Silverback Slider 1 650B Review

[Hairy]

Stay tuned for a Silverback Slider 1 650B Review by mid / end of next week.

 

For now all I can say is that this bike is a wolf in sheep skin.

[Tractor]

Come now Hairy, ride it and write the report Good looking bike just by the way

[Mongoose!]

start your review with a price please?

[Hairy]

Come now Hairy, ride it and write the report Good looking bike just by the way

The report will come and I have been riding her .... still a little more riding over the weekend and then to return her next week and Tuesday.

[Hairy]

start your review with a price please?

RRP was under 27K if I recall..... will get more clarification and will include in the report.

 

The price above though does get you a rather nicely speced biked!

[Tubehunter]

How much travel front and back? Better suited as an XC 650B or is there an enduro option with this too?

 

Weight info too please?

[worriesnot]

[Hairy]

How much travel front and back? Better suited as an XC 650B or is there an enduro option with this too?

 

Weight info too please?

The bike is 130mm front and back

 

Weight ... I have refrained from putting the bike on the scale as I do not want to form a prejudice based on weight. It does feel light and sprightly though.

 

I would say more Trail bike to AM.......this bike is not shy to climb or descend.

 

Ok, enough from me till I can form my thoughts into words.

[Flowta]

How much travel front and back? Better suited as an XC 650B or is there an enduro option with this too?

 

Weight info too please?

 

Travel on the 2014 model is 130mm front and back.

 

Word is that 2015 will have 140mm up front.

 

Max travel fork will be around 150mm

[Hairy]

Travel on the 2014 model is 130mm front and back.

 

Word is that 2015 will have 140mm up front.

 

Max travel fork will be around 150mm

Shut up you ... don't steel my thunder until I do a proper review

[worriesnot]

Hairy - when you posting the review buddy?

[Hairy]

Hairy - when you posting the review buddy?

Will come ... been under pressure at work, so life is a little crazy.

 

Might just do an interim point form summary.

 

For now let me just say that I really miss the bike ..... as in REALLY MISS......

[Hairy]

Sorry for the late reply, but work has been crazy and I am struggling to find the time to put into words my thoughts on the Slider.

 

If you all do not mind, I will post in point form below and then follow up with a structured reply soon or field questions as they come.

 

http://www.silverbac.../slider1_14.htm

 

 

FIT, COMPONENTS AND CONTACT POINTS:

 

I struggle to find a medium to fit me properly as I tend to be in the middle of the medium and the large framed bikes. The slider with the saddle slid back just a little was just perfect in the Horizontal TT length for me.

 

I would personally run a shorter stem (60/70mm) and a wider bar on the bike.

 

At first the handling felt a bit "floppy" and I could not weight down the front nicely.

Attempt 1 was to drop the stem all the way to the top of the headset, this improved handling. Attempt 2 had me inverting the stem and laying the stem on one spacer, handling felt far better. The stem has a fair rise on it.

 

The Saddle is awesome.

 

Grips .... well let's just say we never got along!

 

Handlebars, nice feel, but just too narrow for me.

 

Pedals, my first time on the Shimano pedals with the "platform" and I now want to replace all my std SPD's with the same. The only thing about I did not like about them was that the white powder coated body will show wear very quickly. My experience has it that silver pedals will always look good a few years down the line ..... yes Shimano pedals last for years

 

Seatpost .... the front fixing bolt is a bit too close to the seatpost, when using a multitool on the side of the trail to adjust the saddle it is a bit frustrating as you can only do small turns at a time before having to take the tool out and inserting again. I realise you do not fiddle with your saddle once you get it right, but till then it is a factor.

 

I used my dropper post half way through the test and it really brought some fun into the ride, but more on this later. The routing for the dropper was easy enough to latch onto the rear brake hose and then up inside the rocker link. Worked out to be a rather neat solution.

 

Wheels. Got to love those wheels, light and nice and stiff. Loved the Ardent's, but would really prefer a Tubeless version vs running the std casing. The tyres felt like the casing would roll a bit under load when running lower pressures (to be expected) so I ran them a little harder than I would have liked to, yet the Ardent's still did a great job on the trail. Most riders have their preferred choice of tyres anyway so would purchase this at some stage anyway. I have ridding the Ardent tyres in both 26'er and 29'er LUST versions and have always loved the tyres. It would be nice to see the rear running a through axel vs the QR.

 

Brakes. The SLX worked well, but never really blew me away, like other riders have been raving on about them.

 

Shifters fitted to the brakes, they were a bit bulky and a pain to access and adjust inboard or outboard.

 

Drive train as a whole. Absolutely no issues, shifts were clean and crisp through some nasty weather. The XT Clutch rear der is a blessing. I did drop a chain once ... well it was more like chain suck, and on a dry trail. It never happened again.

 

Revelation. The fork was buttery smooth and once again was a pleasure to use. Full 130mm of travel was used up, but not once did it feel like a harsh bottoming out. Small to medium trail chatter was easily dealt with and the bigger hits being nicely composed. There have been comments going around that the Revelation tends to offer very little mid travel support, I must say that I did not feel that on this fork. On one of my other bike I had run a longer travel version of the Revelation and here it did certain blow through mid travel very easily. The Revelation was also nice and stiff......if pushed very very hard it would deflect slightly, but certainly fared well for a 32mm fork. I would have like to try this bike out with a 140/150mm fork, any chance this Revelation has internal spacers that can be removed to up the travel at all?

