Is this the Best Engineered Mountain Bike? RAAW Madonna V2.2 Reviewed

Рет қаралды 26,515

Күн бұрын

Since RAAW hit the market back in 2018, they’ve been firmly on our radar, thanks to their no-nonsense approach to engineering their aluminum frames and some solid looks and geometry. We were stoked to finally get the latest iteration of their enduro bike - the Madonna V2.2 - to test in the UK, and set about getting the miles in to get to the bottom of its performance. It’s true that good things come to those who wait. Let’s get into it
Check out the full written review on the site here:
theloamwolf.com/2023/09/03/re...
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Chapters
00:00 - Intro
00:29 - Specifications
9:04 - Geometry
11:40 - Ride Impressions

Пікірлер: 86

@jlh530i1 10 ай бұрын

I own this bike and I certainly enjoy it. I think the frame material and construction strike a nice balance between stiffness and forgiveness. IIRC the recommend sag is 26%, which combats the low bb, but also gives the bike a racy feeling for an enduro bike. The bike that my madonna replaced was a specialized enduro. In comparison, the raaw feels racier and at the middle chainstay position, the raaw feels more willing to turn. The adjustable chain stays are nice but do require a fair amount of parts purchased from Raaw - it is not just a simple flip chip. Lastly, the external cable routing is not all that legend has it built up to be. The cable routing on the bike goes under the bottle bracket into the pocket on top of the downtube and is dispersed around the sides. The routing is tight by the bottom bracket and the external guides hold all the lines in place with hex bolts and zipties. To replace a brake line, you have to unscrew the guides for all the lines, and re adjust everything when installing the new line. Since I am comfortable bleeding my brakes and do so when needed, the ease of use of modern internal cable routing is something i noticed when building my bike. Also, the routing around the bb on the drive side is extremely tight. The post purchase experience has been good so far. Overall, i've had better experience with this bike compared to the specialized enduro. Every part for the bike is on their website, and Ruben and team are easily accessible by email. Purchasing and riding the raaw feels more like an investment in machinery rather than a disposable good when compared to my experiences with specialized. The bike feels robust, and generally easy to work on. I expect to keep this bike longer than my others because of this. 9/10

@TheLoamWolf 10 ай бұрын

Thanks for sharing.

@jymtb 9 ай бұрын

How were your experiences with the adjustable chainstays and how did it affect the ride?

@jlh530i1 9 ай бұрын

@@jymtb in the long chain stay setting and 180mm fork I found the bike to be as stable as the enduro with the same fork. If I’m going to a bike park I put it in long. The middle setting really feels sublime for most rides but definitely feels less stable at bike park speeds compared to the enduro. The short setting with a 170 fork is what I tend to ride when in Phoenix, Arizona.

@JGD444 10 ай бұрын

I was waiting for this one. Thanks!

@TheLoamWolf 10 ай бұрын

Hope you like it!

@davidkuzma1458 10 ай бұрын

Own it, and love it! Most of my riding is in Central Oregon and it is a blast to ride. Great review, agree 100% with everything you stated.

@TheLoamWolf 10 ай бұрын

Thanks for sharing David, it’s a killer machine

@MrHypermoto 9 ай бұрын

Its a great effort, and a great choice if you are bigger/hard on bikes. The two leverage options is really smart, as we have sizing for taller/shorter but no one has ever optimized for rider weight/spring rate before. My only major complaint is the cable routing. Im a master mechanic with 20 years as a professional only working on full suspension MTB. Cable routing has been a constant challenge; in the early years it was done so poorly that it was very common to completely reroute everything using zip ties and stick-on guides. As internal routing evolved its been just as frustrating with all the creative tricks required to run everything quietly. I was excited to see external routing appear on this bike! But the bolt-on guides are poorly located and annoying to get installed. They also make sliding the dropper cable up/down a hassle when you want to raise the post to put the bike in the workstand (no, you shouldn't be clamping the dropper stanchion in your workstand!). I wish they had used standard soap dish mounts with zip-ties, or just done well-executed internal routing. Other than that its a great rig with awesome pivot construction.

@jonb71 10 ай бұрын

Nice review, I agree with your comments on performance and quality, it is a very planted bike. Did a week in Finale Ligure , Italy on it. Awesome.

