Chromag Announces Doctahawk, a Super Aggressive 180mm, 29er Hardtail
Just a couple of weeks ago I said that most hardcore hardtails fall around the 140-150mm travel bracket but Chromag has just thrown that rulebook out of the window with its new 180mm travel Doctahawk 29er.
This bike was built for people who don't think Chromag's (already pretty radical) 160mm Rootdown went far enough and it's easily one of the most aggressive hardtails being made today. The numbers make this bike sound like a monster truck - 29 inch wheels, a 62° head angle, 77° seat angle and a 501mm reach in size large. This envelope-pushing geometry puts it way beyond most hardtails or even full-suss enduro bikes and is clearly designed for tackling some of the most brutish terrain going.
Normally we would worry that a 180mm hardtail would steepen up too much as it goes through its travel to be any use at all. Chromag is aiming to nullify this with the slack initial head angle and the length of the bike. Theoretically, a longer bike means the pivot point is farther away from the fork, so the change in head angle should be less severe.
Like a lot of Chromag bikes, the Doctahawk is built from Chromoly steel tubing by hand in British Columbia. The bike is the brain child of Clark (Doc Tomahawk) Lewis, an emergency physician in Whistler. Clark has been riding his full time since last spring and claims it is, "a giant leap forward in the right hands and in the right terrain." The frames will be fabricated by Chromag’s newest welder, Brad Howlett.
The bike comes in two builds, a GX Eagle level that retails at $4,999 CAD ($4,300 USD) and an Eagle XO1 build for $6,090 CAD ($5,250 USD). If you fancy a frame alone, it will set you back $1,900 CAD ($1,650 USD). For more info, click here.
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Plus no more baby blue bikes please. #saynotobabybluemtb2019
I’m all for long and slack but would have to have a serious test ride before even considering. Nevermind the $$ for cro-mo and pressfit.
I am nonetheless happy Chromag made it. Niechey companies Niechey things is always good.
Chromag: "hold my beer..."
Probably was more like "hold my crack pipe"
Currently I have some kind of elbow tendinite, and riding XC on my 150mm hardtail brings back the pain, for example when landing rear wheel first. And the fork is smooth...
The rear of the bike is still connected without suspension to the handlebars.
Today: why is this Chromag made in Canada so expensive?
To me, the really interesting point is that the new guy at Chromag had what he thought was a cool idea for a new bike, and that bike is now in production!
Your explanation makes no sense and you won't be able to provide links to experts supporting your idea.
Anyone that's ridden a steep gnarly rock garden on any bike (even a DH bike) knows you need to dynamically balance the bike to keep it under control. I think you know that and are just trying to justify your preference.
You've only been over the bars 3 times in 20 years whilst placing top 20 in DH races? Forgive me for believing that what you just said is utter BS.
See the other posters who talk about riding the fork by getting their weight forward. I didn't come up with the weight over the front thing.
"You let the bike float under you, hit that section with a ton of speed, letting the front wheel do most of the work, and your body does the rest of the work."
Your technique explanation is describing the regular way of riding except you're slipping phrases like "ride the fork" and "let the front wheel do most of the work". Are you saying to be less active on the bike? Again, you're not explaining the technique. Maybe you can provide a link to someone else explaining the 'ride the fork' technique?
"I have raced cross country, downhill and dual slalom and never went over the bars. And I finished top 10 every time. "
Not even the world's best finish top 10 everytime so that's a lie.
"I rode Cooper Harbor's downhills and even hit Hell Track in TN last summer, the 130mm 29er hardtail I rode had just enough travel to have me hit everything and also hit 30+ mph."
Do you mean Devil's Racetrack? I thought we were talking about rough terrain.
" With a 150mm fork or more, (and a switch to 200mm rotors) I would race a 29er hardtail in a DH class."
So all that bullshit about never going OTB while finishing top ten in every DH race wasn't on a hardtail?
"Not on my 160mm 26er, it likes to find holes and slow down. I think there is a saying, it's not the size of the gun, it's how you use it."
These two sentences speak for themselves.
I have an "enduro" full suspension bike.
The aggro hardtail is just as capable as the full squish on anything that's smooth. Whenever rocks and roots get added to the mix, it beats up my wrists and body and is nowhere near as fast. And on anything that's pretty steep, since the rear stays the same height as the fork compresses, it gets very "dive-y" compared to the full squish bike where both ends can compress.
