It was just pointed out to me that this review is going to be less about this particular bike and more about 29ers in general, which is probably true. I’ve ridden a few 29ers but the Evolve is the only one I have spent significant time on, so comparisons aren’t reasonable, but I’ll do my best. I also don’t like hardtail bikes much so I’ve not much to say on how the full suspension 29er performs next to a hardtail 29er – that will be up to you to determine.

When I told the Ellsworth crew I wanted an Evolve to test, they hesitated to even build it, citing concern about me being too small for a 29er. I get tired of that sentiment, in large part because I’m in major denial about being small (I’m AVERAGE!), but I understand it coming from the bike manufacturer, who naturally does not want to send an unsuitable demo to a media type person. I had had a taste of the 29er ethos during my trip to Kokanee Crankworx last year when I demo’ed a Specialized 29er, and I knew I wanted to give the Evolve a shot so I dug in my heels and convinced Ellsworth to build the bike for me.

I got the bike while I was living in the Northwest, where trails are muddy and steep, and roots and obstacles are slippery and challenging. I had enjoyed the taste of 29er stability at Crankworx and suspected that I’d gain confidence and have an easier time with obstacles on a big-wheeled bike. Whether it’s a confidence thing or a geometry thing, I’ve found my theory to be 100% true. I’m not a racer type but I decided to participate in a bike race the day after I put the Evolve together. The race was on an unfamiliar course so I went out on the Evolve the night before to pre-ride the route, and was really stoked at how easy it was to roll the steep, technical descents that had worried me in the race description. I also had a much easier time with my nemesis, the tight switchback. I was pretty well sold on the bike from the word go.

I had a great time in the actual race, zipping by people who had stopped at the top of the descents to assess their ability to roll them on their 26ers, and if I’d been on my 26er I’d have done the same; some of the huge roots were really intimidating. The Evolve made them feel like almost nothing, though – I just held on and rolled right down. Getting the big front wheel up and over roots and rocks while climbing was also a breeze; it made technical climbing so much easier.

Ten months later I find that I’ve moved all of my favorite components to the Evolve. One of my 26ers is still packed away in a box where I put it 6 months ago, and the other is sitting unridden in my living room because I so much prefer to ride the 29er. When I do get the bug to take out my 26ers, I get frustrated because the ride is so much harsher and the front end is so much twitchier and harder to handle than the trustworthy, stable 29er.

Here in Durango, I get nonstop criticism for riding a 29er. People dismiss the idea that they’re fun to ride, saying that they don’t maneuver as well, and….well that’s pretty much what they say. One guy told me that 29ers make him crash. Er, OK. I don’t much think that it’s the bike making him fall down, but whatevs. I don’t have any trouble maneuvering the bike, going fast on descents, or handling anything the local trails put in front of me (partly because they are pretty easy trails, but I would say the same for the tougher NW trails on this bike – they were easier for me on the 29er). I even have a way easier time with tight turns on the 29er, though one of my 29er riding girlfriends says she has a harder time than on her 26er, so this might be an individual thing, or it might be that the Ells geometry is better at that sort of thing than the 29er she rides.

Which brings me to the specifics of the Ellsworth Evolve. Most of the time my Ells bikes are admired by people I encounter on trails, but in Durango people have some sort of weird superiority issue that they express by trashing bike brands that don’t happen to be endorsed by one of the ex-pro athletes that live here, or something. I’ve no idea why people here find it necessary to do this; what’s wrong with letting people have their preferences? I’ll go ahead and tell the elitists to suck it, because I like the Ellsworth bikes and the Evolve in particular. I prefer a stable, balanced, forgiving bike which is what the Ells geometry is all about in my opinion. The Evolve is not designed to be a super snappy XC race machine so why would one criticize it for not being just that? I don’t like bikes that are squirrely; I just don’t ride that way. I like the fact that if I hesitate while making a tight maneuver, the Evolve will stay stable until I can apply power – and when I do, the front end stays straight and balanced and I can just power on out of the sticky situation. As a 29er, it rolls over just about anything and with the Ellsworth Instant Center Tracking design (ask Tony E., he’ll tell you; I won’t bother trying to get all techy), it climbs really well. The front end stays down – never, ever pops up while climbing steep stuff – and I never spin out on gravel or loose rock even when I stand up to climb. I love the way the Evolve handles switchbacks and descents – frankly, I just enjoy the way the bike handles, even more than other 29ers I’ve ridden. To be fair, the Evolve was outfitted just for me with components that I prefer; for instance it’s got a really wide bar which helps with the stability, but I can’t say anything negative about the frame and the way it rides. I have said it before in my Ellsworth reviews – Ells bikes are designed to be stable and to take care of their riders. On an Ellsworth, and especially on the Evolve, I’ve learned that I can take on scarier obstacles and I’ll still be OK because the bike isn’t going to do anything weird. So I like both the 29er feel in general and the Ellsworth design works for me. Plus the anodized pink color of my bike is just super sexy, flashy, and perfect for me – and every time you buy a pink bike from Ellsworth, they donate $50 to benefit breast cancer research.