@TheLoamWolf 10 ай бұрын

Right on, thanks for sharing!

@FluxStage 10 ай бұрын

I've been waiting long enough to order this bike. Thanks for your thoughts!

@TheLoamWolf 10 ай бұрын

Thanks for watching!

@B_o_r_i_s_76 10 ай бұрын

I am a happy owner of a RAAW Madonna. I totally agree with this top review! Big compliment to Ruben Torenbeek and his team for making fantastic bikes. Can’t wait for the Jibb or Yalla Review!

@TheLoamWolf 10 ай бұрын

We really hope to get another RAAW in to test in the future!

@rip.tear. 10 ай бұрын

Great review as always! It’d have been nice to see a bit more of a direct comparison to the privateer 161 since they seem like they both target the same kind of rider

@StepXX 10 ай бұрын

Thank you so much for the review! The bike is at the very top of my wishlist as the one with proper sizing: not only size-specific chainstays, but also the stack (I'm 6 feet tall with 35 inch inseam).

@TheLoamWolf 10 ай бұрын

You are welcome! Hope it was helpful.

@dangermouseanpenfold 10 ай бұрын

yep I have gone for an XL due to the stack dimension also.

@martinszcz 10 ай бұрын

I love my V2.2 for two years now. Great durable bike❤

@TheLoamWolf 10 ай бұрын

Thanks for sharing!

@mkrj2576 10 ай бұрын

Wow. Yeah. Very well thought out design. Cable routining is perfect. I'm going to check out if they have a shorter travel model. Thanks for the great review.

@TheLoamWolf 10 ай бұрын

They have the Jibb, essentially a shorter version of the Madonna

@gweflj 9 ай бұрын

Those cable clips are junk. They need to make something proprietary.

@jockardl 10 ай бұрын

I think this bike is just perfect. Zero unnecessary but still misses nothing. Everything on it got a reason for it. It really is a bike to last.

@TheLoamWolf 10 ай бұрын

It sure is a good one, well considered all around!

@rewind9536 10 ай бұрын

Shock is pushed at an angle which will increase wear on the rear shocks internals. Better to design a bike that pushed the rear shock straight down its travel.

@CCWclassic 9 ай бұрын

@rewind9536 yeah I'm sure you know better than them.

@jasonsherlock9037 10 ай бұрын

Great review! I've also got this bike after breaking my 2020 Enduro (and it has felt like an upgrade in almost every way). The cornering ability of the Madonna and it's handling on steep trails is second to none. As a company RAAW is really responsive and helpful (getting me on a bike sized for my local terrain type) and they seem genuinely interested in supporting their bikes for the long haul. Not to mention, after having owned a couple of carbon bikes, going back to alu is a real stress reducer. Go full send, crash, get back up and continue without a care.

@fullsusloditv5495 10 ай бұрын

nice review 🤘

@TheLoamWolf 10 ай бұрын

Thank you!

@thescerigai 10 ай бұрын

the double bearing mount on the shock is awesome, havent seen that before

@TheLoamWolf 10 ай бұрын

It’s smart and works great.

@aaronburela432 10 ай бұрын

So sick 🔥

@TheLoamWolf 10 ай бұрын

Thank you Aaron!

@tomassanesson902 10 ай бұрын

Awesome bike lovet

@TheLoamWolf 10 ай бұрын

It’s a good one!

@trillbill9378 10 ай бұрын

Hyped to see this one. Obvious that Rob was pretty excited to get his hands on a RAAW as well!!

@TheLoamWolf 10 ай бұрын

I sure was! Hope you enjoyed it.

@dangermouseanpenfold 10 ай бұрын

Have one on route from RAAW at the moment. I did ask about UDH compatibility, they said they are working on something ATM and sounds like it might be backward compatible and just needing the drive side seat stay replacing.

@TheLoamWolf 10 ай бұрын

Sounds like a smart solution for it, which doesn’t surprise us!

@michi4290 7 ай бұрын

Forbiddens are also really well engineered

@Wiroe 10 ай бұрын

When can we expect the review of the Elitewheels Gnar Trail 29 carbon wheels, saw the YT shorts clip when I looked around for some opinions on them

@kabaret3 6 ай бұрын

Right on time, they released V3...

