| Model: |
Foes Inferno |
| Category: |
All Mountain (Foes is very explicit about this being a trail bike; if you use a double crown fork on the Inferno you void your warranty) |
| Suspension: |
6 inches front; 7.5 inches rear. |
| Ideal for: |
The Foes Inferno lights up the most technical trails on Galbraith like the Scorpion and Shawn's Trail. |
| Over all performance: |
Astounding. Seriously. This bike takes technical trail riding and turns it inside out. By all current measures, a 35 pound mono-pivot bike with 7.5 inches of travel should be a joke on the trail, but actually, the Foes Inferno gets the last laugh. Lighter bikes may jump to the front on sustained climbs, but the Foes Inferno absolutely devours EVERYTHING else, making it the best all mountain bike we've ever tested, if "all mountain" includes double black diamond technical terrain. |
| Front end: |
Will's Inferno is equipped with a Fox Forx TALAS 36 RC2, which is currently GalbraithMt.com's favorite six inch single crown fork. We love the over-sized stancheons and beefy through-axel stiffness of this air fork (it's almost as true as the Lefty), and the fact that the on-the-fly travel adjustement feature actually works. |
| Rear end: |
The Foes Inferno's rear suspension redefines the rules of engagement for trail bikes. Here's why. The rear suspension on this bike is so good and so deep that you can stay seated and "simply" peddle over outrageously heinous stuff that is a white knuckle technical challenge on a trail bike with four, or five, or even six inches of travel in the rear. The Rootball God on Ewoch Village is a good example. On a superior trail bike like the Switchblade or the Intense 5.5, this sucker is serious but doable. On the 7.5" travel Inferno, it's just a bumpy part of the trail! Credit for the stellar performance of the Foes Inferno's rear suspension mostly goes to the Curnutt XTD coil-over shock. Curnutt was the originator of stable platform technology and licences it to Manitou and others. Foes is the only bike that uses Curnutt's own shock, which looks and feels a lot like a Romic on steroids.
The other thing that makes the Foes Inferno's rear end so good is its floating rear brake, ala Brake Therapy. Looks kinda funky, but I'll tell you it's a thing of beauty to come blazing into some rocky chute and be able to hit the brakes without it having ANY effect on the rear suspension at all. Most excellent!
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| Brakes: |
Will's Inferno is equipped with Hope quad piston hydraulic disc brakes and eight inch rotars, which likewise raise the bar for trail bike performance. |
| (The devil is in the) Details: |
The Inferno has an interrupted seat post (which limits your ability to raise and lower the seat a lot), plus the seat post colar is relatively narrow so it's hard to get the seat post to stay clamped in place. |
| Durability: |
This is an exceptionally strong and durable trail bike. |
| Geometry and sizing: |
You'd think that a bike with a 67.5 degree head tube angle and 17.2 inch chain stays wouldn't be too quick, but somehow the Inferno manages to be very nimble and responsive on the singletrack, in tight switchbacks, etc. The 14.2 inch high bottom bracket is a blessing on Galbraith too. |
| Weight: |
35 pounds as pictured. |
| Reviewed: |
December 2005 |
