Pimped out ride - even the seat post is cool

• Posted on July 6, 2009 at 12:44 PM
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The Jamis Dakar XAM II. Loaded and fun.

Loaded with features and gadgets, the Jamis Dakar XAM II is by far the coolest bike we've ever pedaled. From an adjust-on-the-fly seat post to an internal front derailer to three levels of front shock, it is loaded with cutting edge technology (and a price to match). Best of all, it works. It climbed remarkably well for such a sturdy stead, bombed descents with six inches of travel to soften the path, and cruised single track better than most all mountain bikes. Every tester said, "This is a fun bike."

The Dakar line runs the gammet of full suspension from XC dual suspension to downhill beasts. The XAM is right in the middle with six inches of travel front and back. Both Fox shocks are burlier than the other all mountain bikes we tested in explore's June issue, but one feature we really liked on the front fork was the ability to adjust the travel and thus head tube height. With a quick turn of a dial we could pick between six, five and four inches of travel. Push down on the front fork and it would lock in the new position, dropping the height of the front end at the same time. So instead of sitting up high, almost back like a downhill bike geometry, we were more crouched over the bike and better able to climb. This drastically improved the bike's uphill performance. At 33 pounds total weight – not exactly light – it's a nice option.

At the top of a hill, a quick twist of the dial and the shock pops back to its six inch height, ready to eat every root, rock and hole on the way down. We found ourselves riding faster and with more control on descents. Bumps that would normally throw us on a smaller bike disappeared. Bumpy trails felt like paved paths. And big drops were gobbled up. Powerful Avid Elixir brakes were up to the task of reigning in our excess speed whenever we needed it.

Another nice up and down feature was the Crank Brothers Joplin seat post. A joy stick mounted on the handle bar and connected to the seat with a cable, controls three inches of travel on the seat post. Raise it up for climbs and then flick it, while seated, and the post automatically drops three inches for descents. With a little practice you can hone in the travel to fit whatever height you need. Sure it doesn't take long to use quick release, but this is way faster and cooler. Our only complaint about this system, was that it was hard to tighten the seat joint fully, so if you slammed down on the seat by accident it tended to move, changing angle.

The last pimpin' feature is the TruVativ Hammerschmidt internal front drive system. Basically it looks like there isn't a front derailleur, just an over built single speed in the front. The gears are housed internally, out of the way of grit, gunk and bad gear changes. Changing gears is super slick.

The only down side to this bike is that it seems to be covered in cables. It makes the bike look a bit messy and the small plastic clips for locking them all in place don't work very well. But with a solid tire set up, adjustable geometry and tons of travel this bike excels at west coast style riding. If you spend a lot of time riding up climbs and then bombing downhills, and you've got a healthy looking bank account, this is the bike you want. It retails for $5500 Canadian.