# Corsair Test Ride



## JMH (Feb 23, 2005)

My friend Pablo was passing through SLC with the Corsair prototypes the other day, so Chuky, Err and I skipped out on work and went for some Bobsled runs. The trail was perfect and it was fun to get to ride the protoypes off-road on in a real MTB environment.

Both the König and the Maelstrom were a lot of fun, but I thought the König was a kick in the pants. It was so fast and flickable that I can see why shorter travel, shorter wheelbase bikes like this are becoming so popular.

More pics:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/sets/72157602556358924/

Pablo shows some perfect racer-boy form:


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## 08nwsula (Oct 19, 2005)

have any more close up shots of the bike?


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## combatkimura (Jul 17, 2007)

luckyyyyyyy! Where's the pics of the Konig dangit! More details please!


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## ryan_daugherty (Oct 8, 2006)

couple things, SLC acutally looks pretty in those shots.. and the bikes look rad.. 

I was wondering if you had a chance to take them off the the drops near the end of the trail on the left? You'know the 2 right next to eachother? I miss that trail since i moved from that area.


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## Djponee (Dec 20, 2006)

nice, i wish i got to do that


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## GETSTUPID (Feb 10, 2007)

Wow! That is an awesome picture :thumbsup:


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## ebxtreme (Jan 6, 2004)

*Nice!*

Looks like a sweet time...

Hey, is this Chuky on her orbea? If so, she's showing good form as well! :thumbsup:


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## boone (Aug 29, 2004)

Somebody got some niiiiiice mutton chops kickin'


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## SHIVER ME TIMBERS (Jan 12, 2004)

man i love that trail...building a copy this spring


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## DJskeet (Oct 19, 2007)

What is the name of those purple gloves in the first pic, I WANT them...


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## JMH (Feb 23, 2005)

*A few more*

Sorry, not too many details of the bikes since there are plenty out there on Sicklines, etc.

Plus the sun was going down and the trail is in a ravine, so it wasn't the best day for riding shots. But the views and lighting on the push up were epic. I must admit I was having more fun trying to get nice "send to grandma" shots of my friends. :thumbsup:

Here are a few more photos:


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## madafaka (Nov 14, 2004)

thats nice...got more pics of the maelstrom? how does it ride?what does it weigh?

M


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## mtb_biker (Jan 27, 2004)

Here's the link to more Konig/Maelstrom pics from interbike

http://www.sicklines.com/gallery/showgallery.php/cat/658


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## madafaka (Nov 14, 2004)

mtb_biker said:


> Here's the link to more Konig/Maelstrom pics from interbike
> 
> http://www.sicklines.com/gallery/showgallery.php/cat/658


yeah...seen them a zillion times...:thumbsup:

was thinking more of action pics!


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## mtb_biker (Jan 27, 2004)

madafaka said:


> yeah...seen them a zillion times...:thumbsup:
> 
> was thinking more of action pics!


Hehe, I agree. JMH needs to provide more and better feedback

Perhaps Err will chime in. Maybe if we put some buzzwords he'll show up (Nicolai, Helius, Blacksheepcycles, hehehe)


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## combatkimura (Jul 17, 2007)

The black Konig makes me feel funny in the pants. "Delta Six, this is TwoFive Delta, I'm detecting movement in my pants to the north, over."


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## bagtagley (Jan 30, 2004)

I ran into these folks during the test ride, and I was really impressed with these bikes. The mock-ups and Interbike pics really don't do them justice, especially the Maelstrom.

JMH/Chuky, I was gonna ask if you guys posted, but never did. It was good meeting and riding w/ you. I'm stoked for the new bikes, good luck.


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## odo (Mar 10, 2007)

More Pictures Or Video Of The Maelstrom Please.


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## Err (Mar 21, 2005)

Man, those muttonchops are stylee!

So a couple of thoughts on the Corsair protos...

JMH phoned me up for a last minute opportunity to abuse the Koenig and the Malestrom protos this past Friday. The weather had been pretty wet around here all week so we took them up to a DH run that's usually dusty and loose. After all the rain, we found some of the best conditions of the season on our test trail, nice and tacky. Our test trail starts out with a steep, tight entrance with quick turns. Blowing a turn early on could leave you wrapped around a tree. A few seconds later it opens up to warp speed berms and wall rides with a few smaller jumps. Ridden at full speed, you almost always spend some time with both wheels drifting. In the final third there's a gap over a crushed car and drop in the 5-6' range. Good stuff to give us an idea of how these things handle in the air.

