Stanton Sherpa - 'Longer' Term Review

This should be a long-term review.  I intended to enjoy a whole summer smashing this steel wonder through trails of all guises, generating opinion, encapsulating feelings and suggesting improvements, but instead I've been heavily injured, staring frustratedly at an overly-shiny machine, longing for the day I could go give it a kicking.  The great news is that the consultant finally consented, physio gave green light, and since that point I've packed a whole season of riding into a handful of weeks to grasp the essence of the Stanton Sherpa, a real tearaway dressed in a gentleman's finery.

The Sherpa in its natural habitat, tearing up the trails

The ins-and-outs of the build were explored in the 'first-impressions' so I'll not bang on those details too much again, but it is essential to reiterate the sheer uncompromising quality of the frame manufacture.  With so many companies still seemingly content to churn out frames with welds that look like GCSE projects, it's truly refreshing to witness pristine fishscales throughout.  Not just this frame either, having examined tens of Stantons during a factory visit, quality control is in clear evidence, again outshining several shocking examples I've seen from 'reputable' companies who's welders must be prone to the odd shocking hangover.  The paint has also largely survived thus far, retaining it's lustrous deep green, an occasional loving polish regenerating the sparkling nature.  Having not been particularly kind or heavy on forethought, the traditional left-heel wear is in evidence as well as some head-tube rub but either of those issues could've been eradicated by proper protection.

Lazy head tube protection positioning!

The Ride

Stanton give their frames ratings for several categories, thankfully avoiding the temptation to claim that all their offerings are ideal in every situation.  They give the Sherpa a ten for 'trail', nine for 'XC' but only five for 'enduro' which given my default ride style means that it could've been a touch conservative for my liking.  Jacking and slacking with a 140mm set of Pikes pushed it beyond recommendation but I have to say that this set-up feels just fine with no notable ill-effect from the raised bottom bracket once I'd adapted to it.  In fact, after a season on a Ragley where techy climbs needed rotation by rotation forethought to minimise pedal strikes, it's a pleasure just to be able to attack the steep and rooty sections without hesitation.  The downside should be in cornering prowess and the Sherpa does occasionally lack that delicious feeling of carving that you get with super-low BB's or fully-compressed rear ends, but despite not 'feeling' so planted it's not to the detriment of speed or performance.  I'd just love it if the frame came in 18" rather than 19" as a lower top-tube could make side to side weight transfer a bit snappier.

The feel of quality steel is truly incredible and sadly an experience that the majority of modern bikers will never get to appreciate.  Overused adjectives include 'whippy', 'forgiving' and 'springy' but the best way I can describe it is that despite obviously having no shock to dissipate the lumps and bumps, I never feel beaten up at all.  From fire-road bashing to six-foot drops, the Sherpa takes the sting out of everything, flexing when needed but transferring power without fuss.  The majority of our trails are built for 140mm+ travel machines and although I could undeniably go faster with the talent enhancement of a big rig, I never feel out of depth at all.  The precision required to pilot a quality hardtail at full speed, off the brakes over steep and rutted terrain is a rite-of-passage that all bikers should go through, and a rapid way to improve skills.  The Sherpa has the rare quality of making all trails fun, regardless of which direction the slope points and there's a definite smugness to passing the wildly bobbing bouncers on the climbs, letting them eat my dust whilst they fight the flop of their 63 degree head angles.

And whilst on that subject, don't be put off by the 'unfashionably steep' (by modern standards) 67.5 degree head angle.  Admittedly, the longer forks on mine have pushed this below 67 but that's perfect for my local downhills that are rarely steep but always reward quick steering responses.  Combined with a 35mm stem, the front end still doesn't feel at all twitchy and I enjoy all the benefits of improved performance in tight, techy terrain and on the climbs.  The Pikes are run hard with the MRP cartridge ramped well up to prevent any diving under hard braking and it makes for consistent performance at all times.

Pre-Pikes.  A race run on borrowed forks

Versatility

Thanks to a delay in receiving my Ibis 942 rims (that are just incredible, separate review coming soon) I was running a 142mm rear hub initially along with a Boost 110 at the front.  Switching to the Chris King 148 rear hub would've necessitated a new frame with most manufacturers, but Stanton are smarter than that.  The Sherpa dropouts are spaced at a mid-point 145mm allowing them to be simply flexed in or out 3mm to suit either hub width without any brake alignment issues.  It works absolutely fine, lob in a longer axle and off you go; I'll not lie and claim wheel changes aren't now a bit of a hassle but that can be alleviated by swapping the entire dropout using the superb CNC machined 'Swapout' system that is available in 135 QR, 142, 148 and Singlespeed, very versatile.

Boost conversion was as simple as lobbing in a 148 skewer!

