Mondraker Foxy Carbon XR Special Edition

lawman

Had a bit of a play around with the fork and shock last night, initial test feels good but the real impression will come when I give it some proper terrain to sink it's tyres in to Will give the rear shock a few more rides and then I might get the chaps at Mojo to custom tune it, the climb mode isn't as firm as I'd like and while they're changing that they might as well tune it to my weight and style.

Messed around with the cockpit a bit as well, being totally different to my Ibis it's taken a bit of adjusting too! Slammed the stem as low as it will go with the current headset cover (it's quite a tall one atm) and also raised the saddle and swapped the stock saddle for a new Madison Flux I had lying around and it all feels a lot better than it did before, much more comfortable position on the bike and hopefully it'll stop the pain in my lower back I've been getting.

Other than that little has changed, bikes running sweet and looking forward to getting many more miles in on it!

ej2320

Nice bike!

you were saying about getting the climb setting firmer, do you know how much this costs? it's something I would consider getting done on the covert

lawman

ej2320 wrote:

Nice bike!

you were saying about getting the climb setting firmer, do you know how much this costs? it's something I would consider getting done on the covert

Believe it can be covered under a custom tune charge, which from Mojo is £40. For that they'll tweak it to your weight, bike and riding style and remedy anything you don't like about your shock. Had the RP23 on the Ibis done and it was miles better afterwards. Usually they'll also have to service the shock as well, which is around £100, but if it's a new shock that's barely a few rides old, as mine is, they'll just do the custom tune and not do the full service.

MysticWolf

That's one good looking bike... I know a couple of people who own one and they are happy with its performance..

lawman

MysticWolf wrote:

That's one good looking bike... I know a couple of people who own one and they are happy with its performance..

Cheers! I really can't recommend them enough, awesomely quick bikes. Chucked on the scales in work today and with a smattering of mud and XT trail pedals it came in at 28lbs 3ozs, which I'm pretty with considering stock it was 29lbs 7 without pedals! Still a bit more to shave off with some carbon bars, but overall I'm absolutely loving it now I've got the riding position dialed in

BloggingFit

Thats a good weight. Crazy now how light and compliant these types of bike are becoming.

lawman

BloggingFit wrote:

Thats a good weight. Crazy now how light and compliant these types of bike are becoming.

Yeah it's not bad at all given it's a relatively modest build, the main concession weight savings beeing in the frame and cranks, but everything else is tough, sensible kit. If I had cash to throw at I think sub 27lbs is easily doable. Bikes like this are certainly getting more capable year on year, if anything I'd say this a little too capable but it's just so fast I can live with it being a little less lively and poppy than I perhaps prefer!

felix.london

Very nice indeed! I'd love to chuck that around these mountains for a few hours. Yeah think she deserves some wider rims...apart from that I'd be very happy. Good work that man

lawman

felix.london wrote:

Very nice indeed! I'd love to chuck that around these mountains for a few hours. Yeah think she deserves some wider rims...apart from that I'd be very happy. Good work that man

Cheers! Agreed on needing wider wheels, the eastons are pretty good; reasonably light, stiff enough and have decently quick engagement, but I'd definitely like to go even lighter and a smidge wider. Initial thinking is some DT 350 straight pull hubs and Dt rims, but I might go carbon if funds allow.

lawman

Nothing majorly new as yet to report, had a couple more rides on the Foxy and still going strong. Had a mysterious BB creak and a couple of loose pivots to deal with, but a proper good once over and she's still sounding right again. Only other issue is a snapped tooth on the Hope T-Rex, so that's been sent off for warranty. Just fitted a OneUp RadR cage to the XT mech, new XTR chain and a Schwalbe Rock Razor to the rear now the better is hopefully here!

