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Evil The Wreckoning 29er enduro mountain bike finally unearthed

Evil The Wreckoning 29er enduro long travel mountain bike
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Evil The Wreckoning 29er enduro long travel mountain bike

“It goes really, really fast, and it jumps things really well.”

That’s how Evil Bikes’ Kevin Walsh describes their all new long travel 29er enduro mountain bike, The Wreckoning. Built with a downhill worthy carbon frame, 161mm of Dave Weagle-designed rear wheel suspension and big wheels to roll over anything and everything, it’s a bike that’s both long overdue and a bit of a surprise.

“With all the hoopla around 27.5″ and Plus bikes being the next big thing, this is next,” said Walsh. “And it’s even bigger thanks to massive 29er hoops and tires…

Evil The Wreckoning 29er enduro long travel mountain bike

“Weagle talked me into putting out The Following 120mm 29er prior to The Insurgent 150mm 27.5, but as soon as I pulled (The Following) outta the box and got to the bottom of the trail on the first ride, I called (Weagle) up and said ‘Dave, we gotta make a 160mm version of this!'”

Evil The Wreckoning 29er enduro long travel mountain bike

“It really boiled down to this: When 29ers are done right, they’re really legit and fun to ride. And this is faster and better over everything.

“We wanted something that could be an everyday bike but then also take park laps and DH runs, too. Dave was confident behind it and knew he could make it do what we wanted it to do.”

Evil The Wreckoning 29er enduro long travel mountain bike

The Wreckoning gets a downhill layup to handle the worst, but it can be an enduro or park bike. So, it pedals -in fact, they say it pedals as well as The Following and would be great with a Cane Creek Inline CS- but the geo does lean a little more toward the gravity side.

Evil The Wreckoning 29er enduro long travel mountain bike

Kevin’s been running it with a Push Industries coil shock and a prototype 180mm fork on one day, then switching it to a Vivid Air or Monarch Plus with a 160mm Lyrik up front. You could also sub in a Float X and Fox 36, with a few long travel 29er forks available from other brands, too.

The DELTA system is a linkage driven single pivot, but Weagle’s design allows it to run two different geometries, with a “Low” and “Extra Low” setting depending on whether you’re pedaling more or just descending. But, moving the flip chip between positions only changes the geometry, leaving the suspension leverage rate/curve and travel intact. An integrated sag meter helps you get it set up.

Key geo changes include (from Low to X-Low):

  • Head angle: 66.1º to 65.5º
  • Seat angle: 74.8º to 73.9º
  • BB height: 348mm to 339mm

Evil The Wreckoning 29er enduro long travel mountain bike

Chainstay length is an impressively-short-for-the-travel 430mm (or 432mm in X-Low). It did “take a little crafting” to get that much travel and sub-17″ chainstays, but they weren’t able to do to small frame size. That said, the chainstay and chainstay yoke were beefed up considerably. That, combined with a DH carbon layup, makes for a super strong, super stiff bike that’ll rail through Whistler’s worst.

To further stiffen the bike, it uses Boost 148 spacing, and the rear axle threads directly into the derailleur hanger.

Evil The Wreckoning 29er enduro long travel mountain bike

Rubber frame guards are used on the lower downtube and BB shell as well as the chainstay. Max rear tire size is 29×2.4, depending on manufacturer.

Evil The Wreckoning 29er enduro long travel mountain bike

An integrated upper chain guide means no front derailleur, and an optional custom E13 lower bash guard/chain guide is available for $99. Frame and shock is $2,899.

f you’re the type of person that rides a lot of different terrains and may even throw yourself into a downhill race a couple times a year, this could be your bike.

Evil-Bikes.com

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Flatbiller
Flatbiller
8 years ago

I hope that someday the bike industry follows the automotive review industry and nails down an objective method of testing that allows better performance comparisons of bikes. As it stands, we have to take subjective accounts from everyone and their mother, from professional publications to armchair engineers “riding” bikes based on geo charts before said bikes are even released (“this bike must be way better than that bike because its ATC measurement suits me!”).

