This web page was created programmatically, to learn the article in its authentic location you’ll be able to go to the hyperlink bellow:
https://theradavist.com/stooge-cycles-mk7-review
and if you wish to take away this text from our web site please contact us
After driving the Stooge Cycles MK7 (£820 body and fork) since March on every thing from quick circulation to chunky hillsides and steep alpine terrain, John has developed fairly a keenness for the bike. Read on for his in-depth assessment.
Do you want tech? Suspension, kinematics charts, lighter, sooner, extra precision-based developments? Better dampers? Tune, tune, tune! Or are you a soul rider who prefers issues from an easier time, whereas prepared to make just a few concessions, like 12-speed drivetrains, disc brakes, and maybe a dropper put up, too? It doesn’t matter who you might be or what varieties of bikes you want; all of us cease to admire a well-designed inflexible MTB. There’s one thing refreshing and sincere about them.
Steve Cook’s 1980 Cook Brothers Racing Cruiser morphed right into a Klunker with gears
The origin of the inflexible MTB might be traced again to the Seventies. Much just like the music of the period, the ’70s introduced an evolution of the grime bicycle. In California, these bikes have been known as klunkers. They had gears, brakes, and weighed so much, however have been enjoyable to trip flat-out down hearth roads.
Born round 1974, these dirt-centric bicycles appeared to embody the instability of the world on the time, rising out of just about a decade of unrest; they mirrored the counterculture of DIYers who sought a change in how they rode and seen the bicycle. They sought to get away from the cops, the automobiles, and the concrete – established order be damned.
Stooge Cycles, impressed by the American rock band the Stooges, embodies the identical vibrant, boisterous, and groundbreaking path because the band. Andrew Stevenson needed a contemporary bike with a classic silhouette and couldn’t discover something in the marketplace. So he made his personal. The first Stooge prototype body landed in his arms late in 2013. A couple of months later, the primary manufacturing run of frames had landed from Taiwan. From that preliminary batch in 2014, Stooge has slowly grown with every “mark” or mannequin by means of peacemeal, incremental revisions. Andy has grown his model in a true-to-form punk rock, grassroots trend ever since.
The Stooges fashioned in Ann Arbor, Michigan, in 1967 by singer Iggy Pop, guitarist Ron Asheton, drummer Scott Asheton, and bassist Dave Alexander. On their primitive and crudely psychedelic masterpiece, Fun House, Iggy Pop can’t assist howling and grunting as if he’s forgotten the English language solely – or maybe he can’t discover the phrases to explain his feelings. Their proto-punk music continuously balances upon a precipice, instilling a sense of instability. Iggy’s vocal melee continuously rubs towards the grain of Ron Asheton’s echoey riffs. There’s noticeable friction there.
The late Nineteen Sixties and early Seventies have been peak hippie in America: LSD, Woodstock, and the Vietnam War. Rather than lean into the hippie shit, The Stooges projected the uncooked, primitive, unfiltered power of the period deep into the grooves of their vinyl information. Peace and struggle. Love and hate. These dichotomies and the feelings they impressed have been distilled down into 36 minutes and 35 seconds of chaotic power in Fun House. Over fifty years later, this chaos is maybe why the album holds up so properly.
Stooge Cycles, based mostly in Shropshire, England, has leaned closely into throwback taxonomies. The UK model makes quite a lot of klunker-inspired fashions, together with Tay’s fav the Scrambler, the Speedbomb, Dirt Tracker, Rambler, and the MK7. The MK7 is maybe probably the most unique-looking of all of the fashions, with a brilliant compact entrance triangle that flows straight into the seat stays, which abruptly bend to clear massive, fats rubber.
Riding klunkers – or inflexible MTBs – in an period of high-tech full-suspension bikes would possibly really feel old-fashioned to some, similar to driving primitive singletrack that hasn’t been sanitized like bike park blue circulation traces. But there’s one thing to be honored by this custom of driving under-equipped bicycles down barely inappropriate terrain.
Bouncing over rocks, bounding throughout roots, and slicing by means of off-camber corners, the circulation state achieved by piloting such a motorcycle is reliant on just a few components. But first, earlier than we get into all that, let’s try the main points of the MK7 mannequin.
