utahdog2003
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rather than bring the Ebay thread back around...
Kaiser asked a few questions that should be followed up on regarding the differences between the two generations of EWR bikes.
First...see here for some good info regarding the genesis of the EWR design and some of Jay's (aka Stuntboy) design logic. The thread even has a detractor! (My welds don't look like that proto's at all.)
http://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?t=371288
My comments about the two bikes back to back...here's the note I dropped to Kenn at EWR after getting my blue bike on the trail...
Yo Kenn! I promised you a little more info from my build-and-ride experience with your new product, and I’ve run out of excuses, so here you are, man!
The build!
Went together the way it should, head tube was nicely faced and the bottom bracket was pretty good too. I was a little concerned after I found out that you guys had to powder-coat the sucker twice, but there was very little residual goop in there from that process. The welds are pretty good, with only one spot that looks a little kooky. The final powder-coat is first rate in smoothness and consistency. Good work and well worth the dough and the slight delay. Interesting features of the frame that I dig… I like the full housing cable approach, especially with some of the muddy trails that I have to deal with here in Florida. I like the head tube reinforcement, as after 14 years of use, you can remove the lower head set cup from my ’94 with your bare hand. I like the lack of pinch bolt braze-ons and the lack of seat tube water bottle mounts on the new bike, as again, these features were weaknesses on my ’94. I like the dropout choice, and the taper of the rear stays is very sexy compared to the big blocky tube set and the Grove water-jet dropouts on the ’94. The two EWRs are clearly cousins, but there are plenty of visual and functional differentiations that keep me from wondering why I have them both, even without considering the geometry modifications. When I built the bike, I wanted new-bike functionality with ’94 style. Control Tech stem and bar, Sachs New Success long cage rear derailleur and twist shifter, SDG Kevlar saddle (in blue of course), WTB Velociraptor kevlars, and some NOS Race Face Turbines…all parts that hold their own on a modern bike, but lend a bit of period feel, much like your decal/logo choice.
My gripes are few…
Why the heck are the rear triangle brake cable braze-ons on the underside of the stay when the caliper feed is on the top of the caliper on every disc I can think of! As it is, the housing runs along the underside of the stay, then with less that 4 inches of distance between the last braze-on and the caliper, the housing has to wrap 180 degrees around the stay and then feed the caliper! Looks like a piece of black macaroni on my nice blue frame. Battle scars on my ’94 tell me that on some technical trail I’m apt to crush the housing at some point, but then again, most of the battle scars on the ’94 are from a much younger time! Also, my BB was not threaded deep enough on the drive side for my Race Face ISIS BB, either the EWR was shallow or the cup for the Race Face is deeper than the norm. A simple tap job solved the second issue, but the first, surely a decision made to maintain clean lines, isn’t necessary on a bike with a reputation for pure business. Run that cable on the top of the stay, baby!
Ready to roll…
I was a little concerned when I first took a gander at the bike on wheels with the Revelation set to 100mm…seemed a bit chopper-ish, and the front wheel did the “too-tall-fork-flop” when walking the bike around the trail head. Got on the bike and the worries all went away…Smooth, fast, predictable, precise, stable. Blah blah…all the dorky accolades you see in every Rosengarth review in the Rag applies to this bike. I’m sure it aint the lightest, but like the ’94, it is weight you don’t feel when you’re on it, and it is weight you’ll be glad is there when your rolling into your second decade of use. Some of that weight is also in my big fat heavy Sachs derailleur, too. On open fast trails, the bike responds quickly to out of the saddle sprint and pump style, and seems to climb much better than my ’94 when the trail inclines, although I’ll have to comment on climbing prowess when I’ve had the thing some place other than Jacksonville. Tight woods action is also excellent, and the thing goes where you point it, so you better point it in the right spot! To boil the feel of the bike down to a few simple words I’d say… Smooth, as you don’t so much flick this bike around like the ’94, you sort of just think it through tight corners and technical sections. Look, think, and the bike just seems to react for you, like walking up stairs or shifting from 4th to 5th, it just happens. I’ll also throw out the word Carve. Like my boy Matt, who you know owned my ’94 for 4 or so years, I’ve owned nearly 20 complete bikes over the years, and this is the first one that I’ve actually felt earns the term. The new EWR flat out flies around corners without a hint of slop or slide. Both my EWRs are on Velociraptors, and while the ’94 begs to be driven deep into the corner and then wheelied out with an out of the saddle sprint, the new EWR just wants you to keep the pedals moving, bring the speed into the corner and point the bars where you want to go…it will handle the rest with no drama, just precision. Aggressive and committed leaning is encouraged. Very nice.
