Worldwide Cyclery Crew Member Evil 'The Wreckoning' Review

There was a ton of talk surrounding the new long travel 29er from Evil dubbed ‘The Wreckoning.’ This bike was talked up to be the bike that could possibly replace having both a downhill bike and a trail bike, a do-it-all bike if you will. The first ride on the Evil Wreckoning was everything I had expected out of this bike and more! From looking at the bikes geometry I was almost certain that this bike was going to kill it on the descents. With the 29” wheels and 160mm of travel, these Evil mountain bikes are practically the monster trucks of the bike world! Knowing how The Following and The Insurgent ride, I knew I was going to have a blast on this bike, my only concern was with its size, how would this monster climb? 

Another thing I was concerned about on this bike was weight. For how big the Wreckoning is, its weight isn’t too outrageous. We built this up with our own version of an X1 build kit and it weighed in at 31lbs with pedals (CrankBrothers Mallet 3’s) which was surprising considering how bomb-proof the frame looks!  Since we are so familiar with its relatives, The Following and The Insurgent, set-up was fairly easy and within a few minutes, I was ready to take The Wreckoning out and shred the local trails.

We started out the ride with a decent switch back climb and for starters, this bike climbed great for having 160mm travel. I didn't feel like I was dragging the bike around like some long travel 29ers that I have ridden in the past. The bike held traction very well with the Maxxis Minion SS in the rear and the Maxxis Minion DHF in the front - it stayed planted and hardly broke loose when coming out of the saddle. The bike was a little long and difficult to get around some of the tight switchbacks, but that was about the only thing that hindered this bike. After getting to the top of the climb, I was pumped to see how Evil’s design attacked the downhills. Right when this bike came out, we had a feeling that it was going to slay the downhills almost as well as a downhill bike and well, we were right…kind of. This bike had surpassed my expectations. I knew this bike would handle the descents well but it downright killed it! Everything from the fast flowy jump lines, to the steep rocky shoots, this bike handled everything I threw at it and was very stable and controllable through all of it, especially at high speeds. This bike held its speed very well and just wanted to keep going faster. Handling in flat corners was great and with a berm it was hard to hold this bike back! While The Wreckoning can hold its own in the gnarly/chunky sections, it lacks the plushness that a DH bike has along with the cornering capabilities. Other than that, I can't think of a reason why I wouldn't want to slay this bike on a regular basis.

After a few rides, The Wreckoning made me have second thoughts about having a DH bike and a trail bike, so if you are looking for a do it all bike, the Evil Wreckoning should be your weapon of choice on the trails. We currently have a Medium size Wreckoning available for demo. Please email us at info@worldwidecyclery.com to set up a demo today!

(Downhill Bikes might be dead now…)