The MK7 is the seventh iteration of the flagship Stooge mannequin. It has comparable DNA to the late Seventies and early Eighties cruisers. My greatest points with bikes just like the Pro Cruiser or different three-bar frames are the sizing. Early cruisers got here in a single measurement, and also you match the bike based mostly on seat put up extension and cockpit setup, typically affixing bike bars to a BMX stem to get sufficient handlebar stack top.
For larger riders, the sizing of these kinds of bikes typically makes us really feel like a circus bear driving a unicycle. Unfortunately for us, bikes just like the Pro Cruiser, Cook Brothers, and others, together with the earlier Stooge bikes, have been all simply too small.
When the MK7 was introduced, with it got here a measurement XL, or an 20″ body, as Stooge calls it. Looking on the numbers, it nonetheless seemed too small for me. As a rider who has a saddle top of 80-83 cm, relying on seat angle, and prefers a 666 mm efficient high tube, the geo wasn’t very best. Yet, I felt like with an extended stem, high-rise bars, and an extended dropper, I may make it work.
Each model of the MK mannequin options slight refinements. Tweaks. Nudges. Updates. The MK7 represents Andy’s mind-set on the time.
With the information of the MK7, I reached out to Stooge Cycles and requested if Andy could be down for a assessment. He obliged and shipped a body out, lightning quick, like one in all Asheton’s riffs.
Looking on the aspect profile of the MK7, the continual line that’s fashioned by the highest tube into the seat keep is probably the most outstanding element. You would possibly name this the parti of the bike. Something drawn, rapidly whipped down on paper; a sketch of the elevation of the body. To make it work requires some cautious planning, although.
Stooge achieved this through the use of a twin high tube design, much like what Retrotec does on the Funduro. Then, the dual high tubes cut up across the seat tube, providing plentiful clearance for the large 29 x 2.8″ rubber, earlier than kinking barely for disc brake caliper clearance on the dropout. The chainstays, then, full the triangle as they meet the eccentric backside bracket and the drive-side plate yoke.
However, one bummer in regards to the tremendous compact nature of this steady high tube to seat keep line is the only water bottle. Part of me needs the top tube would come up just a few centimeters, permitting the seat stays to rise a bit of, making room for at the least a second small bottle. The different a part of me actually loved having the über compact triangle for hucking the bike and having additional room to tuck or dip the body in tight and twisty tech.
For singlespeed riders, the MK7 has an eccentric backside bracket. Yet, for these of us who prefer to trip with gears, the underside bracket gives different alternatives. Initially, I had the underside bracket rotated to the underside of the shell, which made the bike really feel extra planted, however I ultimately caught with the underside bracket being on the high, which provided a extra playful and poppy trip high quality.
You can get about 20 mm of adjustment in any path with the eccentric shell. Once you’ve landed in your very best place, two beefy bolts maintain the eccentric components in place with two 6 mm Allen key heads.
Harkening again to the MK4, Stooge Cycles introduced again the bi-plane fork design for the MK7. Tom Ritchey was certainly not the primary individual to make a bi-plane fork, however he definitely made it a well-known element within the authentic MountainBikes he designed in California. His iconic forks, with clearance for giant, fats tires and plentiful rake, make these authentic Ritchey frames trip like a dream. They flex over ruts and corrugations, and produce a pointy point of interest for the entrance of the bike, nearly at battle together with his Bullmoose handlebars.
Seeing the MK7 don this traditional klunker element made the bike really feel much more retro and trendy. Yet, the fork is fairly heavy. Okay – it’s a tank. It’s not the flexiest of metal forks, nevertheless it wanted to be beefed up a bit on the crown. You can thank guys like Jeff Kendall-Weed for actually placing these bikes by means of the paces. Jeff discovered that the earlier bi-plane forks have been simply not sturdy sufficient for actual mountain biking. So Andy redesigned the fork, making it extra strong. He may need overdone it barely, although. A majority of the heft feels to return from the crown, which suggests it’s constructed to take a beating!
