Morpheus Conspiracy - Review

The Premium Conspiracy is the top-of-the-line build and it features components to suit. From the super reliable Shimano Saint drivetrain and brakes, down to the DT Swiss E512 rims and Fox suspension, the bike is fitted with a parts spec' that's ready to take a beating and keep you riding longer. To top it off, there are a number of components from Race Face's SixC range hanging off of it. All of this adds up to a pretty light DH bike, weighing in at 14.8kg.



Frame Details

On a regular basis, the first things most people noticed with the Conspiracy is the super low-slung frame design and large downtube. Morpheus went to a number of lengths in order to keep the weight of the bike as low as possible. This includes things like utilizing the PF107 BB, which they say allowed them to have the shock as low in the frame as it could be without negatively affecting how stiff the frame is—another focal point in the process of its design. The large downtube is the other notable feature and this was also part of the process taken to achieve a frame that was stiff and strong, while keeping the weight of the shock low in the frame. For Morpheus, the goal with stiffness was to develop a frame that was "at least equal to, or exceeded what our best competitors can do".


Aside from the construction of the frame and the goals for the design, the team spent time working on integrating protection. To that end, the frame features a large, rubberized section on the downtube while another fully encompasses almost the full length of the chainstay. To keep the lines clean, cable routing was taken down the more common internal route now seen on bikes; that's true of the rear brake line as well.


Suspension Design

The Conspiracy utilizes Morpheus' OPS suspension design, a Horst Link design that is altered slightly through the use of an additional link. Morpheus chose to base the bike around a Horst Link suspension design because they liked its pedaling and braking characteristics. The fact that they could control the leverage ratio without "adding complicated links" was something that appealed to their goals, noting the fact that they could make the bike's frame components 100% carbon was another plus (the link to the shock is also carbon).

As for the added linkage, when we asked Morpheus what they were looking to achieve that the Horst Link didn't already provide, they responded: "We tried to achieve a DH bike that can pedal as well as a trail bike, but that can absorb big hits. It makes it a very versatile bike, from World Cup DH performer to all-day, bike-park shredder."


When we dug a little deeper, Morpheus noted that; "when comparing a regular Horst Link design utilized by some of our larger competitors, the design has an instant center (I.C.) far away from the rider, that varies greatly back and forth throughout the travel, compromising its efficiency. We have a much more centered I.C., giving the bike excellent pedaling and braking characteristics with a suspension that is still sensitive enough to give it great traction on the roughest terrain. It makes the suspension much easier to set up as well, with lower air pressures (or spring rates) that give both a sensitive suspension and great bottom-out resistance." Morpheus also remark that bikes with a suspension design featuring an I.C. farther away from the rider often result in more of a compromise between sensitivity and support being necessary.


Despite wanting to provide a bike that had good pedaling efficiency, being able to access all 200mm of travel when needed was equally important. A lot of time was spent analyzing what was felt to be an appropriate ending ramp rate that would accommodate both air and coil shocks. Morpheus feel they have found that balance, and feel that with the Float X2 packed with five spacers (the max recommended in a 240x76mm/9.5x3.0inch shock) they have achieved this.



Geometry/Sizing

The trend to larger downhill bikes has become a welcome one for a rider that measures in at 193cm (6'3"). That said, there still are only a few that actually fit well. The Morpheus wasn't bad, with the XL frame tested featuring a reach of 455mm, and while I would still prefer a longer option, especially as their largest offering, it was a far cry more comfortable than a number of more recent DH bikes I have swung a leg over.

The bike felt very neutral, which was welcomed, and the 1,255mm wheelbase helped make it feel stable enough, without feeling like I was steering a boat down tighter trails. The 436mm chainstay strikes a good balance with the rest of the bike and the 63º head angle played into this as well. There isn't anything really groundbreaking with the numbers on the Conspiracy, but the mix makes for a comfortable-feeling bike that was maneuverable without feeling unstable when speeds increased.

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Handling

Minus a couple of test runs to establish some starting points with the settings and a few later on to take the final pics, all riding aboard the Conspiracy was done in the Whistler Bike Park. The review began shortly after Crankworx Whistler, which resulted in the bike being subjected to some of the roughest, most beat-up trails before the park crew had completed working their magic and buffed everything up to perfection. The initial settings required fine tuning once the speeds and the rougher trails of the bike park were brought into the picture. There was also the odd scenario where I would bottom harder than expected with these earlier settings.

Once the adjustments were made I never felt it bottom again and the 200mm of rear travel was now more active. Initially, the bike was setup with more compression damping (LSC – 13 clicks out, HSC – 9 clicks), but with these settings, the rear didn't track well—it was overdamped, in pretty much any situation. This isn't unique to the Morpheus, but it was something that I was dealing with and is worth noting. The settings restricted shaft movement too much and as I tuned them more toward the open end, the bike began to track better and come to life. Regardless, what I really wanted to adjust was the spring curve later in the stroke, but with that not possible, I was left with increasing overall pressure to compensate. Not the end of the world for some, but it did change the entire stroke, and I was happy with the initial third at the first set, 30% sag.

