Lightest Thumper Coming From EnnZed?

[Canuman]

A note from the off-world colonies. A super-minimalist thumper may be available soon. If the specs on Mountain Moto's site are to be trusted, the New Zealand company will offer their Honda engined 125 lb. mountain-bicycle crossover machine within a year.

The specs look very good.

http://www.fxbikes.com/

The bike has garnered rave reviews from none less than Malcolm Smith, and many other pro riders. Although the company's web presence needs a bit of polishing, the basics are there. A short email to Mike Hodgkinson, Mountain Moto's sales manager got me a nearly immediate response. Mountain Motos appear to be serious about offering a product.

This is a bike that's not difficult to be excited about. I've put my name on the list. I've been watching the Ossa 275 2T trials/hybrid for a bit. I'll buy the first one that is available.

[Adv Grifter]

I believe I remember a blurb about this bike in one of our major mags 6 months or so back. (???) Great concept. Basic design looks good ... but not sure how well bicycle components will hold up with abuse, time and miles.

I see it as something ideal for production in India or China. If cheap enough they may even sell a few in the USA. But a Asian markets my be the best hope.

Just not a lot of interest Trials riding in the USA. (sadly) If more kids grew up with Trials ... we'd have much better Enduro riders. But no one cares.

What's that guy want for the bike?
Kiwi's seem to have a Pipe Dream ideas on pricing. They live in a fantasy world ... They think they're all John Britten! ... and we all know only one John Britten comes along every 1000 years.

[velocityjunky]

they have been around since 2006 or so. A buddy of mine and I built a bike based on this concept for college:

www.projectm85.com

there are issues with bringing something like this to market. We took a couple of stabs at it, but could not find motors that were not chinese, nor could we really get decent parts that would allow us to hit a reasonable price point. not saying that it cant or wont happen but without an established market/demand it will continue to be a fringe product and the costs will outweigh the benefits.

This is of course from our veiwpoint as a startup, a large manufacturer would have a much easier time breaking through.
in fact I want to say that we were the first to categorize a motorcycle as "freeride", which was a type of mountain bike at the time. Now look what Ktm is coming out with in the "freeride 350". could be a coincidence but Id like to think we had something to do with it.

[rpet]

Old news...

Cool ideas here, but that NZ bike is 2+ years old and using very out of date mountain bike suspension components.

[Adv Grifter]

Originally Posted by velocityjunky

This is of course from our veiwpoint as a startup, a large manufacturer would have a much easier time breaking through. in fact I want to say that we were the first to categorize a motorcycle as "freeride", which was a type of mountain bike at the time. Now look what Ktm is coming out with in the "freeride 350". could be a coincidence but Id like to think we had something to do with it.

Great comments! Good to hear from someone who actually took a shot! So you guys had the "Freeride" name? How cool is that?
Did you happen to register it as a Trademark?

Someone like KTM/Bajai would be the ideal company to build such a bike.
But they sort of already are doing it with their Free Ride bike. Wonder if it will show up in North America?

Had no idea the NZ guys had been around that long.

[Canuman]

Originally Posted by Adv Grifter

I believe I remember a blurb about this bike in one of our major mags 6 months or so back. (???) Great concept. Basic design looks good ... but not sure how well bicycle components will hold up with abuse, time and miles.

Just not a lot of interest Trials riding in the USA. (sadly) If more kids grew up with Trials ... we'd have much better Enduro riders. But no one cares.

What's that guy want for the bike?
Kiwi's seem to have a Pipe Dream ideas on pricing. They live in a fantasy world ... They think they're all John Britten! ... and we all know only one John Britten comes along every 1000 years.

I agree on the Trials issue. Nothing builds riding skills better.

One of the many points that attracts me to this bike is the pre-offer price. Mountain Motos is setting a retail price at near $6000 USD. This seems high, but is competitive with many of the other offerings in the field. Please remember, the large manufacturers offer nothing that even compares. To obtain a machine of this weight, (within 50 pounds), one has to look at the trials/hybrid machines from Ossa, Beta, and other specialty manufacturers. Such bikes are thin on the ground, and are usually snapped up soon after they hit the ground.

If the NZ firm can hold on their pre-offer price of around $4000 USD, I think they may have some sort of a chance.

[AtlasExp]

[K1W1]

Mods why not merge this with the other multi page thread on exactly the same topic?

Other thread here

[TNC]

Originally Posted by rpet

Old news...

Cool ideas here, but that NZ bike is 2+ years old and using very out of date mountain bike suspension components.

j

On the out-of-date MTB parts, frankly I'd think that Super Monster fork finally met something it's suitable for. Looks like a rear air shock, but it should be interchangeable with a proven coil brand/model available now, wouldn't you think? On the wheels, I think there are suitable hubs, rims, and spokes in the DH barn that could stand up. I don't see much else on there that is MTB. Looks like some unique fun to me.