TESTED: Mondraker Super Foxy R

Words: Ryan Walsch
Photos: Nick Waygood

Despite a few attempts over the years at getting time aboard a Mondraker, the chance has always eluded me. So there was much excitement in the camp when I found out the Mondraker Superfoxy R was on its way to my workshop. The Superfoxy R is the range topping alloy model with premium suspension from Ohlins and a selection of sturdy components from E-Thirteen, SRAM and Maxxis. 

Tester: Ryan Walsch 
Height: 178cm
Weight: 74kg
Experience: Been just riding along for decades
Usually rides: Forbidden Druid over build
Bike Test Track: Canberra's finest trails 

The Superfoxy R is Mondraker's Super Enduro weapon, sporting 170mm of travel up front and an incredibly supple 160mm out the back. The platform is designed to flatten terrain and pedal efficiently back up for those huge days in the alps, locals only shuttles or EDR rounds.

If you're a fan of longer, lower and slacker, Mondraker pioneered the long front centre or what they dubbed Forward Geometry and when paired with their Zero Suspension system (Zero Power loss, Zero Pedal Kickback, Zero Brake Jack) they have created a bike that has incredible stability at speed and supple ground hugging suspension while retaining sharp handling characteristics. 

The long travel enduro bike market is full of great choices, The Superfoxy R sets itself apart with a premium aluminium frame for the brawlers and privateers paired with Ohlins suspension and durable components to round out the $7499 package. Mondraker state that the Superfoxy R is for the riders who want to give it everything on the downhills, but don't have a carbon frame within their budget. 

Initial Impressions

Out of the box, the Superfoxy R screams fast with super clean lines that follow the entire chassis. The iconic slender top tube we see often on the podium really stands out – these design cues are common through the entire Mondraker range. The frame has high quality hardware, beautifully machined linkages, retaining C-clips to retain linkage bearings, flawless welds… the list goes on. This is all on the alloy frame which we have on review. I personally love how the seat stay lines up with that thin top tube across the size range giving riders very generous stand over across the board.

Unlike many suspension systems, Mondraker’s Zero Suspension consists of two magnificently machined alloy linkages which mount at both ends of the shock. This means the shock floats between the two links and does not touch the frame at all. The linkage and placement of the shock mounts give Mondraker the kinematics that they are after and characteristic that are hugely advantageous for both descending and climbing. Another not as unique feature of late is Mondraker’s Forward Geometry which was introduced into their 2013 line-up. Ten years ago, this blew industries minds. Initially on Forward Geometry equipped frames, if the frame reach was, say, 470mm, Mondraker increased the reach by 60mm and spec’d a custom 10mm stem. The following season, with curious and cautious eyes on them, 30mm stems across the board normalised the approach and brands have been following ever since. I opted for the size Large which measures a whopping 490mm reach. I could/should have selected a medium which measures 470mm but wanted to upsize and ride Forward Geometry on the trails – it is extremely stable!

Out of the box I set the Superfoxy R up tubeless, and the Maxxis DH casing tyres seated up easily on the  e*thirteen LG1 Enduro rims which were pre-taped and had valves provided. All this alloy and the DH casing tyres do put the Super Foxy R into a hefty region for this category at 17.2kgs without pedals for our size Large test rig. As always, I set the suspension up as per the bike brand's recommendations; Mondraker had a comprehensive suspension setup guide including damping adjustments for the front and rear.

The Ohlins RXF 38 170mm fork is extremely adjustable including a positive and self-equalising negative chamber along with a separately adjustable ramp up chamber located at the bottom of the fork (which gets filled first). I pressurised the Ramp Up and main chambers to 190/90psi respectively and close to 30% sag out back with 165psi in the Ohlins TTX Air which was surprisingly tricky to equalise.

The only concerns I had before hitting the trails were that the fork was on the softer side of what I prefer and I wondered how the e*thirteen rims would fair with the abuse a capable bike like this can handle.

On The Trail

To go down I have to go up. So getting the 170mm/160mm Superfoxy R up the hill put the climbing comfort to the test. It climbs surprisingly well for a bike with such supple suspension and hefty rubber. The Forward Geometry and steep seat tube angle of 71 degrees (76 degree effective) have you sitting what feels to be just forward of centre and in a strong and commanding position on climbs. The overall 1273mm length of the bike makes the climb stable and it tracks very nicely up the jumbly and technical pinches. With a smooth pedalling technique, the bike moves neither into or upward from its sag position, true to its Zero or neutral anti-squat values. The rear wheel remains active to follow the contours of the terrain while resisting bobbing either side of sag, this is very advantageous in the hills.

As expected with premium Ohlins suspension and DH casing Maxxis tyres the Superfoxy R is an absolute plow heading downhill, particularly when the going is rough. The rear travel via the Zero Suspension System feels bottomless and with the recommended setup I didn’t noticeably feel it bottom out. However the sag indicator/fun ring was maxed out – so clearly all the travel was being used. The fork on the other hand was way off being balanced with the rear when using Ohlins recommended settings guide. I kept losing pressure from the ramp up chamber and rapidly blowing through the travel, pitching me forward and violently hitting the bottom out bumper which was quite the contrast to the rear. 

