Mondraker Foxy Review

With their Forward Geometry, Mondraker have long been ahead of the game when it comes to building bikes with long top tubes, slack head angles and short stems. This approach to MTB geometry offers a very stable ride, especially on fast open terrain and steep tracks. Seeing the benefits of this, many other bike companies have followed Mondraker’s lead and this once radical geometry is now much closer to the mainstream.

There are two aluminium alloy framed models in both wheel sizes. With a 66-degree head angle the alloy bikes have similar geometry to the carbon fibre composite framed bikes, as well details like sealed frame bearings and internal cable routing. With the carbon bikes you have the option to fine tune the geometry by steepening or slackening the head angle by one degree either way. You can do this using the optional geometry kit, that comes as standard on the Foxy Carbon XR 29.

The Foxy uses Mondraker’s Zero Suspension design which offers 150mm of rear wheel travel on all 27.5” and 29” models. This is a floating, dual link suspension system which compresses the shock at both ends. This makes the rear suspension incredibly sensitive, while still capably soaking up the big hits. It’s called a Zero Suspension system because you get a very stable ride no pedal kickback or brake jack.

The base model Foxy 27.5 and Foxy Carbon R 27.5 both get a 150mm travel RockShox Recon or Revelation fork. This offers a trail optimized ride. All the other bikes in the range, including every 29er, get a slightly longer fork that offers 160mm of travel. This makes these bikes a little more capable on challenging enduro trails. With a hard-hitting Fox 36 or RockShox Lyric/Yari on each of these models you can be sure of the bike’s performance when the going gets tough. Except for the Foxy 29 model, all the bikes with a 160mm fork also get a ‘piggy back’ rear shock, which offers improved damping consistency on long descents. You also get a couple of coil shock options on the 29” wheeled bikes.

With SRAM 1x12 speed Eagle drivetrains on every model, except the base level Foxy 27.5, you get a massive 500% gear range. This gives you plenty of climbing gears without the need for an extra small chainring up font. Starting with the capable NX groupset on the Foxy you move up through SRAMs range with increasingly smooth gear shifts until you get to the full XO1 on the Foxy Carbon XR 29. All the bikes with 160mm forks also get more stopping power with a big, enduro ready, 200mm disc rotor up front. The bikes 150mm forks have a smaller trail oriented 180mm rotor.

As you would expect, you get a dropper post on every model. The ‘own brand’ OnOff dropper fitted to the base models is a highlight and offers smooth action to rival any premium offering. The amount of drop is size specific on each model, so you get 150mm on the large & extra large bikes, 125mm on the mediums and 100mm on the smalls. This means that you get just the right amount of saddle drop on every frame size. The wide bars and short stems on every model are ideal for aggressive MTB riding.

Both the 27.5” and 29” wheeled bikes have tubeless ready wheels. The 160mm travel bikes have wider rims that offer an improved tyre contact patch and better support, especially when running lower pressures. Mondraker aren’t a brand that skimp on rubber, so you get high-quality Maxxis tubeless tyres on every model.

While the 27.5” wheel bikes offer nimbler handling the 29ers carry speed better and give you even more stability of the bike when travelling at speed. With larger wheels and the same amount of suspension travel, the Foxy 29ers are even more capable on challenging terrain than the 27.5” bikes. This is because the larger wheels roll over obstacles more easily, leaving less work for the suspension to do.