Back to the Ride

Post-crash and torn rotator I suffered a period of 'the fear' where I was riding as stiff as the frozen shoulder joint that still clicked and popped alarmingly with every extended movement.  The flow was all missing, field of vision far too short and fixated on every wet root and greasy rock, necessitating a period of 'old-school XC' smashing instead of the usual enduro loops.  Rides focused on bashing out quick miles on the fire roads, driving hard over the peaks and actively seeking more mellow trails that rewarded smoothness over aggression.  This was a total revelation as the self-appointed 'perfect ten' for trail performance was more than vindicated.  As an all-round trail bike, the Sherpa is nearer to perfection than anything I've ever ridden, the natural properties of carefully specced steel combining with impeccable build to create something just so alive.  At risk of drowning in cliche, the feel just generates an instant smile, fun in all situations short of full-on DH, no indication that the bike is a limiter but not inviting you into the precarious traps that often catch out over-biked but under-skilled riders.


The Wheel Size Bollocks

I read a shining review of the Sherpa Ti in Singletrack Magazine a few months back that described it as a 29'er that doesn't feel like one.  Whilst I know what they meant, that it's a big-wheeler that manages to retain the playful nature of its smaller-wheeled counterparts, I think it's time to speak the truth on the matter and admit that when 29ers are properly designed, they pretty much destroy the other wheel sizes.  The Sherpa is easy to hop, flick and chuck but it's also extremely stable, planted and able to truck through the really rough stuff as only 29ers can.  It corners better, holds speed better, simply is better than hardtails with any other wheel size, end of story.  Anyone who can't extract these qualities from this bike is deficient in personal ability, it's not the bike's fault.  Top-end carbon rims definitely do allow the wagon wheels to shine, laterally stiff, incredibly strong and also light enough to overcome the slight inherent inertia and accelerate well, if not snappily, although any sluggishness is really attributable to the draggy 2.4" Maxxis treads and low tyre pressures.

Draggy Maxxis treads that STILL tear with annoying regularity.  Tubeless repair pictured

On that note, I really would love to kit this bike out with narrow carbon rims, lightweight tyres, 100mm forks and a slightly stretchier cockpit to see just what a rocket it could be, it would be a bit fairer on Stanton too considering that's what it's really designed for.

Bits and Bobs

So I said I'd not harp on too much about the kit but it has been used and abused pretty well now with tons of gloop and plenty of ill-aimed power washing so here's how the plug-ons are surviving.


The Stanton Bits:

The aluminium Super Series bars and stem have performed faultlessly so far.  With the bars now trimmed to 760mm and the stem at 35mm I've got almost the right combo of reach and quick steering for all-round prowess.  However, at 35mm diameter, they are an incredibly stiff unit and following several years on carbon bars I have missed the slight inherent flex.  I may go back to a set of 740mm Fatbar Lite for comparative purposes, just to see which I prefer.  That said, I run my forks very hard and a softer set up would be more forgiving making the Stanton combo bang-on.  No creaks, able to cope with me trying to flex the hell out of them and also still looking immaculate.  They grip better than carbon bars in the stem too so no need to risk over-torquing.

The ti-railed Stanton Rigel saddle has been superb, a really comfortable shape, even on recent epics, and extremely hard wearing, looking like new despite being lent on walls and crashed a few times.  Very impressed and I'm seriously picky about contact points.

Very sweet looking set-up!

Forks:


Pikes need no introduction but the MRP cartridge has been a real game changer, allowing adjustments and tuning that I'd never have been arsed to do otherwise, and definitely getting the best from the suspension.  I'm a firm believer that fork set-up has to be bang on for a hardtail, as fork dive can be lethal, steepening angles and pitching the rider forward.  I've been able to run them super hard as I like them but then back off a bit to improve initial stroke sensitivity but use the MRP to ramp up the curve and keep them high in the travel.  Two clicks from fastest rebound has been perfect.

Bearing Surfaces:

All Chris King, say no more.  Yes, they're extremely expensive and thanks to impending Brexit they've rocketed further, along with Sterling becoming akin to chocolate coins in relative value, but to me anything else is false economy.  The rear hub does drag a bit if you use the old style ring drive lube but I run the oilier stuff and they're always silky smooth.  I bought new ones for the Sherpa but I've still got a set from 18 years ago that would be on this build if they were Boost compatible, they're running as good as new.  The Inset-7 headset is faultless and probably the weakest component is the most extravagant, a ceramic bearing bottom bracket.  It runs superbly but the sealing isn't as good as the other components, good job that re-greasing with the specific tool takes just five minutes, flushing out all liquids and old grease.  Fit, forget, admire!

Bike Yoke Dropper:

Buttery smooth still, despite not touching the cable since fitting, and probably being a bit close with the power-hose.  The lever is ergonomic perfection and the key selling point, the 'Revive' function works a treat.  I have had issues with needing to use that far more than anticipated but TF Tuned have promised to retro-fit a new part that is meant to alleviate the issue for free, I just need to find a spare week when I won't need my bike!  Overall, despite that minor annoyance, it's light years ahead of all other droppers I've used.