I’d like to advocate for all riders to at least try the 29er. People my size (I’m 5’5″) are generally discouraged from riding and even trying out 29ers and I think that’s a major bummer, because I think a lot of people would like them. I think women, especially, would like 29ers because of the stability and the ease of rolling over obstacles. When your body weight is in your hips, down towards the bike frame, it’s more difficult to get a twitchy front wheel over obstacles and the 29er helps balance that equation. I personally got a surge of confidence from riding a 29er and think that other women would, too. I don’t find any of the criticism of 29ers to be warranted and sometimes I think that people who spray on about how terrible they are might – just might – not have a clue what they are talking about. And how does a 6′ tall dude have any clue what a 5’4″ woman might like to ride, anyway? He’s no idea what it feels like for her. Take my word for it, height has nothing to do with whether or not you’ll like the big wheels. I know a sub 5′ woman who rides a 29er and kicks everyone’s ass on it, too. I’m at least as fast at climbing and descending as most of my friends (at least the ones who aren’t professionals) so the idea that a 29er can’t keep up with 26ers is really stupid, especially when you see pros like Rebecca Rusch out there winning on 29ers.

This “you’re too small to ride a 29er” thing is such bunk. If you’re familiar with fat tire bikes, ones with wheels as wide as 4″, you’ll know that women and shorter men ride them all the time with no issues. And you know what? Though those bikes use 26″ wheels, the size of the tires effectively turns them into 29ers when all is said and done, and no one’s running around loftily proclaiming that smaller people can’t ride fat tire bikes. It’s so ridiculous.

So if you haven’t tried a 29er, you really should, and the Evolve is a great one to try. You’ll encounter people who tell you that full-suspension 29ers don’t work, but your trusty Head Geargal assures you that they do indeed. You might love riding a 29er or you might decide that you prefer the 26ers, but you don’t know until you try. My advice is to ignore the I-know-everything loudmouths, and try both kids of bikes and then – radical concept, here – pick the one YOU like the best.

Today was another chilly day here in Durango, Colorado, but like anyone who has spent time in the Pacific NW, I was lulled by the sun and set out for a bike ride on my trusty Ellsworth Moment, my 2010 demo bike that became mine at the end of the season when I found I couldn’t part with it, and purchased it. Seeing it in the demo tent as a show bike at Crankworx made me nearly hysterical with the need to make it my own; I couldn’t stomach the idea of anyone else on this bike that had been manufactured, anodized, and assembled with Loaded accents just for me. For some reason buying it made me feel like I didn’t have to do a review on it, or something, because I neglected my duty and never wrote about it. That means that just about every time I ride it, I feel guilty, so I’m going to tackle my nagging conscience head-on and get this done.

But the real reason why I haven’t yet completed my review is that I was trying hard to characterize this bike, and to hit upon just the right experience that would sum up this bike if shared with readers. I never found that experience and that is because every single ride on the Moment is just perfect.

I had originally wanted to test a Truth this year(errrr…last year?), or perhaps an Evolve. The Ellsworth crew talked me into a Moment, though, because I was in Canada and they thought the 6” travel Moment would fit the North Shore style riding better. I balked, because I’m not a freeride kind of person, and I didn’t want to be stuck with some clunky, heavy, unwieldy FR/DH bike that would be essentially useless to my XC ethos. “Come on,” said Donald, my Ellsworth contact, “the Moment is what I’d get.”

That was good enough for me.

