‘The Morewood rolled into the office at the tail end of last year, one of the first production versions, put together by one of the team of engineers down at BOS suspension in Toulouse. Since that time it has been in constant use, most certainly not one of the bikes that gets buried in a corner of the office’.

Frame

“It’s correct from the outset.”

In terms of geometry it’s a very straightforward bike, but don’t for a second think that each millimetre and degree has not been agonised over.

These angles are deliberate and certainly not the work of a guesser. This bike proves the importance of the interrelationship between all angles and suspension and how each cannot be viewed in isolation. The Morewood adds up.

It’s correct from the outset. We found the pivot to be in a great position. It enables excellent weight distribution at the tyre contact area and provides largely un-interfered pedal input. Its placement when combined to the linkage, massive three and a half inch stroke BOS shock and frame tubing is super low and….as we found out is in another league. The balance point of this bike is something else and the suspension takes it ahead. It would be interesting to try a slightly slacker head angle which Kenda Morewood team rider Nathan Rennie is said to run, but then it would also be interesting to try out the speed he runs too…

Comparisons will no doubt be made to Commencal’s six and eight inch bikes. They are incredible similar in the link area. Bearing in mind BOS Engineering was involved in Commencal’s early ‘contact system’ and now the significant tie in with Morewood it’s not really any surprise, but good to know nonetheless. The link on the Andorran bike is very good, but Morewood and BOS have taken it one stage further for definite. The linkages are not identical at all and the Makulu swingarm is mounted external of the front triangle, whereas the Commencal mounts inside. And what about the shock? One of the few bikes to use a 10.5” x 3.5” rear shock with a super low leverage ratio (2:3:1), the Stoy is pure hand built low volume quality, and as we found the Morewood was just pure speed simply everywhere. What this shows is that the Makulu applies the long stroke shock low leverage ratio extremely well.

Suspension

“…beautifully simple unit with nothing fancy, just a well made product…”

BOS…French, handmade, super secret, with unimaginable knowledge of dealing with movement. Under the bar up front is the standard Idylle fork which has been rebound and compression adjustment. Slightly heavier than the new BoXXer it features pretty much identical 35 mm tubing, but CNC crowns as opposed to the forged versions on the RockShox. The Idylle has managed to get a great balance in terms of size- neither too flexy nor too rigid. OK the lowers are not the fine quality of what you find inside BOS componentry , but then this is their first complete production fork. I just wonder if the BoXXer will give this balance without being too stiff? The new BoXXer Team comes in £400 cheaper than the BOS, but when you consider that for the Makulu for £3295 you get a thousand pound fork and six hundred quid shock, then it all becomes clear.

Featuring high and low speed compression, plus rebound adjust, the Stoy runs on very light springs. Most riders will be running under 200lb springs. We took the Stoy to a specialist to take a look at the quality and he found not only the finishing to be good, but beautifully simple unit with nothing fancy, just a well made product, dyno’d and shimmed carefully. No bullshit.

Ride

“One of the most amazing facets of this bike is just that - you don’t ever have to compensate for unstable geometry…”

Considering the huge shock at the back you might imagine a bike with considerable movement underneath you, yet very seldom, if ever, does it feel like the bike is making a meal out of the terrain which it is covering, almost like nothing is happening, yet never feeling it through the frame or suspension. Weird. One of the most amazing facets of this bike is just that - you don’t ever have to compensate for unstable geometry, it doesn’t use forty percent of its travel when it really only needs to use twenty (how many bikes are guilty of that!) and therefore rider movement is minimal, never pitching you forward or rolling you rearward.

The Makulu only ever uses what is needed. At a guess I’m thinking this is partly the result of the fork doing its job efficiently dealing with the first point of contact and wrapping up vibrations before they transmit through the frame out to the rear. Add to that the overall geometry and excellent linkage/shock and, like I said, you have a bike that doesn’t make a drama out of the terrain it covers. It’s pretty much as close to the full package as you can get on a production bike. I can only think of UK Company Empire and K-9 having the set-up to provide something similar without going to a suspension specialist.

Remembering too that at the end of last year we rode the factory Commencal bikes of the Atherton’s. Long and sprung with the new Fox, and an impressive bike, probably one of the top five bikes you can currently buy (money aside). I strongly feel the Makulu to have the edge on that bike. I compare it (to the factory Commencal ) simply because of the single pivot with rocker linkage, but the Morewood is way more forgiving past fifty percent, not such a harsh progression point- there is less chassis movement and slightly better handling. In fact it is the best I have ridden on a stock bike. Yes the Morewood needs a few hours spent from the outset getting a feel for where the adjusters are at.

Initially most of our riding was done on softer winter terrain and when we took it to Spain soon realised there was a fair bit more work to do when things got faster and rockier. That time early on making notes on settings is well spent. Bear in mind you only have two adjustments on the fork and two on the rear damper. That’s already less than most of the competition, yet you could strongly argue that this is far superior damping.

“The Idylle fork I feel to be one of the best forks of the year so far…”

The Stoy shock was huffing and puffing during the first few weeks riding and that was noticeable by some riders. Don’t worry about it. The truth of the matter was that if you were focusing on that alone then you were simply not riding fast enough. The noise went. Comparable to a Cane Creek? Let’s say it gets closer than all the others. The Idylle fork I feel to be one of the best forks of the year so far considering the ride quality and bearing in mind the cost and ease of adjustment for what you get in the frame package. I didn’t feel it was perfect and on occasion gave out a little bit more than needed in the mid-stroke. In terms of ‘feel’ from the fork chassis/casting it’s more stable than the old BoXXer, and not as harsh as the Fox 40.