Ibis 942 Rims:

I've recently read a glowing review/advert stating that the new Santa Cruz rims are the best carbon rims ever used by the tester, requiring only one truing during the testing period.  Well, here's a fact for them.  Last year I battered a set of Ibis 941's, stock build, for a whole season of hardtail enduro racing, a week smashing round the Tweed Valley, a couple of days and a huge crash in Finale and all the riding in-between and they remained true to 0.2mm with zero maintenance.  Admittedly I weigh just 70kg and am pretty smooth, but when it comes to battering a hardtail through a rock garden during a race, off the brakes and with 18psi in the back tyre causing seriously alarming dull thuds of plastic on rock, you'd expect damage.  This year I updated to the asymmetric 942's and built them myself, 32 hole, 3 cross with DT Comp spokes for a good solid, but still acceptably light combination.  They too have been totally without fault, bar leaking a bit of sealant through the valve hole.

And another thing!  I read some articles stating that carbon rims are 'too stiff' for hardtail riding, a statement demonstrating unbelievable ignorance in the writer.  Lateral stiffness is essential in the rim because you can build whatever properties you want into the wheel.  I've deliberately put mine together at the lower end of recommended tensions to allow them to compress slightly into corners and give a small amount of cushioning.  Get a decent wheel builder, tell them how you want the wheel to perform and they should be able to create the perfect ride attributes.  Why the hell would you want a rim that flexes so you need to tension the hell out of it to stop it bending?!!

Maxxis High Roller/Minion EXO

Grip amazing, tear like a shit ninja trying to do that walking on rice paper trick.  The Minion on the front has a slice that fixed well with an internal patch and external super glue.  I'm on the second High Roller and that has had to be patched and 'tubeless pooed' to keep it together and I've still ultimately resorted to whacking in a tube because I'm bored of sealant leaking through slices and tears, pissing up my back and ruining my jerseys.  Wide carbon rims with low pressure tyres give incredible cornering prowess and all-round grip but the compound technology desperately needs to catch up.

XTR 1x11

After sorting an initial shifting annoyance that was stupidly caused by a ten speed power link on an eleven speed chain (tolerances are very tight with 11 speed cassette spacing) everything has been faultless.  The 30:40 lowest gear is far too low so I'm going back to 11-36 soon and in fact I've wound in the barrel and limit screws so I can only get it into the 32 at the back.  If you need more than a 1:1 ratio to get up a hill and you don't live in the Alps then maybe it's time to get fitter!  Brakes have been superb, easy to set up, adjust and bleed (only been needed once) with the perfect combination of power and modulation.  I always love the shape of the carbon XTR levers too, nice and short for one finger, good hook on the end and grippy dimples.  They don't get cold in the Winter either.

The Bottom Line

Proper craftsmanship shines brightly and this frame screams class and quality, evidently designed by people with a deep understanding of both the metallurgical properties and also how to best apply them in the right wall thicknesses and positions for peak performance.  It's reminiscent of frames I rode twenty years ago, back when top-end steel was considered the peak of technology, but the Sherpa has a slight modern twist.  The angles are bang-on for the intended usage, slaying trails all day, but the versatility of the frame is totally evident in the more aggro guise I've forced it into.  I've a feeling that I'd be straying beyond its limits on really steep tech, the likes of the Golfie in the Tweed Valley, weight thrown a bit far forward on near vertical drop-ins and the higher bottom bracket becoming more noticeable in the catch berms, but Stanton have just released the Switch 9er Ti, almost reading my mind in the search for aggressive hardtail perfection.  At £700 for a steel hardtail frame the Sherpa is obviously not cheap and possibly quite niche, but when you look closely at one, it's immediately evident where the money goes and I was riding far more expensive steel frames in the nineties that weren't as well put together.

The traditional left heel wear on the stay, why don't I ever learn to frame tape from new?

It's holding up very well to abuse, still looking fresh and turning heads although I do wish that I'd put a bit of frame tape in the areas where I knew I'd be rubbing, to further keep the box-fresh look.  Concerns I had over a possible rattling cable within the frame and water ingress at the dropper-post entry haven't at all materialised and I'd really be struggling hard to find any criticisms.  I've raced it, holidayed with it, ridden it fast and hard on all kinds of terrain and it just comes back for more as I've belied the supposed intentions, seeking its outer limits.  I've even shared the pain of a huge smash, been coaxed through a gentle rehabilitation and come back more refreshed and psyched for MTB than I've felt in years, much thanks to the inspirational nature of this bike.  I'd keep it forever but there's a part of my brain that promised my teenage self a titanium frameset many years ago, when it was merely a ridiculous pipe dream.  The aforementioned Switch9er Ti looks the bike of my dreams, not just for now but for the last three decades.  When it arrives I'll definitely miss the Sherpa dearly but bikes have no place for sentiment and I'm bubbling with excitement at how good the '9er will prove to be.  Whatever it rides like, the standards of workmanship that separate Stanton from all but a couple of other large-scale (non-artisan) manufacturers in the world guarantee that it'll be extremely special.

