opinion on Voodoo fat bike
jack213
Posts: 2
Whats your opinion on this http://www.halfords.com/cycling/bikes/mountain-bikes/voodoo-wazoo-fat-bike?cm_re=10cms+slides-_-Sidelink4-_-fatbike#tab2
Worth giving it a go?
Worth giving it a go?
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Comments
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Like all fat bikes and fat birds. It's fun to ride once but you wouldn't want your mates finding out and you definitely wouldn't pay for it.Transition Patrol - viewtopic.php?f=10017&t=130702350
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Like all fat bikes and fat birds. It's fun to ride once but you wouldn't want your mates finding out and you definitely wouldn't pay for it.
I just spat tea everywhere, thanks! My winter bike is exactly the same as my summer bike,,, but dirty...0 -
its really fat
Approximate Weight (KG): 16.5kg0 -
Holy cow, thats the same weight as my downhill bike. I wouldn't want to pedal that big bastard up hill.Transition Patrol - viewtopic.php?f=10017&t=130702350
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If you want a pretty cheap fatbike, there's plenty of used On One Fattys for sale as folks upgrade. The fact that you can genuinely ride it everywhere, you soon realise the limitations of normal 'mountain' bikes that are mainly suited to prepared trails. Mine weighs 25lbs and it winds-up normal MTB riders when they get passed by a 50 year-old riding a rigid bike - scored a couple of top-10s in 6hr or 100mile offroad events.Make mine an Italian, with Campagnolo on the side..0
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Indeed, I know 2 riders whose go to bikes are fatties and I think about 4 other who use the fat bikes when it suites, they are different to ride and while, after a short ride, I could see things I liked, I decided it wasn't for me.Currently riding a Whyte T130C, X0 drivetrain, Magura Trail brakes converted to mixed wheel size (homebuilt wheels) with 140mm Fox 34 Rhythm and RP23 suspension. 12.2Kg.0
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you soon realise the limitations of normal 'mountain' bikes that are mainly suited to prepared trails.
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I very rarely ride prepared trails and I'm fairly sure I could get down a natural, rocky trail better on my "mountain" bike tan any fat bike could. I'm more than happy to take up the challenge if any fatty rider fancies a go at it.Transition Patrol - viewtopic.php?f=10017&t=130702350
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Pro - it's inexpensive by fat standards
Con - it's heavy, even by fat standards, and would be quite costly to lighten.Specialized Roubaix Elite 2015
XM-057 rigid 29er0 -
You won't find many (if any) first hand opinions as they are brand new and as of Saturday even the major stores near me were awaiting deliveries.
I spoke to a mechanic (the only Halfords one worth of the name) at my local store who attended the launch event and he felt that for the money it was a no brainer, even if you don't like it the resale would be pretty good as the nearest comparable bike is a grand.
I'm inclined to agree with him, and provided it looks alright when I get eyes on one I'll be putting my money where my mouth is
Future upgrades might be a carbonzone fork at ~100 quid which I think is actually a pretty cheap weight saving. 0 -
Cough On-one for £800 Cough.......the resale would be pretty good as the nearest comparable bike is a grand.Currently riding a Whyte T130C, X0 drivetrain, Magura Trail brakes converted to mixed wheel size (homebuilt wheels) with 140mm Fox 34 Rhythm and RP23 suspension. 12.2Kg.0 -
Cough On-one for £800 Cough.......the resale would be pretty good as the nearest comparable bike is a grand.
Yes, if you want to go for the 'Pink' edition! and the problems people have had with the rear dropouts make me a bit wary.
And to head off the gooutdoors option, that weighs in at 22 kg0 -
Yes but its a svelte 22Kg (according to the Go Outdoors website anyway)!Currently riding a Whyte T130C, X0 drivetrain, Magura Trail brakes converted to mixed wheel size (homebuilt wheels) with 140mm Fox 34 Rhythm and RP23 suspension. 12.2Kg.0
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For that price it seem a good cheap way into fat birding/biking.
Mines for sale at more than that
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But put one in your basket, and you can change everything to the same spec as the standard bike (except for the grips for some reason) at the same price.
Cough On-one for £800 Cough.......the resale would be pretty good as the nearest comparable bike is a grand.
Yes, if you want to go for the 'Pink' edition! and the problems people have had with the rear dropouts make me a bit wary.I don't do smileys.
There is no secret ingredient - Kung Fu Panda
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Parktools0 -
Picking one up tonight, I'll be doing the final assembly myself, rather against my own advice given on previous Halfords threads.0
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Righto.. bit of detail, mostly about the spec as I only did a tiny ride to check it works.
