Breezer Repack

Along with Tom Ritchey, Gary Fisher, Charlie Kelly and a few others, Joe Breeze was one of the original ‘Klunkers’; the forefathers of modern mountain biking. Despite this historical background the brand which bears Joe’s name has, for many years, been far more often associated with commuting and city bikes than anything which could realistically be called a true mountain bike. For 2014 that has changed, with the release of two new full suspension bikes as well as updates to the hardtail race bikes.

The Repack, named after the famous race that spawned the sport we love, is Breezer’s 160mm travel 27.5 wheeled all-mountain bike. It’s completely new from the ground up, including the unique and patented M-Link suspension system. Everyone loves a comeback kid (the entire Rocky franchise was based on it), so of course we jumped at the chance to test a Repack when the offer arose.

Our Repack Pro was the 2014 model but the 2015 version is the one that you’re likely to see in the shops. That said, the spec changes will be pretty minor and what you see here is a good reflection of the bikes that will be on the showroom floor. It was fitted out with ‘Evolution’ level Fox suspension at both ends, the brakes and drivetrain are a mix of various levels of Shimano (mainly SLX), Joe’s mate Tom Ritchey looks after cockpit fit out, whilst the rims, tyres and remaining bits come from the WTB stable. The Repack’s component list reads like a ‘who’s who’ of brands that existed back in the early days of the MTB scene—it’s kind of nice to see the old crew all back together again.

While the test bike didn’t come with a dropper post, the 2015 model is expected to come with an X-Fusion HiLo; just the regular version and not the ‘SL’ that we’ve got on review in this magazine. Pricing is expected to be around the $4,000 mark which seems on the money for the spec, especially so if it comes with a dropper post fitted. The 2015 line up is also expected to include a more upmarket Repack with XT level components, a RockShox Reverb dropper and Factory level Fox suspension.

Original not Repackaged

The Repack’s frame is loaded with subtle curves and clean lines. While there’s plenty of hydroforming evident in the varying cross sections of the front triangle, the look is relatively traditional and classy. The subdued grey and black colour scheme really complements the style—no flashy fluoro colours here; it’s more of a trail ninja than jousting knight.

Direct brake and front derailleur mounts are there, as is a set of ISCG tabs around the press-fit bottom bracket. The fully external cable routing closely follows the frame so the overall look is clean and uncluttered. We generally prefer external routing as cable changes are much quicker and easier than the fishing expedition that’s required with most internally routed frames. The low slung top tube gives plenty of standover clearance but also means that the only bottle bosses are on the underside of the frame where they’re unlikely to ever see service.

Once you move on to the rear triangle it’s all square and C-section profiles. There’s enough room around the 2.3-inch tyres for at least a finger-width of mud (we’re pretty sure that’s an official SI unit), or significantly bigger tyres if your trails are generally gloop free. Lateral stiffness is there by the barrow load (another official measure), so if you can’t hold a line through the ruts it’s certainly not the bike’s fault. That stiffness does come at a cost, however; at 3,810g for a large frame/shock and 14.5kg without pedals no breeze is going to blow the Repack away!

At 340mm the bottom bracket is low enough to provide plenty of cornering stability without smashing your cranks into every pebble you ride past, and the 625mm top tube on our 19.5-inch frame gives ample room to stretch out when climbing. The chainstays are relatively short at 438mm to help keep the handling nimble, and for the same reason the head angle is, by modern standards, quite steep at 68-degrees. This, like most things in bike geometry, is a trade-off. On flatter and tighter trails it sharpens the steering response so you don’t need to lean the bike as far, but it does compromise stability on steeper, faster or rockier trails. We found fitting a shorter stem (the stock one is 70mm) helped to add a degree of security, although the overall handling of the Repack remains more reminiscent of a trail bike, albeit with more travel, than a mini downhill bike. Your regular trails will determine whether or not this is a good thing; it’s no good taking a knife to a gun fight, but you don’t want to carry a bazooka into a boxing ring either.