Stanton Sherpa: £700
Stanton Sherpa Ti: £1,850
www.stantonbikes.com

Stanton Sherpa Review - Weapon At Dawn

I've been mountain biking a hell of a long time now, long enough to see many trends come and go, to witness a niche pastime evolve into the mainstream behemoth it is now.  To see it splinter into ever more diverse categories requiring a litany of increasingly specialist kit.  To slap my forehead at bullshit marketing drives that dictated directions of development.  To watch manufacturers come and go, the brands I lusted over as a teenager virtually all extinct, driven from existence or swallowed by the faceless megacorps.  Today's empires, tomorrow's ashes.

It'd be a lie to claim to have been unaffected by the decades of 'progress'.  I undeniably appreciate that all aspects of bike design are exponentially better than the late Eighties when I commenced my lifelong passion.  The capabilities of equipment and athletes are so far in-advance of our most outlandish predictions from back then that the sport is often barely recognisable, except deep down, no matter what you do, it's still all about tearing around on two wheels for shits and giggles.

Nowadays plastic is everywhere, suspension obligatory, cassettes expanding, bars lengthening, seatposts dropping, stems shortening, axles extending, wheels growing, tyres widening, trade shows trading, retailers discounting, pushing aggressively, sell, sell, sell, buy, buy, buy and dispose.  Wear it out fast, instant obsolescence.  'Last years colours mate, time to move on...'

The 2017 Stanton Sherpa in aggro mood

And yet beyond my cynicism there is a hint of hope.  The craftsmen are returning and companies who covet quality, longevity, individualism and pride are fighting back.  'Outdated' materials are suddenly the hot new thing and shocked magazine editors with short memories are being blown away by designs beautiful in their simplicity.  The right grades of steel and titanium, inherently perfect for biking, are being improved by dedicated experts, wealthy on knowledge and experience, and are once again challenging the space-age wonder composites.

It's against this backdrop that I came across Stanton Bikes.

I've been a fan of Stanton ever since getting schooled by a rival hardtail Enduro racer on a raw finished Slackline a few years back.  The aesthetics of his steed, perfect welds and simplicity of frame layout seemed to scream 'fun', and every time I saw it I had a slight pang of jealousy.  At the time I was piloting an extremely fun but terrifyingly twangy Ibis Tranny but a sponsorship deal with Ragley took me back to steel and then in 2017 a chance e-mail led me to a dream scenario.

Dan Stanton is a bike geek.  I'm not sure if he'd be flattered or deeply offended by the moniker but my first ever conversation with him convinced me of the fact.  I'd tentatively enquired about a possible deal and to my surprise he'd asked me to give him a ring.  An hour-long chat ensued covering all things bike and I was immediately struck by his overwhelming enthusiasm for the seeming mundanities of seat tube diameters and metallurgical properties.  His knowledge eminently dwarfed my thirty-odd years of biking experience and we thoroughly enjoyed putting the industry to rights like grumpy old men venting at the world.  He offered me sponsorship, I danced a jig around my house!

Neat Cabling, Clean Lines, Bright Bars!

Now this is meant to be a bike review, and yet so far it reads like a mix between an industry rant and a gushing fanzine, but here's the deal.  I've been placed under no obligation to say anything positive about this machine whatsoever.  I'm not being given kit as a racer, more as a writer and a coach, someone who's opinion is regularly sought, so I guess Dan was being astute in considering effective ways to spread the word, but that came at a distinct risk.  If I didn't rate the bikes and components then I guess I'd return them and say no more but if people asked my opinion, I'd give them it with both barrels.

So what do I think?

First up, we need to consider another question, why the Sherpa?  As a fully signed up 'Enduro' type, bumbag and all, I should really be showcasing the 650b ripper, the Switchback.  With slacked out geometry, ISCG mounts, internal routing and beefy gussets surely that's the Stanton designed for the likes of me, not their more sedate, more upright 'trail bike' offering?  Except for one thing, all wheel sizes smaller then 29" are dead to me.  No doubt some of you will stop reading right here, stalled by your indignation, off to slag the rapidly expanding list of DH pros who are currently seeing the light I was blinded by two years ago.  Now that geometry is dialled, the big-wheeled machines are more capable in virtually all applications.  They fill in gaps to maintain speed better, roll faster, have more cornering grip, and are more stable in the tech than smaller wheeled offerings.  I've been saying for a while now that by 2020 you'll struggle to find any flagship Enduro models that aren't 29'ers, it looks like DH will follow suit too and XC has long-since made its decisions.  The Slackline and the Switchback both look lovely but I'll not be swinging a leg over either.

Set-Up

With a 67.5 degree head angle and a recommended fork travel of 100-120mm I was always going to be tweaking the Sherpa in a direction it maybe isn't exactly designed for.  140mm Pikes have jacked up the front end, slackening it for the steeps but have also raised the bottom bracket height which isn't ideal for cornering stability.  I've directly contradicted advice in over-forking the frameset but the only qualms Stanton had were over ride-qualities and definitely not regarding the frame's ability to handle the extra leverage.  I've also fitted a bottom-bracket secured ISCG mount having been denied a race victory last year by stupidly placing my faith in narrow-wide rings and clutch mechs.

