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MOREWOOD BIKES ARE ON VitalMTB – GO CHECK IT OUT!

Morewood — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 06:17:36 +0000

Exciting times as Morewood Bikes explode on Vital MTB

Check it out!

Morewood Bikes in the Vital MTB Product Guide

Morewood just added all of their frames to the Vital MTB Product Guide. Now is your chance to research, rate and review them. more »

Posted by sspomer on March 20, 2010 at 7:00 PM

2010 Dirt 100 MOREWOOD MAKULU

Morewood — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 08:52:56 +0000

Check out what DIRT had to say about our Morewood Makulu.

November 29th, 2009 @ 9:30 AM

There is something about this frameset that sets it apart from its rivals, whether it’s down to the design of the frame and its linkage or the tuned factory BOS suspension, it’s hard to say. But what is clear when you mount the Makulu is that it is different from anything you’ve ridden before, the suspension truly isolates the rider from the ground in a way which at first is almost disarming. But it doesn’t take long to get used to floating over the trail, and with the terrain posing no threat to the Makulu it only leaves you to do one thing – go faster!

The Morewood’s amazing rear suspension is well matched by good sizing and geometry meaning this is a much sought after frameset and one that the Dirt staff have not wanted to give back!

£2650 (Fox shock), £2800 (BOS shock)
Propel Bike Distribution 01726 825038
www.morewoodbikes.com, www.propelbike.com

BICYCLING MAG GIVES MOREWOOD’S MARATHON BIKE A BIG THUMBS UP

Morewood — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 08:17:25 +0000

Bicycling Magazine took our new Marathon bike for a ride, and this is what they had to say:

“…owning a Morewood is akin to running an Apple Mac, or grinding your own coffee beans: slightly left of field and the mark of a connoisseur…”

Patrick Morewood has been building bikes by hand in Pietermaritzburg for over a decade, and in that time has built a reputation for no-nonsense downhill machines that look the part, and do the job too.
In South Africa, owning a Morewood is akin to running an Apple Mac, or grinding your own coffee beans: slightly left of field and the mark of a connoisseur.

Sure, more than 90 percent of Morewood’s sales are in the company’s overseas markets (mostly in the US and Europe), so it was only with the introduction of the five-inch-travel Shova bikes a few years ago that they began to make a name for themselves in South African cycling, outside the cliquey downhill market.

The Shova is a truly great trail bike – robust and plush. The bike that can bomb any trail, but a little porky for the South African mindset, which seems hell-bent on racing everything and anything. Few Morewood owners tackle the Epic on their Shovas, even though it would be a wonderful ride, because we have created a whole category of bikes for these long events: marathon bikes. Generally, they are skinny and lightweight and have four inches of travel. And they are usually expensive and fragile. This is an area of the scene Morewood has been looking at for a number of years, realising that the Shova was never going to be seen as a race machine. For them the main dilemma was how. It would be easy to fly to Taiwan, speak to a couple factories, and have a carbon frame made up. But that is not their MO. The company has been built – and has thrived – on its bomb proof reputation, and the fact that all the frames are built by hand in South Africa. Patrick has since been joined by two more welders to keep up with the demand. Aluminium, hand-built here, was the only way to go.

Guru

And so it is that i meet Morewood’s marketing guru in Tokai forest early one morning. Bleary eyed, we drag the bike out of his rental, and the first thing that strikes me is the simplicity and the raw beauty of the bike. Sweeping curves, a seductive red paint job and a beautifully crafted swingarm certainly get the growing love affair off to a cracking start. It is completely different to anything we have seen from Morewood – no oversized square tubes, no Doppler effect graphics – this was the gorgeous cousin come to visit.

The Faerie Garden at Tokai is the first opportunity I have to pedal the bike in anger, outside the car park. It is a twisty, tight singletrack climb, with switchback corners, muddy roots and the sort of thing wicked race organisers love to throw in for excitement. The ride up was a revelation.

Stuck in Morewood-is-heavy mode, I was blown away at how light and nimble the bike was. This, of course, is because it is light and nimble. At just 10.4kg, you will have to shop extravagantly to match its weight. A quick peek at the spec sheet on this page will show you that the standard built leaves plenty of room for further weight savings, but the guys at Morewood are happy with the balance between sveltness and reliability they have here.

