Haibike: Greed team 29 review - By Ross Marriott

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"Sabine Spitz won Silver at the Olympic Games in London with the Greed. Since then the Greed has become a firm member of the Sabine Spitz Haibike Pro Team. All three riders rely on our full carbon Cross Country Hardtail when racing. The Haibike Greed is kitted out with the best components and the newest technology in bike building."


The first thing I noticed when taking my brand new Haibike out of the box at Naked bikes cycles in Leicester was how easy it was to pick up. Weighing in at just 8.6kg for a race ready 29er puts the bike up there with the bikes on the start line of world cups. Haibike have done a great job making all the components on the bike match perfectly with each other with incredible attention to detail, from the Haibike logo on the matching blue Tune hubs to the pattern on the frame, stem, bars and seatpost. The frame has gloss lacquered sections and there is visible carbon weave on the brake levers, saddle, seatpost, bars and cranks. Haibike have even had special graphics put on the world cup proven stans crest rims to ensure the bike looks as cool as possible.

When I first rode the bike, the first thing I noticed was how responsive the shifting on the Sram XX1 drivetrain is, there is no delay between pressing the shifter lever and the gear shifting across the cassette even when riding through deep mud and has a very positive feel as the chain locks into place with the clutch mech. I decided to try to make the chain fall off because I was not sure at first how much confidence I should have in the thick-thin chainring that had no chain guide. No matter how many technical bumps I hit I could not get the chain to derail. The geometry of the frame puts my centre of gravity right over the middle of the bike so I can shift my weight to get the bike down steep technical section no problem at all with the help of the 29 inch wheels that smooth out the trail perfectly and the larger wheel size provides a very noticeable increase in grip to my 26 inch bike. The Haibike flex seatpost takes out the impact of the sharp bumps from the trail surface which makes the bike really comfortable. I find that obstacles that I would have struggled with on my 26 inch bike seem really simple with the Haibike.

The stans crest and Schwalbe rocket ron evo combination have made it really easy and surprisingly cheap to go tubeless as all I have needed is valves and stans sealant. 29ers I have ridden in the past have felt heavy and sluggish to get round corners and made it hard to un-weight the bike. After riding the Haibike for over a month now I can tell you that this is certainly not how it feels, the mega light weight and frame geometry makes the bike whip around the corners and accelerate out like lightning! Up steep ascents the big 42t sprocket on the cassette means I am never over-geared and again the rider position on the bike means my centre of gravity is exactly where I want it with enough weight over the front wheel to stop it lifting up but plenty of weight on the rear wheel which stops wheel spin. On out of the saddle ascents the bike is great too, the hydraulic lockout means its possible to power up the hills with no fork bounce at all to put all the energy into going forward and going fast!!

My favourite feature of the bike has to be the Sram XX1 drivetrain because it feels really smooth to ride because of the straighter chain line of the single ring setup, there is no chainguide or front mech to rub at the extremes of the cassette or clog up with mud and there is a huge gear range thanks to the 10-42t cassette. The 12mm rear through axle is another outstanding feature of the bike stiffening up the back-end so the bike feels solid when throwing it into corners or technical sections.

The Haibike greed team 29er is by far the best bike I have ever ridden. I can feel myself riding so much faster than on my other mountain bikes both on technical and fireroad sections of the course. I race my mountain bike in a variety of different disciplines of racing from 6 minute XCE sprints to 3 hour marathon endurance races so it is good to have such a versatile bike that I can use for all of the disciplines I use without making any changes to my bikes setup. I cannot wait until March when I have my first national mountain bike this season as a junior and I am certain that I will be faster on this bike as I have noticed a massive difference even on local training rides. It is a great feeling going into the season with such a great bike that I know will make me as fast as possible and will leave my results purely depend on my own ability because I know there will not be a faster bike on the start line of any race I could enter.

Haibike Greed team 2014 Spec:

Fork - Rock Shox SID XX, Suspension: air, Damping: oil, travel: 100mm, 1 1/8" - 1 1/2"
Rear derailleur - Sram XX1 Carbon, 11-speed
Shiftlever - Sram XX1 Trigger
Crankset - Sram XX1, 32 Teeth
Bottom bracket - Sram PressFit
Cassette - Sram XX1, 10-42, 11-speed
Chain - Sram XX1
Brake lever - Magura MT 8, adjustable reach
Brake (front) - Magura MT 8, hydraulic disc brake, 180mm Disc
Brake (rear) - Magura MT 8, hydraulic disc brake, 180mm Disc
Tires - Schwalbe Rocket Ron EVO, foldable, 29x2,25, SV-Valve
Rim - ZTR Crest, alloy double wall
Hub (front) - Tune King 15mm axle
Hub (rear) - Tune Kong 142mm, axle
Spokes - Sapim DI-Light
Handlebar - Haibike Ergo-Flatbar Carbon, 700mm
Grips - XLC Sport lock on grips
Stem - Haibike Alu, superlight, oversize
Headset - FSA SX-Pro, A-Head, semi-integrated, 1 1/8" - 1 1/2"
Saddle - Tune Komm Vor
Seatpost - Haibike Flex Post, 27,2mm, Clamp with Hexagon Clamping
Frame - UD Carbon High Modulus, Advanced Multiforming Technology, superlight, 29", 12mm quick release axle
Total weight - 8,6kgs

For further details and to view other products in the Haibike range, please visit www.HaibikeUK.co.uk

ross-marriotBy Ross Marriott