I am pretty sure, for example, that every bike ever reviewed is the best bike that’s ever been ridden. This position is usually substantiated with ZERO charts, graphs, performance curves, etc.

We can do better. We have a billion “standards” everyone in a garage deems is better than the last, so some engineer out there could definitely come up with a methodology for bike performance testing so that comparisons can be made as objectively as possible. Geo charts only go so far, and that’s fine. But more performance data should be available and scientifically obtained for meaningful comparisons to surpass their marketing department value.

For now, “It goes really, really fast, and it jumps things really well” is just marketing fluff.

\m/
\m/
8 years ago
Reply to  Flatbiller

Totally, 100% agree!

dirtybird
dirtybird
8 years ago
Reply to  Flatbiller

HAHAHA! #nailedit

TheKaiser
8 years ago
Reply to  Flatbiller

Well, German “Bike” magazine consistently does a better job of that than most, however it seems like their scientific testing tends to find that German products are vastly superior. Take from that what you will.

Phil Jones
Phil Jones
8 years ago
Reply to  TheKaiser

German products are better…. In Germany. Why would anyone design a product which wasn’t ‘superior’ within their specific situation and constraints?

TheKaiser
8 years ago
Reply to  Phil Jones

Sure, I guess…if by designed to work better in Germany you mean designed to work better in the Bike mag test lab in Germany.

sad
sad
8 years ago
Reply to  Phil Jones

i wonder how people formulate replies like that.

wunnspeed
8 years ago
Reply to  sad

In my experience, the German magazines tend to push the German brands and recommend that riders “MUST” use X product for Alpen Cross, Enduro, Marathons, etc. Occasionally, a non-German product will slip by though. Usually, it’s one of the companies that’s got a ‘home base’ somewhere in country. Yes, there are some really great German companies but most would not be on a list of innovative in terms of design… usually, it’s perfecting a previous idea.

Veganpotter
Veganpotter
8 years ago
Reply to  Phil Jones

Germany isn’t a bike trail. They have varied terrain, just like many other places. If they’re testing on one trail, without a similar trail, anywhere in the world, you’d have a great point. The best bikes are tested by multiple people, on multiple trails. Everyone is going to want something different(even if they’re on the same trail and IN GERMANY;)

Skeptic
Skeptic
8 years ago
Reply to  Flatbiller

The reason is… mountain bikes can’t be objectively compared like cars. 0-60, braking distances, cornering G’s etc. are meaningless for mtbs.

Dirt motorcycle tests are even subjective..bold new graphics, revised rear linkage etc. Truth be told as the off-road bicycle industry has matured (standardized) for 99% of riders, there is NO functional difference from one bike to another, or from one fork, shock, tire, handlebar, fork angle or chainstay length to another. The differences are minute.

Every trail is different every time you ride it so even back-to-back runs will give different results. The purpose of comparison testing is to perpetuate a publication’s existence.

sad
sad
8 years ago
Reply to  Skeptic

why not.
publish weight at all sizes without pedals for starters. I dont care if its +-50gr.
publish suspension traction ratings on the always-same tire
publish timed laps
publish typical rider cog
publish pedal bob amount
publish everything.

all this would be extremely useful. it doesnt have to be going 60mph to be useful. heck cars have tires you can change too you know?

atlbikeshop
8 years ago
Reply to  Flatbiller

Well – the bike looks sweet at least.

Comrad
Comrad
8 years ago
Reply to  Flatbiller

As an engineer, lol what? Performance curves? On a bike? Bikes are very subjective. Everyone rides it differently, everyones motor is different, etc. Pinkbike or vital (can’t remember which) does do a very good job comparing linkages though. But bikes are much more subjective to review than a car.