 

The headset top cap bolt .... this is pretty, but I recon that many heavy handed users will strip the head of the bolt. I say this as I also know of a rider or two who has done exactly this on their bikes.

 

 

FRAME:

 

The paintwork on the frame is rather good and Silverback have their graphics right on this bike, not too loud and yet not conservative. The general comments from other riders was very positive RE the frames appearance.

 

Welds are nice and neat, with an overall good finish and workmanship.

 

Nice to see the seat clamp is QR and not an allen key bolted one.

 

A rubberised Silverback slap sock might be a nice to have. The Clutch der did a great job here to eliminate the need for a slap sock, but ja ... it would be a nice to have for "just in case".

 

The through axel as noted under wheels.

 

Tabs for dropper post could be saddled along with the rear brake hose, just when you turn up from their a cable tie option on the inside of the rocker linker would be great.

 

Stiffness in the front triangle was great and the rear also performed well, a slight bit of flex going on there, but nothing to distract from the ride or worry about on off camber sections.

 

 

RIDE:

 

 

Fun, this bike is all about delivering a huge grin induced, endorphin overloaded fun ride. Not once did I get off this bike and think that it was just a "normal ride". Every ride was a great ride.

 

I set the rear up to 30% sag as recommended and left it at this setting for the test period.... a little fiddling with the rebound and that was that.

 

So here comes the short summary of the ride.

 

 

Climbing:

 

Rocky or root infested sections with the bike in either open or trail setting on the rear shock delivered more than ample traction, even in the trail setting, you really have to something drastically wrong with your body position on the bike to get the rear wheel to loose traction. The bike happily found it's way over obstacles and did so in a sprightly fashion.

 

More moderate terrain and longer climbs I preferred the trail setting vs the fully open. The the trail setting the bike sat up a little more and I felt more comfortable, yet again the bike climbs very well. So well that some previous Strava times I have set when much fitter were crushed.

 

So she can climb ... and will do even better under a race snake

 

 

Descending:

 

The Slider 1 was nice and supple, yet with good feedback through the pedals to let you know exactly what the bike is actually doing under you with steering and handling being sharp and precise.

 

The horizontal top tube coming in at 608mm for the medium frame mated to a steepish (for a trail orientated bike compared to other designs) 68.5deg head angle worked well with the feel of the Slider 1, you can blast through rock strewn trails or tight twisty single track and fly through like a fighter pilot. Actually, one of the real WOW factors on the Slider is just how connected to the bike feel. Shift your hips or transfer body weight and the bike responds, get caught off guard on a section of trail you are not familiar with and sudden drops of obstacles you either need to clear over or cut around are dealt with in an instant.

 

G-outs and nice tight berms become a traction infused roller coaster ride. This is another WOW factor, traction, traction, traction!

 

Fast rocky sections are composed with no suspension spikes or dead spot, the bike always felt controlled and composed.

 

I would like to try the bike with a 140mm travel fork, just to lift the front end a little and give it a smidgen more clout out front....150mm would be even more interesting, though it would mess around a little with the rear suspension I think.

 

Under slower speeds the precise steering and good feedback through the pedals allowed one to feel confident in taking lines you might normally not have.

 

Drops onto flat were simply dealt with in a matter of fact manner and was very composed.

 

 

Airtime:

 

I never did any crazy jumps or get huge "hang time" as this is not really how I ride, give me lips or natural obstacles on the trail to launch off and get a bit of air and I am really happy. Throw the bike a little side ways and whip out the rear ... easy. Land a little wrong and get saved by the frames composed suspension action....easy.

 

Flat and Fast:

 

Put the rear shock into trail mode and maybe the fork in the middle trail setting and this bike will accelerate as hard and fast as your legs will allow. If you have to grind out lots of mileage at speed, this bike will deliver!

 

 

CONCLUSION:

 

The Silverback Slider 1 is really, in my mind, the Swiss Army knife of the bike world. Enough travel to have fun on technical trails, stiff and precise to rail through tight twisty single track and a good climber. I did not weigh the bike as I did not want this to be a factor in how I perceived the bike, but the Slider 1 does feel light when doing the conventional lift and lunge test and on the trail she has a sprightly and lively feel.

 

The suspension action on the Slider does work and works well.

 

A bike that would do well on any typical marathon event or even more so a 24hr race as it would on a technical AM trail.

 

Is this an All Mountain bike? I do not think it will be a true AM ride, but it certainly is a bike that you can take with and play with the big boys on and you will not be left behind. If you have good bike handling skills and know how to flow on a trail, you could well make the bigger travel bikes have trouble keeping up with you.

 

Fitting the dropper post to the Slider did allow it's inner hooligan to show itself and if I were to buy one I would most certainly fit a dropper post ASAP.

 

So would I buy one?

 

The great parts spec, good wheels and fork with a very capable frame ......... yes I would, the absolute playful nature and sure handling of the Slider is blast to ride.

 

I used the word composed often in this mini review, but this is very true of how the Slider feels and handles on the trail.

 

Thanks again to Silverback for letting me play with her for a week ..... I did have an big grin on my face EVERY ride I had with her.

 

Regards

Hairy

 

Attached a couple of ride and post ride pics

Edited April 7, 2014 by Hairy

[Hairy]

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[Hairy]

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[Tubehunter]

Awesome report Hairy! Makes an ou want to buy one ek se!