We are happy to present one of the first reviews of our 2014 complete bikes. Some time ago we have sent the Metropolis 1 bike to the good guys at PSBMX.com. After few weeks of testing they have published this very thorough review which we should be useful for you when looking for a new bike.
When I say Metropolis 1 you all know that I’m talking about a NS Bikes. For those who do not know NS Bikes I will tell you a little bit about this brand. NS Bikes stands for North Shore bikes. And they have been building bikes for some years now. They are not just a brand, they have been ruling the industry for the past few years. They are pushing the bike industry and themselves with these 8 guidelines to be the best they can:
- forward thinking.
- Open minds.
- Caring about what we do.
- Listening to our riders.
- Working hard to achieve the results that we planned.
- Not giving up somewhere in the middle of the road.
- Doing only what we can do best.
- Doing things differently.
By building bikes with those 8 guidelines in the back of their mind, they have developed a lot of great products. We can say that NS is one of if not the biggest freestyle MTB manufacturer in Europe. As we take a look at their past we can see that it was NS bikes who started with different colors which we now see at other company’s. But the best thing is, they do it all. By all I meen, building bikes/parts for all kinds MTB-ers out there. The have a very good street frame which has dominated the street scene and still is the number 1 street frame for a lot of riders. They have a very good dirt frame line with a lot to choose from and different price ranges. The last few years they added a fixed gear and a full suspension line. For this year they added two ranges of bikes for downhill and enduro. And we must not forget all the high quality parts for all those bikes.
I have to say that I’m a NS bikes fan. I own a NS bikes Analog (fixed) and my previous street frame was a NS bikes capital 2 and before that one I rode a first generation Majesty. But I never rode a complete bike from them. Till a few weeks ago!
As you can read in the firstlook/unboxing article here, PSBMX contacted NS bikes for a review on a complete bike. We agreed to do a review on the brand new NS bikes metropolis 1 2014. I was very stoked to be able to ride this bike. It has been 2 weeks ago since I got this bike and built it up. I took it to my new local skatepark and on some street missions. I haven’t got the chance to ride it on dirt. It has been raining a lot in the Netherlands for the past few weeks and almost all of the dirt parks decided to close their doors for the season. I have contacted a few of them but they all told me that they are renovating the jumps and that it was too wet to ride it. So that in mind, I will do some updates on the dirt performance when I’m able to ride some dirt with it.
Parts: The guys from NS bikes say that you can take this bike straight out of the box and win yourself a contest. They also say you can take it out of the box, take it to your local skatepark and rip all you can rip. Is this true? Yes!! You can take it out of the box and take it to your local spot within 20 minutes. Just put on the front wheel and pedals and turn your bars in the right direction. Check all the bolts and pump up your tires a little more. That’s all you need to do. When you take this bike out of the box, you see all the nice details in the frame. NS bikes is well known by their screaming colors, but for this 2014 Metropolis they tried to make a clean looking bike with some small but nice details. The other thing you notice is the build quality. Some very high-end parts on this bike for sure! The disk brake worked very good (I only ride with a rear brake). The wheels are pretty strong. This is one of the things I worried about. I know that some manufacturers build nice bikes but I have been tweeking and breaking a few wheels on other complete bikes. Mostly on landing in a 90 or 270. I also did this with the metropolis but no trouble at all. For the fork they used the well known Rock Shox Argyle R CL. A very strong fork with some frame color matching details on it. I cannot say I love this fork. But it is still a good fork to ride with. I tried to make it a little stiffer while riding street and park but I couldn’t get it the way I liked it. A little too soft for me on hard grounds. On the other hand, when I ride dirt, I love softer forks because they absorb a lot of energy of the impact. So I think this fork is very good when you ride dirt. But when you like to ride street and park with a pretty stiff fork, it isn’t the best you can get.
The best thing about the new 2014 is the stem. I’m very unlucky when it gets to smashing my knee into my stem. It Hurts a lot and can get worse when your knee swells to the size of a pineapple. This has happened to me a few times. Over the last few years you can see that some company’s changed their stem line-up with a big change on the edges and bolt position. You can see on the picture, the place where you will hit your stem is now round. So the sharp edges won’t hurt anymore. That’s not all! The guys at NS put the bolts at the side of the stem. You have to be a pretty much a dumbass if you can hit the bolts now! I’m not suggesting you would not hurt your knee anymore but it will be a lot less painful.