@johnhaden7847 8 ай бұрын

Nice review ! What was the company in Taiwan?

@ryanautomator5760 10 ай бұрын

A true "built by riders for riders" bike company. I met Ruben, the owner, when he lived in Squamish and he was the fastest rider I've ever ridden with. I didn't know much about Raww bikes until I saw it disappear in front of me and I was on a Reign E...

@TheLoamWolf 10 ай бұрын

We haven’t met Ruben, but have heard great things. And he makes a great bike!

@ssjj9584 10 ай бұрын

Nice

@tizben 10 ай бұрын

I like bikes with standard lines

@TheLoamWolf 10 ай бұрын

They look good for sure.

@MostBallinestPlaya 10 ай бұрын

My kind of bike. Couple niggles: 1) that kinked seat tube won't have the insertion length for the longest possible dropper. I've been spoiled and I'm not going back. 2) for a similar product I'd rather give Nicolai money and support skilled jobs in the EU. Costs a bit more though in fairness.

@peakinearly_2788 10 ай бұрын

What are differences in terms of handling and suspension feel compared to the kavenz?

@xaverymulholland5279 10 ай бұрын

@TheLoamWolf we want a comparison!

@alexlamy1271 10 ай бұрын

I love my Madonna really nice bike . Dangerous machine

@dadventuretv2538 10 ай бұрын

Where’s the trail footage?

@TheLoamWolf 10 ай бұрын

Innerleithen, Scotland

@matpewsey 10 ай бұрын

How tall is the reviewer? Reach etc is a touch short on the medium for my preference, but the large is too long. Very frustrating as I would love to buy one! (I’m 5’9 for reference and currently ride a large vitus sommet which I find the perfect fit).

@TheLoamWolf 10 ай бұрын

189cm/6’2” but with very long legs and short body, so prefers bikes in the 480mm reach area

@krushiXX 10 ай бұрын

Madonna has high stack, which pretty much negates longer reach from the contacts point of view. I'm 182cm(6.0"), 40mm stem, 7* backsweep 25mm rise bars, and I feel much less stretched on the Madonna than on my trail bike. Front/back centers feel very balanced, I'm riding with the longest 450mm setting

@jordanmackay3568 10 ай бұрын

Defo get a large and run a 35 stem with 35/40mm rise bars. It's got a short wheel base for a large. You can also run a longer dropper and shorter cranks to fix the pedal stroke issue

@VelkePivo 10 ай бұрын

Reach on the medium is perfectly adequate for your height

@matpewsey 10 ай бұрын

@@VelkePivo see you say that, but i think the reach figure is far too short. the 470mm on my current bike feels perfect. After more consideration, i dont think i will be getting one anytime soon, especially without being able to at least throw a leg over one. But thanks for all the replies!

@Jskjerning 10 ай бұрын

So its not possible to use a Sram rotor?

@TheLoamWolf 10 ай бұрын

Yes of course it is, with 1.5mm spacers under the calliper perhaps.

@Jskjerning 10 ай бұрын

@@TheLoamWolf what spacer would that be?🤷‍♂️

@TheLoamWolf 10 ай бұрын

@@Jskjerning regular old calliper bolt spacers, nothing fancy.

@Jskjerning 10 ай бұрын

@@TheLoamWolf ok👍 But what if i only had 200 mm rotors? It would be best to have the option to choose🤷‍♂️ Fucking hate multiple standards😂

@TheLoamWolf 10 ай бұрын

Then that’s fine too. I think you’re overthinking this, haha!

@gweflj 9 ай бұрын

Any bike with that janky cable clip on the top of the downtube can’t be perfect.

@TheLoamWolf 9 ай бұрын

It holds the cables solidly in place, not sure what’s janky about it?

@gweflj 9 ай бұрын

@@TheLoamWolf How about it looks shit?

@86309 10 ай бұрын

Pole Vikkela 190/190. I'ts so good.

@douglloyd8112 10 ай бұрын

You make a pretty bold claim, considering this to be (potentially) the best engineered mountain bike out there. However, you don't really touch on why you think that in this video. Sure it has big pivot bearings which is sweet. Sure it has external cable routing which some people love. But what makes this the BEST engineered bike out there? After watching the entire video review, you seem to claim pretty middle-of-the-road characteristics for climbing, descending, and overall performance. Where is the "best engineered mountain bike" coming from?

