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Looking to get a new bike at some point in the new year and had narrowed it down to either a Stanton fs or mde damper however a post on Facebook has had me lusting after the Curtis xr650, and while you can’t deny the craftsmanship can’t seem to find any reviews on what it actually rides like, anyone got any views?
thanks
Having recently had a steel, single pivot, with the pivot point in a very similar position ( a little higher on my old frame from the looks of it) to the curtis, i can comment on a few things. The suspension was linear, even with max volume spacersi n a fox x2. it dealt with small - medium bumps amazingly well, but i bottomed it out all the time and it rode low in the travel. My new bird am9 feels harsh of the top in comparison, but alot more progressive, and more supportive. It did not pedal well at all. There was definite flex in the frame, which i think gave it loads of traction, it was unreal at crossing bumpy off cambers, but i noticed flex when hitting some corners and ruts hard. I think the rest of the geometry on mine was flawed, but the characteristics of the frame and suspension were pretty good.
Definitely worth a test ride if you can get one
I recieved mine (No 5 worldwide) and built it up just two weeks ago.
While not a KOM-cruscher on pedally singletracks, it’s agile and a total beast when pointing it downhill.
There’s a test here:
https://www.bikeradar.com/mtb/gear/category/bikes/mountain-bikes/full-suspension/product/curtis-xr650-review-52438/
Xr650 is an amazing looking bike, get one!
hang on a minute - thats a longer steel version of a yr2000 orange patriot and everyone bangs on about how rubbish orange suspension is because of the regressive nature of the single pivot. (i`ve had one and you do need a lot of compression damping) BUT that review bangs on about how great it is????
Now i'd LOVE a Curtis but not that one.
I believe a lot lies in the positioning of the shock mount on the downtube whether the curve is progressive, linear or regressive. My Swoop is slightly progressive - the Curtis looks similarly set up
"I believe a lot lies in the positioning of the shock mount on the downtube whether the curve is progressive, linear or regressive. My Swoop is slightly progressive – the Curtis looks similarly set up"
I did some thinking about this a while back and it think it works like this:
If you draw a circle going through the lower shock mount whose centre is the main pivot point, then if the upper shock mount is outside the circle the leverage rate is regressive, if the upper shock mount is on the circle the leverage rate is linear and the if the upper shock mount is inside the circle the leverage rate is progressive.
Does that make sense?
Now i’d LOVE a Curtis but not that one.
This +1 always loved their hardtails, less so the FS bikes.
I made a measurement of the linkage ratio curve when I recieved my XR650. It’s linear around a ratio of 2.4. Though I could just squeeze out 155 out of claimed 160 mm rear suspension. Not a major issue.
Whith a DVO Topaz 3 It’s quite easy to tune it to a fair bit of ”pop” for the jumps.