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Who owns a new super low/slack/long bike? I'm comparing the new 301 geo with a Kona process for example and it still comes up short on reach.
Liteville are notoriously conservative in changing geo and this new iteration confirms that.
I'm not going to trade in my 301 mk 10 any time soon but I guess my real question is whether the new frame is attractive for the new skool of bike design riders?
Do these bikes really suit everyone anyway?
Here's a link to the new frame
I'd say the new 301 is fairly sensibly sized - it's a little short on reach vs seat tube length but not a lot. And the Processes are a bit on the longer side of the new average with shorter seat tubes. The seat angle on the 301 is a bit on the slack side though.
Remember you have the vario spin headset, so you can slacken/lengthen the bike further, although the 301 is billed as a trail bike and the numbers fit in the middle of everything else (apart from the varying chainstay length which is good imo). The large is a small large, but the seat tube low enough that you can size up.
like the changes as they have addressed the few issues they did have.
I like my mk10, its the only bike ive tested that i actually like the way its been thought about and put together.
They seem to be moving away from the scaled sizing a bit though. 🙂
its a great bike for proper riding. (ie its not a trail center weapon) look at that bb height.
I've been waiting to see this. Looks like a great frame, except for the geometry 🙁 Personal preference but I have a newer longer breed bike at the moment and borrowing bikes with similar geo to the mk14 feel like a step back in time. The seat post is a bit too long for sizing up given then Eightpins dropper goes up to 220mm drop.
452 reach in large and a 66 HA isn't that short/steep - pretty close to the outgoing Specialized Enduro, for example. A LArge Mojo HD3 is 431 and 66.6. So Liteville are fairly conservative, but not the shortest or steepest out there.
Same with seat angle - 73.43 to the Mojo's 72.6.
The sizing isn't bad too bad as a large it looks.
The sky high BB is though.
The BB isn't as high as it looks - they quote it with pretty big tyres. The BB drop is 10mm which I'd consider pretty normal nowadays.
Hi, one more question about liteville 301 mk14 geometry.
I am looking at liteville 301 mk14 enduro and all mountain factory machines pictures on their website:
http://www.liteville.com/en/200/bikes/301-mk14/enduro-factory-machine/
http://www.liteville.com/en/194/bikes/301-mk14/all-mountain-factory-machine/
I see the difference in the fork - on the one picture it is shorter - 140 and on the other it is longer - 160 travel.
But I do not see any difference in the frame suspension. How it happens that the one is with 140 travel, the other with 160 travel ? Or I do not understand correctly - maybe only the front suspension is 160 for the enduro build ? Is the rear travel also 160 for the enduro ? If yes, how is the frame the same ?
So Liteville have a swappable linkage to go from 140 to 160mm. I have the 140mm linkages but have never fitted them. What's the point. BB height doesn't seem to be an issue. I had a Ripley LS and Evil Wreckoning prior to the mk14. Both of those other bike are too low if you ride amongst rock. If you ride smooth fast and flowy singletrack then an Evil might be better. If you want your bike to not break after 300km like my Evil Wreckoning did (And NO warranty by the way) then go for a Liteville. 10yr warranty, bulletproof frame and geo that works up steep stuff and down too.