Missing Link

Without question the most unique thing about the Repack is the M-Link (the M stands for ‘Mid’) suspension system, which sees the rear pivot positioned about mid-way between the bottom bracket and rear axle. Designed exclusively for Breezer in conjunction with the Sotto Group (who also developed Yeti’s Switch suspension), the M-Link claims to take the best attributes of both Horst Link and short-link four-bar designs and combine them into one.

The theory goes something like this; the rear pivot on Horst Link designs prevents the very back end of the bike from being triangulated which can lead to unwanted frame flex. Short link systems have a rigid rear triangle, but the exacting tolerances required by placing all the pivots so close together makes manufacturing more difficult and expensive. Bearing life can also suffer on short-link bikes with the leverage that’s placed on them by the proportionally longer rear end. Whilst we’ve seen ways around all these design issues, the logic behind M-Link is completely sound and it’s surprising someone hasn’t done it sooner.

Breezer have also sweated the details of the pivot design itself, using expanding collet hardware to make sure force is distributed to the bearings as evenly as possible, and using oversize pivot axles to maximise the amount of real estate being loaded. The end result is a bike that should have very long service intervals and be easy to fix when required, and although our few months with the Repack is in no way a long-term test, there hasn’t been a single peep out of the frame over that period.

So how does that suspension theory play out in practice? Very well, as it happens. Firstly, M-Link isn’t overly sensitive to sag setting like many short-link designs and was happy with anything from 20-30%, although we generally rode it in the upper half of that range.

Secondly, The Repack pedals very well with only marginal suspension movement, even when standing and with the shock in the open setting. It still remains very supple, however, and we actually preferred climbing with the big Breezer in the middle ‘trail’ setting; otherwise it tended to sink deeply into the rear travel on mid-sized rocks and steps resulting in more kickback through the pedals. The lightly damped trail setting kept it feeling lively and reduced pedal kickback without seeming to reduce traction.

A standout trait of the Repack is its ability to clamber up almost anything you point it at. The front wheel stays down and the rear wheel digs in far better than a 160mm travel bike has any right to. It turns out they’d initially planned make the Repack a 150mm travel bike but bumped this figure up another 10mm because it made virtually no difference to pedalling and climbing performance—may as well have the extra cushion it you can!

No doubt the head angle also plays a part in keeping the front wheel tracking, and there’s enough pedal clearance to avoid rock strikes without having to obsess over timing your pedal strokes. Despite its high level of proficiency on technical climbs, there’s no getting around the weight—once you add some pedals and a dropper post you’ll be looking at well over 15 kegs for the complete package. To an extent this goes with the territory on an alloy 160mm travel bike but the frame itself is a good half-kilo heavier than most of its competition. It certainly doesn’t help matters, especially on longer uphill grinds. On flatter terrain this extra weight is less of an issue and as long as you’re not in a hurry, you’ll breeze up just about any climb (oh yeah, been waiting to use that one!).

The frame just behind the seat tube does tend to catch more than its fair share of mud in the C-shaped links, so a good hose down is virtually essential after wet rides, but that’s about the only maintenance we had to perform on the Repack. We had zero issues with the Shimano brakes and drivetrain; all worked quietly and flawlessly, and if the non-series BLM-615 brakes aren’t the best budget stoppers on the market we’ll eat a brake pad sandwich. The Fox Evolution fork is good but not great; it’s much stiffer than a 32mm fork but this is Fox’s cheapest damper without any of the extra slippery technology that’s found on their higher end models. We found the fork to be a bit notchy and the slight lack of suppleness meant that the open damper setting on the fork provided a good balance to the trail setting on the rear shock—that’s how we ran the bike 70% of the time, with the exception of steep or riotous descents or particularly dreary fire roads.

On those faster and more challenging downhills is when the Breezer begins to suffer slightly, with the front and rear ends having very different personalities. With the wheel tucked under you closer than we’ve become used to, the front end starts to feel a tad nervous and twitchy just when the trail gets most interesting. The shorter stem we fitted helped noticeably, but at the end of the day we think lopping a degree or two off the head angle would make a huge improvement to the Repack’s descending capability without having too much impact on its excellent climbing manners. Downhill performance is not helped by the stifled fork, which struggles to maintain contact between wheel and ground over fast and successive hits; a situation that’s never going to encourage you to let go of the brakes and let fly.