Andy labored on creating a stout bi-plane fork for the MK7, and to be sincere, it appears approach nicer than the MK6’s segmented fork. There’s one thing visually soothing in regards to the clear rake. This fork’s rake is available in at 65 mm! This insane offset actually places the brake caliper nearly parallel with the bottom. This design was intentional. In doing so, it isolates the braking forces and significantly reduces brake flutter. Combined with the clear, tapered blades, it’s a really attractive element.
The fork’s heft or beefiness would possibly flip away your common weight weenie. Yet, for an enormous man like me, who likes to trip with a sure bull-headed intentionality, I used to be instantly in love with the dealing with and really feel of the bike. At 200 kilos with my driving package on, I can acquire momentum on descents, and at most high (protected) velocity, I didn’t assume twice about bump leaping a root into a tough, unfastened nook, time and time once more.
Aside from the fork to finish all forks, maybe probably the most alluring a part of the MK7 is the geometry. To simplify the numbers, it contains a high-trail entrance finish and a tucked rear finish with a steep-ish seat angle. Initially, I used to be anxious that the steeper seat angle could be a little bit of an ass-hatchet. On a inflexible bike, you’re locked into place with out sagging right into a rear shock or entrance fork for consolation. But it ended up driving fairly easily. No ass was hatcheted.
For the entrance of the bike, there are methods to make the trip high quality extra comfy, which requires some rigorously chosen elements.
Square taper cranks, cable-actuated drivetrain, moto handlebars, WTB grips, silver wheels, and a few Seventies Magura brake mud covers. I actually leaned into the retro vibes the MK7 evokes with this frameset-up construct spec.
Stooge despatched over a body and fork solely, leaving it as much as me to assemble the entire bike. Pulling some components from numerous builds and digging into my components bin, I assembled a largely silver construct. I feel it appears nice, though I’m kicking myself for not getting one of many PNW Components silver 220 mm droppers within the 31.6⌀ diameter in time. They offered out rapidly!
For the cockpit, a Paul Boxcar stem with a Doom Bars shim for the Stooge Tracker 85 titanium bars. Paul brief attain, brief pull levers, wrapped in classic, NOS Magura mud covers from the Seventies, and WTB’s grips, impressed by the unique turned-down Magura Pow-R grips. I’ve these working with an nearly immediate chunk, which modulates as you pull by means of the journey of the lever’s attain. For actually steep sections, I like grabbing on with two fingers. For a lighter really feel on extra flowy trails, only one finger suffices.
The drivetrain consists of Paul 100% Cranks, an AARN 28t ring, and a Phil Wood sq. taper backside bracket, slammed to the cups. Look at how tucked these arms are! I’ve acquired a bunch of SRAM X0-1 mechs and cassettes that I purchased from a motorcycle store, for builds similar to this.
Seeking sturdy wheels that may endure the abuse of inflexible driving, the Halo Vapour 35 wheels have exceeded each expectation. With a double-walled and eyeleted design, huge inner width, and neo-classic stylings, the $611 wheels have gone above and past what a sub-$1000 wheelset would endure. I’ve but to need to true them they usually stay hop-free, after 5 months of strong driving. On a inflexible bike nonetheless. Our native distributor, BTI, brings them into the USA through Ison within the UK. More on them to return.
Here’s the place my construct spec brought about pause. I hadn’t deliberate on taking this bike into our alpine terrain, pondering it could be too rocky and steep for a inflexible bike and understanding earlier exploits into mentioned terrain on inflexible bikes at all times resulted in excessive discomfort. So, after I constructed the MK7, I used 160 mm rotors, pondering the bike would dangle largely within the decrease elevations.
A inflexible bike with flexy bars and fats tires will make you query your loyalties to suspension and different components specs. And the MK7 definitely made me query if I used to be “over rotoring” my bikes. These cable-actuated Paul Klampers had loads of stopping energy on these teeny – by comparability – 160 mm rotors. Even after driving a path with a nickname of “Scorched Rotors” on Strava, because it loses 1200′ in a mile, I by no means misplaced my stopping energy. Nor did the brakes scream as soon as they heated up.
