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Interbike 2012: Foes Racing Drops F275 (650B) Trail Bike; Shaver & FXR in Production & More!

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2013 Foes Racing F275 650B long travel full suspension trail mountain bike made in the USA

Foes Racing’s F275 is their new 27.5 (650B) full suspension mountain bike. Brent’s usual hydroformed handiwork is all over the shapely frame, which has adjustable travel from 5.5″ to 6″ without affecting geometry.

Key geometry bits are: Head angle is 67°, BB height is 13.1″ and chainstays are 17.1″. They just finished development a couple weeks before Interbike, so the F275 should be available in about eight weeks in standard colors. Frame retail is $2,399 with Fox CTD Float shock.

For this and all of their frames, they’re now offering “rolling chassis” and complete builds in addition to the framesets. Before, Foes only offered framesets, but they’ve been able to work with a new supplier/distributor that let them get the cost down enough for their comparatively small order quantities to be able offer bikes at competitive prices. The chassis includes the frame, headset, fork, wheels, seatpost and stem.

The FXR and Shaver 29 were shown as prototypes at Sea Otter and are now in full production. Click through to see those, more of the F275 and a little treat…

2013 Foes Racing F275 650B long travel full suspension trail mountain bike made in the USA

2013 Foes Racing F275 650B long travel full suspension trail mountain bike made in the USA

Two mounting points for the bottom of the shock change travel by half an inch.

2013 Foes Racing Shaver 29er and FXR slopestyle full suspension mountain bikes go into production made in the USA

Shaver 29er on the left, FXR in blue.

2013 Foes Racing hydroformed alloy big wheel made in the USA

For the kid who has everything, a handmade-in-the-USA hydroformed alloy big wheel trike.

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Tom
Tom
11 years ago

I got all excited when I saw that title I thought a coupany had got the balls to decided to drop the 650b idea! Sadly it was just another 650b bike. I get 29ers and 26″ bikes but not the 650b

Le Piou
Le Piou
11 years ago

Tom, just take a 650b for a 2hr+, over all type of terrain.
You’ll see where the hype is.

Tom
Tom
11 years ago

I have enjoyed riding 29er’s for over 5 years and in the past couple of years they have become more mainstream and accepted in the market place.
 It used to annoy me when I would read negative post (like mine above) about people’s hate for 29er bikes when clearly these people have never ridden a big wheel. The thing is 650b bike is probably better than a 26″bike. But honestly it’s only going to be a little bit better not at lot. Is that small margin of improvement really worth turning the bike world upside down? 
The bike industry is unique in how its always tring to better itself and continually try and improve products. But at the same time that can be its biggest weekness, to many standards to much R&D costs too many options. The influx of 29er bikes was rider driven to start with. Riders could noticibly see the bennifits of this wheel size for the style of bikes they were using. It was the public that was asking bike manufactures for more/better products. It was only then that big manufacture started to recognise this wheel size and see it as a marketing option along side the 26″ bikes.
 I know there was a bit of a underground movement on 650b wheels like there was on 29er wheels but how come the underground 650b movement never got as big as the 29er one?
 The thing that troubles me the most about this new wheel size is the amount of products that are being made/marketed compared to the amout of 650b bikes that the public currently own. This new wheel size seams very market drive than public demand. It just seams  that company’s have seen that the public were willing to have a wheel size option when 29er became more mainstream and just exploiting another wheel size to expand sales.
 I think they can justify this as it probably is a little bit better than a 26″ wheel. It has a little bit of the advantages of the bigger  wheel without the the design constrains of the big wheel. But I personally feel these bennifits are too small/to close to a 26″ bike to make me want to change. I also don’t think that the market can support 3 mainstream wheel sizes and one of them will slowly fade out over time. But for the next few years the average rider will have the option of 3 sizes and it will be the decision between the rider and the manufacture as to which two will stick when it comes to higher end mountain bikes. Will it be 26/650b, 650b/29 or 26/29 I don’t know, I just feel that some riders will end up spending a lot of money on a obsilite bike at some point in the future.  What I do know is if I end up riding a 650b bike I am still going to have a lot of fun on it as it will have two wheels and be powered by me. 
The bike industry has had a lot of fads that have come and gone,  you never know instead of just re using a old wheel size the industry might create a fourth ultimate off road wheel size! 
At the moment I have got a 26 and 29″ bike and I find myselfe choosing the 26 over the 29 when I want to go out on I ride. I think part of the reason for that’s is because I just want to get  back into going out and having fun on a bike. Not constantly questioning if I am using the right equipment  that is on offer to me. 

Chris
11 years ago

I’ve been riding off road since 1985 prior to suspension, disc brakes and the progression of technology that we find today (carbon, long travel, multiple wheel formats, etc..). I was an early adopter of the 29″ wheel format and convinced of its benefits for certain terrain. For the type of highly technical terrain found here in BC (and specific to the pacific north west), a long travel AM type bike makes sense. I’m convinced that 140mm+ suspension combined with the 29″ wheel format is not a good engineering mix. I recently decided to try 650b wheels by converting my Foes FXR. It is a noticeable upgrade that you need to confirm for yourself and on the trails you ride. It’s not just a little bit better than 26″, it combines the best of the 29″ wheel dynamics (momentum, less effort, speed) with the 26″ dynamics (acceleration, fluidity and fun!). I still plan on doing more testing while paying special attention to the change in handling (higher bb) and the sensations on the ride. The 650b wheel with a properly engineered frame set (like the Foes 275) will only add to the fun factor on the trail!

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