BEN’S PRIVATEER 141 ÖHLINS
MONTH 3: Ben ponders the weight and weight distribution of the 141, but raises more questions than answers…
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Given that this bike and my previous longtermer, a Kona Process 134 Supreme, are both 29er trail bikes with similar amounts of travel, it’s quite astonishing just how different they are in terms of attitude and execution. The Kona was very traditional in the way it rode, the high-end build and carbon frame making for a relatively lightweight and agile bike. The 141 Öhlins is the polar opposite. The burlier build gives it an attitude that begs to be pointed straight down the rowdiest of tracks; rocks and roots be damned.
With the Kona, I revelled in its nimbleness and the way it encouraged a lively, active riding style, using the bike’s agility and pop to hop over and avoid the worst trail features. The 141 feels a lot more glued to the ground – the heavier-duty wheelset and tyres, and of course that coil-shock, encouraging a more pointand-shoot riding style, and it’s taking me a little time to get used to it.
At over 16kg (35lb), the 141 is a heavy bike, and there’s no hiding its bulk.
Pedalling along the road to the trail is noticeably more of a slog, even with the firmest of the three damping platforms set on the shock to reduce pedal input.
That’s not to say the bike doesn’t pedal well – it really does, even with the shock fully open. It doesn’t really bob and winds its way uphill very efficiently, if not particularly quickly – the long reach and steep seat tube angle putting you in a really efficient climbing position.
Once the gradient tips the other way, the Privateer begins to make more sense. With a
1,266mm wheelbase and a
64.4° head angle, this is a bike that was built to go downhill fast. I was initially concerned that it might not be that suited to the tighter, more technical trails that I tend to favour. Thankfully that turned out not to be the case. My first ride on it took me down a couple of favourites and I was really surprised with how well it dealt with the steep turns. In fact, I found
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less demanding trails much harder to master.
That same ride had some mellower trails with flat turns that at one point had me eating dirt as I tucked the front wheel unexpectedly. I put this down to me not weighting the front tyre enough, something I’ve had to really concentrate on due to that front contact patch being that much further away from what I’ve been used to! Lowering the stem on the steerer, chopping 15mm off each