New to brodie’s line, the Demon is their first true attempt at a DH bike that will actually behave on the racecourse. I have seen people race their 8-balls, but it’s really not the right tool for the job. Feed it 15' drops, not 35 k/h railed turns. Anyway, the Demon is red, and that’s a good thing. With a black Boxxer Team on the front, Hayes brakes, Titec hardware, a custom-designed Black Spire chainguide, and a shock compression ratio of about 2.7 to 1, this is a devil of a race bike. Throw in a low stand-over height, and some of you may consider using it as a freerider, too. We got to spend a few days on the Demon, and, predictably, it handles really well on steeps, through stutter bumps, in the air, and especially when going left and right. In fact, it turned more predictably than any bike I've been on lately. I can’t explain why, but for a bike with a long wheelbase, it was a lot of fun on zigzag-fests with tight switchbacks like Bookwus and Crinkum Crankum, and it works chutes like a sasquatch with its first Kokanee.

One downside is pedaling it uphill. DH bikes aren’t expected to stand out in this category, but the pedal bob on the way up is tough, and you can’t get a long seatpost due to the shock’s mounting position below the seat tube (perhaps a telescoping option?). Tough to fault the bike for this, but if I could ask for anything, enhanced pedalling action would be the improvement I’d like to see. Our bike was a pre-production model, so there were a few issues with loose bushings and a cranky chainguide (sorry, that wasn’t very punny), but these were all issues that were cleared up for the production model. For the DH racer who wants a bike that’s ready to race out of the box and is a blast off the course, the Demon is a good place to start your search. And it's a local, Shore-bred product to boot.

Check out the new brodie Web site for more details.

Pete Roggeman