So I guess my point is, what's the point? A bike that's as expensive as many super-capable full-squish bikes...where's the justification? As soon as it gets really steep, or rocky, or rooty, this is a forced handicap compared to a full boing bike.
Look at Poles or Nicolais chainstays they are also long
Kudos for different CS length for different sizes, all bikes should have this.
it should go from 62 to 64 sagged to 69.5 on full compression.
And the wheelbase should shorten 1" sagged then 3.5" on full compression.
And no threaded bottom bracket?
No thanks!
employee all for $2500 USD. www.corvidcycles.com
(I f****** hate press fit, nothing but grief.)
That said, I think seated pedaling is nice for long epic rides whereas a hardtail like this imho lends itself best for shorter blasts where you're best of riding standing up. Never really looked into q-factor stuff but I suppose it matters mostly for seated pedaling. When you stand up your body is less picky about stuff like that. I don't know the q-factor of my bike but the frame has a 73mm bb shell and I'm using a pretty wide external bb (Truvativ Howitzer) and still find my feet mostly on the outer part of my pedals.
Pinkbike won’t say it, but people in the comments who know more than you and are better riders than you will. So buy one....NOW or get left behind. It isn’t even worth riding a normal bike anymore.
PVD's post is here: www.peterverdone.com/what-is-this-that-weve-become
and the instagram post of the Tomohawk is here:
www.instagram.com/p/BkMT7dLHVda
Also, even if only five people buy this bike, I love it and think it deserves to exist. Geo is so out there in a good way for a hardtail.
"Dude... What if... We made a bike, right? But we put a push-mower on the front, right? That way we would never have to cut the grass the hard way"
Chromag designer #2
"Dudeeeeeee, yeahhhhhhhhh"
*designs some wack geo that works with a lawnmower on the front*
-Next Day-
Chromag designer #1
"Dude, the boss is gonna be so mad, how do we turn this into a bike?"
Chromag designer #2
"UHHHHH, got it. We do a 180mm fork and 29" wheels, boom."
*This is released*
In all honesty though, I'm excited to see how people like this bike as it looks super cool!
Bike looks amazing.
Thanks!
For that kind of $ you could at least run a tap through the BB shell no? What's the benefit to press fit here?
Me thinks Doc is trying to drum up more business!
Quote of the year!!!!!
Lowered for the picture.
I might have a negative credit score, living pay cheque to pay cheque, and be verging on bankruptcy, but don't I look f*cking good doing it!
People are so vain and shallow. Marketers know just how to make them dance like puppets. It's too easy now.
I read the name and my mind instantly re wrote it to "Hucktoflat" - lol
1. More than a few of you think the chainstays are too short. I formerly had an On One 456 Summer Season (64 deg. head angle with 160mm fork) and loved everything about it EXCEPT for the 424mm long chainstays. Should've been at least 5mm shorter in my opinion. I get the impression that most who complain about short chainstays have never ridden them nor taken the time to adapt (yes, they actually do require more skill, duh).
2. Some of you think this thing won't climb with that slack head angle. My On One was a phenomenal climber. Head angle isn't everything.
3. Was formerly considering a Canfield Yelli Screamy. Poor Canfield isn't doing much of anything these days, afaik. This would've been the Yelli Screamy on steroids.
4. Would love to hear from Chromag regarding the handling differences between the two fork offsets. Excellent read here: www.bikeradar.com/us/mtb/gear/article/pushing-the-limits-of-fork-offset-an-experiment-45343
This is exactly how i feel about hardtails, but god forbid i mention it or i enter downvote hell. Funny to see a pinkbike author use it in the title description.
And that reach number gets even longer when it is sagged....
www.instagram.com/p/BtyaytmHo5R/?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet
- just saying.
Chromag is hand weld welded in good ole....hand welded in the great white north, Canada.
Online german brands!
www.peterverdone.com/i-dont-make-bicycles-i-make-weapons-systems
@Buggyr333
@wythall1
@RoboDuck
@ripper171
@loganskis
www.peterverdone.com/actually-youre-not-a-bike-expert
Poor little sick kid. Gotta stay home from school.
Yay.
I'm not trying to make any money with my bikes. I don't need to market to the noobs. That's why my stuff can be so good.
Still, most of what I do is teach people about how bikes work.
@pvd666: I highly doubt you've taught anyone about how bikes work, if someone has taken something out of something you've told them I feel sorry for them. The article you linked earlier in this thread was a decent article with simple explanations for people who don't understand what things mean. Your response article wasn't educational at all. I didn't learn how the other author was wrong, more so that you were right by the simple fact that you were right and nothing else. Good luck with your future endeavors, and I hope that you get over yourself so you can grow as a person, and maybe give someone an actual lesson about how bikes work.