Antipodean_eleven
8 years ago
Reply to  Flatbiller

As others have pointed to quite well, comparing bikes is almost impossible and reviewing them even more so. If you’ve ever sat in the timing tent at an Eduro/marathon race, you will learn very quickly that even the best bike with the best suspension can be ballsed up by Joe Average who’s running too much or too little pressure in the shocks and or tyres. BUT, to this particular Joe Average, his bike rides great.

Now take into account riding styles, rider weights, where they ride etc. etc. and as @Skeptic says, trying to review a bike is meaningless, at least in the way the ‘industry’ does it.

And where does that leave, say, me? I’ve just rebuilt a 5.5″ 26″ FS that I had neglected since I got it from the factory back in 2011. It’s metal, has small wheels and, get this, is single pivot (kinda). The way I have it set up now delivers, for me, the best and most dialled bike I have ridden in many years, it’s really a dream ride and feels so damn good. If I gave it to the press to review, what would they say I wonder?

I also love now how because everything’s carbon marketing teams are throwing out ‘layup’ as some sort of ‘thing’ that should impress everyone. Unless you are a highly trained composites engineer who deals with the myriad of carbon cloths, weaves and carbon grades, thinking about or pretending to understand layup is a meaningless pastime; one might as well just say’ ‘it feels good to ride’ and leave it at that.

This EVIL frame looks good. It’s in the ‘on trend’ Enduro Blue colour and has some nice styling and details; someone spent the time and money to do a good job. I also am sure the suspension works a treat for the given application. On the whole, I am pretty sure this bike would be a lot of fun to ride, in the right place….. that does not make for much of a press review though does it?

the biz
the biz
8 years ago
Reply to  Flatbiller

I hope someday the bike industry follows the automotive industry and realizes that the people working on the bikes products arent as smart as the people designing them

bearCol
bearCol
8 years ago

Flatbiller, you’re thinking too much, just hand over your cash. If you want to be a cool kid you need to have the latest equipment with the latest standards. What’s best is irrelevant, it’s all about what’s trending. If would be great if we had a pragmatic system and non affiliated reviews but that would go against everything the bike industry is.

Alfredo F. Solano
8 years ago

It’d be interesting to know if this thing can take 27.5 x 2.8″ tires

ronshev
ronshev
8 years ago

The video is metal. Therefore, take my $$$

John Degnan
John Degnan
8 years ago

The video is me(n)tal. Best vibe in recent memory.

gcrider
8 years ago

I presume that the delay in release of this bike and the “DH layup” are related. Should save reputation and warranties.

stiingya
8 years ago

How’s this bike doing in the EWS? 🙂

MBR
MBR
8 years ago

Yep. We need to objectively evaluate frame colors too. No more “I like” or “don’t like” subjectivity creeping into these reviews. Seriously: at least give me a bathroom scale weight…

jsdoca@gmail.com
jsdoca@gmail.com
8 years ago
Reply to  MBR

It’s tight. I’m running a 2.3 Trail Boss w/ a few MM of clearance.

Haromania
Haromania
8 years ago

How big of a tire can I squeeze in the rear?

Chris
Chris
8 years ago

29×2.4″ max. This bike doesn’t have a ton of tire clearance. They decided shorter chainstays were better rather than taking wider rubber. If you want big bike plus short stays, the superboost Switchblade is your bike.

Brian Sloan
8 years ago

That video was rad, but when are we going to see a promotional edit for a DH/Park bike feature the bike on anything more technical than steep loam with a few embedded stones?

Show me how awesome that linkage driven single pivot handles chunky gnar! The add for Vee Tire on the side of this page shows more technical terrain and it’s being ridden with an XC bike.

feldybikes
8 years ago

Why is there all this argument about the quality (or lack thereof) of bike reviews when this post amounts to a press release? No where is it mentioned as being ridden by the author at all. All the gushing is from the bike’s manufacturer which is to be expected. What are they supposed to say, “It goes moderately fast, but kinda sucks at jumping?”

0Gravity
8 years ago

How is this just now getting coverage on BikeRumor? This bike has been out since around early January / February ? Maybe this explains the headline about finally unearthing it

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