January 2020.
I don’t tend to bother posting customer reviews, which is silly, because I get many a good one. But this one came through and the final line meant I had to share it. Its all about music and bikes, this life.
I’ve had my mk4, my first Stooge, for around two months now and have hung off leaving a comment until now as I didn’t want to let the ‘new bike novelty’ cloud my judgement. My other bike is a Singular Rooster with Jones Loop bars. I like it. It’s ok. But I wanted something a bit more lively for swooping through technical trails where the Rooster can be a bit ungainly and tend to handle a bit like a barge. Due to my location a demo ride was out of the question, so I took a punt.
After I’d bored the tits off Andy with my cycling life story, he gave me some tips on set up relative to my height and the kind of riding I do. I initially tried it with the Loops robbed from the Rooster and although I love these bars, they just didn’t feel right on the Stooge. I switched to a pair of Stooge Moto bars and these instantly felt fantastic. Odd because I struggle with wide bars (like anything nearing 780mm – curtesy of a broken to bits clavicle), but the sweep on the Moto’s is brilliant (for me). So comfortable. I’m 6ft 1″ and was concerned I wouldn’t have enough reach with an inline dropper post, but after trying a few stems, I’ve found a 60mm to be perfect with 25mm of spacers underneath.
So, do I like this bike? I’m sure a lot of folks will look at the frame and see it as boutique and bit niche. I like ‘different’ and can do ‘quirky’, but I wasn’t 100% sure that it was for me from the online photo’s. It’s ten times better in the flesh. This is the best bike I have ever ridden. It is so comfortable. It handles like a dream (despite looking like it won’t). It goes exactly were you want it – as if it reads you mind and just makes the move for you. Providing you’ve got your tyre pressures right, nothing knocks it off line, and despite being no carbon racing snake bike, it goes up pretty much anything.
In summary, this is a bike I’ve really bonded with. I take my hat off to you Andy. I thought it perhaps looked a bit ‘Magical Mystery Tour’, but it turned out to be more of a skillful blend of Rubber Soul and Revolver.