160 mm rotors are usually used on gravel bikes. How the hell have been they greater than sufficient energy for my 200 lb ass? Well, they have been. Perhaps a few of it has to do with my braking fashion and a few has to do with the modulation and setup of the brief attain, brief pull Paul levers, nevertheless it nonetheless made me rethink my braking technique shifting ahead on cable-actuated brakes.
The MK7 is a stiff bike. Its body is heavy, stout, constructed to resist a 200-pound man like me railing it by means of rocks, over water bars, bounding down, hitting in poor health shitty booters, and sending it over trailside boulders. I discuss so much about metal frames flexing, or feeling like a spring when loaded on the aspect. However, like all supplies, metal can be engineered to be much less flexy, extra strong, i.e., stiff.
Getting the bike dialed in took a number of work, significantly on the cockpit, earlier than my wrists and forearms would permit me to wield it accurately. I attempted quite a lot of aluminum bars, all of which have been nice on extra flowy, XC-oriented trails, however ended up inflicting a number of discomfort on longer rocky and tough descents.
Then, Andy despatched over the Tracker 85 bars in titanium, and the bike remodeled.
Stooge provides the MK7 a 2.8″ 29er tire clearance, rim width relying. On the Vapour 35 rims, which measure 35 mm exterior and 30 mm internally, the two.8″ Teravail Oxbow tires have loads of house within the rear triangle. On the entrance finish, Andy likes to suggest the three.25″ Duro Crux tires, of which I’m not a fan.
I discover them to be too bulbous and gradual within the corners, having tried one on my Ti Sklar PBJ previously. I don’t desire a plus bike to trip like a steamroller; I would like to have the ability to lower and slice by means of traces.
Higher quantity has a restrict for me. Too a lot quantity and it turns into too cumbersome. But I additionally ought to be aware that I’m not utilizing it as an expedition fats bike. It’s a path bike for me.
Once I had my arms on the Tracker 85 bars, I didn’t really feel the necessity for any extra front-end compliance.
Combined with the best PSI for my tires, the Tracker 85 bars remodeled the MK7 into a correct all-mountain ally. Suddenly, I wasn’t afraid to raise off the basis ball on the high of a chute, plowing into rocks at full velocity. Or bump-jumping a few of my favourite path rocks. I rapidly let go of the brakes and discovered to rail the bike, discovering its good circulation state.
Letting go of the brakes like my hardtail and full suspension bikes, ready for the final minute to pull them by means of corners, the MK7 lastly got here alive.
I’ll say that the bars have slipped just a few instances. Usually on larger hits or longer, jarring descents, and I acquired within the behavior of driving with a torque wrench to re-torque the Paul Boxcar faceplate to the really useful 4 Nm. Unlike my Ti Doom Bars, the Tracker 85 bars lack knurling on the clamp, so there’s not so much for the shim and stem to “bite” into. After a fast telephone name with California Travis from Paul, he really useful carbon paste, which stopped the slipping difficulty solely. So TL;DR: make sure to carbon paste your bars!
A couple of weeks in the past, I used to be driving with a gaggle of buddies on our weekly Sunday trip, on a route that begins above 11,000′ and rapidly drops 1,200′ in a mile. All of which is miserably full of soccer ball-sized rocks that continuously break away from their jail of caked grime, and tumble below you with the slightest bump of your tire. Halfway by means of the trip, all of them commented on how a lot enjoyable I seemed like I used to be having on the bike. “You’re really railing that bike,” somebody famous.
In truth, I didn’t really feel like I used to be going that a lot slower through the descent than I’d on my full-squish. Sure, I didn’t take the very same line selections as a motorcycle with suspension, however I wasn’t not having enjoyable. And I used to be solely going noticeably slower by means of legit tech sections with rocky or rooty drops, choosing some simpler traces.
It’s essential to have comfy contact factors, with the best PSI in tires, to completely get pleasure from a inflexible bike in tough terrain. Once I unlocked this power-up, I felt like I may get within the zone and actually push the bike.
And I used to be undoubtedly quick on the climbs.
