Mondraker Foxy Carbon XR Special Edition

lawman

So as some may have seen I recently sold my beloved Ibis Mojo HD after 4 brilliant years of service. I always thought it would take a hell of a bike to take the mantle of being my main ride away it, and just before Christmas I had the pleasure of having a standard Foxy Carbon on test for a month from the chaps at Silverfish UK. Within the first few hundred metres of trail I knew I'd found the Mojo's successor. Fast forward a month and Silverfish announced the very, very limited edition XR SE. Specifically built for the UK market to limited to just 25 bikes, I just had to have one. I hadn't planned on moving the Ibis on until summer, but with such limited numbers available I jumped on one while I could!

Please excuse the horrendous iPhone pictures, they hardly do the bike justice and I'll try and get some decent snaps in due course.













This is the first off the shelf bike I've bought since I got my very first mtb back in 2004, which says a lot about the off the shelf spec. I've changed a few bits and pieces from stock and a few more plans are in place for the coming months, but out of the box it's pretty dialed with a Fox 36, Kashima coated CTD shock, reverb and Easton wheelset. I changed the brakes from Formula CR1's to my favourite XT's and likewise the chain and cassette were swapped from Sram 1030 to XT items. I also swapped the slx shifter to a saint as they feel so much nicer and are practically the same as XTR but cost a heap less. While stock High Roller 2's are great tyres and I'm tempted to keep them I was very keen to try the new Schwalbe Nobby Nic and so far this seems like a great choice. They roll well, grip well and seem more predictable than the old ones and dropped a decent amount of weight the stock bike as well, which is never a bad thing in my book. The last change was a major bling touch, with the stock Raceface Evolve cranks swapped for some Next SL's which finish the bike off nicely 8) Current spec is as follows:

2015 Mondraker Foxy Carbon XR SE - Large
2015 Fox 36 Float 160 RC2
2015 Fox Float CTD
Mondraker Onoff bar, stem grips and saddle
Rockshox Reverb Stealth dropper post
Easton EA70 XL wheelset
Schwalbe Nobby Nic Snakeskin - 2.35 trailstar front, 2.25 Pacestar rear
Shimano XT cassette, chain and brakes
180mm Shimano Icetech rotors
Raceface Next SL 175mm cranks 34t DM ring
Shimano Saint shifter
Shimano XT trail pedals

All of the changes knocked a fair chunk of weight off the bike, with the stock build coming in at 29.7lbs without pedals and the new one coming in a hair over 27lbs in the same guise, which is pretty dame good for such a burly and reasonably modest build (mostly xt spec, alloy bars, cheap own brand saddle).

Planned upgrades are carbon Easton Haven 35 bars and the new 32mm reach Haven 35 stem when it's available and I'll probably go up to 11 speed XT/XTR mix if 11 speed XT is released in summer. After that I might change the wheelset to something a little wider, as the EA70 XL's are only 20mm internally and while perfectly acceptable for at the minute I'd like to try something a little wider and possibly a smidge lighter.

Overall though I'm chuffed to bits with it. Gave it it's maiden thrash at LLandegla yesterday and despite a lack of fitness currently it obliterated most of my PB's on strava. This is by far and away the fastest and most confident inspiring bike I've ever ridden and despite the colossus wheelbase (1220mm!! :shock: ) it climbs incredibly well, clearing many technical climbs that would have the Ibis searching for traction and front lifting all over the place. I can see me keeping this bike for many, many years to come!

BloggingFit

That is one sweet looking bike right there. How are you finding the 36? Love mine already after one ride.

Herdwick

Lawman, it's a beauty that looks fast while standing still!!!
enjoy!!!

gt-arrowhead

1 in 25, wow! Id be chuffed with that. Loving the stealthy look.

Antm81

Cracking bike and great spec.

Hate to think how much it cost.

lawman

Cheers for the comments guys

BloggingFit wrote:

That is one sweet looking bike right there. How are you finding the 36? Love mine already after one ride.

