Top

Back to Back Bandito Loops – Maverick vs. Montana

I decided to take a ride the other morning with the purpose of comparing a Framed Montana full-suspension fat bike and the Wyatt maverick front suspension fat bike. I basically wanted to see which one was faster. I have a local loop that I like to call the Bandido that consists of chip and seal asphalt, paved roads, dirt double track, super chunk gravel, and some gentleman’s gravel. It’s about 5 miles long and it has about 500 feet of climbing. So I set out on one of the first really hot mornings of the summer on the Framed for the first lap. The Framed has a lockout for both the front and rear suspension and on road climbs, I had no problem locking things out and standing on the pedals. When I hit the rough spots and the trail went downhill, I unlocked all the suspension and rolled like a backcountry Cadillac El Dorado on the Montana. I climbed back up to the start-finish and changed out to a dry helmet.

Framed Montana

I took a long cold drink and then headed out on the Wyatt maverick. The Wyatt currently has a Manitou mastodon fork installed and it also has a lockout. It was a pretty windy day and I was getting déjà vu especially in the hard parts that were against the wind. On my second lap about halfway through I could tell it was going to be pretty close between the Montana and the Maverick. A major difference between these two bikes (other than the suspension) is the dropper on the Maverick. I really have to make sure to put a dropper on the Montana and take it out to Rip and Ride at Camrock for some fat bike fun.  

Wyatt Maverick

When I hit the home stretch on the second lap I could see that I had a chance to beat the first lap. The Bandido loop ends with a tall grassy doubletrack climb and then a long grassy bumpy double-track descent. Maverick was better on the climb and the Montana was better on the Downhill. I took a look at the data from my wahoo and it showed that the Wyatt Maverick was 1/2 of a mile an hour faster than the Framed Montana. I took the Montana out on the first lap and the Maverick out on the second lap. I guess I should reverse the order and see if the data remains the same but this result is similar to Strava segments that I’ve ridden. I did a blue loop at Kettle on the Framed a couple of weeks ago and the result was super fun. But when I came back and looked at the Strava time it was one of the slower blue loops that I had ridden in the last 18 months. It sure felt great though. So if you’re less inclined to worry about how fast you’re going and want to maximize the fun level of riding singletrack…..well…..either one of these bikes is going to put a huge grin on your face. I like both of these bikes. But my regular bike is fully rigid and that’s not going to change for a while. That’s a quick report from the front lines of fat bike fun here at the fat-bike.com research bunker thanks for reading and I will see you out there on the trail somewhere along the pollen path amigos.

11 Responses to Back to Back Bandito Loops – Maverick vs. Montana

  1. Allroy June 7, 2021 at 4:44 pm #

    I can attest to the fact that the heat definitely takes the nick out of my energy level. I would expect that the Maverick would have been considerably faster if you had taken it out on the first lap. Both bikes definitely looked good.

  2. Erv Spanks June 8, 2021 at 11:49 am #

    Thank you for devotion to the Scientific Method!

    I wonder, and this is just me thinking out loud, if there is an unconscious/physical bias based on the fact that you ride rigid full time, so your mind and body are tuned to find the best line and flow as one with your whip, WHEREAS with said double boinger your mind and body decided to let the bike do the work, hence the slower-ish pace.

    Eh, whatever.

    You rode bikes = You had fun

    SCIENCE!

    • Gomez June 8, 2021 at 3:47 pm #

      What do you call the science of not being scientific?

      • Erv Spanks June 9, 2021 at 8:21 am #

        Non-science

        • Gomez June 9, 2021 at 8:38 pm #

          That sounds too much like nonsense. Try Again.

  3. Erv Spanks June 10, 2021 at 8:00 am #

    “Non-sciences offer information about the meaning of life”

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-science

    • Gomez June 10, 2021 at 10:48 am #

      I think that I like Gnome Science better. It has more gnome.

      • Erv Spanks June 10, 2021 at 2:07 pm #

        Yes, Yes! The more Gnome, the better.

  4. kyle ray June 13, 2021 at 8:34 am #

    gnomenclature is everything

  5. Seth June 14, 2021 at 9:21 am #

    I noticed you had a Wren on the Wyatt last year. Why did you switch to the Manitou?

    • Gomez June 14, 2021 at 11:09 am #

      We try to ride and experience everything that there is out there to ride.

Leave a Reply