Custom graphics from hasdesigns.pt

The Pikes themselves have an MRP cartridge fitted, set-up firm to prevent diving but allowing a slightly lower air pressure than my rock-hard preferences, to improve initial-stroke sensitivity.  Pikes are a proven winner, in my opinion still the best mix of performance, reliability and long service intervals on the market and the MRP invites continual tweaking to further enhance the ride.

The groupset is XTR 1x11 with the Trail brakes, a stunning looking and generally faultless performer that although not as light as some SRAM offerings, is still my number-one choice every time.  Trail SPD's have been transferred once again from my last bike, they're simply peerless despite a pile of new competition.

Bearing surfaces are all taken care of by Chris King with an Inset 7 headset, ISO boost hubs and a ceramic bottom bracket.  It's obscenely expensive kit but I've got a CK fetish and find it the perfect antithesis to the dismal quality components used for cost-cutting by most companies in order to pointlessly upgrade a rear mech or other 'visible' part.  I've still got the Classic hubs received seventeen years ago on my twenty-first birthday and thousands of miles and many rims later, they're still like new with just one freehub bearing overhaul.  Class and style.

Boost Chris King and Ibis 941 rims

XTR gearing

Bars are Stanton aluminium in bright orange, initially cut to 780mm, the stem is a Stanton 35mm and saddle is Stanton Ti.  I stopped short of the own-brand grips, unable to depart from ODI Ruffians.  For the dropper I actually parted with my own cash to try a BikeYoke Revive as it seems to address the bobbing issue that has killed my previous five Reverbs.  More on that later.

My overwhelming love of 29'ers does come with an expensive caveat in that I find big carbon rims are indispensable for their lateral stiffness and refusal to come out of true.  The Ibis 941's have been faultless for over a year now and are soon to be upgraded to the asymmetrical 942's.  A Huck Norris is in place within the Maxxis Minion DHR 2.4 Wide Trail as a protection for the pricey plastic and a futile attempt to stop me tearing back tyres on a monthly basis.  Front tyre is a Minion DHF WT with pressures generally run around 18 and 22psi.

Enough talk, how does it ride?

Oh wow.  The first time I rode this bike was on practice day of the Vitus Enduro season opener, in conditions best described as 'testing' and on surfaces ranging from deep mud to grease to loam to exposed boulder field.  It was adorned with a borrowed Talas 140 fork from the years when Fox had lost their way worse than Father Ted in a lingerie department, but despite this huge hindrance I instantly felt at home having been raised on the lithe, whippy feeling of high quality steel tubing.  The Reynolds 853, 631 and 525 that is targetedly utilised throughout the frame has a 'personality' if that doesn't sound too pretentious and even if it does, then I know what I mean and I'll stand by the statement!  It soaked up the chatter and retained a lateral stiffness not apparent on last year's Ragley which suffered from frame to tyre buzz under heavy acceleration.  Despite losing by a miniscule 0.6 seconds on race day I was delighted, I've never felt such instant affinity with a bike and knew that with proper forks I was on a thoroughbred race winner.

At this juncture it's worth mentioning the frame detailing.  The welds are immaculate, and I mean utterly perfect.  Stanton use a factory which insists on a minimum fifteen years of welding experience before they'll entertain a CV and it massively shows in the uniform fishscales.  The curved seat tube and custom drive side yoke comfortably accommodate the big wheels and tyre widths up to large volume 2.4's, whilst keeping chainstays to a chuckable 435mm.

Very neat yoke and no clogging issues with 2.4WT rubber

The frame can also take 27+ tyres up to 3" if that's your thing but having ridden a few fatbikes I can assure you it's definitely not an upgrade in my book.  The seat tube junction is art and the head tube gusset is a lesson in subtlety.  Cable routing is painfully neat with simple external lines clipped under the top tube and down the stays, and stealth dropper routing entering the top of the down tube, leaving to circle the bottom bracket shell before re-entering at the base of the seat tube.  It'd be good to see some sort of included cover for those not running that option and maybe a rubber attachment to prevent water ingress round the cables for those who do. 

Simple cable routing and subtle gusset

The swop-out dropouts are extremely clever, facilitating rapid changes for different hub widths and singlespeed lovers.  A huge unforeseen bonus is the upcoming Boost conversion kit, allowing all Mk2 Stanton frame owners to adopt the new 'standard' for minimal expenditure.  Finishing is superb with classy graphics well lacquered over a shining green paint job.  The stony slop of early rides left a few superficial scratches on the top tube where my shorts rubbed but these have polished out, and the chips from a huge smash in Finale Ligure would almost certainly have happened to any paint coating.  Overall, it's still looking fresh and new, a facet that I certainly appreciate.  The metal headtube badge is a classy touch befitting of a top end frameset.

On familiar trails my instant love affair continued with the bike feeling extremely sprightly, climbing confidently despite an overall 29.2lb weight that reflects a sturdy build.  Descending was a dream, big wheels and quality tubing combining to provide a ride quality that diminishes natural advantages provided by suspension.  A trip to the Italian Riviera would be a perfect opportunity to drive this point home, competing with friends on 140mm bikes down trails that push all aspects of equipment and ability.