I'm pretty impressed so far, needs A LOT of dialing in though, felt fast but pretty harsh on repeated bumps so I need to play around with it abit to find the ideal setup. Feels a helluva lot stiffer than my old 32's and even my 34's, definitely point and shoot!

lappymatt

Love the fact you've colour coordinated your bike to your radiator/wall! :shock: :shock: :shock:

rockmonkeysc

Its not pretty but a nice ride. I like ugly bikes! I would have one.

lawman

lappymatt wrote:

Love the fact you've colour coordinated your bike to your radiator/wall! :shock: :shock: :shock:

Yeah rather unfortunate circumstance that! :oops:

RockmonkeySC wrote:

Its not pretty but a nice ride. I like ugly bikes! I would have one.

It's not as pretty as the Ibis for sure, but I think it looks great in a kind of purposeful, stealthy way. It rides insanely well, where as the Ibis was fun as you felt like you were pushing it to the limit, this is fun in that you have to go mental to find it's limits, of which I've yet (and unlikely ever) to find!

nick-gti

I think it's a gorgeous looking bike, would really like to have a go on the foxy.
how you find the forward geo?

lawman

nick-gti wrote:

I think it's a gorgeous looking bike, would really like to have a go on the foxy.
how you find the forward geo?

I was a bit skeptical when they first released it but having ridden a Forward Geometry I wouldn't want to go back to a more traditional geometry. It's so stable at speed and the confidence it inspires is insane. On the Ibis I felt when I really pushed on I was getting close to hard I wanted to push it, on the Foxy I'm no where near that point. It's a mega quick bike but it won't be everyone. To get the most out of it you have to ride it hard or it will take you for a ride. As such after my first lap of Degla at the weekend I was knackered but I kinda see it as a good thing as it'll push me harder more of the time so I'll hopefully get fitter and give it the beans all the time. If you like to ride hard and not lounge about it's an incredible bike and surprisingly nimble in the tight stuff, but even I'll admit it won't suit everyone. I definitely recommend you try one though, just don't be surprised if you find yourself a few grand worse off afterwards!

nick-gti

I'm holding back from test riding one as I really can't afford one right now

Once the funds are there it will be one of the first bikes on my test list

pesky_jones

nick-gti wrote:

I think it's a gorgeous looking bike

+1

Go on, how much was it.

BananaHammock

Antm81 wrote:

Cracking bike

Well, it is a Mondraker after all!

But you would hope not just yet at least!

lawman

nick-gti wrote:

I'm holding back from test riding one as I really can't afford one right now

Once the funds are there it will be one of the first bikes on my test list

It's definitely worth trying one out, as I say I think it's a pretty polarizing bike. You might love it, you might not but if it suits you it's a hell of a bike.

Pesky Jones wrote:

Go on, how much was it.

Working in the trade I got a pretty good deal, lets just say with the upgrades it was less than the regular build.

lawman

BananaHammock wrote:

Antm81 wrote:

Cracking bike

Well, it is a Mondraker after all!

But you would hope not just yet at least!

Well if I ever have any issues it's got a lifetime warranty which is more than many other, supposedly more reliable, brands offer

BananaHammock

Ha, they have a reputation for a reason!

Still if you get on with it, who cares, buy the warranty manager at Silverfish some cakes to keep him sweet

lawman

BananaHammock wrote:

Ha, they have a reputation for a reason!

Still if you get on with it, who cares, buy the warranty manager at Silverfish some cakes to keep him sweet

Haven't seen any cracked or failed Mondraker carbon frames, sure there've been a few cracked alloy ones, but find a bike that hasn't had its issues over its lifetime? Seems to me your only posts are about snapping frames, I smell a troll.

rockmonkeysc

I have seen one Mondraker cracked. It had just been hucked off the roof of a chalet in Morzine and he missed the landing so basically 20 foot to flat.
I know a couple serial frame brakers who have failed to brake a Foxy, a Summum and a Dune.

kester

looks awesome! and even more of a limited edition than mine was

BananaHammock

Definately not a troll, but thanks for the compliment!

If by a "few cracked alloy ones" you mean a lot, then yes, that's more like it. Mine included. The first, and the second both must have been Friday or post siesta bikes, with their impressive lack of QC and ability to fall apart.

Not many cracked carbon ones no, but then there are only what, 2 carbon bikes in the range? One odd looking XC thing they have probably only sold a handful of, ever and the Foxy, which is new, expensive and so far not exactly a big seller, judging by the fact i've never seen one in the wild.

