Who Is Diamondback?
Diamondback is based out of Kent, Washington. The company is known for its innovation and creativity. Diamondback broke onto the scene in the late 70’s with its BMX lines. The company quickly built out a presence in the full range of bike options.
The Diamondback brand currently belongs to a Accell, a Dutch corporation. Accell owns several brands (Ghost, Haibike & Winora, Batavus, Koga, Lapierre, Raleigh, and Redline to name a few).
Diamondbike, having gone through a series of owners, has also gone through a set of subtle name changes. From Diamond Bike to DiamondBike to Diamondbike.
After making its name as a BMX line, the company quickly expanded to Mountain bikes. In 1982, the company launched the Ridge Runner line. This was one of the first mountain bike brands in full scale production and was assembled in the USA.
In 2014 Diamondback established itself firmly in the Road bike genre with its Podium Equipe model. This line was a middle of the road affordable bike with some advanced features. Its second line has addressed some of the inconsistencies of the first, and I’d expect Diamondback to make a very strong run in this market.
A History of Racing Success
Diamondback dominated BMX in the late 70’s and 80’s. The company’s early claim to fame was a starring role in the movie “BMX Bandits” where the coolest character rode on of their Senior Pro bikes.
In the 90’s the success for the Diamondbike brand was on the Mountain bike circuit. The company formed a team (DBR--Diamond Bike Racing) and they had success at the World Championships, World Cup, and the Olympics in Atlanta in 1996.
Diamondback Engineering Achievements
Diamondback’s most significant advancement in bike design has been the Knuckle Box suspension. This suspension system is unique in that it controls both horizontal and vertical shock simultaneously. This has been often referred to full bike suspension, and has been a game-changer. The design is fully protected by patent and is only available via Diamondback.
Mountain Bikes
Diamondbike has made quite a name for itself in this space. In the most competitive races, I’m starting to see a strong preference for the frames. The company offers a wide range even within this niche. Let’s walk through the groups inside the Mountain bike genre and I’ll define the differences. At the bottom of the article, I will explain the difference amongst the Diamondback bike lines inside the Mountain Bike Groups.
Full Suspension
This bike line was engineered for comfort on the trail. This bike series will allow you to spend a full day out on the trail. The comfort comes at a small cost to performance but not much. This is the bike range you will want to focus on if you intend to spend time on a bike every day and for hours on end.
Brand Lines:
Mission, Release, Catch 1 &
Catch 2 - From Carbon to Alloy/Stainless Steel
Price Range: $5k to $2k.
Hardtail
This group was built for precision and speed. This suspension system is less sophisticated than the Full Suspension but the bikes are still very comfortable. This is the mid-range on mountain bikes, and is a very good bike to start with if you intend to get serious with your riding.
Brand Lines:
Sync R, Line, Hook, Overdrive
&
Mason - From Carbon to Alloy/Stainless Steel
Price Range: $3k to $800.
Fat bikes
This group was built for wet and snowy trails. Diamondbike has done a good job of accommodating their fork design without compromising their best in class suspension.
El OSO is the brand here, and frame preference drives cost anywhore from upwards of $2000 to around $800.
Women’s Mountain Bikes
Diamondback has done a solid job of designing the structure of their Woman’s line to adjust to the “touch points” of a female rider. The frame height and ratios are custom and the seat/saddle position is optimized for long days on the trail.
Brand Lines:
Clutch, Rely & Lux
Price Range: $2k to $500
Kids
Diamondbike offers almost all the above models in a shrunken frame and wheel set for kids. They have a really strong fat bike for kids and have designed the other frames for comfort and safety.
Brand Lines:
Sync R, El OSO & Line
Price Range: $750 to $300.
Road Bikes
The company focuses on the long range, and comfort design. Their road bikes are engineered for a more upright seating position which will allow you to bang out hundreds of miles or to ride in comfort while commuting.
Brand Lines:
Century & Arden
Price Range: $3k to $700
Adventure and Gravel
This line is designed to be a nice combination between Mountain and Road bikes. They have the sturdiness needed to go off road but also retain some efficiency and speed on the road.
Brand Lines:
Haanjo & Haanjenn
Price Range: $3k to $800
Triathlon
This bike line is a byproduct of a collaboration between Kevin Quan Studios, Diamondback and an aerodynamic physicist outside the biking industry.between Diamondback, Kevin Quan Studios, and aerodynamicists from outside the cycling industry. The Andean was optimized for wind efficiency. Every yaw angle that a biker would experience was considered.
The Diamondback Bike Mountain bike Lines Explained
Atroz
Diamondback Atroz is an entry bike with full suspension. If you are just getting started and intend to spend considerable spending time on the trails start here.
Clutch
The Clutch is the next step up. This is for the rider who is spending multiple days on the trails and looking to develop deeper skills. This is a good baseline bike line for those looking to compete.
Catch
Catch is a mid-model full suspension bike with the highly competitive weekend rider in mind. This range has most of the bells and whistles but won’t completely break the bank. This is a great bike series to focus on if you aren’t a full time competitor but still want to move fast and with agility when you hit the trail.
Release
This is the high-end of Mountain biking. This will be the range for the rider that is looking to make the final step. A rider that is technically skillful, has logged multiple years on the trails and is looking to complete or perform at the highest levels.
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