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Dirt Rag Articles
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Tester: Thanita Adams
Age: 34
Height: 5'3"
Weight: 125lbs.
Inseam: 30"
Vital Stats
Price: $470 frame only
Weight: 26lbs. as built (with pedals)
Sizes: 14, 16, 17, 18, 19, 21
Country of Origin: Taiwan
Contact: www.voodoocycles.net
Japanese businessman Shinji Mizutani began Voodoo back in 1994, at which time he took on Joe Murray (one of the winningest pro mountain bike racers ever and one of the original eight inductees into the Mountain Bike Hall of Fame) as frame designer. Over the next six years, Voodoo thrived, selling close to 20,000 bikes. However, in the spring of 2000, Mizutani felt the returns weren't worth the effort, and pulled Voodoo from the US market. Less than five years later, he reconsidered and again signed Murray on to revitalize the brand: Voodoo is back, although this time around with frames only.
One of Voodoo's new offerings is the Dambala; for practitioners of Voodoo (or Vodou, more properly), this is the snake spirit or serpent. For me, the Dambala is the first 29er I've been able to get my hands on for test that comes in my size. Many framebuilders tell me that small 29ers don't make sense because shorter people—under 5'6", say—don't need them and/or building a small frame around a 29" wheel jacks up the geometry. Doable, but not recommended was a frequent response I encountered in my search for a little big wheeled bike. However, over the past several years, I've also spoken with a few vehement proponents of the "29er for everyone" camp who were convincing enough to make me think, "I got to get me some of that."
My 15" test bike is from the first production run, and is made of Reynolds 631 steel. Since that run, Voodoo turned to Taiwanese-made heat-treated chromoly tubing in order to reduce costs—a nice side effect of that move was a .3lb drop in frame weight. Voodoo also increased their range of sizes from four to six; small folk can now choose a 14" or 16", but not a 15". The Dambala frame sports a pearlescent Kelly green paint job—rather oddly called "Iguana Green"—along with Voodoo's trademark logo (decals under clearcoat) and cockeyed mascot manifest in a beefy steel headbadge.
My test bike came spec'd with Avid 7 linear pull brakes and gears, but the frame can easily be built up as a singlespeed or fixie. Adjustable sliding drop outs with disc tabs accommodate disc brakes with any of these configurations, curing the wheel-removing headache associated with disc brakes and horizontal drop outs. As I was not running disc brakes, the tabs looked kind of awkward just riding along back there, but hey: this frame's strong suit is its versatility. A nice touch for those going the way of the disc are the removable rim brake posts. Unused rim brake posts on frames and forks are just plain ugly.
This bike came built up with a reliable set of components: American Classic wheels and hubset, a Shimano XT drivetrain and Mega 9 shifters, and a Titec seatpost, stem and Ithys saddle. I ran some WTB Nanoraptor 2.1 tires (which seem pretty wide for 2.1s), and there is plenty of room to go bigger. Up front, the Dambala came with an '04 Marzocchi Marathon SL Bomber 85mm fork, which sports Marzocchi's ECC (Extension Control Cartridge) in the right leg. The ECC mechanism controls rebound damping, and when fully closed or "on," locks the fork down in a compressed mode, which lowers the front end and makes climbing more comfortable.
This seems like a good time to segue into what I'm sure many of you are wondering about: is a 29er a poor choice for the vertically challenged? If the Dambala is any indication, my qualified answer is, "It depends." When I first saddled the bike, I felt like I was significantly higher off the ground, which was an awkward sensation. Several months later, I've become accustomed to this feeling, although it has not gone away. Throughout the test period, I figured bigger wheels add height, right? Wrong. When I compared my body height and position on the Dambala to my 26" steel hardtail, I was surprised to see that I was essentially in the same position relative to the ground. Both bikes had the same effective top tube (21.5"), seat tube (14 7/8"), bottom bracket height (12"), and front to center measurements (24.5"). The head/seat angles (71/74 degrees, respectively) aren't significantly different from my other bikes. And, in fact, the bar to ground height was actually 1/2" lower on the Dambala. So how, then, can I explain the feeling of extra height?
I attribute some of this to a mental quirk—visually, a 29" wheel on a small bike looks much larger than on a large bike. The tire seemed significantly closer to my bars than with a 26er, and this visual cue contributed to my feeling higher than normal. Compared with the 26" bike, the Dambala is also a bit more "top-heavy" in the front: the crown of the fork is higher and the headtube necessarily stubby (3 3/8") to keep standover to a minimum (but still added up to a rather tall 30"). All these factors could, I speculate, change my center of gravity even though my body position hasn't changed, and the feeling initially made me more tentative in rocky/rooty sections, which is ironic as it is here where the bike really shows its stuff. Once I did get used to the feel, I found the larger wheels evened bumps out more effectively than a 26" wheel (although starting up again after bobbling in technical sections called for more effort). The other type of terrain that the Dambala handled spectacularly was, funnily enough, the complete opposite—fast, bermed and rolling singletrack.
One of the common complaints about 29ers is that they don't turn as well as 26ers. I found that while initiating sharp turns at slower speeds, the Dambala felt a bit sluggish at times (more mass to move up there), I had no more trouble twisting around tight spots than usual. The bike does have relatively long chainstays for such a small frame (17 5/8"), which I thought might hinder climbing. I found, however, that energy transfer was efficient, and increased traction from the larger wheel seemed to cancel out any climbing disadvantages that 29" wheels confer. Another supposed disadvantage of small 29ers is dreaded toe overlap: never experienced it, not once...but then again, I have small feet.
So, would I recommend the Dambala to small folk? That would depend on the type of terrain you'd be riding. If I had to choose, it'd be a tough decision; it delivers a smooth ride and lots of speed, but in technical, tight AND twisty singletrack (which there's lots of on my local trails), I still find a 26" wheeled bike more maneuverable. For not so small folk, I'd say the Dambala is a great choice for anyone looking for a reasonably priced, extremely versatile steel 29er. You can get the three largest sizes through any bike shop (Voodoo is distributed through Bicycle Technologies International—BTI—a wholesale parts distributor); for the three smaller sizes, you need to contact Voodoo directly to check availability.
| Exclusive Dirt Rag Web-Only Extras For Voodoo Dambala 29er | Make: Voodoo
Model: Dambala
Model Year: 2005
Type: Mountain, XC
Country of Origin: Taiwan
Wheel size: 29"
Frame material: Thinwall chromoly
Fork: Marzocchi MX Comp, 80mm
Handlebar: Titec Pluto Oversize
Stem: Titec Rip 3D
Headset: FSA Orbit X
BB: FSA Mega EXO
Crank: FSA AfterBurner Mega EXO
Pedals: Xpedo SL
Chain: Shimano HG73
Saddle: Titec HellBent
Seatpost: Titec HellBent
Front hub: American Classic, 32h
Rear hub: American Classic, 32h
Front derailleur: Shimano LX
Rear derailleur: Shimano XT
Shifters: Shimano XT
Cassette: Shimano XT, 11-32t, 9-speed
Brakes: Avid SD 5 V-brakes
Brake levers: Avid FR5
Rims: American Classic
Tires: WTB MotoRaptor 2.1"
Sizes available: 14", 16", 17", 18", 19", 21"
Colors: Green
Weight: 26lbs.
MSRP: $470 (frame only)
Company website: www.voodoocycles.net |
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