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09 Python


Damon W

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Wheelbase 1010 on a python? Ohh dear!

Some more failure from deng by the looks of it!

andy ball is not a happy person!

surely deng can realize that his 05/04 cls bike sold every single one?

more to the point zoo's just arent natty bikes and never will.

as a result i think eveyone says : (N)

looks gorgeous though

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Deng's already ceased manufacture of the Freetrials Czar frame, but from what he's done with seatclamps, I'm more than certain that he'd back it up with a variety of streety frames! Perhaps we might see the return of the real Pure. Not the flimsy cheap 6061 junk that was out from 2006 'til now. Ultra 6 tubing, 'rectangular' Control downtube, and proper seatpost... perfect! :)

To be honest, I kinda miss the old meaty Deng stuff that was made. The Echo Teams of past were freaking burly things, the 07 one especially so. 2004 Pythons were extremely durable, even though their design was fairly simple, they lasted longer than 2005 and 2006 ones did. Old Controls were also famous for their super high strength, great geo, and famous rectangular-ish downtube. Now they are even slimmer than the current Pures and Lites.... they might as well release the new 09 frames as those names... since when people think of 'Team' and 'Control'... they think 'elite, burly, tough, chunky, take bucket loads of abuse without breaking'.

I also get the impression that Deng's no longer going to produce components under his sister brand names anymore. There's little point apart from aesthetics really. But it was nice whilst it lasted...

If I look from Deng's perspective, he is kinda forced to produce super light stuff these days, to be able to sell his products... it's really a demand-driven thing. People these days seem to refuse to buy things that are strong if they weigh 50-100g more than a drilled version. Fair enough in that sense, but also respect to him for producing a TR and Urban line too... as well as being innovative and producing 2 alternative rim brakes, which are probably going to work OK. Despite what a lot of narrow-minded and fascist TFers think, Deng's manufacturing quality is actually pretty good. I'd whole-heartedly trust it on par with 'American-handmade blah blah' ... except for bearing-related stuff of course (but you can always just get Japanese replacements for whatever hub/headset...)

The release of Echo rim brakes also is a great service to China's own riders, who have trouble affording imported goods from the west. Sure, domestically produced goods like Zhi and Deng are cheap and affordable for them (since there's no tariff and the trade price is very low as it's a Chinese firm), but they find it so hard to buy Magura HS33s over there... it's rare and expensive. So Deng is doing a good thing by giving them access to a rim brake they can more easily afford. (I know Denguras are expensive in UK, but in China I bet that they are cheaper than imported Maguras)

Only criticism right now is geometry-wise. I understand why he makes changes in terms of materials, design, shape, etc. but geometry changes don't affect cost that much? In the long run, having more popular geo is a finer investment. Produce 2 Pythons I say, one as the current one, and another as a more traditional Python with long wheelbase etc... and change the headangle.

He could also try shortening the rake of the forks too? Why not?

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