Straight Outa Rachesta!......Draco Industries: Review

Well this has been long overdue. With winter upon us here in Calgary and being bed-ridden the last week thanks to knee surgery, I’ve had some time to catch up on some things that have piled up over the busy summer of riding.

Back at the beginning of the year I was in search of a new hardtail. I’d been riding this ancient steel frame that was transformed into an urban, dj, freeride machine for a few years and while it held up great, I figured it was time to try something new. At the time there was a lot of talk about a new company out of Rochester New York who was building a self proclaimed bad ass frame. After a bit of back and forth John over at Draco kindly offered to send a frame up north for a little Canadian style R&D. The only problem was shipping….it now costs a fortune to get anything across the border between our countries and both of us being broke students, neither one of us could really afford to ship. Things work in crazy ways sometimes….I had booked a flight home to Toronto for Christmas which was not too far from Rochester. John decided he and his crew would take a drive up and hand deliver the frame to my parent’s door. This was impressive to say the least! Unfortunately I wasn’t there when he arrived and missed out on whatever riding they did that day but the frame was smuggled across the border!


I got home after a monster party night to find a sweet looking frame sitting in my parent’s basement. I had been a little skeptical of the Draco frame as I’d never seen one or really heard of anyone’s thoughts on it that weren’t someway tied to the company. I pulled it out of the package and started building it, half-hammered at 3am!




I planned to ride the next day with some Toronto locals who were gonna show me the goods on dirt jumping in the T-dot. These guys were pretty hard core, they shoveled the snow off the jumps and said it was good to go even though there was a thin layer of ice. I was feeling a bit sketch on a bike I’d never ridden before but figured what the hell, if they’re doing it its all good! Right away I began to punish the Draco, I’ve never bagged so many jumps in a day but I’ve also never felt comfy enough on a brand new bike to try jumps like these. Great start to a new relationship!






How does it Ride?

Well two words….fu*%ing rad! I’ve had this bike set up more ways than anyone’s done Mikey’s mom and just like her, it feels great each and every way I’ve ridden it! I started out with a 5” Marz MrT on the front end with a 24” rear wheel, raceface cranks, hayes… the usual stuff. The bike was setup perfectly for dirtjumpin, and trail ridding. The head angle of the bike is somewhat steep but with the 24” in the rear and the 5” dual crown up front it was just right for a hardtail.




After running this setup for a while I decided to play around a bit and see how it rode with different specs. I tossed an 80mm Z2 bam on the front and rode that for a bit at the skate park. Felt great in the bowls with the steeper head angle but I couldn’t get used to it in the air.



I decided to go back to the Mr. T. Towards the end of school I was feeling a bit broke and needed some cash (hookers and beer all year long ain’t cheap!) so I had to make the ultimate sacrifice (no not selling my ass downtown, it was even worse!). I decided to sell my '00 Mr. T. It was pretty painful but I’ve had to deal with it. The setup I’ve been running since has been super fun for playing on the trails and pissing around at the skate park. I split the difference between the two forks I’d previously run and borrowed a 01’ 4” Marzocchi Z1 Wedge, a.k.a. the death fork! I won’t trust this thing for hucking or jumping whatsoever but it rules for bar spins and an all around play setup.



On the trails the head angle is a bit steep with a shorter travel fork. Even with a 24” wheel in the rear 4-5 inches is pushing it for steep technical descents but with a bigger fork the bike would rip on a trail. The shorter chain stays make the bike very maneuverable and quite easy to manual. On skinnies the steeper head angle makes even the narrowest lines conquerable. I’ve been putting a ton of hours on the bike working as a mountain bike instructor over at COP here in Calgary and the more time I spend on the bike this more fun I find it. It’s stiff, it’s steel and there is no limitations on setup with the bike. I’ve been assured I can put a monster T on the front end, you can run up to a 26x3.0 tire on the rear and the BMX bb is a great touch. The model I’ve been riding is an earlier model but I’ve been told the new ones have the option of horizontal drops (for all you single speeders) and a gusset on the head tube for extra assurance.



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The Spec’s

7lbs frameset
bmx bb: for strong cranks, or use with reducer.
clearance for any tire/rim combo, including 26 x 3.0 @ 16.5" chainstays. ( I have yet to find another frame with that same claim.)
13" frame
22.75" top tube
16.5" chainstay
Head angle varies per fork, and is designed to reflect the style by the fork
8": 66.5 degrees (Dh oriented)
7": 67 degrees (freeride)
6": 68.5 degrees (freeride)
5": 69.5 degrees (street, DJ, park, most versatile set-up)
4": 71 degrees (super nimble, trials, park, BSX)

New Draco Products….

- Stems will be available in both bmx bar and mtb sizes
- A lighter, more dual slalom oriented bike is in the works. 5lb frame, steel, shorter chainstays, 5" fork max... should be out soon

- The much awaited full suspension bikes are in the works. Two are planned, a long travel steel DH rig, and a lighter mid-travel BSX style rig, also steel. No date was given to me for a release however if you search the photo section you will see a prototype from the summer.

Final Thoughts…

Plain and simply I love the frame! It’s treated me well even though I’ve abused it with my hackish style. Personally I’d like to have a frame with an inch shorter headtube, I had to turn my seat post around to achieve my ideal cockpit length. Other than that I don’t think I’d change a thing the frame has an old school look to it that turns a few heads which is always good for a new company. Be on the lookout for new frames and new ideas out of Rochester, these guys know what’s up. I mean a company owned by those who rip can only bring about good things to come.



For all those looking for a hardtail comparable to anything else out there on the market make sure to have a peak at the 04’ lineup from Draco, they’re sure to have something to suit your urban hardtail needs!

Make sure to hit up the Draco boys at dracoindustries.com