the-pedals 77° seat tube angle helps you bear down.
Dual-row, angular-contact, Klüberplex-filled bearings and oversized pivot hardware help keep the linkage bomber. SuperBoost 157mm rear spacing supports faster, stiffer handling. And the Following LS’s swingarm is reservoir-shock compatible if you just can’t resist an overbuild.
The bike gets a SRAM Eagle drivetrain with 1×12 gearing, Industry Nine Enduro S wheels, and Maxxis Minion DHF EXO TR tires (2.5” front, 2.3” rear).
The ground floor GX build starts at $6,299 MSRP. It comes in four sizes and was still not available as of this writing.