And the geometry just plain works, with the front end staying pinned to the ground on the steep stuff and the rear wheel digging in and demanding traction from the terrain.

Coming back down, and we hit the woop zone with this bike: if you want to get through technical terrain fast, look no further. Steering is precise – often the Sid Team fork can feel a little soft, but not here – and the aggressive, low position just made railing the corners fun, fun, fun. It is difficult to tell you how the rear suspension coped with everything, but that is exactly how it should work – the back end was as smooth as butter, with only the occasional chatter under hard braking. If anything, it was too smooth, because it made us wonder whether the fork was okay;it felt harsh by comparison.

Super plush

“…this bike is totally ready for multi-day and 24-hour racing…”

Climbing back up again we focused on the rear some more.It is super plush, but without soaking up all your pedaling energy. Standing and honking will produce some bob, as will mashing the pedals when seated, but then there is no suspension setup that doesn’t – or at least not on that actually works.

Much of the development of this bike was done in conjunction with local racing legend Roan Exelby, and two aspects come through directly from him; this bike is totally ready for multi-day and 24-hour racing, and the days of the hardtail as a race machine are numbered. The extra control and comfort – now that the weight of the bikes has dropped – makes such a big difference that the more and more top racing snakes are going this way.

In fact, Morewood and Exelby have been doing plenty of testing on the new bike (and the old hardtail Roan was riding), and the raw data has shown that the full-suspension bike fully-open, is up to three seconds faster – in blind testing – over 10-minute loop.Extrapolate that over a six-hour race and factor in growing fatigue on the hardtail, and the difference is marked.

As a single pivot, the simplicity is wonderful, and i am glad Morewood has stuck to its guns here – the last thing most of us are looking for in a bike is a complicated suspension system that requires heaps of maintenance. Morewood believes in an oversized sealed bearing pivot, and has spent years perfecting it for the demanding downhiller market. Here, it will be reliable and strong, and if you do decide to ride through grinding paste, will only cost about R250 to replace the working parts!

Beast

A bike that could comfortably win the Absa Cape Epic.

Eventually, it was time to return the unnamed beast. We did so reluctantly. Morewood has a real winner here: it is practical, simple, balanced, reliable and, above all fast. A bike that could comfortably win the Absa Cape Epic. But also a bike that will give a regular rider years of fun Morewood’s ethos is to build bikes that maximise riding time and enjoyment. It has managed that here, with a bike that is simple to service, easy to ride and great fun.

It is a real world beater, and if Morewood can shake the image that its bikes are overbuilt and heavy tag, they will fly from the shops. Already, there are more than 40 pre-orders on a bike that isn’t even available yet – the one we rode is one of four prototypes – and it hasn’t even been shown to the German, French or American markets.

Sweet

“…here is a bike that rivals any, and outperforms many…”

The most important bike in South Africa? Let me tell you why I say that, quickly. we are besotted with overseas equipment and bikes, and often we don’t realise that these objects of lust are built by tiny factories in barns in the middle of America. They are built in far smaller, less professional operations than right here, on our door step. And here is a bike that rivals any, and outperforms many, of those ultra-desirable boutique brands (outside South Africa it is actually a desirable boutique brand) and it is made right here. I promise myself not to use the phrase “local is lekker” in this review. I am struggling.

Here It Is! Dirt Magazines Bike Test: Morewood Makulu

Morewood — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 12:57:36 +0000

‘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.

Dirt Magazine gives Morewood Makulu the review it deserves

Terror — Thu, 28 May 2009 13:13:36 +0000

June Issue of Dirt Mag

Look out for the June issue of Dirt Magazine, and you will find a blinding review of the Makulu, our professional level downhill racing bike. You may remember seeing this on the Dirt Mag website when they received delivery of our Makulu. Well, finally the review is out in the June issue of the magazine.

As soon as we get our greasy fingers on a copy of the mag, we’ll share the goodness. Otherwise head to your news agent and go buy the magazine. Thanks for the support guys.