@lucasherbet6801 8 ай бұрын

am I the only one to be "disapointed/"shocked" that it's manufactured in Taiwan ? With the price and the "high quality" german stuff they label, I didn't even think it could be manufactured somewhere else than in Germany. I know almost every bikes are made in china/taiwan but, never did I think this one would be from there too

@francoisjoly7696 Ай бұрын

1st of all, Taiwan has nothing to do with China (...) 2nd: Taiwan has the best bike manufacturing processes in the world, allowing them to do anything at the highest levels. 3rd: A german manufacturing would not add any value to the quality, and the price would very likely be higher. 4th: this is a bloody great bike :)

@user-tr8dl4fb3q 27 күн бұрын

Taiwan do excellent quality frames amongst other things

@AppleJack76 10 ай бұрын

So this is just the German version of a Privateer 161, made in a similar far east factory... Same same, but different.

@TheLoamWolf 10 ай бұрын

Kind of. The extra price does go into a more refined finish overall, and quite different feel on the trail too

@KosmicHRTRacingTeam 10 ай бұрын

Nice bike but “THE best engineered bike”. 6061 aluminum, externally routed cables rear post mount adapter and a basic borrowed Horst 4 bar linkage design? I mean, no paint or logo even? We in the 90s? Seems more like a custom prototype one off than “the BEST engineered design”. Again, I’m sure it rides great, I’m sure lots and lots of engineering has gone into it, but that’s an interesting claim.

@rip.tear. 10 ай бұрын

I can’t tell if you’re being serious or not…

@TheLoamWolf 10 ай бұрын

It’s all in the details, however we understand your point. When you have the frame up close, you can tell that it’s very far from anything “prototype”. Very clean finish and well thought out across the entirety of the frame.

@Twentykixx 10 ай бұрын

I think the inference here regarding “Best Engineered Design”, means on the spectrum of trail to be ridden by anyone. From gnarly Enduro to steep trail. If you go outside of this spectrum it requires more specific designs to cope with XC and DH centric categories. Since RAAW gives the option more specific to customization, I can see why the scope of the “Engineering” is more about you knowing what you intend to ride and your riding style. If you want to go and buy an off the shelf bike with the bells and whistles, then by all means, negate the modular more design centric rigs similarly to what RAAW is offering. A semi-professional like this reviewer rides all week long and has tried about everything, so in reality it’s his opinion about what matters to someone who knows how to ride, while taking everything into account. Don’t be that pebble that get skipped across the surface, but take the time to explore the depths being presented to you. Great review by the way. I personally love the Scott Twin-Lock, where most hate it, so the engineering there is to my specific liking. Being in the PNW, we pedal and love it! 🤘🏼So this bike would need my love in order to be useful, so the modular offerings are crucial for me and love that desire to make it my own. Not how flashy my sh!t is on the trail. But I do kick it out there. Haaa!! 😜

@krushiXX 10 ай бұрын

@KosmicHRTRacingTeam What's wrong with 6061?! External routing is godsend for a bike that gets thrashed in bike parks and gnarly trails, and sees frequent maintenance, leave internal routing and cable tourism to your fancy XC. You say "prototype" - did you see that rocker?! It's a work of art, and keeps trunnion shocks safe, and it has two sizes to suit light/heavy riders. All the suspension parts have very nice tolerances and perfect waterproofing, my mechanic is praising that every time he works on the bike. There are 3 small logos on the frame. TLDR: you're talking BS, good sire.

@jasonsherlock9037 10 ай бұрын

Maybe you are mixing up design(esthetics/bling) with engineering? I'll back up the assertion that this is a very well engineered bike when the desired outcome is a killer enduro platform with a focus on reliability and maintainability. For example: look at the size of the bearing on the main pivot. That will go a long way to prevent a creaking bike or premature bearing failure. The bike also has gobs of rear-tire clearance by getting rid of the seat-stay bridge, but the axle solution keeps the back end from getting all noodely. External cable routing is nice, quiet external routing is awesome! Alu is freedom from all the worries associated with crashing a plastic bike. RAAW achieves robust, top-class performance for this category of bike with minimal fuss. That is pretty much the definition of engineering? No bling, no problems. :)