[Closed] What can an Evil Following handle?

A friend was happy using his in the Alps. Trail and hike a bike riding rather than park and dh tracks. Offering does look nice

My mate’s just got rid of his following for a wrekoning & misses it. That thing was used every weekend in the peaks & has been on numerous lakes trips and done revs a few times & a week in morzine. I’ve had a few goes & it rides like it has more than 120mm (he had a 140 fork). he was as quick as anyone on a 160mm bike most of the time. He only changed because he’s pretty rapid & it was getting him into a bit of trouble occasionally going full chat into big stuff and reminding him it only has 120mm. One thing I notice was it was very short, the size large 2016 model he had was tiny. It felt sketchy to me but I’m used to much longer frames.

McTrail Rider had a Calling for quite a while and used it in and around those same areas. He seemed to enjoy it .

Rode a few Evil's at a demo day. The Calling was really fun to Ride but maybe out of it's depth for the riding you describe. The wreckoning size XL was great descending but didn't pedal well. I was really looking forward to riding the Following but it was very short for a size large and the fork was set up much to soft for me and I didn't have time to sort it.

The offering had me curious before I bought a Ripmo.

Rode a few Evil's at a demo day. The Calling was really fun to Ride but maybe out of it's depth for the riding you describe. The wreckoning size XL was great descending but didn't pedal well.

I was really looking forward to riding the Following as I'd heard about it being really fun but it was very short for a size large and the fork was set up much to soft for me and I didn't have time to sort it.

The offering had me curious before I bought a Ripmo.

Shorter wouldn't be the end of the world for me to be honest- the large Following MB has the same reach as my Patrol and my Stache is tiny (reach is 421mm and I'm 5'10") and I love riding it. It does feel out of its depth when things get fast with big hits though, obviously.

I do feel more confident in certain situations on the Stache and I think it's because I trust the big 29" front tyre more than I do the 27.5 on the Patrol.

Was/is in a similar position, have a 19 patrol carbon in medium and it just does so well going downhill, but is a bit of a pig doing long distance stuff, but that's more setup on my part than the bike. Did look at what 130/140 was around, but the reality is they're different feels and setup, yes you could set up the evil to mimic the geometry a bit, the large following looks a lot like the medium patrol, but still not quite as slack or low, which is what you'd expect as you're looking at replacing an enduro with a trail bike.

I'd guess it's really what are you after, for me i am looking at doing bigger stuff in the future, so happy to keep 170/160 and that bit more stability on steeper downhills at any normal speeds, the long day outs are just going to still have to be killers, maybe just tweak the bike a bit more.

@munrobiker I think The Offering is the best Evil bike for the Tweed Valley. I have the Following MB (had the V1 before that) and also had a Wreckoning but sold that to buy the Offering. I would say that The Following is very capable and loads of fun to ride. It handles the steep, tight twisty trails of the Tweed Valley very well. I used to reach for that bike most of the time when riding Thornielee and Yair - for me it was consistently as fast or faster than the Wreckoning on those trails. The only trails it struggles a bit are the faster rockier ones with bigger hits - for example Big Baw or Jawbone at Innerleithen, Forbidden Fruit at Yair and High Definition at Thornielee. However, in my experience The Offering climbs better than both and is faster descending than both for my local riding.

@neiladams, do you still have the Following? How does it cope with the likes of Date Night and Barts, the steeper sketchier stuff at Inners?

@munrobiker yes I still have The Following MB - run it with a 140 Lyrik in the X-Low position with a 40mm stem. It also rides nice and balanced with a 130mm fork on more mellow terrain. On the really steep stuff like Date night and Barts at Inners its fine in the dry but in the wet / mud it does get a bit sketchy - I think due to the relatively low stack height and short wheelbase. It's great on Angry Sheep etc. At the Golfie side its fun to ride on 3G, Repeat Offender, Community Service, Flat White, Lone Wolf, NYNY, ALF, Liver Damage, Feed the Pony etc. It would struggle on No Social and Waterworld I think. At Glentress its good on all the natural stuff there and on the trail centre stuff it's a blast. However, nowadays I take The Offering on 90% of rides. When I do go back and ride the Following the main thing I notice is the shorter reach so I feel like I have to ride more off the back of the bike on steep terrain whereas I can stay more centred on The Offering I find which is less tiring. I have to say though that every time I go back and ride the Following it still leaves me smiling as it's so much fun.

Cool, thanks @neiladams. If you're barely using it, fancy selling it for a very reasonable price? 😉

However, in my experience The Offering climbs better than both and is faster descending than both for my local riding.

Couldn't agree more...

Will a Following be up to that sort of riding? It’s all pie in the sky stuff at the moment, and I doubt I’ll end up changing, but I’m curious to know.

A Following will do pretty much anything except deal with rock gardens and big hits well! Have you seen the original videos of when the V1 was launched, the stuff Luke Stroble used to do on the bike, there's not many 120mm bikes out there that would not just take the abuse, but readily come back for more!

I've said it several times, and I'll say it again... The Following had the attitude and the speed to write cheques that the 120mm back end just couldn't cash. In this respect, it is a HUGE fun bike to ride! It reminds you of your humanity and the need to be a little finessed (but not too much) at times. Other people don't get it, you're too busy grinning like a Cheshire cat to care what they think...

I sold my v1 Following to get a Wreckoning. Another awesome bike. Another game changer for Evil! Don't get me wrong, it wasn't as playful as the Following, but for a 160mm travel 29er it was a barrel of laughs, and because of the travel, hugely more capable on the descents when the going got rough. Downsides? Well it's a 160mm travel 29er, and whilst it pedals incredibly well for one, it's still more work to get up to speed or climb on than a shorter travel bike. It also gives you a feeling of invincibility, which depending on your viewpoint, is either a good thing or a bad thing. I was lucky on my Wreckoning, nothing worse than some missing skin and a few bruises in the time I had it, but my god I had a few big crashes on that bike!