The balance is very, very good on this bike, but the most startling revelation was its performance on the flatter and manmade berm terrain that we sectioned. It acted like a trail bike in these situations. In berm’s the chassis and suspension really shows its colours, because no matter how hard you try, the bike will always remain balanced. Remember he 2007 corner comparison shots from the Mount St Anne World Cup?…Dirt 66.

Conclusion

“It is the most inspiring all round production downhill bike we’ve had performance wise…”

It’s now over a year since I first saw one of the early protos of this bike and BOS suspension to be ridden by Fabien Pedemenaud. It was no secret that the forks have needed work on sealing issues, as much as the less than professional attitude of the French star did. This bike is well and truly sorted. In terms of performance alone it puts a strong case for being the best production bike to date. It has challenges from the Commencal (unsurprising really given the origins of the link) and also the unique Empire. And whereas Trek has the ultimate in terms of overall performance, price and componentry together this Makulu is very, very special.

Now five months into its posting here at Dirt the bike remains a winner on the hill and in terms of reliability. There have been absolutely no issues whatsoever with the reliability of the BOS units- a 10/10 from five months and only recently have the Idylle’s become a touch dry around the seals. Overall the links remain intact; there is absolutely no issue with the shock and no frame defects. The headset has just started sounding coarse, the decals are becoming worn and the rear fender has snapped, pretty much all normal wear and tear that any bike would have. The key point is that it chassis is still sweet.

Don’t think for one minute that the Morewood Makulu is a very clever marketing job, because there really is a difference. This is one of the few, if only, bikes I have ever ridden where you always feel in control and have the time to think about holding a line. You simply don’t have the added burden of traction issues, suspension or a bike overreacting to the terrain which it is crossing. It is the bike that doesn’t panic. It’s almost impossible to put into words the sensation of riding this bike; it’s that subtle difference that separates the good bikes from the great ones. This is such a bike, but bear in mind you can probably count truly great bikes on one hand. Hit a section as fast as possible and emerge on the other end with a voice from underneath whispering, ‘was that really it?’ Nearly every rider in the world will be guilty of this, but relative to other bikes it takes many runs to get anywhere near beginning to seek a finer tuned set-up. We put a couple of top ten national racers on board and they all gave similar feedback. Hopefully Rennie and Delfs will do a good job for the South African and French companies this season.

“It’s almost impossible to put into words the sensation of riding this bike…”

It’s just such a fast bike the Morewood. It is the most inspiring all round production downhill bike we’ve had performance wise. There’s a shorter amount of time to react, but then you feel more composed. Our designer Jon Gregory went so far as to say ‘I’ve never ever been so fast on a bike’. In terms of performance, as a package then I’d currently put the Morewood on top of the list, it is very major bike this season just like its Zulu name suggests- very much big character that steers you through moments of crisis without making a drama of it. Great. Tech Chart Head Angle- 65® Wheelbase- 46.5” Chainstay-17.5” Weight- 38LB

Another Perspective

Jo Bishop has been riding some of our test bikes in real race environments, giving us another view on how a bike performs on the track and under pressure. After this latest ‘holiday’ instalment Jo went on to win the Master class at the opening national. Anyone who rides a Morewood shouldn’t really have any excuses. Holiday Romances…sun, sea, San Mig…Sex. Not the sort of sex with pasty white pissed girls with the outline of the last three days bikinis temporarily tattooed in their binge tan, and where sand gets in the moving parts. I’m talking about escapism, tranquillity, getting away from the crowds where you can build a relationship that I’m hoping my wife will find acceptable. My holiday romance was with a sweet South African with some French blood. Not instantly stunning to look at, she grew on me. She may have had a pasty white frame, but this more than adequately provide the structure to hang her real assets off, up front and at the rear. The red bits were no sunburn, they were BOS. The relaxed but epic riding around Malange (contact Rob at DHSpain.com), with each day ending with beers on the beach, proved to be the perfect backdrop to get to know the Morewood.

“…the way the Morewood moves through its travel makes it feel like a big hitter, coaxing you to hit things faster, harder but never leading you to believe you are going to reach the limits of the bike…”

Some bikes I have ridden (no, I’ve stopped the analogy now!) have really jumped out at me as confidence inspirers. The last one like this was the M3 when in Portes du Soliel. On the wide open stuff, these types of big hitting bikes never feel like there are troubled, they just sit there underneath you toying with you psychologically, whispering ‘that all you got?’ The drawback with these bikes is they are often too much for the UK, too big, too heavy, no punch out of corners - the holiday romances that blossom in the Alps die when they get back to the UK. For me, the way the Morewood moves through its travel makes it feel like a big hitter, coaxing you to hit things faster, harder but never leading you to believe you are going to reach the limits of the bike, and in particular the limits of the suspension. The big difference is that when it gets slower and more technical, the bike still excels. It’s lightish, nimble and can be aggressively thrown in and popped out of corners. It’s the best balance of both worlds; maybe not ground breaking, but doing all it needs to do exceptionally well- the next evolutionary step.

Like many holiday romances, mine ended before it started. A broken finger put pay to spending any more time together (if you fly QueasyJet, remember a fit to fly certificate will help to avoid hasty removal of a cast in the airport with a Stanley knife). Unlike holiday romances, this one definitely could work back home (if you’re not getting the analogy I mean it’s very balanced, working on big stuff and in the UK). I’ve got her number and we are looking to hook up again - I just need to get in there quick before someone else does, she’s popular and she’s not shy! I can see the other number of likeminded people sparking up similar affairs with hot South Africans limited by availability, after all Morewood and BOS are not big players…yet.

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