One of my issues with the whole gear review thing is that so many manufacturers turn me loose with their catalogs and ask me to pick stuff. This leads to lots and lots of agonizing and emotional turmoil. This is probably a nice problem to have, but I do spend too much time trying to pick just the right thing, and the fact that I’ve had excellent luck with the stuff some clients just randomly pick should tell me that I should stop working so hard to choose exactly the right thing – and just let it come to me. With the Moment, that’s what I did (after weeks of agonizing over the bike options, of course) – and it really was just the right thing.

I chose a lightish build (OK fine, they chose it for me) on my Moment; an air shock (Fox Float RP23) in back but a Talas fork in front. Excellent decision, if I do say so myself, as the air shock gives me the light and quick XC feel but the Talas adjustable fork lends not only the extra travel when needed, but also the ability to feel like a totally badass Autobot when, at the top of a gnarly downhill, I just need to pause for a moment (in front of all my companions, ideally) and transform the Talas fork from a 4” travel quickie to a 6” travel monster to soak up all the bumps. A coil shock in front would arguably lend a better ride but it would a) be heavier and b) most likely not be dialed for my light-ass chick body weight, thanks so very much Fox for taking that into consideration, NOT. Seriously, one thing I’ve learned is that nearly all bicycle shocks are created with an ideal weight of 180lbs in mind. Well, I’m over 50 lbs lighter than that, and I’m not even caught by the bottom edge of that ideal-weight curve. The new Specialized women’s design bikes have an optimized suspension for women’s body weight and it really does make all the difference. Unfortunately I haven’t convinced Tony E. to make a demo bike just for me with a tuned spring curve suspension adjusted to my body weight, so I have to go with the standard Fox stuff here. I’m not super wild about Fox shocks because they’re usually just so hard for me to activate, being a bit smaller than many people, and thinking about what I could do on my Ellsworth bikes with a suspension made just for me makes me…well, it makes me really want a suspension made just for me.

I don’t get to have that…YET. However, the Ellsworth design does a very credible job of making up for it. The thing is about riding an Ellsworth is that it just makes me feel more confident. The Moment tracks perfectly and is super stable, getting me out of many a jam whether it’s an overshot sharp turn, a rocky and steep downhill, or a trip across one of those goddamned ladders they love so much in the Northwest. The Moment is so easy to handle that my first time out, I was making short work of obstacles that had troubled me for months on other bikes.

I got into mountain biking in Alaska, where trails can be rocky and steep but rarely technical in a true MTB way. It’s going to be hard to explain what I mean by this, so bear with me. When I started mountain biking, there were no trails at all in Alaska specifically designed for biking, so we were all riding mountain bikes on hiking trails. The most technical sections were demanding, with HUGE climbs and rocky, loose terrain, but there was nothing in the way of anything tight or twisting or fraught with obstacles. I enjoyed riding the trails in the back part of Bicentennial Park that were nothing but masses of roots everywhere, but to get through trails like that you really only need power, not bike handling skills. Power I had, handling skills….eh…who needs them anyway, I’ve got an Ellsworth now!

When I bought my first high end bike years ago I rode a few of them, including an Ellsworth Truth. The Truth was the only bike EVER that has given me that “in the bike” feeling, but I didn’t buy it because of the price tag and I have regretted it ever since. That demo ride, way back when, is the reason I sought out Ellsworth as a Geargals client. So being back on Ellsworth bikes has been a long time coming for me and it makes me really happy. The Moment could make you happy, too, if you like an extremely stable, versatile bike that is truly suitable to all conditions. I had a longtime dream of a full stable of Ellsworth bikes but once I got the Moment, I really didn’t need much else. The Talas fork goes from 4” travel to 6” travel, and if I really wanted to do freeride stuff I could slap on a coil shock and I’d be good to go. I did get myself an Evolve, eventually, because the Moment does not transform into a 29er, but it does everything else so well that there’s really no reason to have another bike, other than to have another bike.