I commute with it too…and it’s sitting on the other side of my desk as I type this.
You guys did a great job on this sucker. I’m glad you decided to come back with the brand, as there are a good many of us out there that are interested in small builders making good stuff in low numbers. I’m not much for the 29er thing, and as Matt says anyone who buys a 29 needs a kick in the nuts, but I am interested in the rumored suspension model being whispered about. If the susser has a simple and low-maintenance all-business vibe to it, and you continue to keep it ‘made in the USA’, I’m on it. Make a size small too, so my buddy Paul can play.
Offer Jennifer’s sterling leaf head tube badge for 100 bucks…I’d do that.
Cheers,
James
From when I wrote the note to Kenn to today, I've changed quite a bit. The new EWR is a modern bike, no avoiding it, so I ditched the Sachs bits and fitted X-0 and a set of Race Face Atlas cranks and a carbon Easton DH bar with Thomson stem. The only retro hold-outs on the EWR that remain are the Altek levers and the SDG saddle, and they aren't going anywhere...
Sorry for the crazy long thread, fellas! :shock:
Basically Kaiser, the original EWR is a big BMX bike...a meat cleaver. The new EWR is a 10" chef. Both will cut a lot of meat, but the cuts, and the technique are very different.
Kaiser asked a few questions that should be followed up on regarding the differences between the two generations of EWR bikes.
kaiser":2brsiyd6 said:utahdog2003":2brsiyd6 said:Yes the downtube on the original is bigger in diameter than the re-release. The new frame is at least a full pound lighter, maybe more! I've never really been a bike weigher, so I can't say for sure.
How does this translate to difference in ride? Appreciate the geometry would effect ride more but can you tell?
First...see here for some good info regarding the genesis of the EWR design and some of Jay's (aka Stuntboy) design logic. The thread even has a detractor! (My welds don't look like that proto's at all.)
http://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?t=371288
My comments about the two bikes back to back...here's the note I dropped to Kenn at EWR after getting my blue bike on the trail...
Yo Kenn! I promised you a little more info from my build-and-ride experience with your new product, and I’ve run out of excuses, so here you are, man!
The build!
Went together the way it should, head tube was nicely faced and the bottom bracket was pretty good too. I was a little concerned after I found out that you guys had to powder-coat the sucker twice, but there was very little residual goop in there from that process. The welds are pretty good, with only one spot that looks a little kooky. The final powder-coat is first rate in smoothness and consistency. Good work and well worth the dough and the slight delay. Interesting features of the frame that I dig… I like the full housing cable approach, especially with some of the muddy trails that I have to deal with here in Florida. I like the head tube reinforcement, as after 14 years of use, you can remove the lower head set cup from my ’94 with your bare hand. I like the lack of pinch bolt braze-ons and the lack of seat tube water bottle mounts on the new bike, as again, these features were weaknesses on my ’94. I like the dropout choice, and the taper of the rear stays is very sexy compared to the big blocky tube set and the Grove water-jet dropouts on the ’94. The two EWRs are clearly cousins, but there are plenty of visual and functional differentiations that keep me from wondering why I have them both, even without considering the geometry modifications. When I built the bike, I wanted new-bike functionality with ’94 style. Control Tech stem and bar, Sachs New Success long cage rear derailleur and twist shifter, SDG Kevlar saddle (in blue of course), WTB Velociraptor kevlars, and some NOS Race Face Turbines…all parts that hold their own on a modern bike, but lend a bit of period feel, much like your decal/logo choice.
