|   Anyone had any experience with a Van Dessel Buzzbomb 29er | arandal
Sep 24, 2002 3:24 PM | | Anyone had any experience with a Van Dessel Buzzbomb 29er ?
I have found one for sale .. rohloff hub and white brother cx-1 fork...
Replies appreciated! |
| I have one | NEK
Sep 24, 2002 6:10 PM | | I bought one off ebay for $900, new, from the company. That's about what you pay for the Rohloff alone these days. Plus a $700 fork. And the rest of the bike. For that price I'm not going to complain about the bike. I would never pay $3200 retail for it, and I suspect few people are-I wonder if that's why Van Dessel posts them so cheap on ebay. |
| I have one | arandal
Sep 24, 2002 9:47 PM | | So you use your buzzbomb as a commuter bike? How does it do off road? I ride a santa cruz bullit but need a "road bike"..and maybe to do some commuting..the one I am looking at is $1300, new, from ebay..when did you buy yours? Do you think I could buy from the company directly?
Thanks, Adrian |
| limited off road time thus far... | NEK
Sep 25, 2002 7:15 PM | | but it's great for commuting. I have 16 miles one way one potholed streets, broken sidewalks, gavel road, across a railroad yard, and up a bike path. A road bike would never make it, and a mountain bike is a little overkill, but the Buzz Bomb is perfect for this ride; fast on the pavement but durable enough for the broken stuff and gravel. Very comfortable thru it all. Lots of braze-ons for racks and fenders. The cable guides are a little bulky, but very functional. I didn't like the shifter cable routing as it got to the Rohloff shifter box. The cables made a pretty dramatic turn. I rerouted them and they're now much more direct and a little easier to shift.
Love the Rohloff!
Again, the only thing I don't really like is the rear dropout. I understand why it's made the way it is, I just think the same could be accomplished with an eccentric bottom bracket and it would probably be lighter, cleaner, simpler and better looking.
I am looking into getting some 2.1" tires to take it on the singletrack. Dirt Rag commented that the 18 1/2" chainstays hurt its off road performance. We'll see. This is my only 29er so I will only be able to compare to a standard mt bike.
I bought mine early this year. I suspect I was the first person to buy it from Van Dessel on ebay. Since I got mine for $900, I see the opening bid has been jumped to $1000 or more. I talked to the guys at the company. They seemed pretty cool. Maybe give them a call. |
| re: Anyone had any experience with a Van Dessel Buzzbomb 29er | TB
Sep 25, 2002 8:19 AM | | I also bought one directly form Van Dessel on eBay. I figured even if the bike didn't work out the fork and hub alone were worth the price. I have to say it is a well designed well built bike. For me though the 28 pound weight is killing me. I live in Colorado where every ride involved alot of climbing and my 26" MTB is under 22 lbs, so I really feel the extra weight. I will probably part out the bike putting the Rohloff on my tandem and using the fork to build up a lightweight 29incher. Unless someone wants to make me an offer and I will sell it as a complete bike for $1200. Mine is a 21.5" |
| Good luck building up a light 29"er if you don't want to break | 2melow
Sep 25, 2002 9:11 AM | | stuff! Definitely don't skimp on stupid light wheels when living in suck a rocky state! Where in Colorado are you? (I'm in Fort Collins)
My steel 29"er w/ semi-light components weighs in at 26.5-27 pounds with a Marzocchi fork. I think I can save at least 1.5 pounds going to a rigid fork though... |
| re: Anyone had any experience with a Van Dessel Buzzbomb 29er | Cloxxki
Sep 25, 2002 11:10 AM | | Can't you just lighten that bike up a bit? With that hub and fork, for sure 24lb should be a possibility?
