Hey everyone how's it going?
Remember the Trifox MFM100 that I showed you not too long ago?
Well, I have it here on the trails and I'm gonna try 3 different things with it:
1, how good it is going uphill technical climbing.
2, how good it is in technical, cross-country trail riding
and 3 would be how good it is going downhill, how fast can i go.
So let's check this out!
The first thing I'm going to try to do is take this baby on a climb
a climb that's quite technica,l quite a few switchbacks
and I'm just curious if this is going to feel more
like a cross-country bike or like more of a trail bike.
Okay so here's the rooty section of the trail
my first impressions are that the rear end it's pretty tight
I don't feel a lot of wobble, I feel more like
being on a hardtail, or a soft tail
Bike still has 115 mm of travel in the back but
it doesn't feel that plush...
Alright let's see this...
Whoo!
Okay, all right, that's a good sign because
I've been through there with many bikes
On some of them I really struggled.
Not with this!
I have my shocking fully open position
And it doesn't feel like it robs me of power however
it definitely gives me more traction here on these roots.
This other climb is pretty much a straight up with a lot of rocks
An area where I definitely appreciated climbing on a full suspension bike.
But I found myself quite a few times being at the tip of the saddle.
Obviously that slacker seat tube angle (74.7) doesn't help
but there is an easy fix for it.
And that's usually sliding the saddle forward on its rails.
How does this perform on a normal trail?
Well I felt comfortable on it right from the get-go
this is a Medium frame and I built it with 44 millimeter offset fork.
It corners pretty well and it's pretty stable as you can see it here on the skinny.
As you increase the speed the bike still likes to turn with the handlebars
as you don't have such a slack head tube angle (68.5).
However it just feels stable, well balanced
and overall it's pretty playful but it does feel like an XC or cross country bike.
This other trail starts pretty flat however there's a lot of little obstacles
hidden underneath the leaves.
There's a lot of short quick left-right and then followed by a little rock garden right over here,
there is another one down at the bottom
I had to move the bike quickly underneath me
and just push it around,
I had no problems, actually I kind of enjoyed it
bike performed wonderfully!
And when it was time to take a little breather where else to go then the top of the ski hill.
The views from here are spectacular, definitely when you're getting close to the sunset.
I mean take a look at this...
not bad at all... wow!
My last trail like test is here on these massive roots and quite a few rocks.
I usually do it to see how the rear end performs with those bigger hits.
And with that Medium tuned shock, this Trifox absorbs the obstacles pretty well.
You do feel that you have only 115 mm travel though
as this is nowhere close to something like the Mullet bike that I tested not too long ago.
I'm 510 (1.78m)
so in between sizes you would say.
This is the 17.5", Scott calls this a Medium
I am on a Medium
with the 50 mm stem, 760 mm handlebar,
and this fits me very similar to my Yeti ARC
so definitely not on the long side
but pretty much what I would expect
from a cross-country ish bike for myself.
Now with everything that I've said
I hope you're not expecting this to behave like a downhill bike when pointing down.
It does behave like a downcountry 29er though,
so 120 mm front, 115 mm rear suspension,
you got to be careful when choosing the lines.
Bike is not going to plow through everything like a longer travel would.
On a downhill section like this as the speed goes up is not twitchy,
but again you're gonna feel the vibrations from the trail getting into your body
way more than if you're riding a heavier bike.
As we're getting into Digger Downhill, that little hop, a couple of whoopsies,
and then after the short pedaling section we're pointing down again.
You have a couple of tight berms ahead,
you have this little step down in between the trees,
this is usually super fast and super fun!
I always take the new bikes that I'm testing on this downhill trail,
Off the brakes again, I am heading towards these little jumps that
would destabilize a bike that is not that well balanced.
This Trifox wasn't twitchy in any way
and I really like how that suspension works.
The SID 120 up front and that 115 RockShocks in the back are a very good match for this frame.
Here at the bottom a couple of twisty turns, bermed corners that are pretty loose.
This is the area where I wish I had a bit more aggressive front tire if nothing else.
So how's the downhill performance??
I would say as expected for a downcountry bike, no surprises there.
I went into this project with no expectations whatsoever and guess what?
it turned out better than I thought!
Obviously I cannot talk about the long-term reliability of this bike
but I can tell you that the Rockshox Deluxe Ultimate rear shock, Medium tune
coupled with that 35 mm (stanchion) SID 120 up front
makes this a really good light trail bike or cross country bike
if that's what you're after.
So what do you guys think? Would this be an interesting winter project for you?
Do you have any questions for me in regards to the ride, the bike, the Trifox frame?
Let me know in the comments below.
If you found this useful don't forget to like, subscribe, comment, it really helps my channel
and until next time hope to see you folks on the trails.
Cheers guys, cheers!