Long Travel All Mountain Recommendations

Here is the tech guy at Foes
(For specs and other q's)

chris@foesracing.com

The general manager is Rich Cleveland with the same style e-mail address.

These guys give me the warm fuzzies but are only selling framesets right now, so you will have to build up yourself or go through a dealer. I think the Path and Adrenaline Cycles in Orange are dealers.

They will have demos at the start of 2017 when their new factory and show room open up in San Dimas.
 
UPSed said:
Complete Mixers can be found at Timberline Cycles.

http://www.timberlinecycles.com/store/p22/Foes_Enduro_Mixer.html
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I think this photo from their website demonstrates that they may be our kind of people...

Untitled 2.jpg
 
Didn't mean to take this in a Foes derail direction, but a last post on Foes. The general manager let me know that he would advise me of when the showroom would be opening up, and would welcome our tribe on a factory tour. It might be a fun day. Do the San Gabes in the a.m. and tour the factory on the way home... or tour the factory, grab some demos, then ride. :) I will post up in events when I hear.
 
StrandLeper said:
No Foes demo. Very nice e-mail back from the owner that they are moving to a bigger factory and just don't have the inventory for a demo, but that I was welcome to call and tour their facility and ride a bike around their parking lot. Pretty darn cool! E-mailed me back IMMEDIATELY. Very impressive response. Did I mention made in the U S A frames?

I also noticed that one of our forum participants who kicks my a@@ on every trail @shawndoh works with a Trek shop. Maybe he can guide us to a demo... and eventual sale? ;)
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Their customer service is the best, Dan the customer service guy, helped me out a lot.
 
StrandLeper said:
No Foes demo. Very nice e-mail back from the owner that they are moving to a bigger factory and just don't have the inventory for a demo, but that I was welcome to call and tour their facility and ride a bike around their parking lot. Pretty darn cool! E-mailed me back IMMEDIATELY. Very impressive response. Did I mention made in the U S A frames?

I also noticed that one of our forum participants who kicks my a@@ on every trail @shawndoh works with a Trek shop. Maybe he can guide us to a demo... and eventual sale? ;)
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ME? :ninja:

The demo fleet is pretty slim right now. Lots of waiting on 2017 stuff.
What we have is a demo 2016 Remedy 8, in size 18.5... the Remedy has been updated for 2017, so that may not help. On the Giant front, we have an Reign 1 in medium.

We also have a 2017 Remedy 7, size 18.5 on the floor. Pedaling that around the parking lot is no problem.
 
StrandLeper said:
Yup. Not lots to demo. So F it. I ordered a2017 Foes Mixer. I will let y'all know when it come in. You can demo it.
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Cool bike and great company for sure, but, of all of the bikes in this thread, I didn't see that coming. What was the biggest draw to the bike? Its uniqueness? The company? The review?

I am not being a smartass here. I am just curious as it does not tic the boxes for long travel, DH orientation, and I don't think they have an XL size, which means the short-ish top tube may provide a fairly cramped cockpit. One thing for sure, you won't run into many of them on the trail like you would Speshy/Giant/Trek/SantaCruz.

You are a beast and can probably adapt to whatever you are riding and slay the hell out of it. Best wishes. Can't wait to see it. :thumbsup:

EDIT: I just realized I was reading the Specs on the Foes Mixer Trail. The Foes Mixer Enduro is a whole other beast. Longer travel, slacker head angle. Now it makes more sense to me.

http://foesracing.com/bikes/frames/foes-mixer-enduro/

And even though some of the numbers defy current trends (long chainstays, short top tube), seems like there is something special about this beast that transcends the geo charts.
 
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The Enduro version is pretty long-ish travel. That's the one that I ordered.

As to the L / XL, I am just at the margin on that with every brand it seems, so if I have to work on stem Length etc. to make it work, I can do that.

The more I looked at the wheel differential and I read about the concept, the more it made sense in dropping super steep stuff.

And the company just seems SO real. The small batch production, etc.

It probably will make climbing a bit more of a challenge, but that's why we try to stay in shape, right? But, I am thinking of a pretty light build, so there's that.

If one of the other brands get back to me, I will still do a demo to see-- but it's kind of hard to believe that I emailed two of the biggest dealers for the two big brands (no one on this site) and said, essentially "Hey, I want to buy the most expensive bike that you sell, I just need to try a lower spec version first."

The response from one shop (not the Path): a nice email saying that they would look into it. Then nothing. (I know the people there, they know that I am not a lookie loo)

The other shop (not the Path): crickets.

Whereas the Foes general manager went on a two day email exchange with me and turned me over to their tech guy for further questions. And then after telling me about the 2016 inventory that they needed to move, suggested that I would be happier if I waited for the 2017 version due to some slight changes. All of this was done while in the final stages of moving their entire production facility to a new location.

So I guess if I am honest with myself ( and you @herzalot ) , I like the concept, I think it has some big technical merit and will help me to ride the tough terrain better, but I LOVED the customer service-- their stoke about this bike and their desire to get me onto a Foes.

I also saw a bit of my company in this company. Competing with the big guys by showing that the decision makers care and are involved.