If you're prepared to put in the time and lay down the cash, you could indeed build a light hardtail around that Whitebros fork. How does a low 21lb sound to you? That's what I hope to reach for my 29" racer hardtail, without compromising strength on any part. Discbrakes, custom alloy frame, proven drivetrain 2x9 speed (3x9 just as easy, just not my choice). New tires to come on the market should help reaching that weight. I am still trying to get a rim manufacturer to make me a light 29" disc rim. I know in my heart a 450g disc rim should be plenty strong in 36h with Sapim CX-Ray spokes. I want a Velocity VXC or Mavic 317 in 29", but I doubt I'll ever get it. |
| Van Dessel Answers | Van Dessel
Sep 25, 2002 2:36 PM | | Thanks for the attention.
To clear things up:
It is our strict policy to only sell through authorized dealers and shops with resale licenses. We also do have policies on selling to bike shop/industry employees for personal use, sales reps, and rare "pro deals" to individuals who prove there is a just cause worthy of our affiliation and sponsorship.
We do have a very sharp special currently going on the 2002 Buzz Bomb model, so this would be an excellent time to get in touch with an authorized Van Dessel dealer to get a great deal on a fantastic and very unique bike.
If you are looking for a bike that will go to the end of the world and able to tackle everything without letting you down until you get there, the Buzz Bomb is for you. It is also outstanding in horrible conditions like mud & snow.
MSRP on these bikes is $2000 - a fantastic buy for a bike with Rohloff, White Bros, Avid ti, and Ritchey Pro parts!!!
We are in fact discontinuing this model for 2003 because of the hurdles our dealers have to jump over to successfully sell a Rohloff equipped 29" bike that weights in at 28lbs and does not fit into any clean bike category.
Regarding weight, the bike as spec'd does weight in at +/-28lbs. It is very possible to build the Buzz Bomb up as a 24lbs bike though by putting on light rims and components. The components that are stocked on the bike were chosen for the best possible high quality/strength/obtainable price tag combination.
Don't hesitate to contact us with any feedback, technical/product questions, etc...
We have a lot brewing for 2003, including a pro road team and great new product. Check back on our website in about two months for complete details.
Push hard and pedal fast,
Van Dessel Sports
www.vandesselsports.com |
| re: Experience with a Van Dessel Buzzbomb 29er | jpre
Sep 25, 2002 3:48 PM | | I own one of the ebay specials. I haven't taken it everywhere yet but do have some impressions. The stock gearing is fairly tall, presumably to be able to keep up with road bikes true to its hybrid intentions. I rode the Marin Century on it with its stock tires and it did fine (I could have been in better shape) though a bit heavy for that application. I bought it primarily to be an off road bike and a backup road bike. I'm now considering changing the 44t chainwheel to something smaller, possibly to the minimum 38t with stock cog, which will sacrifice some good road gears, but I could always switch back temporarily.
The seating position is fairly upright, which I like; mine came with the stock stem turned up to rise. The stem can also be flipped to 0 rise. I think Cloxxki did some sort of geometry analysis in his head and determined the angles left something to be desired, for him anyway, but I think it handles nicely. I rode the bike with the stock 40c tires for a while and thought they were very impressive for their size. I took it a little easy on them because I didn't want to bash the rims too badly with the low(er) air volume. I'm now running motoraptors and it's pretty solid. The spokes loosen up a little sometimes. I guess it's not a top level handbuilt wheelset, but the Van Dessel Go Go Hoops seem to be fairly strong (550g according to Van D, sorry Cloxxki).
Riding over horse trails is a jarring experience and the bike does ok. I've still got the stock damping in the fork which is described to give the fork a standard 'air fork' feel. I really want to try the higher rebound damping unit that supposedly gives a more 'coil/oil' feel but my Cane Creek shock pump doesn't actuate the schrader valve on the fork properly so I've yet to change the internal damping. The stock damping feel is a bit stiff compared to the Z2 Bomber on a Kona I have.
