I’ve always appreciated the unique look of Diamondback’s Knucklebox suspension, and having had a great ride on a 26” Sortie at Sea Otter a few years ago, I was eager to get on a couple more of Diamondback’s rigs.
The Mission
The Mission is Diamondback’s rendition of the all-mountain 26” wheeled bike. With a full 6-inches of travel front and back, a 67-degree headtube angle, a beefy 6061-T6 aluminum frame, tapered headtube, ISCG 05 tabs, and thru-axles front and back, this is a burly bike that wants to play rough.
Out on the trail, Diamondback’s claim of providing a “do-it-all bike” that climbs “with XC pedaling efficiency” and descends with “plushness like that of a downhill rig” falls a little flat. I found that the bike really opened up on the descents, plowing through rock gardens, off of jump lips, and down drops with absolute ease. But the climbing characteristics were anything but “XC.” As I normally expect from a bike with 6” of travel and a 67-degree headtube angle, the front end wanted to wander on the climbs, and the pedaling platform, while totally respectable for an all-mountain rig, was anything but cross-country efficient.
In short, I think the Mission functions well as an all-mountain rig, but as a do-it-all bike it doesn’t really fit the bill. Perhaps with more time to fine-tune the cockpit to my body and personal preferences and more time to spend tuning the rear shock perfectly, some of those climbing defects could be mitigated–but only a long-term test would tell for sure.
Sortie 29er
After the Mission I decided to swing a leg over the Sortie 29er. Having thoroughly enjoyed my test ride of the Sortie 26er a couple years ago at Sea Otter, I was excited to ride the 29er, and especially to compare it to the Yeti SB-95 I had ridden earlier in the day.
Sporting many of the same frame characteristics as the Mission, the Sortie is a trail-oriented bike with a 69.5 degree headtube angle and 120 mm of travel front and back. Out on the trail, the Sortie definitely showed its XC heritage with fast acceleration on the climbs, a firm pedaling platform, and great momentum along the singletrack. The big wheels and 5” of suspension came out to play on several gnarly rock gardens and harsh G-outs in the bottoms of the gullies. Based on my personal riding preferences and where I normally ride, I found myself thinking that the Sortie 29er would fit my riding style very well!
Knucklebox Suspension on the Sortier 29er
Compared to the Yeti SB-95, the Sortie felt more XC-oriented, thanks in part to a one degree steeper headtube angle, a little less suspension, and slightly narrower tires. However, with the addition of a fatter tire up front and a dropper post, the Sortie could quickly gain a rowdier disposition–sorta like getting a tattoo and a piercing.
However, I did notice one issue over the course of my test ride: the rear tire bottoms out on the seat tube of the bike. I could distinctly hear the “brrrrrrap” buzz on several harsh G-outs and bigger drops. The shock O-ring hadn’t blown off, but it was right at the end of the shock stroke. On the one hand, it’s nice to know that you’re successfully getting full travel out of the rear shock. The harsh bottom was probably due to improper sag, but even with proper sag it is conceivable to use the entire shock stroke on bigger hits. If the tire was to contact the frame every time the entire shock stroke was used, I’d say that’s an issue.
The Mason
Jeff took a short test ride on the Diamondback Mason–here are his thoughts.
So the Mason is Diamondback’s “all-mountain 29er hardtail” which sounds like an oxymoron but it’s actually a really interesting concept. With a slack 66.5-degree headtube and 140mm of travel up front this isn’t like any other hardtail 29er out there. In keeping with the all-mountain theme, the bike also sports wide, 740mm bars and a short stem. The Mason even features a sloping top-tube an a 1-by drivetrain.
Right out of the gate the Mason cockpit convinced me I was riding an all-mountain bike. In fact it wasn’t until I got into some rockier descents that I remembered I was on a hardtail. Unfortunately my test ride was cut short due to a flat tire but I gained a healthy respect for the bike. The Mason is designed to be a fun bike to ride and it seems to deliver a fairly faithful all-mountain experience on a hardtail frame. Crazy.
Bottom Line
With any short-term test, it’s hard to get a true feel for a bike—which is why we at Singletracks enjoy doing long-term reviews. Perhaps some of the minor issues mentioned above could easily be resolved with more time to tune the bikes in. Only a long-term review would tell. But just remember—like I said, any negatives I mentioned were minor issues and did little to detract from the overall excellent ride quality of these mountain bikes!
Related posts:
Subscribe in a reader
Tire rubbing the frame is a pretty big issue IMO. It’ll wear through eventually. Wonder if the tires used at outdoor demo are the same as the stock spec, or if they put something more aggressive on for the demo to better suit the terrain?
The tires definitely weren’t aggressive. In fact, I would have preferred more aggressive tires (at least up front) on this bike.
Is the Sortie the second all-mountain hardtail you’ve reviewed?
Does it seem like there are more all-mountain hardtails out there?
The am hardtail is the mason, and I’ve heard rumors Of other companies doing them, but I’m pretty sure it’s the only one that Jeff has ridden.
Canfield makes a few AM-ish hardtails as well.
Kona Honzo.
Ha ha! My bad. Too many bike reviews for one blog post
Evil Sovereign
Orange Crush. Okay, I’m done now.
Wow ok! Pretty sure we need a 12 person crew next year, and even then we wouldn’t be able to cover everything!! It was a great time, though.
@jared13, we’re all replying to mtbgreg surmising whether there are other hardtail AM bikes.
Transition TransAM