Jamis Exile Review

Photo of me hitting the rocks courtesy of John G


Even though I haven't spent much time in the saddle, I am really digging my new ride. As I already mentioned in a previous blog posting, in the $1,000 price range, I think this bike is hard to beat. I looked at other SS 29'er options in this price range but for me they fell short. The runners up were the Haro Mary SS 29'er and the Redline Monocog Flight 29'er. The Haro Mary had mechanical discs and an EBB which I really didn't want to deal with and the Redline Monocog Flight came with mechanical discs and an Isis crank which I also didn't want to deal with. The Exile doesn't have the best cranks (Truvativ FireX) but they do sport Truvative's Giga-X external bearings which I have had good luck with on other bikes. The Hayes Sole brakes aren't very high-end either but they do a great job of stopping the big wheels and have good reliability. Reynolds 631 tubing provides a nice ride and the setup flows well on the trail. The Chromoly fork also gives a great ride and the tubes are tapered providing styling similar to forks made by high end fabricators(IF, Vicious, etc). I immediately swapped out the grips and headset since they weren't going to cut it on the rocks in the area I live. The grips have absolutely no squish which is generally a bad thing for a rigid fork. The stock Aheadset also had way to much slop in it for my preference. It's not a high-end, high-dollar machine but it's built to last and the frame is upgrade worthy. For a touch under $1000 I don't see how anyone could be disappointed. Considering that just this past summer I bought a pricey, custom 26 inch wheeled mountain bike, I'm very concerned with my immediate affection for the Exile 29'er. I guess we will see how it plays out.

Turns out all of these bikes are available from shops in Frederick
The Jamis Exile is available from The Bicycle Escape
The Haro Mary is available from The Bike Doctor and The Bicycle Escape
The Redline Monocog is available from both The Bicycle Escape and The Bicycle Fix