Meet the Hammerhead 125
- Thread starter N8 v2.0
- Start date
Sheesh.
$2k!
I now its Ventana but 2 grand?
Pass.
$2k!
I now its Ventana but 2 grand?
Pass.
One of my riding buds has a Ventana Salty (which is what this bike looks to be). He seems to like it. Der hanger is made of warm butter thou. 
I looked at Ventana's site - it appears to be the exact bike as the '05 Salty.ROCKLAND said:One of my riding buds has a Ventana Salty (which is what this bike looks to be). He seems to like it. Der hanger is made of warm butter thou.
-S.S.-
holy headtube welds batman! looks pretty good though.
J
JRB
Guest
I'll bet the geometry is different.SkaredShtles said:
Agreed. If I'm paying 2k, it'd better be a 4 bar--none of this single pivot stuff.DHS said:
What makes this thing any better than a Kona that costs 1/3 as much?
J
JRB
Guest
The orange and the "V" in the rocker.Echo said:
If they paid Specialized for the Horst link pivot loction it would surely be a fantastic bike. The Salty I rode (to big for me but...) had a annoying suspension lockout in the rear when you braked going down. Something felt squirly in the rear end too. It may have been the light wheelbuild but still the same it felt loose. Nice welds though.....jdcamb
J
JRB
Guest
Ventana built the HH125 and Titus built the HH100X.mobius said:
*the RP3 doesn't have lockout, so I don't think it matters how the lever is placed. I wouldn't imagine it is an on the fly deal.
"We don't need no stinking (head) Badges" ...
but doesn't the 100x have a horst link? it's an entirely different frame imo.the Inbred said:well i still think it's ****in' sweet. $2k might be a hard pill to swallow, though, to be honest. it's been a toss-up between a 5 Spot and a HH100X for a few years, internally, but man...this frame....
Correct, there is no lockout, but rather it has three propedal modes(full, half, and fully open). But it is something that you would want to change on the fly. Maybe they reversed it to give the pix a cleaner look?loco said:
DHS said:
if you're charging 2k, you oughta add $25 and put a horst link on there.
and they get :nuts: for not using slotted or zip tie cable guides.
Someone pointed this thread out to me...
to answer a few questions:
1) it's made by Ventana for us, it's not simply a rebadged ElSalte
2) it's my geometry, different sizing, tt length, headtube, angles, everything
3) my tubespecs, straight guage tubing with more gussetts
4) my cable routing (since we build up a good percentage of the frames, we always cut the hose to length and routinely bore the cable stops out and run the line, to me, it's the only clean and right way to do it, same with the der stops, why do we have stops on bikes?, full length housing is such a better system on a mountain bike)
5) I speced quad bearings as standard as well as the RP3 as standard, price out an ElSlalte with a 5" rocker, quad bearings and the RP3... and when you take an ElSalte and put the 5" rocker and a 5" fork the BB height gets a lot higher than when in 4" mode, ours keeps the bb at what I feel is a good height, tall enough for clearance but low enough to retain good handling and a nice XC feel to it
6) why?
because I wanted a quicker, more precise handling 5" bike for tight and twisty singletrack than what's out there. There isn't (for my personal needs) a 5" bike we carried with a 23.5 tt and around a 43" wheelbase) I did the same thing with the HH100 (built by Titus), at the time, they didn't offer a 71/73 100mm fork Racerx, obviously, a lot of people bought the bike and love it.. Titus came out with their own even.. and we are still doing the 100x
some people thought it would be twitchy with a 71 HA with a 4" fork. To some, it may, but the vast majority of people loved the way the bike handles.
The same with this bike, it handles very, very nicely. I can take that bike out to Moab and bomb down porc rim or any dh I have been on in the mountains short of a full on "DH RACE" course... the stiff frame means it tracks well.. same with Ventanas, stiff
We carry Turner, I like the 5 Spot and have owned one, to ME, it's too long in the wheelbase for me and where I ride. I am 6' with a 33.5" inseam, I like a 23.5tt/120stem.