In the end, I found the bike to perform best with the sag changed from 30% to around 25%, and the damper settings were, for the most part, wound out to almost completely off. On the compression side, the HSC and LSC were each set to 20 clicks out, while the HSR was set to wide open, and the LSR rebound ended up being 13 clicks out. At the front, the 40 felt best for me with about 27mm of sag, LSC 19 clicks out, HSC was eventually set to wide open and rebound sat around 10 out from closed. The bike felt very well balanced front to rear and never did anything unexpected, further adding to its comfortable ride.





With the settings changed the Conspiracy stayed up in its travel better overall. High-speed hits were better compensated for by the bike, sending less feedback through to the rider, allowing for more control and to be better able to hold speed through rough terrain. This resulted in a number of 'oh shit' moments as a result of coming into sections hotter than expecting. The stability and comfort that the bike now offered also made it harder to reach its limit, but unlike other bikes tested, it was comfortable enough that, rather than drag the brakes to check up on things, I found myself holding off them for longer, pushing braking later into the approach to turns and checking up less into many of the rougher sections. When under heavy braking the bike remained very stable, rarely skipping off line or doing anything that would result in additional rider adjustments being required in order to still enter the section of trail how and where intended. In short, it was really good!


The desire for Morpheus to have a bike that pedaled better presented itself more in how the travel felt beyond the sag point, with it tending to feel quite linear through most of the latter ~60% of what is available. When getting on the gas out of corners or after a mistake, the bike got up and went reasonably well, though it didn’t exhibit the same sportiness as the Devinci Wilson, or the updated Kona Operator. I found that more support in the mid-stroke and bottom end were desired, but with the max recommended volume spacers for the X2 (five for this length) already installed stock on the Morpheus, there was no opportunity to add more progression to the rear than it already possessed. This is also the reason that pressure was increased to achieve 25% of sag, rather than my initial 30% setting. If there were the ability to have adjusted the spring curve to be more progressive, I would have been better able to maintain the great top-end traction found at 30%, but improve the use of travel deeper throughout the stroke. However, this is really the only quibble I have for the bike and it’s largely a personal thing. If you are a rider that enjoys a good amount of progression through the stroke, the Conspiracy may fall short for you.

The comfort of the bike extended beyond geometry, with the carbon frame helping to provide a more muted ride, and although the frame is constructed entirely of carbon, it never felt too stiff or harsh. Keeping the bike on line across off cambers and through chatter was no stress. When considered along with the suspension and wheels/tires, the bike tracked very well and I never found it deflecting off obstacles. The balanced feel of the Conspiracy made it very comfortable in the air too.


Issues

I already mentioned the lack of being able to make the bike more progressive and how, currently, I found it to use most of the latter half of the travel quite quickly. While we have heard of Fox athletes running up to seven spacers in their Float X2 shocks, it isn't recommended by Fox. There is some progression designed into the end of the stroke, but I personally didn’t find it to be enough when I wanted to run the sag closer to 30%. However, this didn’t stop me from being excited to ride the Conspiracy, I only wanted to be able to dial it in more to my personal tastes. At 25% sag it was better, but this obviously affected the whole stroke, rather than just the portion that I was looking to tweak.


I found the internal cable routing to rattle inside the frame when riding through rough terrain. The cables are loose inside the frame and when the going got rowdy, the cables tended to clang about. It wasn't the loudest I’ve ridden, and as a result, I never found it to be overbearing, but it is there nonetheless. The chain is also loud as it makes contact with a portion of the carbon chainstays that are not covered by the integrated protection. It’s interesting given the attention to detail with the integrated protection elsewhere on the stays (and beneath the downtube), but unfortunately, it falls a little short, leaving room for the chain to connect on the top side—it also hits, to a lesser extent, on the bottom. This is easy enough to fix with some mastic tape and by no means a deal breaker at the end of the day.



Component Check

• Fox Float 40 Factory and Float X2: Fox suspension is at the top end of the market, and it’s obvious why. After spending a good amount of time on these products, it’s not hard to see why so many world cup teams are running their equipment. It works really well and there is a good amount of room for fine tuning, externally as well.

• Schwalbe Magic Mary (Bike Park): The test bike arrived with these and to be honest, I wasn’t aware of the bike park variation of Schwalbe’s fantastic MM tire. After riding it I now know why. Wear is at a whole new level and after a couple of months in the bike park, they show little sign of action. Traction was lacking, though, even on days when the dirt was perfect, and that for me is a priority, especially up front.

• DT Swiss E512 Rims: DT’s claimed enduro rim served really well, remaining true throughout testing and standing up to the heinous conditions of the Whistler Bike Park. There is the odd ding in the rear, but nothing major. They outlasted a test wheel that was on the bike for a few days, only to be taken off after breaking a rim (more on that in a future review).




Pinkbike's Take:

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Reviews and Tech Reviews DH Bikes Morpheus Morpheus Conspiracy