Weight: Some say it is a heavy bike, and to be honest, I agree! But on the other hand… When you ride this bike, it doesn’t feel like a heavy bike. This has all to do with a well balanced bike. The weight on the front and rear feels nicely balanced and will give you a lot of stability in the air. We must not forget that this is a complete bike! If you want a lighter bike, you can upgrade it really easy. And upgrading your bike is a big part of riding bikes!
How does it ride: As I said before, I have been able to ride it on street and my local outdoor skatepark. I haven’t been able to ride it on dirt. I can tell you how this bike feels in the air and how it handles while using the flyout at a pool. This is not dirt of course but it will give you a little bit information on how it behaves on dirts. But I think this bike has proved itself on dirt the past few years.
Street: This is not a streetbike. Now I have to tell you why. I ride a lot of street. When I think of riding street, I think of a short ChainStay for fast spinning, a stiff fork and pretty high BB. This bike does not have a very short CS, but it is short enough for quite fast spins. I was surprised because I expected a longer CS. Now you can think: so it is good for street? Yes it is, but for pure street riding I prefer a shorter CS. I didn’t like the fork for street as I said before. But the stem compensates a little on the fork. It is short and this gives you a direct feel about the bikes handling. You feel directly what your bike is doing. Then the brake cable. It is long enough for barspins and whips. Some of the tricks you see a lot on the streets. The perfect balance in weight makes this bike come around fast when you whip it. The seat is also low enough to place your foot over. This bike can rip the streets if you do some 360’s, spins and whips. But technically it isn’t built as a street specific ride so I scored it a 7.5 out of 10 on street.
Park: It took me a little while before I could appreciate this bike in my local park. I started with a lot of brake tricks like 360 taps, 540 taps, fufanu’s and tailtaps. This brake is so damn good! It stops your wheel fast with just a little touch. It is a little snappy for manual adjustments thou. I need to train my manuals a little more;) First I find it annoying that I lost a lot of energy in the fork. However, after a hour or 2 I got used to it. The first 360’s started to come and when I don’t came all around, the suspension fork absorbed all the energy which normally goes straight to my arms. It felt nice and comfy. When I land a trick 3-or 4 times in a row a bit bad, it hurts my wrists. No problem with these forks. On the quarters I like a bit stiffer forks. On the jumpbox and fly out a soft fork. (like this one comes stock) The Metropolis gave me a smile on my face when I rode at my local park. Easy to control in the air due to the perfect weight balance and the short stem makes it easy to control your spins, barspins and it gives you direct feedback about all the things happening in front of the bike. I like the Metropolis more in a park than on the streets so I gave this bike a 8 out of 10.
Dirt: I said it a few times before: I wasn’t able to ride dirt due to the rain in the Netherlands. The big question is: do I have to?? This bike has a few small changes for the 2014 version and I don’t believe those changes affect the way the Metropolis has been loved by thousands of people in the world. If you look on several shop sites, you can read a lot of positive feedback on this bike, especially from those who use it on dirt. Based on this, I believe this is a top of the line bike which you can take out to a dirt park, 20 minutes after you put it together and win a contest right after your first ride. After reading other reviews of the previous model and after feeling some similar movements and airtime which you can experience while riding dirt, I give this bike a 9 out of 10!!!
Verdict: Is this bike worth all this money? HELL YEAH!!!! You will get a well balanced bike which will give you a lot of confidence in the air to learn new tricks fast but also spins easily. It will come straight out of the box with some high quality parts so you don’t have to be afraid that you will have to spend a lot of money replacing them right away. The parts will last for a long time. This bike is a very good choice if you want it all. You can take it to the streets and skateparks and ride with a lot of fun, but the metropolis is at its best on dirt. I give this bike a 8.5 out of 10.
Price/quality: 9
Street: 7.5
Park: 8
Dirt: 9
Overall Handling: 9
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8.5 out of 10.
Now check out a few clips of me riding the new 2014 NS Bikes Metropolis 1 in between rain storms here in The Netherlands…
2014 NS Bikes Metropolis 1 from PlusSizeBMX on Vimeo.
