#A1 RIDE DAZE MTB RIDE 2016 FULL#
#A1 RIDE DAZE MTB RIDE 2016 PLUS#

All I had on hand were high-end carbon wheels, so I canвЂ™t really say exactly how the Portal A2 would ride. It was less mob-tastic through scary rock gardens, but so much better everywhere else. Instead of being lethargic and hard to pop, it became far easier to maneuver. The Portal came to life in its handling, too. All of a sudden, I could accelerate the way the suspension design is capable of.

#A1 RIDE DAZE MTB RIDE 2016 PLUS#

But also, like, why would the higher-end spec be the 27-plus bike? Rather, why would there be a 27-plus spec at all? IsnвЂ™t plus only for hardtails and e-bikes nowadays?Д«ecause this A1 is not how steak is done, I decided to set it up with a regular set of 29-inch wheels and tires, and boy did it make a world of difference. Not because the suspension wasnвЂ™t lively, but because this bike, the Portal A1+ has heavy, 27.5x2.8-inch tires, paired with not-so-light (but still nice) Mavic XA35 wheels.ДЇor the sake of honesty, IвЂ™ll admit that when requesting the bike, I didnвЂ™t realize it wasnвЂ™t a 29er, as the more affordable Portal A2 is. The bike stuck to the ground in all the wrong ways. Or, at least it would be if this particular Portal didnвЂ™t take you to another dimension where all trails are covered by an inch of molasses. It actually lets the rider feel a little more of the trail minutia, so if that hovering feeling from the aforementioned brands is too vague and floaty for you, the feel of the Portal and 3VO could be what youвЂ™re after. It has a touch less of that buttery-smooth, effortless off-the-top suppleness to it. ItвЂ™s what we at Bike refer to as the вЂњhoverbike effect,вЂќ though the Portal doesnвЂ™t hover quite like an Ibis, Pivot or Evil. It behaved much like weвЂ™ve come to expect from designs with such claims. It sat happily in its sag point, patiently awaiting chunder. The suspension wasnвЂ™t vague or unsupported, though it wasnвЂ™t overly progressive either. There was no annoying pedal feedback, and no noticeable brake jack. It pedaled with the same efficiency at 30-percent sag as it did with 25 percent. Some bikes have a narrow sag window where the bike performs the way it should, but the Portal has a more forgiving range. The Portal pedals very well, with no lockout required, ever, and as claimed it was never overly concerned with how much sag I was running. WeвЂ™ve all heard all this junk before, right? But what matters at the end of the day is if CurrieвЂ™s hot new recipe makes a better bike. If youвЂ™re sensing a slight bit of sarcasm, itвЂ™s not directed at Jamis, so much as the entire industry. You know, like what Specialized has been saying about FSR since the mid вЂ™90s. If those terms donвЂ™t mean squat to you, it basically means that the movement of the suspension is indifferent to pedaling and braking forces. Both the anti-rise and anti-squat values are right up near 100 percent through all 130 millimeters of rear-wheel travel in the case of the Portal. The 3VO design is supposed to pedal efficiently regardless of where you are in the travel or your gear selection. Which weвЂ™ve certainly never heard before. What this apparently does is make a bike that does everything flawlessly. What separates this design from other dual-link, virtual-pivot linkages, is the placement of the instant center behind the bottom bracket, with a path that is aligned with the chain angle throughout the travel. Which, of course, is what every company says. According to JamisвЂ™ website, itвЂ™s вЂњthe single most capable suspension design ever brought to market.вЂќ The design is called 3VO, or Three Variable Optimized. About the only good thing we had to say was that Jamis bolted good parts on the thing.Д«ut that was then, and this is now-and now Jamis is licensing an all-new suspension design developed and patented by industry veteran Chris Currie of Speadgoat Cycles.

In the roundtable video we made, which is perhaps the worst one weвЂ™ve ever done, Travis Engel and I are awkwardly sitting there, trying to think of something positive to say while Mike Ferrentino goes on about the bikeвЂ™s bobby, outdated suspension and flexy frame. Some of us said hardly anything at all, actually. The last full-suspension Jamis we tested was the Defcon, back in 2016, and it did not receive much praise from the crew. JamisвЂ™ suspension bikes on the other hand? Not such high marks. The East Coast company has put out some seriously good steel frames that have earned high marks on BikeвЂ™s pages through the years. Jamis has often been on our shortlist of brands to reach out to, but usually only when conjuring up a group of hardtails to test.

#A1 RIDE DAZE MTB RIDE 2016 FULL#

This is the Jamis Portal, and as you can probably see, itвЂ™s a full suspension bike.

A1 ride daze mtb ride 2016