Also dig the whole keeping mfg'ing in CA angle -- which with the AQMD and employer reg's is SO much harder than just going to Henderson.

We will see if this was an impulsive choice.

Edit: and the Path is a dealer, so I will get to work with Geoff and Raul in getting it built.
 
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StrandLeper said:
The Enduro version is pretty long-ish travel. That's the one that I ordered.

As to the L / XL, I am just at the margin on that with every brand it seems, so if I have to work on stem Length etc. to make it work, I can do that.

The more I looked at the wheel differential and I read about the concept, the more it made sense in dropping super steep stuff.

And the company just seems SO real. The small batch production, etc.

It probably will make climbing a bit more of a challenge, but that's why we try to stay in shape, right? But, I am thinking of a pretty light build, so there's that.

If one of the other brands get back to me, I will still do a demo to see-- but it's kind of hard to believe that I emailed two of the biggest dealers for the two big brands (no one on this site) and said, essentially "Hey, I want to buy the most expensive bike that you sell, I just need to try a lower spec version first."

The response from one shop (not the Path): a nice email saying that they would look into it. Then nothing. (I know the people there, they know that I am not a lookie loo)

The other shop (not the Path): crickets.

Whereas the Foes general manager went on a two day email exchange with me and turned me over to their tech guy for further questions. And then after telling me about the 2016 inventory that they needed to move, suggested that I would be happier if I waited for the 2017 version due to some slight changes. All of this was done while in the final stages of moving their entire production facility to a new location.

So I guess if I am honest with myself ( and you @herzalot ) , I like the concept, I think it has some big technical merit and will help me to ride the tough terrain better, but I LOVED the customer service-- their stoke about this bike and their desire to get me onto a Foes.

I also saw a bit of my company in this company. Competing with the big guys by showing that the decision makers care and are involved.

Also dig the whole keeping mfg'ing in CA angle -- which with the AQMD and employer reg's is SO much harder than just going to Henderson.

We will see if this was an impulsive choice.

Edit: and the Path is a dealer, so I will get to work with Geoff and Raul in getting it built.
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So... Do you send the non-responsive guys a follow-up and explain that you chose to spend your $$$ with a more responsive company? I'm not saying to do it to rub salt on a wound, but to help the next guy who has to deal with them.

And I'd love to see this in person when it's built. It really does look like a cool company and product.
 
StrandLeper said:
@dustyyoungblood correct on the size. As to the DVO fork and shock -- convince me that those are the best choices for the bike, and your demo shall await. :)
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You can try my DVO Diamond on my Tracer if you would like. It's the 2nd best fork I've ridden (behind my Marzocchi).

I did not get along well with my DVO Jade (coil), but I am trying to acquire a Topaz (air w/ piggyback).
 
StrandLeper said:
The Enduro version is pretty long-ish travel. That's the one that I ordered.

As to the L / XL, I am just at the margin on that with every brand it seems, so if I have to work on stem Length etc. to make it work, I can do that.

The more I looked at the wheel differential and I read about the concept, the more it made sense in dropping super steep stuff.

And the company just seems SO real. The small batch production, etc.

It probably will make climbing a bit more of a challenge, but that's why we try to stay in shape, right? But, I am thinking of a pretty light build, so there's that.

If one of the other brands get back to me, I will still do a demo to see-- but it's kind of hard to believe that I emailed two of the biggest dealers for the two big brands (no one on this site) and said, essentially "Hey, I want to buy the most expensive bike that you sell, I just need to try a lower spec version first."

The response from one shop (not the Path): a nice email saying that they would look into it. Then nothing. (I know the people there, they know that I am not a lookie loo)

The other shop (not the Path): crickets.

Whereas the Foes general manager went on a two day email exchange with me and turned me over to their tech guy for further questions. And then after telling me about the 2016 inventory that they needed to move, suggested that I would be happier if I waited for the 2017 version due to some slight changes. All of this was done while in the final stages of moving their entire production facility to a new location.

So I guess if I am honest with myself ( and you @herzalot ) , I like the concept, I think it has some big technical merit and will help me to ride the tough terrain better, but I LOVED the customer service-- their stoke about this bike and their desire to get me onto a Foes.

I also saw a bit of my company in this company. Competing with the big guys by showing that the decision makers care and are involved.

Also dig the whole keeping mfg'ing in CA angle -- which with the AQMD and employer reg's is SO much harder than just going to Henderson.

We will see if this was an impulsive choice.

Edit: and the Path is a dealer, so I will get to work with Geoff and Raul in getting it built.
Click to expand...

Great to hear, and love reading your reasoning to go with them. Amazing what a bit of customer service will do!
 
StrandLeper said:
Thanks @mike ! I may now have to change my color. That blue and green is amazing. With Enve wheels with blue decal up front and green decal in rear... Oh boy! You know, because color is super important. Maybe all black with yellow Enve decals like a black 911 Turbo S with the yellow ceramic brake pads... Geez, now I have a dilemma!
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High-stakes decision making for sure :cool: Or you could just not care, because, you know, it's macho. I learnt that right here on Ayem Teebee Trails! :D I'm becoming more macho by the day...
 
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