Hemlock sort of finished...
Northwind
Posts: 14,675
Mandatory "leaning against a post" pictures!
At the moment it's build with some parts I've robbed off the Soul (including the inappropriate weightweenie seatpost!) , I can build both bikes at the same time but the parts I have that are officially for the Hemlock add about 2 lbs so I thought I'd build it up with the nicer parts, just to see how it goes. I think without the gravity dropper it comes in a wee bit under 28lbs, realistically I don't see me doing anything to make it lighter, doesn't make much sense.
So, yeah, victory! Pretty much exactly what I wanted from it in fact, I didn't get it as a "glentress bike" if you know what I mean, it's more for dafter stuff like fort william and for trips abroad but it really shone today at GT. Not as good as my Soul on the tighter, slower stuff but on fast sections it's pretty inspiring, I was an awful lot faster through some bits, just by being so filled with confidence. Wth the fork wound down to 120mm it feels a lot like my Soul, though the low BB did bother me a wee bit at that setting, I kept catching pedals, it's a nice option but I think the full 6 inches just works better, and doesn't really bring any problems with it.
Oh yeah, it's got the older chainstays so it's not as stiff as the new version. So far that doesn't bother me, I can feel a wee bit of smear if I'm bashing up angled rocks but it's not a big negative thing, it just feels slightly odd. I might upgrade them but I don't think I will, doesn't seem to be neccesary.
Next will be to get it to Innerleithen and the local dh track. But it's a keeper I think, it just felt right straight away but it's different enough to the Soul that it doesn't feel daft to have both. Dead pleased.
At the moment it's build with some parts I've robbed off the Soul (including the inappropriate weightweenie seatpost!) , I can build both bikes at the same time but the parts I have that are officially for the Hemlock add about 2 lbs so I thought I'd build it up with the nicer parts, just to see how it goes. I think without the gravity dropper it comes in a wee bit under 28lbs, realistically I don't see me doing anything to make it lighter, doesn't make much sense.
So, yeah, victory! Pretty much exactly what I wanted from it in fact, I didn't get it as a "glentress bike" if you know what I mean, it's more for dafter stuff like fort william and for trips abroad but it really shone today at GT. Not as good as my Soul on the tighter, slower stuff but on fast sections it's pretty inspiring, I was an awful lot faster through some bits, just by being so filled with confidence. Wth the fork wound down to 120mm it feels a lot like my Soul, though the low BB did bother me a wee bit at that setting, I kept catching pedals, it's a nice option but I think the full 6 inches just works better, and doesn't really bring any problems with it.
Oh yeah, it's got the older chainstays so it's not as stiff as the new version. So far that doesn't bother me, I can feel a wee bit of smear if I'm bashing up angled rocks but it's not a big negative thing, it just feels slightly odd. I might upgrade them but I don't think I will, doesn't seem to be neccesary.
Next will be to get it to Innerleithen and the local dh track. But it's a keeper I think, it just felt right straight away but it's different enough to the Soul that it doesn't feel daft to have both. Dead pleased.
Uncompromising extremist
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Comments
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Looks nice, does look like a good trail killer/glentress do it all bike.
Are those funn drop in brakes?
Also, it's good to see someone else that runs their seatpost as high as i do!
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thats one wonderfully slack HA, just how i like it.... very nice bit of kit....I like bikes and stuff0
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ilovedirt wrote:Looks nice, does look like a good trail killer/glentress do it all bike.
Are those funn drop in brakes?
Also, it's good to see someone else that runs their seatpost as high as i do!
They're Oro K24 brakes. Chosen entirely because they were a) cheap and b) white Very good though, not as subtle or as easy to modulate as my XTs but stronger. I had to build it with a 160mm disc initially as I didn't have a post-post spacer and it still stopped on a dime.
Everyone says it looks like I've gone for too small a frame It's a medium though, just has a mentally low top tube, it does need a 400mm seatpost though for me. I like low bars as well so that makes it look even taller It does look like it should just wheelie on climbs though but it's OK even at the 6 inch setting.