You don't know what you don't know. If only you did.
Funny how well you nailed it;
"You don't know what you don't know."
You don't know how much of a Ignorant creep you are.
"When something can't be understood ... folk get confused and angry"
And you get confused and angry, then lash out at pinkbike members because you don't understand how to rate another persons perspective or value against your own .
You have a social disorder.
I'm sorry, you'll always be unliked by your peers and superiors. Stop writing articles that nobody wants to read and keep your focus tight on the protractor in your back pocket.
I'm not a troll. I'm just an educator. Trying to help folks out.
Show me YOUR work or even who you are....
Did you read what I said about anonymity?
Did YOU read what I said about you being the very thing you set out to correct?
The things you say are so hypocritical and have no logic to back them, its quite funny.
So, you have no work to show. You know little about bicycle design or production. You remain anonymous. You've chosen not to understand some very simple concepts....and I'm the crackpot. Ya. You ought to be ashamed of yourself. That's so weak.
Yeah. Sure. You want to tell be what's up but you freely admit that you know nothing about bicycles. Why did you even bother with all of this if you didn't know enough to comment?
You're still anonymous. Is that because you're a coward or just too sad to let people know you live in a basement below your parents.
You don't seem to know much. You are afraid to reveal who you are. You have no evidence you have any understanding of anything. Why would anyone listen to you? You sound like a total loser.
You should. You'd probably learn a lot.
Peter, not really sure what to say. You've got interesting ideas and I've followed you from the start. Not really sure what you think I have to learn, given you've not only been open about your ideas, but you seem to publicly lambast people with your rhetoric.
Not even trying to be an ass; you genuinely need to take a step back and check your ego. I'm sure you'd be well accepted and probably even adored if you were, ahem, such an utter arrogant prick.
Ego clashing aside, no you're not the first to this. There's been plenty of companies trying out new things, and you're absolutely bonkers if you think some companies out there haven't proto'd extreme geo to see if it can work. Your entire work benefits from what Mondraker did years ago, and honestly, we're going back some eight years with that stuff.
Just relax a little, come back, maybe give an apology to the people you've trashed on for no reason, and join the community. We'll be here waiting.
I guess you understand all of this far better than I do. Next time I'm teaching another framebuilder about bike design I'll be sure to pass on your name....what's you name?
I hear a lot of ignorant comments on pinkbike and a complete unwillingness to learn. Such a squandered opportunity.
I have a pretty good idea what's going on in the industry but "trail riding dudes" feel the need to inform me about what they don't know. Why are you explaining to me?
Come on dude. You can learn from this. You're not an idiot. Don't fight with someone for the sake of. Work with people, try to understand where they're coming from.
On the flipside, you push fairly agro geometry. Do you think that sort of thing makes sense for everyone or just people trying to push the envelope?
The Pinkbike crowd is totally stupid. They deserve less than I give them.
Most people haven't tried a modern geometry. 99.9% of what people are on are antiques and horribly "designed".
The Doctahawk is a cool regionally specific bike. The front end needs to advance but it is the real thing.
I'm glad you dig the doctahawk. There's a lot of naysaying but it's a pretty cool ride. Think it's a step in the right direction for sure.
Now, as far as that second bit goes, do you mind expanding? You semi-recently did up a rigid bike with a pretty slack head angle. Should commuters, for example, be moving to more extreme geo? What is the drawback?
It's not "extreme" geometry. It's actual geometry. Almost everything in the road sector is just a criterium bike. Even gravel bikes are just crit bikes but with small fat tires. I just design for the use of the bike. A 67 degree head angle feels fine on the road as long as your riding the bike appropriately. Almost everything out there is too short.
The Doctahawk just needs to decouple the front wheel from the stem. Then the head angle can move up a few degrees. That why the Warbird and Airspeeder look as they do.
I'm a keyboard warrior. An engineering warrior. A machining warrior. A welding warrior. A riding warrior. I'm a goddam warrior bro.
Who are you? What's your name?
These guys don't have any idea how to handle a world that isn't marketed and monetized. They get confused and hysterical.
Anonymity emboldens the cowards and the ignorant.
If you want to come down on me, say your goddam name.
Coward.
"It doesn’t matter it’s the Pinkbike comments section"
You should really practice what you preach