First thing : If you're buying it boxed, take a decent sized car. I took a ford puma, and after a 2 second 'yep thats not going to fit' had to unbox it to fit it in the car, then take the empty box back in to the store for them to get rid of. Actually that might be a positive
The bits :
Frame - the frame is nicely finished, though the paint finish might not be all that tough - despite being well packed there was a small scratch looking like it might have been caused by cables in transit. The asymmetric paint job might upset you, it might not, personally I like it. Welds look tidy, cable guides are sensible although there are no guides for a dropper post remote. To me I don't think that's a problem for the type of riding most will use it for.
Fork - it's a fork. Looks a bit spindly but we'll see.
Components - functional is the best word here. I was hoping that the kit etc would share most of the features of deore level kit, but it's not quite to be.- Brakes - once bedded in these are powerful and have good feel, but there is no reach adjust. There also doesn't appear to be a bleed nipple as on the rest of the range, presumably one screws in the allen key fitting on top, or it requires a completely different bleed kit.
- Gears and shifters - The front shifter is for a triple crankset and isn't a flick a switch job like deore to change to a double, so needed to screw down the high limit screw as it hadn't been done already. That's a minor detail compared to the shifters, which have very annoying shifter windows that limit your bar setup options - see below. I can see me hacking the shifter windows off or replacing the shifters. The cable outers are cut a bit long but not long enough for me to be bothered fixing it.
- Bars, stem + grips etc... the finish on the bars isn't amazingly tough, sliding along the brakes and shifters marked it. The grips only have lock on rings at one end which means they don't feel as secure as I'd like, which is a shame as they look pretty cool imo. The bars are 720mm which seems like a pretty decent width as stock.
- Crankset + pedals - the crankset is basic, there was a fair amount of paint on the pedal threads but nothing to fuss about. square taper BB. Pedals didn't have any grease / loctite on the threads as standard so don't forget when assembling.
Shifter windows are annoying
Different bleed kit needed or??
So far it's only had a tiny shakedown ride, all I can say so far is that the brakes live up to the the rest of the shimano range, the gears work as a new drivetrain should, the bike doesn't feel heavy to ride, and the last thing is I need to find out what pressures to run with it as with the pressures unchanged from how I got it, cornering at speed is a bit disconcerting with the amount of tyre flex! to be continued!0 -
Most fatties ride at about 8psi and you get used to the tyre feel in corners (I'm told) and learn to roll with it.
I'm sure the Shimano techdocs will tell you how to bleed it!Currently riding a Whyte T130C, X0 drivetrain, Magura Trail brakes converted to mixed wheel size (homebuilt wheels) with 140mm Fox 34 Rhythm and RP23 suspension. 12.2Kg.0 -
Shouldn't you amend your username now? Lapsedfatty perhaps...bought a fatty...
I still fancy a go on one, hopefully my mates wouldn't see me.0 -
I've got no problem being seen riding mine:
Finished 10th overall in a 100-mile gravel race - not bad for a 50-year-old riding a heavy, slow bike ;-)Make mine an Italian, with Campagnolo on the side..0 -
Last night saw the first outing on it, a mostly country lanes trek out for fish and chips by chew valley lake. About 15 miles or so.
As this is my first time riding a fatbike most of the observations are pretty specific to that rather than this specific bike. I'll try and keep it separate.
The biggest thing for me was descending, it really handles like a motorbike - The effect of braking standing up the bike is much much more pronounced than on a normal mountain bike, and you need to really consciously put more effort into the whole inside hand / outside leg thing on cornering. The big tyres have a proper tendency to try and follow ruts and the like in the road.
With that said, it's actually surprisingly agile at lower speeds and even with my honking great feet and the big tyres there is no chance of any toe overlap.
Specific to this bike is actually those controls again.. the half lock on grips were as I feared, even thoroughly tightened, as soon as you crank on the bars for a bit of climbing or sprinting the grips slide out of the lock on collar. A real shame as said previously, because they look cool and are quite comfortable.
The brake reach is also very long, compounded by the shifters ending up too far inboard because of those daft windows, it almost feels like they are aiming for 2 finger braking or more. There is definitely a lot of room for improvement here. I'll be starting by replacing the grips and trying to cut off the shifter windows.
