How about the DW-Link RFX we’ve been hearing about for so long? Is that bike officially stillborn?
Yeah, it is. After multiple iterations and tens of thousands of dollars, the bike rode like a champ, but it was aborted. By the time we got the prices quoted a year ago it became a big financial No F’ing Way. So we spent a great deal of time getting it to the point where it was reasonable. We were pursuing it even after this year’s trade show, through this fall. We went back and got the price more reasonable…but at the end of the day, it’s an expensive bike for thrashers. We’re talking a $2,500 to $2,700 frame price, for a bike someone’s going to throw in the back of a shuttle truck and thrash on? That’s just not going to happen, they’re going to buy a Kona. We are a niche company and a niche market for sure, but we still have manufacturing hurdles.
But this is the truth: the latest-generation 5.Spot, with a 67.7 degree headtube angle and a BB that sits just under 13.5 [unweighted] is superior to any of the RFXs ever built. Most of the guys who wanted an RFX can ride a 5.Spot with a 36 or a Lyric and they won’t be missing anything. I get emails all the time from people who have “over-forked,” saying they had no idea [the 5.Spot] was so capable. We’ve fully condoned it.