Reading back over what I wrote, I can see that this review is reading more like a memoir than a bike review so perhaps I’d better refocus. Remember when I said I didn’t need bike handling skills because I have an Ellsworth? Well, that’s almost true. On sketchy descents I’ve taken to reminding myself inwardly “You’re on an Ellsworth, you’ll be fine. Just hang on” because I know the bike will take care of me most of the time, soaking up the bumps and forgiving my mistakes. I’m a much more relaxed rider now, knowing that I can jack things up and the Moment will absorb my errors as well as it does the obstacles instead of just dropping me on the ground and looking at me in disgust. 95% of other situations I can get out of just by applying power – the Moment just needs a little gas in the spark plugs and it stabilizes immediately. And as far as that hackneyed bike-review question, “does it climb like a hardtail?” How the hell would I know? I’d never ride a hardtail, I like my seat bones intact. But it does climb really, really well, and it’s very tough to get the back wheel to spin out even on loose gravel. It might slip a little if you stand up to crank, but it will grip again in a flash – I don’t know how the bike does that.

I wish more women would ride really high end bikes like this. It’s done wonders for my confidence (and my cred – hearing “whoa, a chick on an Ellsworth!” is not uncommon, nor is “a pink Ellsworth – awesome!” which makes me feel good about my not-so-ordinary bike) and it really does help improve your riding. I admit that the super bike-dude vibe the company gives off can be intimidating, but I’ve spent a bit of time with those guys and I can say that they are a bunch of super sweet people. It’s tough for women to see past the bike industry swagger, and by the way, dear friends at Ellsworth, it doesn’t help when there are half-naked models preening about in front of the demo booth. I wish you wouldn’t do that, it’s alienating to the women riders you are trying so hard to attract. I wish you’d just be yourselves and not lean on hackneyed gimmicks, like bare asses for example, to attract customers. The bikes are good enough, you just have to get people on them and they’re not going to get on them if they’re a) freaked out by the strippers or b) staring at the strippers.

So my Ellsworth bikes, including the Moment, are not “official” women’s design. They’re just regular design, going by the good-for-the-gander, good-for-the-goose theory. For the most part, they have it right. I’ve spent some time trying to sort out whether or not women need a different bike frame design, and I’ll go out on a limb now by saying “not necessarily.” What works for each person is different, and if an Ells doesn’t work for you then I’m sorry, because it’s a sweet ride that you’re missing.

The Epiphany, as far as I can tell, is a sort of crossover, something-for-everyone, divine creation. Even after talking to Tony Ellsworth himself in depth about bike design, I scoff at the idea that a mere mortal designed this otherworldly frame. It climbs well, it descends well, it soaks up the bumps…this is THE go-to bike for a one-bike quiver (one bike? What madness is this of which I speak?) and for those planning trips with a little bit of everything.

Speaking of Tony, he had a lot to say about frame design, materials, the development of his patented Instant Center Tracking system, and the quality of bike manufacturing, and I particularly enjoyed his “Conversation with Carbon Fiber” bit which I like to think he did just for me. The guy is clearly brilliant and a perfectionist, which he freely admitted (though he had no choice but to admit it, since I overheard him explaining to a contractor that he would only permit round holes for his HVAC systems – oval just would not do. Since I’ve spent the last year renovating my house, I can fully appreciate this level of attention to detail). And perfectionism is what you want when you’re dropping more money on your bike than you do on your car. Seriously – once I had two Ellsworth bikes on the bike rack on my old GMC Jimmy, and I realized that the combined net worth of the bikes could buy four Jimmys. Not worth the risk of having them on a rather aged hitch rack. I then took the bikes off the hitch rack and carefully stowed them in the Jimmy for safety. Good old Jimmy, plenty of room for two Ellsworths. What more could one want from an SUV? Anyway….

After a few local test-rides, I was presented with the opportunity to tag along on a 50-mile mountain race with one of the other Geargals. Get this – she was RUNNING fifty miles. Because of the isolation of the race and the potential for bear encounters, she asked me to tag along on a bike for safety. The route would involve steep and sustained ascents and descents, technical terrain, variable weather, and probably quite a bit of mud, so it seemed like the perfect opportunity to see what the Epiphany could do. I also wanted to use a bike with a comfortable riding position and enough technical capabilities and substance to handle the terrain. Like any Geargal worth her salt, I wanted it ALL! With a 120-mm fork and five inches of rear travel, I figured the Epiphany was the right bike for this type of trip – and, for those of you who don’t like suspense – I was right!

