Twenty Nine Inches has recieved a Diamondback Overdrive Pro 29″er for test/review. We are excited to try out this re-entry into the 29″er ranks from Diamondback and see how this aluminum hardtail stacks up against the competition.
Re-entry, you ask? Yes! Those long in the tooth and gray in the beard might remember “back in the day” when a few companies took a stab at making “big wheeled” mountain bikes. (The term “29”er” not having been coined quite yet.) In fact, Diamondback can lay claim to the first production 700c mountain bike with “real” knobby tires. (Panaracer Smoke 45mm) Of course, that was well over a decade ago, and the mountain biking world was no where near ready for such beasts, for whatever reason.
Today Diamondback returns to the 29″er ranks with this “Overdrive Pro” model and a “Overdrive” model both sharing the same aluminum frame and both having Rock Shox front suspension. (Reba and Dart 3 respectively) We at Twenty Nine Inches have known about Diamondback’s return to big wheelers for some time now and we welcome these two models, especially the Comp which is a sub $700.00 geared hardtail. Since the two Diamondback models share the same foundation, we’ll be sure to pass along our thoughts on the frame and its geometry to those of you looking for a budget priced 29″er.
Look for an “Out of the Box” post and a detailed description of the Overdrive Pro soon or go to the Diamondback website to learn more now.
December 13, 2007 at 11:52 am |
Very cool that you got one of these, from what I can tell it is a +G with a smaller price tag. I wonder if its true?
December 13, 2007 at 11:52 am |
Very cool that you got one of these, from what I can tell it is a +G with a smaller price tag. I wonder if its true?
December 13, 2007 at 1:49 pm |
I wonder if they dug out the same old fixtures from a decade ago to build the new 29ers?
December 13, 2007 at 3:56 pm |
Desert9r: According to the Diamondback guys, this bike has been “tweaked” geometry-wise from the Raleigh XXIX+G. I do know it handles a bit differently since I rode an Overdrive Pro at Interbike last fall. The Raleigh isn’t anything like this bike in that respect.
AC: Well, you know that the old Overdrive was steel, right? And you know that the Panaracer Smoke was about as big a tire as you could fit in there, right? (Reports are that a Nano barely clears an old Overdrive) So, you can figure it out from there…..I hope. 😉
December 13, 2007 at 4:17 pm |
Ted,
I was un-able to view the Overdrives geometry on the DB site, how does it differ from Raleigh’s? does the Pro have the same geometry as the Comp?
December 13, 2007 at 4:45 pm |
Yup, I know.. I was trying to be funny. I forgot my smilley face to show humor.. 😉
December 13, 2007 at 8:52 pm |
Pardon my noob-ness but the Raleigh and Diamondback websites look remarkably alike. Does one own the other? Or someone own both of them? Or just a web developer that happened to do both their sites?
December 13, 2007 at 11:33 pm |
Desert9r: In the head angle a wee bit and the sizing is tweaked out to run a bit larger/longer than the Raleigh. For instance, the Overdrive/Overdrive Pro has an actual 20 inch seat tube, and the top tube on that size is 24.8″ long (effective). The large XXIX+G is shorter slightly in the top tube, has a shorter seat tube, and also, has shorter chainstays than the DB does.
I much prefer the stock handling of the DB over the stock XXIX+G set up. (Not to say you can’t tweak the Raleigh to be better, as I have)
AC: No worries. The innerweb is a bizzarre place. 🙂
Dust: Yes, same company owns both. (BY the way, your “noob-ness” is perfectly fine here!)
December 14, 2007 at 12:10 pm |
Thanks for the explanation Ted, sounds like IM gonna stick with my XXIX. BTW what size bike has that, 24.8″ TT?
December 14, 2007 at 9:49 pm |
Desert9r: That is the test bike that I recieved which is a 20 inch model. (Size Large- you can barely see “Large” in the photo above)
December 15, 2007 at 2:52 pm |
To answer a question above … Raleigh owns Diamondback. DB is Raleighs 2nd tier brand for sporting good stores. I don’t think you’ll find these bikes at Wally-World though.
December 16, 2007 at 1:17 pm |
BEAR: You’re right, the DB’s are for stores like GI joes, big 5 sporting goods, Dick’s (on the east coast, represent) They’re just 2 steps ahead of SchWINE and all the other Kmart Krap.
December 16, 2007 at 6:27 pm |
SchWINE makes as least one kool bike.
This one: http://www.schwinnbike.com/products/bikes_detail.php?id=923
December 16, 2007 at 10:53 pm |
Hmm……well this kind of baffles me. If a bike gets sold in a “certain retail outlet” it is not a good bike? Weird.
I’ve seen department store quality bikes being sold in independant bike shops and high end rigs in WallMart. Then you have the innerweb, which is a whole ‘nuther story.
Diamondback makes some pretty nice mountain bikes and recreational rigs. I’ve explored the line from top to bottom at Interbike. Where they end up being retailed from is not necessarily a reflection of their quality or lack of quality. It just is the way it is.
December 17, 2007 at 6:39 pm |
I own a 26er Diamondback that has around 3000 off-road miles on the frame and is still going, so I think they are pretty good bikes! 🙂
December 19, 2007 at 10:28 am |
To clarify, Raleigh owns Diamondback. Diamondback (and Schwinn for that matter) make and sell very low-end models in box stores, but also sell mid to high-end in bike shops. Also for clarification, the DB is a completely different frame. It’s aluminum, not steel, and they designed it from the ground up.
December 19, 2007 at 11:07 pm |
A little more clarification on the box store Diamondbacks, these bikes are exactly the same as the bikes offered to the IBD and compete directly with other manufactures who have the same price point so please do your research before you lump DB’s in with department store bikes or even call them a couple steps above, they are head and heals above what any “mart” store sells!!!!
December 20, 2007 at 9:01 am |
Chris, you lost me. Are you agreeing or disagreeing? I sold DBs and Raleighs for years in an IBD. The mid to upper end bikes from both companies are not available at Wal-mart. There are certain models that are only sold in box stores and certain models that are only available in a bike shop. Also, both brands tend to deliver a bargain at mid to upper price points. Why do I say all of this? Because little companies like this can only compete if people start realizing that the sticker on the downtube means very little. I own a Raleigh Phase II, incredible bargain and a Grand Prix, another great deal. Why? Because I know the industry way too well. I don’t want to bash the big dogs, because a) it wouldn’t change a thing and b) a lot of good folks make a living off of selling these brands to people who would rather be seen with something name-brand.
December 20, 2007 at 9:46 am |
I agree that Raleigh owns DB and are not sold in Wal-Mart and Ralieghs are not available to any box store but the Sport Chalets and Dicks of the world choose what bikes they feel will sell to their customer and have the choice of any DB in the line just as an IBD does. I was mostly arguing the comment that DB is 2 steps ahead of the “mart” store bikes by pointing out that the same bike sold in the IBD is the same sold in the box stores, very good quality and a very good value.
December 20, 2007 at 11:28 pm |
Chris, true, true and true. Just keepin’ it real.