Next change will be an Easton Haven 35 carbon bar and a 32mm Haven 35 stem as I'm missing the shape of my old Havoc carbons and the vibration damping of the carbon. The stock bars are both a little weighty and seem a little harsh so going back to what I know in Easton. Further down the line I'm awfully tempted to try out Eastons new Heist wheel set, the Easton EA70's are reasonable but they're very, very narrow for the relatively high weight and this thing definitely needs wider, more supportive wheels. No doubt I'll also get the new XT 11 speed shifter, mech, chain and cassette when they come out too and move the current setup to the BFe.

Still feel like I need a bit more time on the Foxy to truly bond with it. The Ibis had a real infectious character and it still remains one of the best bikes I've ever ridden, but hopefully with more miles and adventures under its belt the foxy will earn its place at the very top of the pile!

lawman

Finally got round to taking some decent pics Added some Hope lock on grips as well and placed an order in work today for the Haven 35 bar and stem, should be here by the end of the week. Gave her a quick tune up tonight as I'm off to Antur to ride with the Athertons and Martin Maes tomorrow (I say with, no doubt I'll be far, far, far behind them!)

lawman

Had an awesome day at Antur today, didn't ride with the Athertons too much as they were hitting the gnarlier trails but had a blast nonetheless bike ran sweet, the chaos from Mojo were on hand to give advice and tuning help so after a quick chat they dived into the fork and did a little fettling and what a difference! They added an orange volume spacer and messed around with the high and low speed compression circuits and its miles better than it was before, super supple on small bumps yet it really ramps up at the end of the stroke and rides high in its travel. Best of all it was FOC too! sadly they didn't have chance to look at the shock, but having spoken to them about I'm tempted to get it tuned or just go all out and get the new DPS shock as this is apparently a huge step forward over the older CTD designs.

I lost the chain on one run as well, first time I've dropped a chain without a guide, so I'm gonna see how it fares and may well go back to running a top guide if the problem persists. Overall it was a freaking awesome day and great to spend some quality time on the bike and getting her dialed in!

dusk

looking very nice. Having dropped a chain on my narrow wide setup I got a guide from these guys http://77designz.com/ haven't had any issues since and it's light enough not to worry about weight saving by taking it off

lawman

dusk wrote:

looking very nice. Having dropped a chain on my narrow wide setup I got a guide from these guys http://77designz.com/ haven't had any issues since and it's light enough not to worry about weight saving by taking it off

Cheers for that will have a look at those!

MrBikerPanda

Great bike...

nick-gti

Love this bike mate, come new bike time one of these will be my first test ride!

lawman

nick-gti wrote:

Love this bike mate, come new bike time one of these will be my first test ride!

Do it, you'll love it!

lawman

Bars and stem came yesterday so fitted them tonight, will get some pics up soon Bars are crazy light, 189g for a 750mm bar is damn impressive and way, way lighter than the stock Mondraker own brand bar which weighed a whopping 370g :shock: The Easton 32mm stem was actually a bit heavier than the Mondraker 30mm one, coming at 124g compared to the 106g for the stock stem. Even so just by changing the bar and stem I've knocked 164g or a 1/3lb of the bike, which ain't bad really and they feel a lot more comfortable as well in terms of shape and rise. Looking forward to giving them some abuse now

lawman

Some more dirty pics, still not given it a wash since Antur on Tuesday :oops:



Bar and stem felt pretty good today, a smidge narrower than the old ones at 750 vs 760mm but the shape is so much nicer and it felt nice to be back on a carbon bar again








Love how purposeful this thing looks and it rides just as well, really looking forward to get some big mileage on it summer. Have a few days holiday left to take so might take a few week days off and make the most of it

Antm81

How's the new nobby nic? Any good?

lawman

Antm81 wrote:

How's the new nobby nic? Any good?

I'm quite impressed tbh, feels like a lighter, faster rolling Hans Dampf. It's not quite as grippy all round but for most of the stuff I ride it seems spot on. Felt a bit out of its depth at Antur on wet rocks as I'm having to run the pressure quite high to stop them rolling on the super narrow rims, so something wider is definitely on my wish list. Hopefully a wider rims will support them a bit more and let me drop the pressure a fair bit. Overall I'd recommend them for all-round use, but if you do a lot of hard riding on rocky terrain a Hans Dampf or Magic Mary might be a better option.