Disgruntled former owner who got repeatedly let down is the best way to describe me, rather than a troll

lawman

BananaHammock wrote:

definitely not a troll, but thanks for the compliment!

If by a "few cracked alloy ones" you mean a lot, then yes, that's more like it. Mine included. The first, and the second both must have been Friday or post siesta bikes, with their impressive lack of QC and ability to fall apart.

Not many cracked carbon ones no, but then there are only what, 2 carbon bikes in the range? One odd looking XC thing they have probably only sold a handful of, ever and the Foxy, which is new, expensive and so far not exactly a big seller, judging by the fact i've never seen one in the wild.

Disgruntled former owner who got repeatedly let down is the best way to describe me, rather than a troll

As I say, there are few bikes out there that haven't had there issues, but the vast majority of Mondrakers I've seen have been fine and thus far not a single 2015 bike I know of has had any issues since they redesigned the rear-end. There's 4 carbon Foxy's though not all are available in the UK. Again I've neither seen nor heard of any issues and if they're confident enough to offer a Lifetime Warranty on their carbon frames, even the new Summum Carbon, that's good enough for me. Sure you might get one or two and older frames did have their issues, but thus far I've seen no reason to believe that newer frames should have a high rate of failure.

Angus Young

One of the best looking bikes on sale! And I bet it rides like an absolute bastard, too! This is the only bike that could tempt me away from my Kona.

BloggingFit

lawman wrote:

Cheers for the comments guys

BloggingFit wrote:

That is one sweet looking bike right there. How are you finding the 36? Love mine already after one ride.

I'm pretty impressed so far, needs A LOT of dialing in though, felt fast but pretty harsh on repeated bumps so I need to play around with it abit to find the ideal setup. Feels a helluva lot stiffer than my old 32's and even my 34's, definitely point and shoot!

Must admit mine have felt pretty good almost right away apart from needing a little more air and possibly a little more HSC depending on how the extra air pans out. Did you start with the Fox OOTB settings?

lawman

I went for a middle of the road setup, and think I'll just work from there. Think I was running the running too much air and too much LSC, will mess around for the next few rides and hopefully sus it out. Need to let a bit of air out the shock too as that felt on the firm side as well.

Dick Scruttock

My 36 was harsh off the top on the Solo, I have been playing around a bit and will find out tomorrow hopefully if its had the desired effect. Its well worth persevering with as the chassis is a whole new world of stiffness compared to others.

lawman

Rick Draper wrote:

My 36 was harsh off the top on the Solo, I have been playing around a bit and will find out tomorrow hopefully if its had the desired effect. Its well worth persevering with as the chassis is a whole new world of stiffness compared to others.

Yeah it felt pretty harh off the top of the stroke, have backed everything off and will just add LSC and HSC until I find the sweet spot. Need to play the shock a little too, think I might run it a little softer than usual and add a volume spacer or two see how that goes

Dick Scruttock

I now have a orange and a blue spacer in my 140mm 36 and two blue ones in the one on my Nomad. All 36's come with one blue spacer installed as standard.

Worth cracking the aircan on the rear shock open to see what is in it spacer wise, the LV ones generally always come with one fitted from standard.

Thewaylander

Mondraker FTW!!!

was looking at the 2015 dune, and realised after the huge frame redesign in 2014 they haven't done anything this year so still happy

Fwd geometry is polarising, totally works for me, though I'm on a medium with the 30mm stem, felt a little more stable than the large for me. Great bike fella

BloggingFit

Rick Draper wrote:

I now have a orange and a blue spacer in my 140mm 36 and two blue ones in the one on my Nomad. All 36's come with one blue spacer installed as standard.

Worth cracking the aircan on the rear shock open to see what is in it spacer wise, the LV ones generally always come with one fitted from standard.

Running two blue spacers in my 170mm as well which seems to work really well.

lawman

Thewaylander wrote:

Mondraker FTW!!!

was looking at the 2015 dune, and realised after the huge frame redesign in 2014 they haven't done anything this year so still happy

Fwd geometry is polarising, totally works for me, though I'm on a medium with the 30mm stem, felt a little more stable than the large for me. Great bike fella

It's certainly different to a lot of other bikes out there, but I like it Looking at getting a 32mm Easton Haven 35 stem and matching bar next, the OnOff kit is alright but I do like Easton stuff