Ellsworth Epiphany Mountain Bike
September 3, 2008
Like, oh my GOD. It’s amazing! It’s gorgeous! It’s PINK! Ellsworth kindly lent us an Epiphany for the summer, and even made it pink to promote Project Pink, which donates to breast cancer research every time someone orders a pink bike. If you’re considering an Ellsworth purchase, I can assure you that the color pink they use is out-of-this-world beautiful. No sissy powder pink here!
The Epiphany, as far as I can tell, is a sort of crossover, something-for-everyone, divine creation. Even after talking to Tony Ellsworth himself in depth about bike design, I scoff at the idea that a mere mortal designed this otherworldly frame. It climbs well, it descends well, it soaks up the bumps…this is THE go-to bike for a one-bike quiver (one bike? What madness is this of which I speak?) and for those planning trips with a little bit of everything.
Speaking of Tony, he had a lot to say about frame design, materials, the development of his patented Instant Center Tracking system, and the quality of bike manufacturing, and I particularly enjoyed his “Conversation with Carbon Fiber” bit which I like to think he did just for me. The guy is clearly brilliant and a perfectionist, which he freely admitted (though he had no choice but to admit it, since I overheard him explaining to a contractor that he would only permit round holes for his HVAC systems – oval just would not do. Since I’ve spent the last year renovating my house, I can fully appreciate this level of attention to detail). And perfectionism is what you want when you’re dropping more money on your bike than you do on your car. Seriously – once I had two Ellsworth bikes on the bike rack on my old GMC Jimmy, and I realized that the combined net worth of the bikes could buy four Jimmys. Not worth the risk of having them on a rather aged hitch rack. I then took the bikes off the hitch rack and carefully stowed them in the Jimmy for safety. Good old Jimmy, plenty of room for two Ellsworths. What more could one want from an SUV? Anyway….
After a few local test-rides, I was presented with the opportunity to tag along on a 50-mile mountain race with one of the other Geargals. Get this – she was RUNNING fifty miles. Because of the isolation of the race and the potential for bear encounters, she asked me to tag along on a bike for safety. The route would involve steep and sustained ascents and descents, technical terrain, variable weather, and probably quite a bit of mud, so it seemed like the perfect opportunity to see what the Epiphany could do. I also wanted to use a bike with a comfortable riding position and enough technical capabilities and substance to handle the terrain. Like any Geargal worth her salt, I wanted it ALL! With a 120-mm fork and five inches of rear travel, I figured the Epiphany was the right bike for this type of trip – and, for those of you who don’t like suspense – I was right!
I’m not a very finessed rider, and tend to just bully in hail-mary style through rocky sections. Therefore I was beyond thankful for the travel on this bike. Every time I smacked my pedals on a rock was a bad fall avoided – on a bike with less travel, I probably would have been crashing to the ground. The suspension ate up the terrain like it was made of gummy bears and other soft squishy things. Forgive the TMI, but I had been too lazy to swap the stock saddle out to my women-specific saddle, putting my faith in Ellsworth’s legendary cush-factor technology. The Epiphany’s suspension was so plush that it almost didn’t matter that I was riding on an inappropriate saddle. I say “almost” because I was suffering during the last 12 “junk miles” which were road miles and therefore required seat-firmly-in-saddle style riding – ouch. Even the Epiphany couldn’t do much about that.
The ICT suspension really does work. Very heavy riders might have trouble with full suspension bikes, but I noticed absolutely no difference in efficiency while climbing. As a matter of fact, for a biker at my level, this bike offers the same efficiency as a hardtail and perhaps even more, since the mere pain factor of climbing rough terrain on a hardtail tends to slow me down. I am much quicker at climbing with the Epiphany, because I don’t pre-wince when big obstacles arise. I know the ICT will just soak up the bumps while keeping the back wheel firmly in contact with the ground. I noticed that it was even a little more difficult to bunny hop the Epiphany, because it really does want to keep its rear wheel on the ground. This bike cares about you, you see, and it hates to see you turning the cranks for nothing. You pedal, you move forward; it’s a no-nonsense arrangement.
