REVIEWS 

Downhill riders across South Africa have watched Duane Stander tear down the National courses to claim the overall rider trophy, and in his first year of racing has piloted the Morewood Prime-8 to more Elite victories than any other bike. Designed by 3 times SA DH champion, Patrick Morewood, the Prime-8 is a full blown downhill bike designed to be raced at the very top of competition - apart from rivalling the oversea's bikes, the Prime-8 comes with an reasonable pricetag that puts it ahead of competition. There are full bikes as well as framesets, we chose a framset to test and built it up with some choice parts.

Frame 5/5

Two years and four prototype designs have culminated in the current Prime-8 machine, our test bike was a 2002 model with the newer shock mount on the frame which allows for a wider range of adjustment and smaller frame sizes to be built. The frame is manufactured from 6061 aluminium which is heat-treated to T6 standards. There are superbly (think Intense) machined dropouts and pivot area. The swingarm is an artwork, combining a monocoque look with great machined ends - the rear tyre clearance is able to accomodate 2,6" tyres and 8" disc brake rotors. The swingarm rotates on huge sealed cartridge bearings keeping things smooth and maintenance free. Clean chunky welding adorns all the joints and looks good coupled with the large diameter tubing, although the frame is of a minimalist design. Two shocks are on offer, our test bike came with the Fox (an additional R1000) but the standard DNM piggyback unit performed equally as well during testing, and offered a wide range of adjustment. The rear wheel offers 8" (or 200mm if you prefer) of travel via an adjustable rising rate setup.

The test bike came in a glorious fire ride which drew admiring glances from other riders, but with 7 colours in various combinations available you can really create a custom machine. If you wish to go further there are custom spray jobs available for around R600 more. Whilst the paintwork was top notch, our only complaint (the single one) was regarding the a decal which came off after a single ride - but to Patricks credit he sent new ones right away and the problem was solved. Proper stickers would be nice though.

Components 4/5

As with the Schwinn we cannot give a rating for the components as we built the test bike up with our own kit. We chose the top notch Marzocchi Shiver which balanced the suspension front and rear, Hayes Purple DH disc brakes, RaceFace Turbine DH cranks, Mavic D321 wheelset and MHD Carbon Chaindevice. There are complete bikes available though, with a similarly specced machine retailing for around the R27000 - but with so many custom options it is better to call and discuss what your budget can afford. Bolting on the rear disc brake showed perfectly aligned dropouts and mounts - something the 8" rotor Hayes normally picks up. The bike does however use a 73mm bottom bracket shell compared to the usual 68mm shell - which took a few phone calls to source. Patrick tells us this is because the bigger cups offer more strength and this is the emerging standard worldwide.

Ride 4/5

This is where downhill bikes are judged (they should also look good to impress girls, remember), not only should they be stable at high speed, corner well and pedal efficiently - but the suspension is the single most important aspect of the bike. The Prime-8 cornered very well even in tight switchbacks, allowing us to stay clipped in and pedal out the corner. Powering down the straights and over rough terrain such as roots and loose rocks didn't unhinge the bike, nor did these actions feed into the suspension. Under braking there was slight feedback into the suspension, this being a characteristic of single pivot bikes, but this was hardly noticeable. Jumping and throwing the bike around under yourself while riding was easy thanks to the low frame weight of just 4,5kg - but the bike rode much lighter than it actually is. Which is excellent design. The suspension, with its low leverage ratio was supple over small bumps and handled larger hits with ease (we did not bottom the suspension once) thanks to the rising rate setup. Flex was not an issue, and despite a few testers asking about a bolt-thru rear hub, everyone agreed that the rear end was super stiff.

Verdict

In a market segment where performance is a key factor the Prime-8 stands out, not only because this bike does what it was designed to - but also does so at a wallet friendly price (in downhill terms). Race tested and handcrafted for riders who demand quality is how I would describe the Prime-8, an added bonus is the array of custom options that you can choose.

A well designed, low maintenance downhill bike is now available - but place your order soon as the waiting period is about 6 weeks, which Patrick reckons should come down soon. This is our downhill bike of 2001.