Antm81

lawman wrote:

Antm81 wrote:

How's the new nobby nic? Any good?

I'm quite impressed tbh, feels like a lighter, faster rolling Hans Dampf. It's not quite as grippy all round but for most of the stuff I ride it seems spot on. Felt a bit out of its depth at Antur on wet rocks as I'm having to run the pressure quite high to stop them rolling on the super narrow rims, so something wider is definitely on my wish list. Hopefully a wider rims will support them a bit more and let me drop the pressure a fair bit. Overall I'd recommend them for all-round use, but if you do a lot of hard riding on rocky terrain a Hans Dampf or Magic Mary might be a better option.

Thanks, sounds good, was looking at the Hans Dampf for the front once my XR4s are shot with an old nobby nic on the back (got a couple that came with the bike), might have to try the new nobby nic on the front though instead.

lawman

I do like Hans Dampfs run them on the HT and had them on the Ibis for a while and I really rated them. I think they have the edge over the new Nics in terms of grip but the Nics roll a bit quicker. Both are good tyres it's just a case of weighing up which side of the coin you prefer, grip or speed. I'd like to try a Hans Dampf on the foxy but I can't really justify buying loads of tyres, one of the downsides of moving up to a different wheel size, none of my old tyres fit!

MrBikerPanda

That is one aggressive looking bike... congrats

lawman

MrBikerPanda wrote:

That is one aggressive looking bike... congrats

Cheers! It rides as aggressively as it looks too! It wouldn't suit a sedate rider for sure, but ride it hard and you'll reap the benefits. It's awesomely fast and I can't get enough of it at the minute. Truly awesome, awesome bike.

lawman

Had a few more rides on the Foxy recently and it's all clicking together nicely, just feels perfect Got a few big rides over the next few weeks and can't wait.

One of the girls at work got some epic shots t'other day of it, the alloy Mondraker's may not be lookers to some but I must admit even I was taken a back by how good it looked 8)

pesky_jones

Good pics, looks brand new!

lawman

Pesky Jones wrote:

Good pics, looks brand new!

It gets used and abused, don't worry about that! It's already wearing a few battle scars, a few chips out the blue graphics on the downtube and a few scuffs on the rims after Antur last month. Hopefully it'll get even more use over the coming weeks, got a big ride planned for this weekend so looking forward to that. Still to hit my favourite singletrack back home in anger either, so really looking forward to giving it more abuse soon.

lawman

Small update time, she's up past 400 miles since new and I after riding it on familiar trails at home today I can safely say this is THE best bike I've ever ridden. Nothing else, even 22lb xc race bikes has climbed technical trails so well and yet is able to reach eye-watering speeds going back down without a hint of feeling on the edge. Forward Geometry is the future as far as I'm concerned, it just works so well and aside from taking a little extra effort when the trail slows down and tightens up, I've yet to find a major downside. It really is that good.

On the back of an awesome days riding I gave it a proper good clean and treated the Cotic to a good once over as well as it looked a little neglected since I last used it several months ago :oops:

Went to get some pics in the garden and despite having been stood in the same place for over an hour the minute I went to take a picture the Mondy promptly decided it had had enough and where it was standing and decided the floor looked much more comfortable :evil:

Cue one written off Hope Grip, a scuffed XT derailleur and a rather nice looking chunk taken out of the end of my practically new Easton carbon bars

paul.skibum

Tits.

My Bronson was in my repair stand the other day, had been in it for best part of the morning. I popped to the loo and somehow shifted gravity sufficiently to make the repair stand fall over and throw the bike to the floor - no bike damage but a bit of chain oil on the carpet. Scared the shit out of me. Lucky I was on the loo.