I rode the Koenig first. It's fairly similar to my current bike so I was excited to give it a try. The full details of the geo are on the website -> www.corsairbikes.com so I'll spare the full run down. I will note that the quite short chainstays, at 16.4" combine with a low 13.5" BB, and slack and stable 67.5 deg HTA and to result in a magical 42" wheelbase. This is a bike that manuals effortlessly, loves to be thrown around, yet remains stable at high speed. Despite tweaking the brake lever placement and immediately falling in love with the Corsair pedals, I still felt a bit out of my element and a such dropped in on the trail at about 60%. For about 10 seconds. That's about all it takes to figure at that the Koenig absolutely rails! The BB is low, the HT is slack, the rear end is stiff and the Rocco Air really kept everything feeling way too plush to believe it's only 5" of travel. I found myself off the brakes, leaning hard and chewing up everything in site. At the car gap the Koenig inspired the confidence needed to go big even though I'd only been on it for about 3 minutes. The following 5' drop to crummy tranny was fully absorbed. I'm sure the 66SL was really helping to inspire that confidence, the way a big fork will on a small bike, but still there's no question the dialed frame geo was the biggest factor. Yep, I'm sold. The Koenig is one of the most playful bikes I've ridden. It's won't be the fastest through the steep gnar but on berms, jump lines, and moderate/smooth drops its money.

Round two, and I really hated to part with the Koenig, until I remembered that I now had the chance to try out that slick dual ring setup on the Maelstrom. An oh what a slick piece of engineering it is. Checkout the website for pics, but basically the Maelstrom runs and idler to combat all chain growth and pedal feedback that floats on axle such that it allows for the use of a front derailure. Slick, slick indeed. So I jacked the seatpost way up, and made a few other minor adjustments to my liking and went about grinding my way up a nasty grade for 20 min. It climbed like a hardtail. No bob, no suspension movement at all. The only way that I could induce suspension movement from pedaling was to stand up and hammer. Even then, the movement was minimal. This particular Maelstrom was setup with a shortish seat post so I couldn't quite get full leg extension when climbing and it was running an '08 66 RC3 that did not feature a ride height adjustment. With those two issues in mind, the Maelstrom climbed like a big freeride bike. It was a bit slow and the front end wandered a bit. It was very easy to tell, however, that with a travel adjust fork, the climbing manners would be quite nice. OK, enough about climbing. Dropping in, the feel of this bike turned 180. The same efficient pedaling sus went to soaking up everything in it's path. Pushing the huge 10.5x3.5 Manitou shock through it's stroke results in a nice reward axle path that turns square edge bumps to butter. I found myself pushing this bike harder and harder until I finally got off-line and pinch flatted hard. The XC casing on the Syncros tires were no match for my wreckless behavior. Moments later with a fresh tube, I was straight back to mach speed. I found myself drifting hard, almost beyond the point of control around a corner that had just taken Pablo out. But, the Maelstrom rewarded my aggressive line and I shot out the back unscathed. Wow, this thing is really working for me... On the bottom 1/3 of the run the car gap came and went like a bump in the road and the "big" drop was hardly noticeable. Big, forgiving, go-huck-off-of-anything sort of feeling. Love it.

I hated both of these bikes. :thumbsup:


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## combatkimura (Jul 17, 2007)

Wow, that's a very strong endorsement from someone who has spent alot of time on some very high end bikes. Can't wait to read about them once they are released to the public!


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## chuky (Apr 3, 2005)

I like the muttonchops. ;-)

(with respect to Mrs. Err and JMH)


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## captain spaulding (May 7, 2006)

awesome writeup on these bikes.. how's the weight on both of them? obviously you didn't have a scale, so how did they feel heavy/light?


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## JMH (Feb 23, 2005)

IMO, the pivot placement behind the BB on both bikes made them feel pretty snappy. Pulling up on the bars brings the front end up instantly, instead of feeling a little like I am fighting the suspension on a bike with a pivot in front of the BB. This may just be a personal preference of mine. They are well-balanced front to rear and I think that makes any bike feel lighter.

Oh, and the love for the Marz Air Roco TST was unanimous... that's a nice piece of work. I think it might change some opinions about air shocks.

JMH


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## RickyD (Jan 28, 2004)

Anyone know when this bikes are set for release to the public?


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## Speedwa (Oct 30, 2005)

I was just looking at the geometry of the Maelstrom on the Corsair website. With a 22.7 " tt and a 44.6" wheelbase it reads as if I could ride a small even though I am 6 foot. How does the size of the bike feel?


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## SHIVER ME TIMBERS (Jan 12, 2004)

Err said:


> Man, those muttonchops are stylee!
> 
> So a couple of thoughts on the Corsair protos...
> 
> ...


nice write up....


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## Err (Mar 21, 2005)

Speedwa said:


> I was just looking at the geometry of the Maelstrom on the Corsair website. With a 22.7 " tt and a 44.6" wheelbase it reads as if I could ride a small even though I am 6 foot. How does the size of the bike feel?


I rode what is approximately a med and I'm 5'8" and it felt just right. JMH is a little closer to your size, he might be able to chime in on how it felt to him.


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