The bottom bracket height on the Superfoxt R is over 1cm higher than a few bikes I have been riding lately and the combination of the soft fork, conservative 65 degree head angle and high bottom bracket had me feeling a bit over the front! With some very helpful back and forth communication with the knowledgeable team at NS Dynamics (the Australian distributor for Ohlins) we concluded that there may be an internal leak between chambers. To get the fork ridable ASAP I tried upping our pressures until the fork felt and performed like the rear which required an eye-watering 130psi/230psi main/ramp up chamber pressures which are well above the recommended for a 74kg rider. This was all carried out with the same digital shock pump used for the rear shock and following Ohlin's setup process. It was a bit weird and something I will continue to work on and likely rebuild to resolve at a later stage.

The Superfoxy R excels on the rocky, rutted-out trails and I tested it with both flat and clipless pedals to experience the Zero Pedal kick back feeling as it can often get overlooked when riding clips only. Riding flats, I can certainly feel some kickback but it is about as minimal as can be expected when charging through a rock garden on flats without a last name like Hill or Fearon.

Mondraker have gained some extra points when it comes to specifying the Maxxis Assegai and Dissector DH casing tyres in the 3C MaxxGrip compounds, but I feel they missed the mark with the e*thirteen LG1 Enduro pinned rims. I have long had issues with the reliability of these rims and more aggressive riders will need to run higher than normal pressures or inserts – or both – despite the brilliant tyres adorning them. Our wheels lost close to half their tension over the first 2 rides. I suspect the wheels were machine built and not checked and finished by hand; this has resulted in some minor hops and wobbles which cannot be pulled out even after backing off the tension, hammering out the dents and starting again with the tensioning process. 

SRAM’s new DB8 brake is brilliant, and paired with 200mm rotors front and rear, this is in my opinion the most powerful and consistent braking power at the lower end of the brake market. Snappy lever feel, adequate adjustments, quality pads and rotors make it a familiar feeling even when compared to my SRAM Code RSC brakes.

SRAM’s NX and SX round out the remainder of the components, and while at the lower end of the field, worked well and without complaint. The NX derailleur's clutch may have been at its limit when in the highest ratio gears and pinning through rocks, but given how capable the bike is, this is not a deal breaker. I do wish that Mondraker had spec’d slightly shorter cranks as at 175mm on the large I was lucky the bike had a higher BB than I am used to. As the bike has Superboost 157mm rear hub spacing, finding a shorter crankset can sometimes be tricky or confusing, although the smaller models do have 170mm.

Mondraker’s own Onoff bar, stem and travel adjustable dropper post are all neatly finished and feel like good quality offerings, particularly the dropper post. The ability to change the dropper post's drop from 170mm to 140mm, and anywhere in between, by 10mm increments is very handy. It would be even more adaptable to riders of all shapes and sizes if the seat tube wasn’t quite so long; at 470mm it is higher than almost all Large frames I’ve reviewed in the last few seasons, and despite the fantastic standover something to be mindful of if you’re considering a Superfoxy!

Our Take 

It’s great to see more companies going back to offering a premium aluminium model bike in their ranges. I would have loved to see some more bling in terms of components, but there is no denying the fact that the Ohlins suspension, powerful brakes and careful selection of parts on the Superfoxy R is a robust and durable contender with a quality ride feel and presence on the trail. The Superfoxy R’s Ohlins suspension and Zero Suspension system itself are what make this bike an absolute dream in the rough, the long and stable chassis make it track across rough as all hell lines with ease. In contrast, the super active suspension did make the bike a little wallowy and less responsive on bike park style features and terrain. The Mondraker is happiest sitting into its travel and charging steep and chunky trails. These same traits mean it absorbs lips more than other bikes but eats braking bumps and ruts like they weren’t there.

Throughout the test period, our Superfoxy R held up very well considering its intended use and the abuse it received. While the initial setup of the fork and the leaking ramp up control air chamber is annoying, this will be a one off and something the distributor is happy to look at and resolve, so a non-issue in our book. The rear wheel's tension backing off is easily resolved too, however I would have loved to see a more robust rim on this bike, something like DT Swiss’s FR541 for example. That being said, if you know you are hard on equipment, pop a Tannus or Cushcore tubeless insert in and enjoy trouble free charging on the wildest trails. 

TESTED: RAAW Madonna V2.2 Custom Build

SPECIFICATIONS

Brand: Mondraker
Model: Superfoxy R
RRP: $7499
Weight: 17.2kgs (as tested)
From: advancetraders.com.au

Available Sizes: S, M, L (tested), XL
Frame Material: 6061 Alloy Stealth Evo, hydroformed tubing
Fork: Öhlins RXF 38 M.2 29, 170mm, TTX18 cartridge
Shock: Öhlins TTX Air 205X65mm
Shifter: SRAM SX Eagle 12sp
Derailleur: SRAM NX Eagle 12sp
Crank set: Truvativ Descendant 7K Eagle, SuperBoost, DUB, 32t 175mm
Bottom Bracket: SRAM DUB Threaded
Chain: SRAM SX Eagle
Cassette: SRAM NX Eagle 11-50 12sp
Wheel set: E*13 LG1 Enduro, 30mm internal
Tyres: Maxxis Assegai/Dissector 29x 2.5/2.4"
Brakes: SRAM DB8 200/200mm

Stem: Onoff Sulfur FG 30mm forged alloy
Handlebar: Onoff Sulfur, 20mm rise, 800mm
Seatpost: Onoff Pija 140-170mm drop
Seat: SDG BEL-AIR 3.0, LPU foam, steel rails