Aaron sent me away with a size 17 Dragon 650 and it fit great at my 5'9" height. Prior to leaving his shop, Aaron took some time to adjust the handlebars and dial in the White Brother Loop fork (more on the fork later) to make sure everything was good to go for my test ride at Nassahegan State Forest in Burlington CT.
I was able to go for a solid 2.5 hour test ride and the bike performed great. The steel frame felt very quick, and snappy and the ride was nice, not a harsh feeling to this frame in my humble opinion. I think Jamis did a great job on the geometry of this bike. The 68 degree head tube angle was nice and comfortable, yet the bike felt extremely responsive, and not at all slack or sluggish feeling. Yet at the same time the 120mm of travel up front was a really nice "sweet spot" for trail riding. The bike was very quick to accelerate (possibly due to nicely spec'd American Classic wheels paired up with 2.1 Nevegal tires), and it felt very nicely balanced in the air when I was able to launch it off a few natural trail jumps and whatnot. Traction from the 2.1 Nevegals was excellent right now as our trails are now littered with leaves (which can make things a bit slick at times).
Climbing on this bike was also very very good. Even with 120mm of front end travel and a slack 68 degree HT angle, the Jamis tracked well on our short steep, techy climbs at Nassahegan. I never felt the front wheel wander and I was able to sit and spin up climbs very effectively and efficiently. It was a bit of a different feel for me to sit and spin up stuff as I normally ride single speed, but I enjoyed the climbing ability of this geared Dragon 650 immensely.
Now about that fork! The White Brothers fork is the real deal. One of the nicest forks I've ridden - and that was with it coming right out of the box. I was the first guy to ride this bike. The Loop rides a bit high in it's travel which was nice for this type of bike in my opinion. I never felt the fork pogo-ing or anything during the ride. It was great while climbing, and there was no major fork dive whatsoever while negotiating techy/tricky trail features at Nassahegan. The fork was just super smooth and sort of just disappeared beneath me as I put the Drgaon 650 through it's paces. The 15mm thru axle front end allowed the bike to steer incredibly well and there was little or no fork deflection under rough rocky terrain and through some of the longer rock garden sections of trail on the loop I took. Really came away impressed with the Loop! If you have a chance to check one out - do it!
Being a single speeder for the most part over the last few years, I rode the Dragon 650 in the middle ring the whole ride - and if I had one of my own I think I'd build it as a 1x9. Our trails around here don't really call for a big ring for trail riding, and even a granny isn't necessary except for a few climbs (or when fatigue sets in). The drive train worked very well (combination of Deore level cranks and an SLX rear derailleur) and shifting was crisp and precise. For other parts of the country the three chainrings up front might be great (or possibly a 2 chain ring-bashguard combo would be excellent as well).
As I said, the Dragon comes set up with 2.1 Nevegals and they hooked up great in our fall conditions. I think 2.3s would fit, but there isn't gobs of tire clearance in back. However the 2.1s are a good pairing with the American Classic 650b wheelset that comes stock on the bike. The 16.73" chainstay length is sweet. Great for getting the front wheel up and onto trail obstacles, great for wheeling drops, great for climbing. As I mentioned earlier, the front end never wandered on climbs and the bike has a nice upright comfortable riding cockpit position - definite trail bike geometry. It is great bike geometry for long rides, but also a helluva lotta fun for a quick 2.5 hour trail ride as well. With a swap of some components like cranks, stem, bars, seatpost the bike could definitely be lightened up and still raced if one were to choose to do so.
While riding this bike, I kept thinking how perfect it would be for someplace like the Kingdom Trails in Vermont or some other trail network in the USA that offers miles and miles and miles of sweet singletrack to ride - linking them together for an epic day or long weekend in the saddle. This bike would just kill it in East Burke at the Kingdom Trails - I definitely would love to spend a weekend up there on this thing. I think it would be a blast.
