Prototype El Cuervo spotted

Looks like I wasn’t the only one doing product testing in Bootleg Canyon! Scott Crabill from Go-Ride.com was there testing a new prototype El Cuervo. I got to spend some time riding and chatting with Scott. I first got to ride with Scott two years ago, also in Bootleg Canyon. Like most of us, he’s pretty passionate about the sport. No attitude, no ego, just loves to ride his bike(s) and share the experience with others!

Scott strongly believes that at this time the quality of the suspension on the El Cuervo is as good as anything he has ever ridden, which includes a lot of bikes! Therefore he’s not planning on making any changes to the suspension design, but he do feels there are geometry changes that can be made which will better suit the top level racers.



Scott is a strong believer in a bike with proper geometry. Yes, that's right; GEOMETRY. It is the most important feature of any race bike. If you don't have good geometry it doesn't matter how well your suspension works because your bike will handle poorly. The geometry of the El Cuervo was the starting point for the whole design. They focused on all the key areas: steering angle, wheel base, chain stay, bottom bracket, and top tube – and to this day are still refining these numbers.


For this prototype, Scott made a few refinements to the geometry so it would match the current style of race courses. The most noticeable changes are: lower bottom bracket & slacker head angle. The old BB was about 14.75" with an 8" fork and Maxxis 2.5” tires. The new BB will be 1/2" lower with the same set up. The head angle that was slackened and went from 65 degrees with an 8” fork, to 64 degree. Scott mentioned that he would like get the head angle even slacker but that will be determined after testing the current changes. Always better to take baby steps and analyze small changes rather than making big ones. A shorter chainstay was also something Scott was looking into, but that is harder since the rear tire would come in contact with the seatmast/saddle if he went any shorter.


Scott spent the weekend trying different suspension configurations by swapping forks/shocks. Going from Go-Ride’s custom BOS tuned 888 to a stock 888 and from the new Marzocchi Roco to a Pushed Fox Damper. I did get to take a run on the prototype El Cuervo, and while the front fork wasn’t really setup for me, the geometry and cockpit felt pretty nice. The bike was very nimble and was easy to throw around. It reminded me of my DHR, but the angles on the El Cuervo definitely felt better to me than my previous DHR did.


The El Cuervo frames are welded in-house at Ventana USA, so you can be sure that the bikes are built to some the highest standards. As you can tell by the pics, the gussets are burly and this frame is really re-enforced. You should expect to see the new bike for sale on www.go-ride.com before the race season.


The El Cuervo took Chris Van Dine to the World Championships the last two seasons and he road to second at last years US Pro Championships. Additionally, this bike has won numerous amateur NCS races and series titles over the last two seasons. Just so you know, the team bikes are taken straight from the production run – you get the same bike that the team rides.

For more information about the El Cuervo, check out www.go-ride.com. Also visit Ventana USA's web site at www.ventanausa.com