Under Test: Eastern Woods Research OWB29er
Originally posted on October 24, 2008 at 0:38 am
If you’ve been paying attention, you’ll recall that Eastern Woods Research is back in business, and that they have been working on translating the handling and heritage of their 26″ OWB (Original Woods Bike) to a 29″ wheeled platform.
And they’ve done it! EWR Bikes recently introduced the OWB29er. One of that first batch is in my hot little hands, for the sake of Dirt Rag product testing. As I type this report, I’ve had the bike for a grand-total of 24 hours, with that time spent building, photographing and documenting the specifications of this fine-looking steed.
EWR Bikes offers the OWB29er in medium or large frame sizes for $1,395.00, including a Salsa Liplock seatpost clamp. The front end is made from True Temper Supertherm heat-treated/double butted tubing, and the rear end is made from Dedacciai A.B.T. double butted stays.
EWR Bikes OWB29er Geometry
- Head Tube Angle: 70.75° (engineered for 100mm fork)
- Seat Tube Angle: 73.5°
- Top Tube Length: 23.7″ (medium), 24.6″ (large)
- BB Height: 12.25″
- Chainstay Length: 17.43″
The boyz at EWR Bikes tell me that my medium frame weighs in at 5.65 lbs. I was not able to verify that, as my test frame came dressed with a solid suite of trail-worthy components. My test bike tipped the Dirt Rag scales at 26.8lbs. outfitted per below:
- Fork: RockShox Reba Team 29″ with Maxle QR (20mm)
- Wheels: Hope Pro II F/R hubs laced to notubes.com ZTR Arch 29er rims
- Cranks/BB: Truvativ Noir
- Brakes: Avid Elixir
- Rear D: SRAM X9
- Front D: SRAM X9
- Shifter: SRAM X9 trigger
- Cassette: SRAM PG 990
- Tires: Kenda Karma 29×2.2 L3R Pro
- Headset: Chris King
- Seatpost: Thomson Elite
- Seatpost QR: Salsa Liplock
- Saddle: Selle Italia C2
- Handlebars: Truvativ Team Carbon Riserbar (oversized)
- Stem: Truvativ Team (Al)
- Chain: SARM PC 991
- Grips: ODI lock-on
No riding—yet. That’ll come soon enough, and I promise to blog my experiences as the miles accumulate. In the meantime, I’ll share a bunch of out-of-the-box photos. Click on the thumbnails below to view full-sized images.
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