Norbs Has a New Ride! Meet the 2019 Evil Wreckoning LB 23

Evil Bikes just dropped something a "Little Better'er" with freeride ace Kyle Norbraten at the helm.

bturman
7/19/2018 6:44pm

 

Still sporting 161mm of travel, the 29-inch rocky jank destroyer is back and better than ever...

"The Wreckoning LB comes in some fresh new colors and frame sizes medium through extra-large now come with water bottle mounts. The lighter layup improved the overall ride quality, maximizing compliance where we wanted and stiffness where we needed it. We also managed to drop near a half pound from the overall frame weight while retaining the original ride characteristics, max rollover and grip. The Wreckoning LB is back and it’s a Little Better’er, but we think you’ll agree that sometimes little better’er is all you need." - Evil Bikes

Wreckoning LB Specifications

Geometry

Visit www.evil-bikes.com for more details.

Related:
Evil
Kyle Norbraten
29er
Evil
23 comments

View replies to: Norbs Has a New Ride! Meet the 2019 Evil Wreckoning LB

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ThomDawson
6 years ago
Kinda nice to see one of the few brands that seem interested in refining their designs rather than just add 25.4mm to the reach and make the head angle 63°
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Roots_rider
6 years ago
“Refined” still only clears a 2.4 out back, reach is truthfully a size short, seat tube is still 1-2* too slack as well as 1”+ too long, and if they’d dropped a degree off the head angle they would have opened up better doors for shorter offset forks....bike still hits the target but is def no bullseye
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ThomDawson
6 years ago
I’m not opening this can of worms but for small-medium size riders the sizes are fine. It’s tall riders that benefit most from increased reach figures - and granted I never look at the larger sizes so maybe I should start to when critiquing bikes I know little about on the internet.
But head angles and offsets - that’s straight up gimmickry. It feels novel, not better. Maybe, maybe the way some riders ride and particularly the terrain some riders ride will lend to the super stable slack, high trail designs but if anyone in the U.K. or anywhere with tight and twisty trails with real corners rather than motorways and giant banked turns thinks that’s a good way to go about things then I wanna ride your trails!
If they did all you’re asking it’d just be another Transition, trying so hard it hurts. Take a moment and consider there might be riders out there who think the bikes already rock - I know I did before transition ruined there bikes!
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dirtworks911
6 years ago
Serious question, have you ridden a modern Transition for more than a day? Just like wheelsizes, getting them lined up in a tight corner takes a little different approach but once you adjust your riding, they are fine...and then you get the benefits of carrying some serious speed in the straights and floating over everything chunky.
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Roots_rider
6 years ago
What Dirtworks said...at 5’9” I shoot for a combined reach (stem and frame) between 500-510. I’m on a large TR11 and just ordered a new patrol in Large also. I used to ride around the 430 mark on frames, feels tiny and unstable now. One of my biggest concerns about sizing up was how the bike would handle in tight corners, I laugh at myself now looking back at that...the only “gimmick” was Giant and other brands that followed suit telling us that we needed longer offset on slacker bikes a few years ago. Now at least we have options. If you want to size down and run longer offset, have at it, at least it’s now a decision you can make.
I live in Jackson WY btw, we have every variety of trail from highspeed straights to super sharp corners. The “newer” has yet to feel cumbersome to anybody weve sent out on it around here, S-XL riders all alike, the gain in stability at speed on the other hand...
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kwapik
6 years ago
I doubt it. Mr. Dawson bases his opinion on the fact that he tried his own "sbg" project on a Nukeproof 29er with an angleset and reduced offset fork. Since it didn't work for him and he didn't care for it - Transition bikes are gimmicky. And I don't doubt that the Nukeproof didn't handle very good. Nevermind the fact one bike was designed around a reduced offset fork and the other one wasn't. With those numbers, the Nukeproof probably was floppy and just didn't handle right. Opposite of the Transition which is very agile and stable even in the tight stuff.
But yeah, he should spend a weekend on one - with an open mind.
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ThomDawson
6 years ago
Kwapik is mostly correct. I’ll have to try a Transition to validate my internetting opinions if nothing else.
Roots - totally agree. Choice was really my initial sentiment. If everyone does a transition then we’ll have no choice so I applaud anyone not playing the longer is better/ more stable is better game. And any chance to rag on Transition.
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slimshady
6 years ago
Upvoted for truth. The seat tube angle is 10 years old. I have seen several guys running their seatposts backwards to get a decent riding posture.
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bman33
6 years ago
Many of us have asked the same question. Must be something personal with the staff only a rare few are privy to
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AZlinerider
6 years ago
Maybe some in the staff got ripped off by one of their pre insurgent frames. I bought a uprising, had a manufacturing defect and had to fight tooth and nail for warranty replacement. At one point I was told they didn’t care if this experience made them loose a future buyer. So there is that...
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bman33
6 years ago
I here that same story out of numerous bike companies that still get plenty of exposure on Pinkbike. Often "it's the "they had some issues prior, but have corrected them now....." type of thing. From all I hear, much of the previous issues with Evil have been addressed. My two cents
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AZlinerider
6 years ago
Oh I 100% agree I’ve had my replacement insurgent for over 3 years now and don’t have one complaint. Just couldn’t believe their willingness to turn there back on everyone who purchased a bike from them but hey business is business and sometimes you have to make a tuff call to keep the doors open
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JayDawger
6 years ago
probably more like Evil not paying PB for any coverage. The geo is still outdated... no sale.
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Foundandlost
6 years ago
The fallout green is awesome :-)
They say its lighter, but how heavy is it? Am i blind or is there no weight spec on the Page?
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Big Bird
6 years ago
I wreckon he could just throw a Boxxer with Lyric guts on it and take it straight to Wrampage.
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luvaz
6 years ago
sorry but disagree. The seat angle does need to be updated, yes, but so does the pivot design. I had the main pivot constantly coming loose and the upper bolt is tightened directly onto the carbon. The carbon would compress and lead to play. This is a known problem that they have not fixed. But the colors are pretty.
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Stiksandstones
6 years ago
I must be not riding mine hard enough-have not had one issue with my wreckoning mechanically and it rides like a dream....I do wish seat angle was a little steeper, but its not a deal breaker. My fave bike in my stable.
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