My gripes are few…
Why the heck are the rear triangle brake cable braze-ons on the underside of the stay when the caliper feed is on the top of the caliper on every disc I can think of! As it is, the housing runs along the underside of the stay, then with less that 4 inches of distance between the last braze-on and the caliper, the housing has to wrap 180 degrees around the stay and then feed the caliper! Looks like a piece of black macaroni on my nice blue frame. Battle scars on my ’94 tell me that on some technical trail I’m apt to crush the housing at some point, but then again, most of the battle scars on the ’94 are from a much younger time! Also, my BB was not threaded deep enough on the drive side for my Race Face ISIS BB, either the EWR was shallow or the cup for the Race Face is deeper than the norm. A simple tap job solved the second issue, but the first, surely a decision made to maintain clean lines, isn’t necessary on a bike with a reputation for pure business. Run that cable on the top of the stay, baby!
Ready to roll…
I was a little concerned when I first took a gander at the bike on wheels with the Revelation set to 100mm…seemed a bit chopper-ish, and the front wheel did the “too-tall-fork-flop” when walking the bike around the trail head. Got on the bike and the worries all went away…Smooth, fast, predictable, precise, stable. Blah blah…all the dorky accolades you see in every Rosengarth review in the Rag applies to this bike. I’m sure it aint the lightest, but like the ’94, it is weight you don’t feel when you’re on it, and it is weight you’ll be glad is there when your rolling into your second decade of use. Some of that weight is also in my big fat heavy Sachs derailleur, too. On open fast trails, the bike responds quickly to out of the saddle sprint and pump style, and seems to climb much better than my ’94 when the trail inclines, although I’ll have to comment on climbing prowess when I’ve had the thing some place other than Jacksonville. Tight woods action is also excellent, and the thing goes where you point it, so you better point it in the right spot! To boil the feel of the bike down to a few simple words I’d say… Smooth, as you don’t so much flick this bike around like the ’94, you sort of just think it through tight corners and technical sections. Look, think, and the bike just seems to react for you, like walking up stairs or shifting from 4th to 5th, it just happens. I’ll also throw out the word Carve. Like my boy Matt, who you know owned my ’94 for 4 or so years, I’ve owned nearly 20 complete bikes over the years, and this is the first one that I’ve actually felt earns the term. The new EWR flat out flies around corners without a hint of slop or slide. Both my EWRs are on Velociraptors, and while the ’94 begs to be driven deep into the corner and then wheelied out with an out of the saddle sprint, the new EWR just wants you to keep the pedals moving, bring the speed into the corner and point the bars where you want to go…it will handle the rest with no drama, just precision. Aggressive and committed leaning is encouraged. Very nice.
I commute with it too…and it’s sitting on the other side of my desk as I type this.
You guys did a great job on this sucker. I’m glad you decided to come back with the brand, as there are a good many of us out there that are interested in small builders making good stuff in low numbers. I’m not much for the 29er thing, and as Matt says anyone who buys a 29 needs a kick in the nuts, but I am interested in the rumored suspension model being whispered about. If the susser has a simple and low-maintenance all-business vibe to it, and you continue to keep it ‘made in the USA’, I’m on it. Make a size small too, so my buddy Paul can play.
Offer Jennifer’s sterling leaf head tube badge for 100 bucks…I’d do that.
Cheers,
James
From when I wrote the note to Kenn to today, I've changed quite a bit. The new EWR is a modern bike, no avoiding it, so I ditched the Sachs bits and fitted X-0 and a set of Race Face Atlas cranks and a carbon Easton DH bar with Thomson stem. The only retro hold-outs on the EWR that remain are the Altek levers and the SDG saddle, and they aren't going anywhere...
Sorry for the crazy long thread, fellas! :shock:
Basically Kaiser, the original EWR is a big BMX bike...a meat cleaver. The new EWR is a 10" chef. Both will cut a lot of meat, but the cuts, and the technique are very different.