In contrast the back end feels composed and capable; in the ‘open’ setting it has a linear and supple suspension feel which does an impressive job of smoothing out bumps and keeping the rear tyre on terra firma. For lighter riders who still push the Repack hard, the high volume air can may not produce enough ramp up to prevent bottoming out on a semi regular basis. Fitting a volume reducer is a very quick and easy fix for this but heavier riders probably won’t have an issue.

There’s no weird braking behaviour with the Repack, and the stiff frame will have you wanting to push the back end through turns like a speedway racer, only slightly slower of course. From the saddle back, it’s a bike that absolutely deserves its place in the highly competitive mountain bike market. However if descending is your game, we don’t think the front end of the Repack is up to the same high standard. A better performing fork and perhaps some geometry tweaks would take up a level when it comes to high-speed monkey business—if that’s your thing of course.

Easy Breezey

Moderate terrain is where the Repack is perhaps the most fun; despite having 160mm of travel, the geometry is that of a classic trail bike. The relatively short wheelbase and steepish head angle let you really whip the Breezer from corner to corner much faster than many other long travel bikes, and the feel is playful and engaging. It loves to be powered up punchy or technical pitches, and with the shock in the trail setting it’s got plenty of pop for hitting lips and powering out of turns. Although not overly agile, it’s happy to get some air and feels balanced once off the ground, probably due to the extra weight.

Some credit for the Repack’s handling prowess must also go to the WTB wheel and tyre combo. The spokes are tight and the 23mm wide rims give some reasonable support for the 2.3-inch Vigilante tyres; they have proven to be a grippy, predictable and versatile tyre whenever we’ve ridden them. It’s true that the cheaper ‘race’ version spec’d here doesn’t have the same tenacious grip on wet roots and rocks as the more expensive TCS version, but we still managed to run them tubeless without any major drama and the harder rubber seems more durable.

It seems that the oldest name in mountain biking is also now one of the newest, and the Repack does a solid job of relaunching the Breezer name to a whole new generation of riders. It’s mightn’t be the burly gravity enduro bike you’d expect from the travel figures but it is a forgiving, fun and efficient long travel trail bike. The M-Link suspension offers excellent performance and there’s undoubtedly a little MTB history in every bike that wears Joe Breeze’s name. If you want to rip the technical climbs and carve the turns, and do it all in style, put the Repack on your shortlist.

Thumbs Up

Great on technical climbs

Seemingly bombproof frame

Good parts selection

Thumbs Down

Sticky fork action

Out of its element on really steep descents

Heavy frame

Specifications

Frame: Hydroformed Custom-Butted 6066 Alloy

Shock: Fox Float CTD Boost Valve, 160mm Travel

Fork: Fox 34 Evolution CTD 160mm

Headset: FSA Orbit Tapered

Handlebars: Ritchey WCS Trail alloy 740mm

Stem: Ritchey WCS Trail alloy

Shifters: Shimano SLX

Front Derailleur: Shimano SLX

Rear Derailleur: Shimano XT

Cassette: Shimano HG 62, 11/36 10-speed

Chain: KMC X10

Cranks: Shimano SLX 24/38

Bottom Bracket: Shimano Press-Fit

Pedals: N/A

Brakes: Shimano M615

Rims: WTB Frequency ST i23

Hubs: Formula F / Shimano SLX R

Spokes: Black Stainless Steel

Tyres: WTB Vigilante Race 2.3

Saddle: WTB Volt

Seatpost: Ritchey WCS Trail

Weight: 14.5kg without pedals (19.5-inch frame 3,810g)

Available Sizes: 17, 18.5, 19.5 (tested) & 21-inch

Price: $3,999 

Distributor: Oceania Bicycles www.ocbicycles.com.au