The art of welding at its absolute finest

Really neat frame detailing and Swopout dropouts

Finale was a revelation.  Confidence came easily on epic, unfamiliar descents with a distinct lack of fatigue from the juddering of repeat rockiness.  The steel served to smooth the buzz expertly and by day two my brakes were getting a holiday themselves as I trusted the precision of the Sherpa to point and shoot over some serious features.  Day three we were accompanied by a guide who was clearly and vocally impressed by the Stanton as I dropped a bus full of bouncers and held the wheel of his Intense M16 downhill rig.  Of course, the inherent downfall of bikes that demand limits be pushed is the fallibility of the rider, and sure enough the next run witnessed a gruesome smash that has left my left shoulder virtually unusable three weeks on.  Clipping a tree at maximum velocity saw the hardest impact I've ever suffered in a biking career that has already generated seventeen broken bones.  Torn rotator cuff, heavily bruised intercostals, smashed hip and elbow bones, bar some tiny paint chips the Sherpa was untouched.  Solid.




So I clearly love it but it can't be perfect. 

No it can't, and there are aspects I'd change.  At 6ft on the button, the dimensions of the 19" frame suit me well, allowing me to spec my favoured 35mm stem without feeling hunched at all, but it's the longest seat tube I've ever run and I'm left feeling too high up on the bike.  Two photos from Finale highlight this perfectly, both taken at the same spot on exactly the same corner.  My mate Tony on his Orange Five is looking much more poised and attacking despite our technique being virtually identical.  The shock compression clearly helps lower his centre of gravity, stabilising his position and carving deeper into the corner but I look too high and slightly hunched, having to use more body language to gain the same effect.  Part of this is the trade-off of riding hardtails but a lower top-tube would greatly assist positioning.  Being slightly too high also makes rapid weight switching between corners harder as it seems tougher to throw the bike from edge to edge and still retain perfect balance. 

Tony looking poised...

...but me looking a bit upright

Although the swopouts are genius, I'd rather see them held in by chainring bolts like they are on the Switchback than the three small heads.  I'm not a fan of mini allen key fittings as they're more likely to round for ham-fisted mechanics and are also harder to replace if you haven't got spares.

BikeYoke dropper is smooth and ergonomic but still flawed

As previously mentioned, there's nothing included to plug the Stealth holes if you're not using them which means a bit of DIY unbefitting of a £700 frameset.

The BikeYoke dropper is extremely smooth and the lever is superb.  The feature that tempted me to purchase it was the release valve that eradicates any bobbing with a turn of an allen key and compression of the post.  Reading up beforehand they intimated that this process may be needed every three months or so but in reality it's twice per ride.  I'm persevering for now but I'm going to be contacting them to complain.  Yet another flawed dropper post to add to the list.

I've bent a link on the XTR chain causing skipping gears but don't remember any big impacts.  Obviously eleven speed chains are going to be weaker than equivalent price-point ten speed ones but it's been an unpromising start.

Yet another brand new Maxxis rear tyre tore on its second use.  I've tried most major manufacturers and they're all the same, but it's the eternal frustration of aggro hardtailing.  The Huck Norris potentially saved the rim but the holes were too large to plug and so I had to put in an inner-tube.  Unfortunately that meant wrestling the latex covered snake into my bag to pollute the other contents as inner tubes and Huck wouldn't both fit in the tyre.

I've trimmed the bars to my preferred width of 760mm.  They felt good at 780 but trails here are tight and I can't help wondering whether that extra 10mm on the end was the difference between a squeaky bum bar clip and the horror crash that has left me currently incapacitated.  I guess I'll never know.

The Bottom Line.

This is the best put together bike I have ever owned, end of story.  Detailing, build quality, ride attributes and finish are all up with the finest examples of MTB workmanship I've ever seen, it truly is a sight to behold and a joy to ride.  I've had more capable bikes, the Ibis Mojo HD3 being the most notable in thirty years of top end machines, but no others exhibiting this degree of craftsmanship and all round rideability.  At £700 for a steel frame it definitely isn't cheap and without years of experience you may not appreciate the differences between this and the pile of cheaper identikit steel offerings from other companies.  But that's the point of no-compromise products, those who know, appreciate, and those who don't have yet to learn.  I couldn't begin to comprehend the minutiae of subtleties between two V8 engines or differing computer operating systems but bikes are what I do and the Sherpa is worth every penny.  Unfortunately Brexshit has forced a recent price rise and with the UK economy being manhandled by idiots I guess there's no guarantee that further elevations won't eventually be in the pipeline, but in manufacturing the US Dollar is king and a plummeting pound is putting the squeeze on bigtime.

I've mentioned the alterations I'd love to see, a slacker, beefier, internally routed, ISCG mounted aggro 29'er built around a 140mm travel fork would be an approximation of perfection.  At this point you've got to ask yourself why as a sponsored rider I'm not already on top of the range Sherpa Ti?

Maybe this frame was always a stopgap?  With an expected recovery time measured in months, maybe I'll never ride the Sherpa in anger again?  Maybe one of greatest hardtails in the history of MTB is about to drop?  Maybe...