I’m not a very finessed rider, and tend to just bully in hail-mary style through rocky sections. Therefore I was beyond thankful for the travel on this bike. Every time I smacked my pedals on a rock was a bad fall avoided – on a bike with less travel, I probably would have been crashing to the ground. The suspension ate up the terrain like it was made of gummy bears and other soft squishy things. Forgive the TMI, but I had been too lazy to swap the stock saddle out to my women-specific saddle, putting my faith in Ellsworth’s legendary cush-factor technology. The Epiphany’s suspension was so plush that it almost didn’t matter that I was riding on an inappropriate saddle. I say “almost” because I was suffering during the last 12 “junk miles” which were road miles and therefore required seat-firmly-in-saddle style riding – ouch. Even the Epiphany couldn’t do much about that.

The ICT suspension really does work. Very heavy riders might have trouble with full suspension bikes, but I noticed absolutely no difference in efficiency while climbing. As a matter of fact, for a biker at my level, this bike offers the same efficiency as a hardtail and perhaps even more, since the mere pain factor of climbing rough terrain on a hardtail tends to slow me down. I am much quicker at climbing with the Epiphany, because I don’t pre-wince when big obstacles arise. I know the ICT will just soak up the bumps while keeping the back wheel firmly in contact with the ground. I noticed that it was even a little more difficult to bunny hop the Epiphany, because it really does want to keep its rear wheel on the ground. This bike cares about you, you see, and it hates to see you turning the cranks for nothing. You pedal, you move forward; it’s a no-nonsense arrangement.

I did take a nasty tumble that I blame firmly on the Epiphany. After the steepest, most difficult climb of the ride, I was enjoying the more mellow incline of the trail and the scenery at the top of the pass, and the comfy Epiphany lulled me into not watching where I was going. Front wheel off the trail – Head Geargal goes boom. Ow. So, note to self: Epiphany is not equipped with autopilot.

That’s about the only complaint I can come up with, really – that the bike doesn’t steer itself. This bike is incredible and I am beyond impressed with Tony Ellsworth’s talent and dedication to creating unmatchable mountain bikes. Since I’ve progressed to riding high-end bikes, I’ve become more attuned to the nuances of frame design, personal preferences, and fit. Those who believe that riders can’t discern differences in frame design are just flat wrong. Positioning, balance, and technique are all affected by frame design, and each rider is going to have her own preferences. Thus, it’s very difficult to review bikes without resorting to comparing them to other bikes, and the Epiphany puts its rider in a slightly less aggressive stance than either my regular bike or the Ellsworth Truth (which I’ve also spent some pedal time on). I prefer a more stretched-out and aggro position, but to be fair I didn’t have a professional fitting done for me with this bike. Whatever issues I had (which were so minor I really can’t even justify mentioning them) could probably have been addressed with a proper fitting. Even so, most people prefer a less aggressive position than I do, so I think for the majority of riders, the Epiphany’s rider positioning is just about perfect.

Because of its “crossover” (XC + downhill) type of design, the one thing this bike doesn’t do as well as some others is tight cornering. It’s just more substantial than some XC race-style bikes, and isn’t as flickable as others I’ve ridden. This doesn’t mean it can’t do it, it just means that it requires a different style of riding than I’m used to. This won’t be an issue for good riders, and beginner riders will appreciate the stability and forgiveness of the Epiphany. Everyone will have a different opinion regarding the highlight of the Epiphany, but for me it’s the bike’s performance on sustained downhills. During the 20 miles of sustained descent on my 50 mile ride, I found the Epiphany so comfortable I hardly even had to think about it.

Now the bad news. If you want this bike, it’s not gonna come cheap. Even after a gracious discount offer from Ellsworth, I still couldn’t afford to keep the Epiphany this year (I probably couldn’t afford to maintain its lifestyle in a way to which it is accustomed, anyway) due to my compulsive bike-buying spree earlier in the spring. If you, like others who aren’t members of the Gates family, can only afford one high-end bike, you cannot possibly go wrong with the Epiphany. There is absolutely nothing that it can’t do to the very highest standard. Be warned, though – you’ll be so spoiled by all that rear travel that riding other bikes will become much more difficult. It will puzzle you why some obstacles that the Epiphany ate for breakfast aren’t quite as easy for other bikes. Poor other bikes – this is the Angelina Jolie, and they are the Jennifer Aniston. I think Jennifer Aniston is totally rad herself; I just think Angie is more likely to eat things that get in her way for breakfast.

Muchas gracias to Ellsworth for lending us the bike, and to Tony for taking the time to chat!