Overall I came away very impressed with the Jamis Dragon 650. The Dragon has been a highlight of the Jamis mountain bike lineup for years and years. In fact, when mountain bikers hear the word Jamis - the Dragon is probably the frame that comes to mind first. They've been doing this Reynolds 853 frame for a long time, and this newest iteration in 650b guise is spot on for this wheelsize. The frame is well built, the paint is a stellar Shamrock green metallic color with just the right amount of logos (not overdone) and it has a classic trail bike hardtail look to it.
I find it refreshing that a company like Jamis is committing serious resources to the 650b platform and the 2012 Jamis Dragon is an excellent example of how serious they are about the merits of 650b bikes.
Overall it was a grin inducing 2.5 hours of trail riding for me. I want to thank Aaron again for providing the demo bike and I hope his offer stands for more weekend loans on the Dragon 650 as I'd like to take it to a few other Connecticut Trail systems to further my testing of the bike.
Pros:
Great feeling Steel Frame
Excellent Trail bike Geometry
Nice American Classic wheelset
White Brothers Loop fork (Stellar)
Cons:
Stock grips are just so so - but nothing to worry about
WTB Silverado - not friendly to this rider's sit bones at all
A few heavy components (Syncros Stem, Bars, Seatpost, crankset)
Overall Impression/Grade
If I were to give the Dragon 650 a letter grade - I'd definitely give it an A grade for the first marking period. Here's hoping that I get a chance to put it through it's paces for a couple more marking periods before all is said and done.
9 comments:
Sweet. I really like the Jamis Steel bikes, I rode the 29er dragon for a season and should never have sold it. I got a chance to ride the Jamis 650B Nemesis last week, (demo bike too) but I must admit I did not feel the love. I really like the Nevegal tires, and the 2x10 drivetrain which i had no prior experience with. I found the 19 in frame quite small and would consider sizing up if you are between frames. Jamis does have a great pricepoint and if you find the 650b wheel size suits your needs then these are great offerings.
Gary - could you expand on what you didn't like (love) about the Nemesis? The only negative you mentioned was frame size?
Thanks.
I've been riding a Jamis 650 B1 since the middle of the summer. My other bikes are all 26" dual suspension. I was curious about the wheel size and had to give it a try.
The trails we ride are are two hours North of New York City in the Hudson Valley and Catskill region.
I swapped and flipped the stem for l20mm length. With that the cockpit felt spot on. The fit was comfortable I liked Jamis's grips with built in barend nubs.
On long technical climbs the bike was energetic. It absorbed the rocks followed the trail and never once felt slow going up. Similarly on my 26" I may hit something to the jolt the bike and throw me of course or stop the bike entirely.
Going downhill wow this a fun bike. It is very playful and flickable like my 26" but when rolling over square edge hits or roots the bike simply rolls over with minimal spikes to the handlebar.
If looking for solid performer whether your trails are rocky or not the 650 B1 is worth a look. Jamis did a good job of keeping pedal induce movement to a minimum.
Maybe this is a stupid question....
I know that many have converted their 26" wheelsize frames to 650B.
Could this Dragon frame convert backwards to a 26" wheel?
I'm intrigued by the 650b, but if it never really pans out I think it would be nice to know I still have an awesome steel frame for readily available 26" wheels/tires, etc.
Thanks
According to the spec sheet - standover height seems pretty tall for a 17" trail bike.
I'm also 5'9" - could you comment on the standover. I definitely like significant room. I know that doesn't matter to others though.
My absolute dream hardtail!!! Steel, 120mm, slack HA, short CS and most importantly, 650B!!! Spendy though.
Thanks for the review =)
I'm in between sizes on this frame. What would you suggest, 15"+80mm stem, or 17"+60mm stem? TT clearance would be an issue on the 17".
FYI - I had no standover issues at all on the 17" frame size at 5'9" tall.
@el:
Did you get the bike? I too am wondering if a 15" with a longer stem would fit me better than a 17". I'm 5'9" and TT clearance is an issue for me on the trails I ride. 31" is pretty tall, esp for a 17" frame. I also think I'd be too stretched out on the 17". I want this as a trail bike and want the more upright riding position. Wish I could throw a leg over one...
whats the dropout 142x12 or still 135x10?
Post a Comment