Off the brakes and destroying Finale...

Until it bit back and destroyed me!

The Eye Of The Beholder

The old adage is undeniably true regarding beauty and the eye of the beholder.  The visual appearance of fellow humans, animals, inanimate objects and everything that we encounter can only be viewed with our own eyes and processed with our own brains.  For this reason it's hard not to laugh at the perpetually inane Pinkbike comment fights that go along the lines of *;

'Oh man that bike is ugly'
'Have you seen your face?!'
'Ugly and expensive... Who the H would pay $5500 canadian for a hardtail?'
'Looks like it'd be a laugh to ride which is what it's all about isn't it?'

*These are excerpts from an actual exchange http://www.pinkbike.com/news/2017-btr-ranger-amp-build-options.html

Now whilst this banter is a touch childish it's really just people spouting their personal opinions on what is essentially a subjective matter.  These aren't arguments that anyone has any possibility or even intention of winning, just bored people having verbal swings at eachother about something that is inherently pretty irrelevant and non-offensive.  And the thread continued in this vein until it strayed on to slightly different territory and at that point my laughter ceased...

The bike that sparked the lively debate.  To me it's ugly as sin, to others it's beautiful but until you look at the welds then don't comment on the quality!

'very Fast and capable bikes, UK hand made to custom spec. Not some Taiwanese off the self labeled up as high quality custom crap'
(misplaced capitals copied from original comment)

Now I'm sure that there were no connotations of racism in the comment and people do seem to enjoy vehemently defending the UK manufacturing industry.  For that I have to commend them but I do take issue with the insinuation that companies are duping customers with sub-standard Taiwanese frames being sold as custom items.  Why does an off-the-shelf  Taiwanese frame have to be viewed as inferior to an off-the-shelf UK produced frame?  For so many years there has been an unjustifiably elevated status afforded to anything manufactured in the UK or the USA within the bike industry.

Times have changed and 'made in Taiwan' is no longer as indicative of poor workmanship as it was undoubtedly considered twenty years ago.  Perceptions do advance, in the same way that I'm sure kids whose parents own a Skoda no longer see it as the badge of playground shame it was when I was growing up.  The fact is that some of the finest craftsmanship in bike frames is now coming out of Taiwan and the quality of the end product is all down to how much time and monetary investment companies are prepared to invest in finding the best factories to produce their wares.  If you want to have a simple comparative check of relative standards between companies then you have to look at the finer details closely.  And so that's what I decided to do.

I've currently got four steel hardtail frames in my garage, two decidedly retro and two very modern.  I thought I'd take a look at the same part of each frame and attempt to spot noticeable quality differences between them in terms of workmanship.  Specifically I was visually inspecting the welds and assessing the key factors that signify good welding.

1) No porosity, cracks or craters
2) Uniform bead ripples (or fishscales)
3) Even bead profile (same thickness, even toe lengths) 

Although in itself this is subjective I do have a fairly trained eye for equipment inspection (as it forms part of my job).

Frame 1

The cheapest frame at £250 in 1998 (inflation adjusted approx £425).  Welded in Taiwan for a US based bike company.  Clear lack of uniformity and excess material particularly around the top of the seatstay to seat tube joint.  Uneven bead ripples and bead profile.

Frame 2

Priced at £549 in 2017.  Produced in Taiwan for a UK based company.  Weld standard is fairly high, small and neat although some variation in bead size and also in profile on the top tube gusset.

Frame 3

Priced at £599 in 2017.  Produced in Taiwan for a UK based company.  Weld quality extremely high with near perfect uniformity of bead size and profile throughout.


Frame 4

Priced at £770 in 1997 (inflation adjusted approx £1310).  Welded in the US for a US based company. High standard of welding.  Small and neat with good bead uniformity and just small variations in bead profile.

So what did I learn?

As mentioned before, clearly this is subjective and although I can weld I'm not claiming to be an expert.  However here are four different frames and obviously differing degrees of visual quality.  Generally the standard of the welding improves with cost with the worst work evident on the £250 (£425) frame.  Next up is the £549 frame which is a clear step up in quality but still shows some variation in bead size and profile.  Second best with some very neat welds but some profile variation is the £770 (£1310) frame and the best is the £599 offering.

Now undoubtedly frame build is only one of several aspects that impact on overall cost and ride quality.  Tubing type, R&D, economies of scale and volumes produced, marketing, paint costs, labour costs, shipping and no doubt other factors come into play but then surely the point of having production in the East is to counteract some of these issues to hit a more palatable price point without compromising quality.

Two points have become apparent to me from this exercise;

1) Frames made in Taiwan can definitely be built to an extremely high standard and the right 'off-the-shelf' Taiwanese frame can display better qualities than a boutique US made one costing over twice as much.

2) That contrary to several moaning comments I've read lately, steel frames aren't exponentially increasing in price along with their recent resurgence in popularity.  The fact is that top quality steel frames have always been expensive, particularly from the really desirable brands.  The likes of Bontrager, Voodoo and Dekerf were happily banging out frames in the nineties that would cost way over a grand now with inflation adjustments.