Ideally I’d like an Offering but there’s none secondhand.

What size you looking for? They do come up from time to time.

I had a couple of bikes between my Wreckoning and buying the Offering, and good though they were (well the S-150 I really got on quite well with, the Murmur just wasn't for me at all), I had always said that if/when Evil ever produced a 140mm travel 29er, it would be my Holy Grail...

I was a bit skint when the Offering was launched so I couldn't get one immediately, and a couple of mates teased me whilst they got theirs built up and... I found the money, quickly! 😂

My biggest worry with the Offering, was that having hyped it up to myself as the Holy Grail (I get that many people don't get Evils, but they just really suit the way I ride), that it might be a bit of a damp squib after all... First couple of rides weren't the best, and I started to worry that the bike wasn't going to be all I'd hyped it up to be. It turns out that it's just more sensitive to setup than the Wreckoning, and I just don't get on that well with a stock Fox DPX2 tune (I've ridden a few now, even though I'm 90kg I find that typically they just have too much compression damping in open and aren't as well controlled as they should be). I dropped the fork from 160 to 150 which livened up the front (it felt lethargic @ 160 to me), and found a Fox Float X2 in the 185x55 size and got that dialled in... A few rides with a shockwiz later, and I was getting Strava PR's on trails I've ridden possibly hundreds of times before. Even with less travel than the Wreckoning, I was quicker pretty much everywhere! The only place I'd find a Wreckoning preferable even now, would be in consistently rocky terrain where the amount of suspension travel trumps the attitude and geometry.

What about the attitude and feel of the bike though? Well similarly, I worried that with the steeper seat angle (I get a real, measured, 75.5deg static measured for my setup, with 150mm fork and linkage in X-Low) it might prioritise climbing efficiency a little too much over having fun, and that the longer reach (still not long compared to many) was prioritising stability on the descents more than the fun factor those of us that know and love Evil have got used to... Forget all that! This bike is still very much an Evil... Huge grins everywhere, but it climbs better than the Following, descends faster than the Wreckoning, and can render just about any other bike in your garage redundant with just a wheel and tyre change. I've got some lighter wheels and faster rolling tyres that save 1.5lb of rotating weight that I fit when I'm just riding local trails, or doing an event like the Dyfi. Works a treat!

The downsides? Well it's not a cheap bike... Especially not when you've got Fox Factory suspension both ends and dropper, SRAM AXS, carbon wheels and all the rest of the trimmings... My job (when we're all allowed to go back to "normal") has me driving 6-700 miles a week typically, with a couple of overnight stops per week normal. I'm in a van, so can keep a bike with me at all times, but I'm worried about keeping a £7k plus build in the back of it at all times! 🤷🏻‍♂️ Oh, and though tyre clearance is better than the V1 Following, it's still not as good as many of its competitors. There's room with a 2.35" Hans Dampf in there for a bit of mud, but not much... A winter bike it is not!

@munrobiker hahaha yes I really should sell it on but I like having 2 bikes! It's an XL (I'm 6'3) so would likely too big for you at 5'10. The seat tube is quite long compared to the most current bikes which tends to limit sizing up potential especially if you are riding steep stuff.

All I can add is that my following v1 feels less capable through rocks than my older Intense Spider (130 rear), but very stable at speed.

Wait, proper advice.

Sizing is difficult if you want a 170mm+ dropper. A 170 reverb won't fit all the way into a large (approx 1-1.5cm post showing), which means that at 5'11/6', I have to drop it a little to pedal. So if you're thinking of sizing up for reach, watch out for the seat tube length or run a short dropper.

@munrobiker I've got a friend selling a large following, any interest can put you his way.

Hi
I have a V1 set up with a Fox 36 Talas set at 135mm (and can extend to 150 for steeps although I rarely do)
Rear shock is Fox DPS Which I find way better than the Rockshox one.
Seat angle means it’s not as good a climber as some but I’m still happy to take it anywhere including Dales, NYM, Lakes and trail centres.
Very fun poppy bike which just makes you grin.
I find the limitations are my skill levels not the bikes
As said above be careful with sizing-I’m 6’ on a Large and should have gone XL. I got conflicting advice from two different shops and went the wrong way.
It’s not a deal breaker but a bit more room would be good.
Cheers
Steve

I think the following will be my next bike. I’ve been on a Wreckoning for 3 years and it’s a beast of a bike but places like Llandegla just don’t test it and that’s where I ride most.

Just can’t decide if to keep the Wrecker and add the following V3 or try sell the wrecker ( no interest so far) and go for a killer build Offering or Ripmo v2.

Decisions decisions

If it helps; as much as I love looking at the thing, I don't think I would buy another one.

I built up an MB over xmas, used to riding 29er hardtails and fancied something more fun.
Its a brilliant bike, only really tested it on local trails, Leeds BP and Gisburn but i find it climbs well, its fast and poppy on flowy trails. very confidence inspiring too! Its got 120mm travel front and back, 2.5 minion up front and 2.4 on the rear.
im 5'8 and have a medium, fits me pretty well.
However its currently just a pretty ornament in the flat at the moment.

I could be tempted to upgrade my Large Following MB (orange) to the latest model, if anyone is keen to twist my arm? I went for the traktiv conversion on the shock which has made a great overall improvement for me and would recommend to any other owners.

Can sell with whatever parts are needed, complete or just the frame.