Speed.. it's a lot quicker both on the flat and climbing than I expected, probably averaged ~14mph. On the flat comfortable cruising was ~18. Climbing is definitely more involving of the upper body, I have an injured shoulder that I hardly notice on my normal bikes now, it was in clip after 15 miles on the fatty yesterday
Off road I just did a small stretch, as it was mostly road I had about 15psi in the tyres, descending a flight of steps off road.. yeah, big tyres do not quite suspension make it was more stable on the rooty stuff. Looking forward to doing some proper mountain biking on it.
edit : in case I don't have any luck cutting off the windows, does anyone know of an 8 speed shifter with removable / no windows?0 -
Apologies, I appear to have turned this thread into an ownership blog.
So I wanted to tidy up the ergonomics as mentioned. However, 8 speed shifters sans windows were not to be found. Contemplating taking a hacksaw to the existing ones, when I consulted the spares box, where I found a 9 speed sram x5 drivetrain with windows built into the clamps that'd failed to sell at the bristol bike jumble.
Couldn't use the x5 front mech as it couldn't mount the spacer block needed, but the bike has now gained a 9 speed cassette, chain, shifters and I used the x5 derailleur as well just because it looks a bit less agricultural. Brakes now happily inboard of the shifters and it's all a bit more comfortable.
Whilst I was there I sorted out the cable outer lengths. Ended up slightly narrower gear range as the cassette was 11-32 to the originals 11-34 but I don't think it'll be a problem.
I think that's the first time I have done such a change without needing to buy even so much as a cable ferrule.0 -
So far it's only had a tiny shakedown ride, all I can say so far is that the brakes live up to the the rest of the shimano range, the gears work as a new drivetrain should, the bike doesn't feel heavy to ride, and the last thing is I need to find out what pressures to run with it as with the pressures unchanged from how I got it, cornering at speed is a bit disconcerting with the amount of tyre flex! to be continued!
There's no single answer to that as a suitable pressure depends on what you like, what sort of weight you are, what you're riding etc. as I find when meeting with other fat bike riders there's a surprisingly wide range of pressures. I started with 8psi on the front and 10 on the back but found it still a bit rough going, a local fat bike veteran dropped the pressures right down which initially felt too low as there's a lot of self steer and drag but it really floats much better on the terrain plus I'm quite a light rider so can get away with it more. On the other hand I know some running 14psi for the higher speed and due to higher wait and they find that works well for them.
Hope you enjoy the bike
John0 -
Tyre pressures and self-steer depend a lot on the tyres - IME - I typically run 6F/7R and have never encountered self-steer with Husker-Dus tubeless. Investing in some better tyres like Chronicles or Fat-B-Nimbles should make the bike roll better, particularly if you go tubeless.Make mine an Italian, with Campagnolo on the side..0
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So far I've settled on 15psi for a mix of road and non-tech bridleways, which is happy if a bit firm over the rough stuff.
Girlfriend loves this bike, she rides her hybrid (28mm tyres), I ride the fatty and we both end up at the same pace
It turns out I perhaps should have checked over the used bits a bit more thoroughly before fitting them - chain skipping under load in the middle of the cassette. Must be more worn than I remember says I, although the cassette doesn't look too bad. New cassette + chain, and of course it turns out that the x5 mech I'd fitted turns out to be very slightly bent. Frustrating, so it's going to be back on with the altus mech and redo the last cable outer and cable again.
Fortunately I happen to like tinkering, and learning from my mistakes.0 -
Tyre pressures and self-steer depend a lot on the tyres - IME - I typically run 6F/7R and have never encountered self-steer with Husker-Dus tubeless. Investing in some better tyres like Chronicles or Fat-B-Nimbles should make the bike roll better, particularly if you go tubeless.
There seems to be a few different factors as you say with self steer but I think on any combination once you drop really low you'll get it, I didn't have any self steer at the tyre pressures you're running either but I'm down to 2psi on the front (according to a Toppeak digital tyre pressure gauge) at the moment and I think any combination would have self steer at that level.0 -
Holy thread revival, Batman!
Wondered if there were any opinions on these three fat bikes in terms of how they are supplied, longer term upgrades and their current price new...
On-One Fatty with carbon fork ~£750
Voodoo Wazoo ~£500
Calibre Dune ~£525
The Dune is appealing, but I've read the marketing blurb weight of 13.2Kg is garbage, something closer to ~15Kg or so is more realistic. Plus the single frame size means that even my short ~31" legs might need a seatpost upgrade! And I would want to replace the brakes with hydraulics.
Which makes me think the Voodoo might be the better buy.
Would you agree?================
2020 Voodoo Marasa
2017 Cube Attain GTC Pro Disc 2016
2016 Voodoo Wazoo0