Magazine cover picture taken by Gary Perkin.

Morewood Mbuzi first ride by bikeradar.com

Terror — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 09:15:22 +0000

No, we dont just make downhill bikes. We also make some other models that we hope will tickle your fancy. Take the Mbuzi for instance, our lightweight, highly capable, enduro or trail bike. Also known as the mountain goat. Here is a review on Bike Radar.

Morewood Izimu Review by Sicklines.com

Terror — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 09:07:56 +0000

Ok, so we have been a little slack on the blog, sorry. If you have been online in the last few weeks you will know about the big news and high hopes for Morewood in 2009.

And, just incase you missed it, here is the review of our Izimu by Jason at Sicklines.com, after an entire season of riding the beast. Enjoy.

MBUZI UNOFFICAL TEST RIDE

Terror — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 11:37:49 +0000

Morewood Mbuzi

There is nothing quite like driving 180km/h on the Autobahn drafting an entry for ones blog with the sounds of Daft Punk in your ears.

Im in France with the guys from BS Trading. Tomorrow I’ll be hitching a ride to Friedrichshafen for Eurobike 2008 and help out at the SportsNut stand.

But today I went beating down the Cenq Chateaux (5 Castle) trail in Alsace, just above the little town of Turckheim.

I’ve been riding bikes for years. I’ve come from a Kona Hahanna in the early days, to a Klien Attitude, then to a Klien Adept which I broke. I’ve used my mate Tom’s Super 8 a couple of times but only enough to clear the big jump in Tokai. Then it was time to try out a real mountain bike. I now ride a Shova ST. Im no expert but I am starting understand a whole lot more about mountain bikes. The Mbuzi I rode is spec’d like this:

Rock Shox Lyric 160mm
DHX 4.0
Full XO Transmission
Juicy Ultimate
Crank Brothers Joplin with remote
Truvativ NOIR cranks
Spank Sub Rosa with Atomlab hubs
Spank Bitch Stick handlebar
Atomlab stem and Pedals

Fred and I were dropped off by Vincent (the BS ninja), and we headed up to the start of the trail. The first thing I noticed is the height of the bb, it makes you feel confident to have such good clearance. The fork was supple and bike felt good and not too heavy climbing up the hill. My current Shova is about 13.5kgs and this bike is 15kgs on the nose. So the difference wasn’t really noticeable.

But like all good Enduro bikes the real fun starts when you point them down hill. For the first section Fred lead the way and I followed. Im sure he was trying to get away from me but my bike just coasted closely behind him keeping up the pressure on some technical rock sections. Im already in love with this bike. It just glides over everything. The handling feels familiar and makes me want to go faster.

We stop and chat, then make our way to the next section. Fred offers the first place on the trail to me. I jump at the opportunity.

Nothing get s the blood pumping more than going as fast as you can down a trail you have never been down before, being cased by someone who has.

The trail was slightly wet, just enough to be tacky, but there was a huge erosion grove down the middle, so it was necessary to switch across the ditch again and again while dodging fallen trees, rocks and roots.

The flying Frenchman is just behind me. But the Mbuzi is cool and calm. It soaks it all up.

It wants more from me. Im not pushing hard enough.

I stop at the bottom of the section and look back. No Fred. I wait longer, and then I hear the clatter of some heavy braking and out pops Fred. “Merd! I can see nothing!” He says taking off his dark glasses.

On the next section. I try to go faster but Im worried I’ll stuff up this bike and myself in the process. Im already going as fast¬¨‚Ä† humanly possible. Well, for me anyway.

The final section is a bunch of switch backs followed by a steep rock garden. On my way through it I take a bad line and bounce over a bolder with only one foot on the pedal, as the Mbuzi keeps its balance and brings me safely back in control.

Now, I know what you thinking. This hack, has no skill. I admit that what lack in skill I make up for with enthusiasm and stupidty. But the fact of the matter is, this bike makes me feel like anything is possible. I had so much fun Im serously consider getting an Mbuzi for the kid in me that wants to try and break more bones in Tokai.

If you’re thinking about getting an Enduro bike dont leave out a test ride on the Mbuzi.