I did take a nasty tumble that I blame firmly on the Epiphany. After the steepest, most difficult climb of the ride, I was enjoying the more mellow incline of the trail and the scenery at the top of the pass, and the comfy Epiphany lulled me into not watching where I was going. Front wheel off the trail – Head Geargal goes boom. Ow. So, note to self: Epiphany is not equipped with autopilot.
That’s about the only complaint I can come up with, really – that the bike doesn’t steer itself. This bike is incredible and I am beyond impressed with Tony Ellsworth’s talent and dedication to creating unmatchable mountain bikes. Since I’ve progressed to riding high-end bikes, I’ve become more attuned to the nuances of frame design, personal preferences, and fit. Those who believe that riders can’t discern differences in frame design are just flat wrong. Positioning, balance, and technique are all affected by frame design, and each rider is going to have her own preferences. Thus, it’s very difficult to review bikes without resorting to comparing them to other bikes, and the Epiphany puts its rider in a slightly less aggressive stance than either my regular bike or the Ellsworth Truth (which I’ve also spent some pedal time on). I prefer a more stretched-out and aggro position, but to be fair I didn’t have a professional fitting done for me with this bike. Whatever issues I had (which were so minor I really can’t even justify mentioning them) could probably have been addressed with a proper fitting. Even so, most people prefer a less aggressive position than I do, so I think for the majority of riders, the Epiphany’s rider positioning is just about perfect.
Because of its “crossover” (XC + downhill) type of design, the one thing this bike doesn’t do as well as some others is tight cornering. It’s just more substantial than some XC race-style bikes, and isn’t as flickable as others I’ve ridden. This doesn’t mean it can’t do it, it just means that it requires a different style of riding than I’m used to. This won’t be an issue for good riders, and beginner riders will appreciate the stability and forgiveness of the Epiphany. Everyone will have a different opinion regarding the highlight of the Epiphany, but for me it’s the bike’s performance on sustained downhills. During the 20 miles of sustained descent on my 50 mile ride, I found the Epiphany so comfortable I hardly even had to think about it.
Now the bad news. If you want this bike, it’s not gonna come cheap. Even after a gracious discount offer from Ellsworth, I still couldn’t afford to keep the Epiphany this year (I probably couldn’t afford to maintain its lifestyle in a way to which it is accustomed, anyway) due to my compulsive bike-buying spree earlier in the spring. If you, like others who aren’t members of the Gates family, can only afford one high-end bike, you cannot possibly go wrong with the Epiphany. There is absolutely nothing that it can’t do to the very highest standard. Be warned, though – you’ll be so spoiled by all that rear travel that riding other bikes will become much more difficult. It will puzzle you why some obstacles that the Epiphany ate for breakfast aren’t quite as easy for other bikes. Poor other bikes – this is the Angelina Jolie, and they are the Jennifer Aniston. I think Jennifer Aniston is totally rad herself; I just think Angie is more likely to eat things that get in her way for breakfast.
Muchas gracias to Ellsworth for lending us the bike, and to Tony for taking the time to chat!
Titus Racer X Mountain Bike
June 17, 2008
I was never a great mountain biker, no matter how much I liked biking. I would watch with envy at my bike-savvy friends as they bunny-hopped over rocks, powered up steep inclines, and zipped over roots with ease. Usually I’d be watching from the ground, where I’d been unceremoniously flung for the umpteenth time that day, my bike dumping me like a Shetland pony ditching its rider to gallop away for its grain fix back at the barn. The good thing about Shetland ponies is that they don’t have clipless pedals, so you’re not likely to end up in a tangle on the ground with your pony like I was so often with my bike. The bad thing about Shetland ponies is that, unlike bikes, they gallop on back to the barn without you when you fall off. Anyway, no matter how much I biked, I just could not master the technical aspects of the sport. I kept on riding, sticking to the easier trails and just trying to accept that I’d never be a great biker. Still, toying with the idea of upgrading my Mesolithic-era hardtail, I innocently agreed to demo a Racer X. Little did I know that that one simple act would change my biking, my life, and my finances.
