2007 Opus Stakh 1

By Vo2max

This is the year 2007. That means that there are few efficiency-minded hardtailing race freaks left on the earth, this side of the World Cup at least. I'm not a total retro grouch - can you even qualify for that title while still espoir? It's not like I didn't make the effort; I had a 3" race bike in 2002 and had a 6" freeride bike for a while too. I could just never bring myself to race an FS bike -'til now.

Enter the 2007 Opus Stakh 1.25 lbs of glorious Sram X.0 components paired with the pimp new 2007 Mavic Cross Max SLR wheels and Manitou R7 Platinum fork. It sounds like a volatile mix on paper... throw those parts on a VPP (Virtual Pivot Point) frame and you can only blame your legs.

VPP is the latest and greatest in terms of suspension design. It utilizes two links to connect a solid rear triangle. The advantages are pretty clear; the rear wheel axle path initially goes rearward and upward. Compare this to the simple forward traveling arc of most designs and its easy to imagine which will have a bigger appetite for bumps. The other big advantage is related to the "virtual" aspect. This is referring to the fact that due to the linkage system, the rear suspension effectively pivots around an imaginary point about a foot and a half in front of the bottom bracket. Traditional pivot points have come to rest in the general vicinity of middle chain ring height, hoping that'll be your "most of the time" gear to minimize pedal feedback. Throw it in the big ring to sprint it out or drop down to the granny to get ready for a long grind and most bikes will give ya some back talk. Not so with the VPP system as that forward "pivot" is well insulated from pedaling forces. The linkage itself runs on sealed cartridge bearings - the first of its type to do so. Other popular VPP bikes have utilized bushings and have been notorious for maintenance.

So enough of tech talk, and onto the ride! Where did I take it for my first outing? The rockiest, root infested bit of course I could find, Dartmouth's Burnside trail. (Yes, most of it is still there!) At first I wasn't paying much attention to pedaling efficiency, as most of my concentration was on pounding over the constant barrage of baby-heads as quickly as the bike would let me. When I burst from the singletrack out onto the highway development I thought it went by quickly, and lo and behold, a new personal record was set. It absolutely feels like it has more than 100mm of travel in the rough stuff. I'm positive it has to do with the VPP's ability to come up and back - but whatever it is I'll take it.

By this point I'm pretty stoked on the bike, and anxious to see how it acts on the 3 km of crusher dust path on the way to Spider Lake. I wasn't disappointed here either. I made a point of pedaling as squarely as I could while watching the linkage and still noticed no bobbing. (Try that with your single pivot!) I stood and hammered up the short rises and was rewarded with only slightly muted response from the bike, due more to my body weight shifts than chain torque I think. The SPV on the Manitou Swinger rear shock can also be increased to firm it up a little - but I prefer it to be as active as possible in the singletrack.

Once in Skull Trail the bike continued to impress. It handled the tight stuff with ease, no doubt aided by the stiffness of the R7 fork (30mm stanctions vs. 28mm on my old Skareb) and of course the razor precision of the SLR wheelset. I never got a feeling of lateral flex in the rear of the bike, but the production version will see another cross piece between the right side seat and chain stays stiffening it 75% according to Opus. I'd rate the handling as neutral. It was always manageable on switchbacks and slow speed technical stuff, but never felt too steep at speed or when pounding through the rough. The combination of maximum pedaling response, paired with its lightweight and impressive "bombability" made for the most fun I've had in that trail for a while.

When we pulled into the Fitz of Fury race on Sunday heads turned roof-ward. The bike got a ton of attention! The graphics just burst with aggression and chiseled speed - just for fun I'll say they struck fear into my competition. Needless to say I nullified their concern by giving everyone a 16 minute head start - I got the start time wrong. No worries, that was just my chance to really push my limits trying to make time.

If there has ever been a race I've been happy to be riding an FS bike for, this was it. 2 hours and 40 minutes in length with tons of technical, muddy climbing followed by a killer descent each lap. With VPP you don't need to increase pro pedal on the climbs - it's always efficient. This means maximum climbing traction and over the course of an entire race, less fatigue. Once I hit the descent I let it all go; the suspension let the bike stay hooked up as a I railed through rooted corners, and once again the confidence-inspiring stiffness of the fork and wheels just begged to be pounded through the rocks.

As far as parts spec, Opus has it pretty dialed in. Race Face has a reputation for solidity, and the Deus crankset didn't let it down. It was just as stiff as my XTR, and never dropped a chain, chain sucked, or did anything other than put the power down. The production version will include their carbon Next seatpost/bar, matched by the Deus stem. I've said enough about the wheels, but not about the Sram X.0 shifting. This stuff was incredible - not one adjustment during my test, even after 3 hours of Scotsburn mud it was rock solid. The shift quality is super tight, as if every piece under that carbon is CNC machined. I didn't dig the fork as much as the rear of the bike - its travel/damping quality is great - but SPV is no substitute for a lock out in my books. This was the platinum version though - the cheaper Super model comes with one.

Overall I had a blast riding this bike. Its $4500-ish price is costly - but it's thousands cheaper than its VPP competition. It still won't beat my Scandium hardtail up the Martock climb, but on courses like ours, where durability, stiffness, and comfort are paramount, the Stakh shines. I know I won't be going back.

Posted by bikergrl at September 30, 2006 07:44 PM

---