Ellsworth Truth Take 2(004)

Well there was an issue with my Ellsworth Truth. Last week I went to the Ellsworth web site to ask a technical question on what was the prescribed negative travel setting for the rear shock. I wondered since the Fox shock was specially tuned for the Truth if I should follow the setup from the Fox manual or if there was something different I needed to follow from Ellsworth. In order to receive technical support I needed to register my Truth. So I filled out the online form and put that it was a 2007 frame since that is what I thought I had bought and also entered the serial number.

A very short time later, Tony Ellsworth (founder, owner, designer of my bike) emails me Subject: "Your 2004 Truth". Then Tony writes "I hope you got a good deal". I was concerned and confused. After a few emails back and forth with Tony I was wondering what the deal was. Later that weekend after doing some research I emailed the guys at Schwab Cycles.

The Schwab guys on Monday called the Ellsworth guys to confirm the SN and date, ect. It ends up that my Truth is likely a 2005 frame. It seems that the 2005 models had a different rear triangle, so Ellsworth took some 2004 frames they had left over and rebuilt them with the new rear end. Either case, it was not a 2007 frame like I thought. I figured I overpaid for the bike by at least $750. The Schwab Cycles guys were good enough to make me happy though. First they offered to swap the frame for a 2009. I was not so interested in that since there is not a huge difference in frames. So I countered that they put a Fox F100 RLC shock on. For a small reasonable amount of dinero, since the shock retail is more than $750, and my estimate was in my favor, we agreed that it was a reasonable compromise.

There remains some mystery around all this since Schwabe did not become an Ellsworth dealer until 2005. And apparently they did not buy this frame until 2007 for a customer. This happens to coincide with my first sighting of the bike in early Feb. 2008 when it had been waiting to be picked up by the customer. Hmmm, oh well. I am happy and the Truth climbs like a jack rabbit. It is awesome.

So this is the latest pic with the new Fox F100 RLC fork, the wheels and tires I had originally ordered too. If the bathroom scale is accurate enough, the kit weighs in somewhere between 24.5 and 25 lbs. Not too shabby for an aluminum full suspension XC bike. I have seen carbon bikes come in around 23 lbs at 3x the price. Plus I probably would have compromised a carbon frame by now since I have a tendency to crash pretty hard on the trails