My HH100 has a 42.5" wheelbase, the med turner is too short in the tt, the large I can live with with 110 stem, but the wheelbase is 44.5"
To me and the tight stuff I ride all the time, it's too long, sure, I can get used to it and make it work, but it lacks that flickable, telepathic handling that I love.... the HH125 has the same basic sizing and feel of the hh100 but with more travel and only a 1/2" longer (43") wheelbase. It has that magic handling...
So.. while I am not "reinventing the wheel" so to speak, I am confident that while this isn't the bike for everyone, it will make a lot of people happy...
as for the price vs a Kona or whatever, only you can decide if it's worth it to you or not... I can tell you that at the small #s we will be doing, there's not a whole lot of profit involved, I make more selling a Turner, and even more selling an Ellsworth.. Just trying to create something a little different, create an different option... if you think I am doing this to get rich, you obviously don't know the bike market or me at all...
to answer a few questions:
1) it's made by Ventana for us, it's not simply a rebadged ElSalte
2) it's my geometry, different sizing, tt length, headtube, angles, everything
3) my tubespecs, straight guage tubing with more gussetts
4) my cable routing (since we build up a good percentage of the frames, we always cut the hose to length and routinely bore the cable stops out and run the line, to me, it's the only clean and right way to do it, same with the der stops, why do we have stops on bikes?, full length housing is such a better system on a mountain bike)
5) I speced quad bearings as standard as well as the RP3 as standard, price out an ElSlalte with a 5" rocker, quad bearings and the RP3... and when you take an ElSalte and put the 5" rocker and a 5" fork the BB height gets a lot higher than when in 4" mode, ours keeps the bb at what I feel is a good height, tall enough for clearance but low enough to retain good handling and a nice XC feel to it
6) why?
because I wanted a quicker, more precise handling 5" bike for tight and twisty singletrack than what's out there. There isn't (for my personal needs) a 5" bike we carried with a 23.5 tt and around a 43" wheelbase) I did the same thing with the HH100 (built by Titus), at the time, they didn't offer a 71/73 100mm fork Racerx, obviously, a lot of people bought the bike and love it.. Titus came out with their own even.. and we are still doing the 100x
some people thought it would be twitchy with a 71 HA with a 4" fork. To some, it may, but the vast majority of people loved the way the bike handles.
The same with this bike, it handles very, very nicely. I can take that bike out to Moab and bomb down porc rim or any dh I have been on in the mountains short of a full on "DH RACE" course... the stiff frame means it tracks well.. same with Ventanas, stiff
We carry Turner, I like the 5 Spot and have owned one, to ME, it's too long in the wheelbase for me and where I ride. I am 6' with a 33.5" inseam, I like a 23.5tt/120stem.
My HH100 has a 42.5" wheelbase, the med turner is too short in the tt, the large I can live with with 110 stem, but the wheelbase is 44.5"
To me and the tight stuff I ride all the time, it's too long, sure, I can get used to it and make it work, but it lacks that flickable, telepathic handling that I love.... the HH125 has the same basic sizing and feel of the hh100 but with more travel and only a 1/2" longer (43") wheelbase. It has that magic handling...
So.. while I am not "reinventing the wheel" so to speak, I am confident that while this isn't the bike for everyone, it will make a lot of people happy...
as for the price vs a Kona or whatever, only you can decide if it's worth it to you or not... I can tell you that at the small #s we will be doing, there's not a whole lot of profit involved, I make more selling a Turner, and even more selling an Ellsworth.. Just trying to create something a little different, create an different option... if you think I am doing this to get rich, you obviously don't know the bike market or me at all...
J
JRB
Guest
Well said, Charles.
That is a sweet bike, Charles. I really need to visit your shop and get fitted for my bike and check out that 125. Are you going to be around this weekend?
D
D
Charles, thank you. I have been thinking about wheelbase and head angle and you have helped my thoughts along. Geometry is an underestimated quantity, particularly in the MTB realm.