The first thing I did with the Racer X was almost crash it into a tree. You see, there was a turn coming up, and in preparing for the turn (heck, just by thinking about the turn), I somehow telegraphed to the Racer X that it was to execute a sharp left turn and it sure did. Immediately. And I mean immediately. Almost right into the tree – but because it was a Racer X, I didn’t hit the tree – I was able to recover and pedal on, awestruck at the handling of this ride. That was my first clue that this bike was something special.
I became bolder and more confident about the lines I chose by the end of that first ride. As the week wore on, I was clearing trails that I never would have even tried on my hardtail. The Racer X goes exactly where you tell it to go. It is snappy, energetic, and so responsive that there’s almost not a word for it. Balanced to perfection, it handles obstacles, long climbs, rough descents, and twisty singletrack with ease. It got me out of trouble so many times I stopped being scared of falling, because falling just seemed like an impossibility on the Racer X. By the end of my “one day” (read: a week and a half) demo, I was probably 50 times the rider I used to be, and that is no joke. Lulled into a complacent cockiness, I (sadly) returned the demo and convinced myself that I didn’t really need such a high end bike.
The next day I hopped on my beater hardtail, convinced that although those technical singletracks would be rougher without the Racer X between me and them, I was a better rider than I used to be and I would be able to handle it. Oh, how wrong I was. A few hours, several saucer-sized bruises (one especially deep to my ego), and endless embarrassments later, I was forced to admit that I was not a better rider. The Racer X was just a better bike and it makes an immense difference. So now I put a Racer X between me and the trail. I know still the same rider I was on my Shetland pony hardtail, and I’m really not the badass technical rider I now pretend to be on my Racer X. It’s really the Racer X making me look good, but you know what? No one can tell the difference.
So, my advice? Don’t even think about demoing this bike unless you’re ready to buy it. You won’t be able to go back, so don’t even try. For those of you who are concerned about fit, Titus makes fully custom bikes and also makes the Racer X in a women’s version, with several sizes available. I went with the regular (unisex – bleah! But this one time, it’s OK.) frame, knowing that since I prefer a more stretched-out feeling on a bike, I wouldn’t like the shorter top tube of a women’s-specific frame, and I’m perfectly happy with the fit of the bike.
A few wee complaints: the cables are held to the bottom of the top tube with two pieces of panduit. Civilians call these “zip ties” but I find that it’s much cooler to call them “panduit” because it sounds techy. Anyway, the panduit is trimmed to fit the top tube, but sticks out just enough to stab you in the thigh if you’re standing over your bike (say, looking at a trail map, thinking “wow, when they say ’swamp area’ they really mean it”), and have done some damage to my favorite non-cheap bike shorts. This irks me not because of the fact that my shorts got ripped, but because it would have been so easily avoidable had Titus just trimed the panduit so that the sharp ends are down instead of to the side. I know my bike shop can take care of it, but it’s annoying just the same.
My other complaint about the bike, which, if you’ll note, has nothing to do with performance, is that on rough descents the chain rattles on the rear triangle so noisily that it drives me to distraction. Again, an easy fix would be to install a thin neoprene sleeve or other pad that muffles the chain noise. That’s exactly what I’m going to do, but it would have been even nicer had Titus already done it for me. This was a problem with the demo bike and with my personal bike, so it seems that it’s a Titus hallmark. Just put a little neoprene pad on there, Titus, and all will be well. Okay?
One other piece of advice: if you’re going to make this kind of investment in your health and riding ability, also make an investment in a quality bike shop that knows you and how you ride. You can put all the Benjamins you want into a bike, but if your bike shop doesn’t fit you right, you won’t be all the rider you can be. Unless you are an expert and can dial in the fit yourself, get a professional fitting at a shop that knows what it’s doing, and be loyal. A good bike shop is as good as a trustworthy mechanic, and they should be willing to work with you to fit your bike to you properly. The bike shop is also usually your contact to the bike manufacturer, and if you’re a good customer you won’t have any problems with warranty and/or repair issues.
Not that you’re likely to have those with the Racer X; this is one solid machine, with quality welds and engineering that makes me actually thankful that there are engineers in the world (most of the time this is not the case – see Dilbert for examples). Believe the hype about this bike, and get ready to upgrade your skills beyond what you ever thought you were capable of.