So far the rohloff hub and avid mechanical front disc have been a joy. The hub just sits there and shifts, no maintenance necessary yet. It really prefers the pedals to not be moving when shifting. I've gotten it to freewheel a couple times by putting to much pressure on them while shifting and doing something technical at the same time. If you just back off it's practically flawless. I loaned the bike to a friend going up to do the 24hr world solo championship in Canada. He said he was impressed with how the bike handled the abuse. He said the twist shifter became a bit hard to work after so long on the bike and probably caused a blister or two. He could have used lower gearing on the course and never used the top few gears. When he gave the bike back to me both front and rear brake pads had been used up to the point where the levers were coming almost back to the bar. A couple clicks of the avid adjustment dials and the front disc was in perfect functioning order again. The rear v needed the pads realigned, much more trouble. I'm thinking about upgrading the hub cap to take a disc, though I seem heat up brakes on downhills. When the front avid builds a certain amount of heat it starts making noise, but doesn't seem to loose much power. Power even with the small 160mm rotor has never been problematic with me or my friend. I just don't like the noise, and the v never makes any. Initially I liked the idea of front disc rear v; now I'm not sure, as the rear wheel was a little out of true after the 24hr, which wouldn't bother a disc at all.
Overall I'm very impressed with the Buzz Bomb. I don't think it's as fast as a full suspension bike in all conditions, but I bought it because I wanted a bike that was always ready to go for a ride no matter how much I pounded on it, like an old rigid bike but with no chainsuck ever and a more compliant front end. That's what I want this bike to be for me. And I'm going to keep my eye on coil/oil fork offerings for even greater theoretical reliability; then having the air fork as a backup would be great. Oh, and after it came back from the 24hr it developed a ticking in the bottom bracket I think. I haven't taken it apart yet to check it out. I'm not sure what I could really do anyway other than liberally grease it up and hope that makes it quiet again. If there's anything specific you'd like to ask me feel free.
-John |
| Good info | AK Ken
Sep 25, 2002 4:18 PM | | Thanks for posting a candid real world evaluation.
Ken |
| Van Dessel and WTB | jpre
Sep 25, 2002 5:04 PM | | You're welcome. So you like candid real world stuff. I'll reply to
you and myself and give a little more. This would have to do with
Van Dessel Go Go Hoop rims and WTB tires, both Moto and Nanoraptors.
I started to touch on my problem over on Cloxxki's 29er site. When
trying to mount up Moto or Nanoraptors on Go Go Hoops the tires were
very loose fitting. I could blow the bead off with very low pressure
if it wasn't seated perfectly. After 30min to an hour of fiddling
around I figured out how to seat it pretty well by filling the tire
partially and stopping and going around the circumference with my hand
working it around and pushing it down and side to side, and going
through 2-4 sets of this technique; I can do it pretty fast now.
My friend up at the 24hr got one flat on course and it was *very*
difficult for him to get the tire seated in the wet muddy conditions
with a mini pump. To be fair he wasn't the only one with that
problem. One of the top 5 guys came in on his 26" rim because he
couldn't get his tire to seat either. For people who race in those
conditions I understand disc brakes with the tire zip tied to the rim
can be a good way to get back to your pit. But in the case of my bike
it was a known problem. I hadn't showed him my technique and it may
not have helped anyway. The stock 40c tires fit like you would expect
a tire to fit, where a little bit of tire lever application pops them
off nicely. When you deflate WTBs they fall off by themselves. Since
WTB is the only true 29" tire manufacturer I've tried I'm wondering
about the fit of other brands with these rims.
-John |
| IRC's | Bigwheel
Sep 25, 2002 8:54 PM | | should fit tighter even though they are Kevlar bead. People have even had success with the Stan's No Tube system using them. |
| before putting that 38t chainring on... | NEK
Sep 25, 2002 7:20 PM | | double check the Rohloff manual or website. Too small a chainring will put too great a torque load on all those tiny gears and might void the warranty, if I remember right. |
| 38/16 lowest permissable combo... | næstep
Sep 25, 2002 8:14 PM | | ...and that'll give an equivalent to a 22T granny / 33T cog.
næstep |
| So what happened to the bikes on eBay? | næstep
Sep 25, 2002 8:16 PM | | They've all disappeared!
http://search.ebay.com/search/search.dll?GetResult&query=van+%22buzz+bomb%22&from=R8&ht=1&combine=y&st=2
næstep |
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