Oh, it steepens up slightly in use, the difference in travel and sag front and rear sees to that, I'm not sure exactly what the active HA is. Confidence inspiring without being choppery. At the shortest travel setting I reckon it's around 69 just by feel so I figure 67 and a bit at full travel. Cotic told me off for using the taller stack headset but I figure if it's OK with 160mm lyrics or wotans it has to be OK with 150mm revs and a +10 headset. Don't think I really need the burliness of that sort of fork myself.Uncompromising extremist0 -
How tall are you? my frame is a medium too and i'm 6'1", i have to run a 400mm seatpost as well haha, although i quite like how short the bike feels, nice and easy to control but not too cramped.Northwind wrote:Everyone says it looks like I've gone for too small a frame It's a medium though, just has a mentally low top tube, it does need a 400mm seatpost though for me. I like low bars as well so that makes it look even taller It does look like it should just wheelie on climbs though but it's OK even at the 6 inch setting.0 -
Really like that...0
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Looking very well. Await further performance report.
you long legged abnormal-er.0 -
ilovedirt wrote:How tall are you? my frame is a medium too and i'm 6'1", i have to run a 400mm seatpost as well haha, although i quite like how short the bike feels, nice and easy to control but not too cramped.
I'm 5'10. I think I'm using about 360mm of the 400mm seatpost. Apparently the medium hemlock has a lower top tube than a small Soul Uncompromising extremist0 -
how much did that cost you
:shock: :!:0 -
Both far too much and much less than it ought to have I reckon...Well under 2 grand anyway, probably something like £1600. In its official trim with the cheaper, heavier wheels and cranks it's more like £1400. Not too bad
Almost all of it was bought used-but-great-condition, the frame was as new, built but never ridden, it and the forks were huge bargains I reckon. Oh, a lot of the parts I already had but I'm still including them in the price
So, considering the frames are £1060 new and the forks are about £540 that's not too bad Uncompromising extremist0 -
Northwind - how does she ride??
I nearly bought a Soul but ended up getting my Pipedream instead. Will prob go back to also having a full sus in the future and i would certainly look at a Hemlock.... 0 -
How's it ride... one thing that's really obvious is that at 130mm it handles quite a lot like a Soul. Not quite, I'm always banging pedals for one thing which I never do on the Soul, but that's to be expected. But, I don't think it's at its best at 130mm, I wouldn't recommend it to anyone who never intended to run a long fork, there are better mid-travel options I reckon.
The big thing I like though is that it doesn't feel compromised with a short fork- if you wind down the fork on a Five it knackers up the handling, it's fine for climbing but it doesn't feel like a good option for anything else. IMO of course. But the Hemlock just feels like a fairly typical mid-travel full suss rather than a long-travel that's been shortened. Not a great mid-traveller but a good one.
But it's best with the long fork IMO,it's a clever trick but at 160mm it still feels snappy and responsive and connected, and really quite short travelly, just that it also feels like you could ride it off a cliff So it combines small bike feel with big bike capability, and really first class handling . It climbs OK- not brilliant but not bad- and it flings around really well, but without feeling unstable. My build flatters that to be fair, it's a lot lighter than most 6 inch bikes so if I stuck Lyriks and 321s on it, I think it'd lose a lot of that snappiness and playfulness, though of course it'd be stronger.
I've not got the long rockers so I've only run the rear at 120mm (the geometry is the same with both though). It feels pretty nice, not amazingly buttery smooth like a Mojo and not quite as feedbacky as a Five or as perfectly controlled as an Anthem but it eats rocks and roots without losing the feeling of being connected to the ground. Nice that the brakes don't screw up the suspension! There is flex but so far, I don't mind it.
So, yeah, as you can tell I like it a lot, it's really capable without that feeling of being too good or being madly overbiked. And I'm really surprised by that, I tested it at Glentress and just assumed it'd be like a Five or Zesty- too good for GT. But it wasn't like that, it's still great fun on the red there without being less good than the others, I didn't really think a 6 inch full suss could be so much fun at GT. It might be that there's a tradeoff once I take it somewhere tougher but I've had it through some fairly iffy stuff and it handles it well so maybe not. Guess I'll see.
Still prefer the Soul, or, maybe prefer what the Soul is. But it's ace. just seems to suit me down to the ground, in a way that the Zesty really didn't.Uncompromising extremist0 -
Cheers for the 'how's it ride', NW. I'm impressed with the weight too.0
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yeah thanks for the very honest, detailed descripton of how it rides......just what i was looking for...as opposed to a lot of very biased views people have on bikes, purely because they own one.....if you know what i mean..??
You say you love the Soul.....so do i...... ALMOST got one except for the price i was offered the Ti Pipedream at....too good to refuse... 0
