Show us what you did today, thread

[old_coyote_pedaller]

What! And get crucified no thanks :?

It's OK Rob, I'll take the hit, what is the Jones Theory? Something valid or full on marketing bollocks?

 

[firedfromthecircus]

Theory is maybe not the right word. Maybe it should be concept.
The one size fits all spaceframe, the truss forks, the bars. It's all meant to tie in together in a symbiotic relationship or something.

Thing is, most folk who have this gear have spunked so much money on it all that they have to say it's great, whether they actually believe it or not.
Clubby bought his for a bargain basement s/h price so he might be more inclined to call bullshit. :mrgreen:

 

[clubby]

So are you telling us you don't buy into the full Jones theory?

Not the full theory, no. Not for me and the riding I do.
Don't get me wrong, the handling is great. It's agile at low speed but still stable going fast and it's very confidence inspiring on steep trails. However, I feel the one size fits all approach, doesn't. I can't be the only one, as the new Jones come in two different lengths. It may just be my proportions, I've short legs/long torso. The spaceframe design means putting the seat up also pushes it back making it longer, but also slackens the effective seat tube angle. This gave me knee pain pedalling and because I need the ebb adjusted to tension the hub gear chain, it reduces the adjustment I have. Moving the seat forward on the rails helps but shortens reach, which was already short due to my body length. This is exacerbated by the large sweep bringing the bars closer, but still being relatively narrow. With a 90mm stem the sweep brought my hands back to near the steerer. The best hand position for me was on the Y where the bars met. This gave good reach but was relatively narrow and also away from the controls. I also found the sweep lessened control in tight trails and awkward climbing out of the saddle on steep climbs.
The new set up has a shorter stem but much wider bars. This keeps my weight back as per Jeffs theory on the loop bars, but the extra width gives me a more comfortable riding position. It also feels better honking out of the saddle.
All that said I've still to test the set up in anger and may well be backtracking this time next week But that's all part of the fun.

Wouldn't call what I paid bargain basement FFTC, but certainly well below retail.

 

[RobMac]

Theory is maybe not the right word. Maybe it should be concept.
The one size fits all spaceframe, the truss forks, the bars. It's all meant to tie in together in a symbiotic relationship or something.

Thing is, most folk who have this gear have spunked so much money on it all that they have to say it's great, whether they actually believe it or not.
Clubby bought his for a bargain basement s/h price so he might be more inclined to call bullshit. :mrgreen:

Nail, head, hit

 

[firedfromthecircus]

Nail, head, hit

Thing is, I don't necessarily think it's a load of crap. I had a shot of a Jones for all of three minutes on tarmac. It felt quite nice but no way could I form a proper opinion on that brief ride.

I think the thing Clubby said about it hurting his back if he neglected it but it was fine if he rode it a lot fits with my theory. I think perhaps the integrated design might work for poor saps who only have one bike. They get used to the different position and so on. But for folk like us who have more bikes than days of the week and switch and swap depending on which way the wind is blowing, maybe the Jones is too much of a departure from the norm to work properly.
That and anything with the Jones name is obscenely expensive for the materials they are made from.

 

[RobMac]

Re:

Aaw right I'll come clean, its not the bike its the bars they just defy logic :?

 

[clubby]

Re: Re:

Aaw right I'll come clean, its not the bike its the bars they just defy logic :?

I can see for non technical long rides they would be good, but for me I'd like less angled back sweep and more width.
Agree with Barry about the pricing btw. Unfortunately that just the way with low volume niche products. Same could be said of MTB products on the whole though. And don't even get me started on fat bike tyres :evil:

 

[old_coyote_pedaller]

So are you telling us you don't buy into the full Jones theory?

Not the full theory, no. Not for me and the riding I do.
Don't get me wrong, the handling is great. It's agile at low speed but still stable going fast and it's very confidence inspiring on steep trails. However, I feel the one size fits all approach, doesn't. I can't be the only one, as the new Jones come in two different lengths. It may just be my proportions, I've short legs/long torso. The spaceframe design means putting the seat up also pushes it back making it longer, but also slackens the effective seat tube angle. This gave me knee pain pedalling and because I need the ebb adjusted to tension the hub gear chain, it reduces the adjustment I have. Moving the seat forward on the rails helps but shortens reach, which was already short due to my body length. This is exacerbated by the large sweep bringing the bars closer, but still being relatively narrow. With a 90mm stem the sweep brought my hands back to near the steerer. The best hand position for me was on the Y where the bars met. This gave good reach but was relatively narrow and also away from the controls. I also found the sweep lessened control in tight trails and awkward climbing out of the saddle on steep climbs.
The new set up has a shorter stem but much wider bars. This keeps my weight back as per Jeffs theory on the loop bars, but the extra width gives me a more comfortable riding position. It also feels better honking out of the saddle.
All that said I've still to test the set up in anger and may well be backtracking this time next week But that's all part of the fun.

Wouldn't call what I paid bargain basement FFTC, but certainly well below retail.

So it's no bollocks then, it's marketing bullshit.

There's a valid reason bikes are made in different sizes, WE, the riders, are all different sizes/shapes. Seems from your reply that there are lots of negatives regarding the effects of it's one size fits all adjustability, so many that it just doesn't work.

I always find it difficult to take the blurb seriously that comes from the people that are trying to convince you to buy their product. Especially at kick-in-the-nads level prices.

 

[clubby]

Re:

I wouldn't call it marketing, Jeff just does things differently. It's a small company making a low volume product. I don't imagine he's making a fortune at it. Can't be many companies when you mail them about setting up a secondhand bike and the company owner mails you back the same day. He genuinely believes in his products.

 

[old_coyote_pedaller]

Re: Re:

I wouldn't call it marketing, Jeff just does things differently. It's a small company making a low volume product. I don't imagine he's making a fortune at it. Can't be many companies when you mail them about setting up a secondhand bike and the company owner mails you back the same day. He genuinely believes in his products.

I'm sure he does, the people who dispense homeopathy crap also believe in it, doesn't make it work.