Much of our climbing right here within the Southern Rockies consists of rocky, steep terrain, with tight switchbacks carved into the mountainsides for hikers. While we’ve a fireplace highway climb that terminates on the high of the bike-legal land, I actually want to climb singletrack for a similar causes because the early klunker pilots: Away from the cops, the automobiles, and the concrete.
With a 74º seat angle, I do need to scooch ahead greater than regular on the MK7 than on different bikes in my steady with steeper seat angles. Yet because of the additional match extension afforded by the longer 80 mm stem, I nonetheless have loads of room on this comparatively brief high tube. Since the top angle is 66º, once more toeing the road of too slack or too steep, and the fork contains a whopping 65 mm of offset, the MK7 doesn’t get wheel floppy on the climbs.
Instead, you’re feeling planted, comfy, and the bike walks up even the jankiest of rock gardens and steep canyons. Part of that is because of the geometry, however a number of it additionally has to do with the general wheel diameter, afforded by the 29 x 2.8″ rubber.
The full bike weighs in at a stout 37 lbs, which is heavier than both of my full-suspension bikes. My Cotic FlareMax, with its 125/140 suspension, weighs 34.5 lbs on the nostril; my Murmur in 120/130 mode is 35.5 lbs now.
Some folks say that inflexible bikes don’t endure the identical “energy loss” from having suspension. I nonetheless really feel such as you climb sooner general on singletrack with a shock and fork open. Or, maybe you’re extra comfy, leading to a faster-feeling climbing scenario. Plus, the traction offered because the wheel travels to take care of contact is simply extra secure-feeling general. To every their very own, eh?
Regardless of what camp you land in, bike weight isn’t as massive of a problem as folks make it out to be. Particularly on a MTB with fashionable gearing. Rotational weight – i.e. heavy wheels and tires – could make a motorcycle really feel sluggish, however body weight is moot. Until it’s a must to raise the bike over fell bushes or up stairs. The MK7’s full body weight – like my construct’s aspect profile and its mile-high seatpost – solely bothered me on paper. When I rode the rattling factor, it now not grew to become a priority.
When a motorcycle has however three sizes and is predicted to suit riders of all heights, it may possibly get a bit of funky one finish of the match spectrum. To be sincere, I wasn’t tremendous eager on how the MK7 checked out first. It seemed lanky with my mile-high seatpost and an extended stem. Then I rode it with the best gear, and it got here alive. This spec realization took just a few weeks to iron out, however now, I’m torn between grabbing the MK7 or one in all my suspension bikes after I trip. On one hand, it makes me take completely different traces and push my skillset. On the opposite hand, I’m nonetheless getting bumped round so much on the path.
There is not any respite on a inflexible bike.
However, on these days while you discover your psychological circulation state, the MK7 creates a symbiotic system of shred. Those afternoons are a few of my most memorable on a motorcycle this summer season.
The Stooge Cycles MK7 is a fuckin wild and unusual hen, similar to the band The Stooges. It’s a boisterously loud counterstatement to the established order. Its phenotypical taxonomy is extra Seventies than 2020s. While it’s not the lightest inflexible chassis, it makes up for the heft with a bomber metal fork. When constructed as much as permit for a tall rider, it may possibly look a bit awkward. But that thought utterly disappears when you hop on it for a pedal.
Much like The Stooges’ music, the MK7 is equally vibrant and boisterous feeling. Ya gotta hand it to Stooge Cycles on this one. It’s so good that the following mannequin will stay unchanged. Save for 3 new colours. Look for the Stooge MK8 in Spring of 2026.
Check out extra at Stooge Cycles, and plenty of because of Kyle Klain for the driving pictures!
This web page was created programmatically, to learn the article in its authentic location you’ll be able to go to the hyperlink bellow:
https://theradavist.com/stooge-cycles-mk7-review
and if you wish to take away this text from our web site please contact us
This web page was created programmatically, to learn the article in its authentic location you…
This web page was created programmatically, to learn the article in its unique location you…
This web page was created programmatically, to learn the article in its unique location you…
This web page was created programmatically, to learn the article in its authentic location you…
This web page was created programmatically, to learn the article in its unique location you…
This web page was created programmatically, to learn the article in its authentic location you'll…