As I was reading through my emails today I got a marketing email from Diamondback advertising their newest version of their Release which is a 130mm rear and 150mm front travel trail bike. Spoiler alert... Nothing has changed. In fact nothing has changed on this bike since it's debut back in 2016 other than they came out with a 29er version with the same amount of travel in the rear and 10mm less travel up front. When they first released the Release the geometry was pretty up to date if not a bit ahead of some other brands out there. The first few years of the Release was also a time when Diamondback was putting together great builds with higher end components for great prices! As with most direct brands over the past 8 years, prices have come up and builds have come down in components. You aren't seeing the value as much as you used to with direct brands which is making it harder for people that wanting the benefits of buying from a shop to go with a consumer direct brand. And with the way the bike market is right now, there are many companies getting pretty aggressive with pricing. For expample you can get this Commencal T.E.M.P.O. Ohlins build right now for $3800.
The closest spec'd Release is $4,550. That isn't a huge difference but it is something. My point is there are bikes with far more modern geo out there for the same or a lot less money. My biggest question is who is still buying the Diamondback Release? My other question is why have they not made any changes to the bike as far as geometry goes in the past 8 years? Did they make that many frames during Covid that they still haven't been able to sell and they just keep painting them a different color? Or is this Diamondback taking a stand against the bike industry and it's ever changing technology, standards and geometry? Perhaps Diamondback is giving a big middle finger saying this bike actually works just fine and we don't care about changing it?
My oldest son had a Diamondback Release back in 2017 and since it was an XL frame I took it out quite a bit. It was a super fun bike, especially for what we paid for it. It wasn't perfect by any means, but it was fun. For example if you were climbing steeper terrain the front end really wanted to come off the ground. Probably due to 425mm chainstays on an XL frame size and a 73 degree seat tube angle. Even with the lower stack height, you really had to move your weight forward on those steeper climbs which would result in the rear spinning out. The front end of the bike also felt pretty long and even with its short wheelbase the bike didn't have a super sharp or playful feel to it. The front center just felt really long and unbalanced to me. Maybe the small or Medium sizes felt better with those shorter chain stays, but on the XL it definitely felt off. My son put a lot of miles on that bike and it put plenty of smiles on his face though, but I just don't think with where bikes are at today that it would be my first pick.
If any of you have any opinions or know what is going on here please chime in and comment below.
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