Beauty is definitely in the eye of the beholder and whilst others would certainly disagree I personally always viewed the white frame as a workhorse and the black frame as a touch ugly.  The orange one is a work of art with some lovely touches and the green one looks incredible.

Quality however is in the trained eye of experts and there is a definite variation in standards on show.  Unsurprisingly the workmanship generally improves with increasing price but not necessarily and it's very clear that a mass produced Taiwanese frame in 2017 can easily hold its own against UK or US produced offerings.  I'm definitely all for buying local as long as it makes sense in terms of price and quality but I'm definitely not a believer in compromising my ride experience just to support our manufacturing industry or in slagging companies because of the origin of their equipment.

Stanton Bikes Sponsor Ian for 2017

Click the logo to check out the range

This is really exciting!!

When Ragley Bikes approached me last year to act as a brand ambassador I must admit I was a bit hesitant. For a start, I had my incredible Ibis Mojo HD3 sat in the garage waiting to become weapon of choice for 2016. Secondly it meant stepping away from riding my usual hand picked choice of components and thirdly, and I only found this out after I agreed to the deal, Ragley aren't the small scale UK rider owned company that I saw them as, they're part of the great Chain Reaction/Wiggle acquisitions conglomerate. Whilst there's nothing wrong with that, the purist in me always wanted to ride for a small company where the exposure I can get them might actually make a difference and also where I could get a chat with the fella who designs the frames to get all geeky about materials and seat tube diameters.

Now I'm taking nothing away from Ragley here, they were good to me and the Bigwig is a ripper of a bike so once again many thanks to them.  However, I must admit that when Dan Stanton offered me a deal for 2017 I didn't pause for thought.  There's a few reasons for me jumping at this opportunity so wholeheartedly.

1) I'd just got off the phone from having that exact hour long conversation where Dan was able to describe (in great detail) the evolution of Stanton frames over the last few years.  I instantly got the sense of a massive bike lover with a bubbling enthusiasm for producing the best hardtails in the World.

2) Titanium!  As a youngster I drooled (probably literally) over Merlins, Litespeeds and the other US produced titanium exotica that filled the dreambikes sections of MBUK.  They were so far beyond a pipe dream even for a teenager who had three jobs on the go and I couldn't ever really envisage a time when I'd be able to ride a top end Ti frame.  In recent years I've had my head turned by the plastic bike revolution with a couple of Santa Cruz's and a couple of Ibis's but that long dormant desire for the smooth lines, brushed natural finish and mythical whippy ride quality has never left me.

3) Stanton Bikes.  I've been a massive fan of the aesthetics of their frames for a while.  They've been at the forefront of the 'hardcore hardtail' revolution producing the bombproof and slacked out framesets that have left me questioning the need for rear suspension.  I was tempted by a Slackline a couple of years ago and every time I see one of their bikes I do stop and stare.  They have that ability to look fun from a distance, you know full well that if you swing a leg over the top tube you're in for a serious grinning session!

4) Wooly Hats.  Stanton make a really cosy looking one!

5) Race Support.  In sponsoring the hardtail category of the British Enduro Series and backing it up with some pretty amazing prizes Stanton have shown a solid commitment to the development of the race scene.  I love racing and definitely want to ride for a company who share that passion.

6) Steel.  Whilst I never got on to titanium I was fortunate enough during my XC racing days to ride some really classy steel frames.  I've still got my Voodoo Bizango from 1997 (when Voodoo were a pretty high end company) and love the springy nature of the material.  The Ragley had some of these qualities but I'm really looking forward to getting on some Reynolds tubing to bring back the memories and recall why it is so perfect for making bikes.

7) Future Developments.  Through chatting to Dan I've learned of all sorts of really interesting upcoming developments in their frames and their rapidly expanding component range.  The bike I plan on racing in 2017 doesn't actually exist yet but it sounds incredible on paper!

So for this Winter I'll be getting in the miles on the beautiful Reynolds 853 steel masterpiece that is the Sherpa 29er and then hopefully by Spring will be getting all aggro on a brand new Ti bike.  Kit choice will be a mixture of Stanton components, Shimano XTR, Chris King, Rockshox and I'll be continuing my links with Ibis through their industry leading 942 carbon rims. Timescales are a bit loose but the frame arrived yesterday so there'll be some shiny build pics coming soon.

It looks stunning in the flesh and really oozes quality.  Can't wait to get building and riding!

As ever, if you're interested in getting a test ride don't be shy about coming and saying hello at the races or on the trails.  I'm more than happy to let you have a spin and begin your hardtail conversion! The longer I coach and the better hardtails get, the less I'm convinced of the need for full bouncers at all outside of top end Enduro and DH racing. For beginners the rear suspension tends to mask and allow poor technique whilst for experts it overly sanitises trails, removing the joyous link between rider and terrain.  I love the precision required for fast, techy hardtail riding, as much as I enjoy reading the results sheets and seeing the bouncy bikes trailing in my wake!

It's going to be a fun 2017!