Co-op Cycles  DRT 2.1 Bike

So I am new to MTB. I've been riding dirt-bikes (motocross) since I was about 9 or 10 years old and have owned MTBs as a young kid. I am now 27 years old and after getting a new surgery each year from dirt-bike accidents I decided to retire that hobby for a little while. So after my hybrid Specialized bike was stolen (I live in Baltimore so it's normal) I decided to look into MTBs. That being said, I shopped all the local shops, the big name brands, did my research, price matched, and finally pulled the trigger on the DRT 2.1. I only have about 10 hours total on the bike but I can say that the bike is absolutely perfect. Obviously, the only things I'm comparing this bike to are dirt-bikes, a few Trek MTB's I've owned as a kid, and my late Specialized hybrid. However, I think I have a good understanding of how a bike should feel and ride. Just to list a few things that were the selling point for me. 1. Because I am an REI member and hold an REI credit card, I get 15% back on all purchases. So my dividend on this purchase will allow me to buy a kayak next year. Therefore, I got a bike and a kayak for the same price as 1 MTB. 2. The thru-axle. This was a huge selling point that surprisingly not all bikes in this price range have. 3. Tubeless ready wheels and tires 4. Swingarm that curves in, allowing the tire to be right below the rider 5. Components are amazing 6. Color After reviewing these 6 things, I was sold and bought the bike. After the dividend, the bike really came in at around $1460.00 (pre-tax). After riding the bike I fell in love with the geometry, the tires, and the suspension. The front forks are amazing, as well as all the components of the bike. I weighed the bike when I had first boughten it and it was 30lbs on the dot. I took off all the reflectors and went tubeless. I weighed the bike today after these changes and comes in right at 28.5lbs.

Love it immensely! Perfect bike for me. It's a monster. Got XL, it's been fun pushing the limit and getting away with lots of jumps and terrain a 26" or thinner tires would struggle with and it's super smooth on paved roads. Shocks kick butt. Color is different and I like the muted color profile. Last bike I will ever need, I am almost 50. My last bike , I had for fifteen years. Looking forward to putting on a lot of miles on this bad boy. Regards,

I purchased the Co-op Cycle 2.1 because it provided me an interesting and potentially very fun bike within my current budget. I am intrigued by the the 27.5+ tire platform as something close to a 29’er, which I love, while giving me a potentially very rideable hard-tail platform incorporating some of the fat bike quality which I also love. The other thing that drew me to this bike was the surprisingly consistent (almost entirely Shimano SLX M7000), high quality, mid-range component spec which I hope will provide some of the highest performance per dollar available today. My personal taste in bikes leans toward understated visuals and highly reliable, quality components in preference to loud colors and/or cutting edge finicky components. The DRT 2.1 appears to meet my taste in both. Before riding the DRT 2.1 for the first time, I removed the reflectors, set up the tires tubeless, and wrapped the right-hand chainstay with some inner tube (over top of the clear plastic protective sticker that came stock). The final total bike weight for my XL is 29.5 lbs. This was pretty much the easiest tubeless install ever. The Novatech Fourtyfive rims have a fantastically tubeless-friendly cross-section (i.e. a narrow drop center and a wide ramp up to the bead seat), and the rims were already taped. I popped one side of the tire off, pulled out the tube, put a Stan’s valve through the rim, put ¾ of the bead back on, poured in about 3 or 4 oz of Stan’s sealant, easily replaced the rest of the bead on the rim, inflated to 35 PSI, listened to a couple of good pops as the bead seated itself, spun the wheel a few times, and voila, tubeless happiness! Then, I deflated the tires to 20 PSI and was ready to ride. The stock, WTB Volt Sport saddle is 135mm wide, narrower that I thought appropriate until I sat on it and found that if fully supported my very average spaced sit-bones. The saddle is quite acceptable. I am riding the stock platform pedals (probably won’t stand it much more than a couple of days). Although, I normally ride clipless, I want to push my mountain bike skills this season, and riding flats should reduce the likelihood of developing or continuing bad habits enabled when riding clipped in. The pedal bearings are pretty rough, and the pins are just part of the pedal casting (cheap platforms). Without pedal washers, the pedals dug into the shoulder of the pedal hole of the crank a bit. Cheap pedals are to be expected on most new bikes, but come on REI, use pedal washers before you tighten cheap pedals onto nice crank arms. I could not make a better tire choice than the Schwalbe Rocket Ron 2.8’s. They of some of the lighter 27.5+ tires available, and their tread is grippy enough while not being too slow. Their size and tread are fantastic middle of the road choices. Sizing: REI claims that an XL fits riders from 6’ to 6’3”. I’m 6’4”. Raising my saddle to my standard crosscountry height places it about ¾” beyond the minimum insertion line on the 400 mm long seatpost. My sense of a familiar reach would put my bars about ½” to ¾” further away. So, for me, REI size recommendations appear to be pretty much spot on. The spec list on REI’s website is lacking some of the specific details. A few more details are as follows: Fork: X-Fusion McQueen RL2 (buttery smooth for a $1600 bike) Crank length: 175 mm Chainring size: 30 T Rims: Novatec Fortyfive, inside width 45 mm, outside width 50 mm, depth: 18 mm Brake Rotors: 160 mm front, 180 mm rear Tires: Schwalbe Rocket Ron SnakeSkin TL Easy 27.5 x 2.8” Handlebar: Width 760 cm, Rise 15 mm, Sweep 15 degrees Stem: Co-op cycles 31.8, 0 degree, length 70 mm Saddle: width: 135 mm REI is great about including useful bits with their bikes. The DRT 2.1 bits include a replacement rear dropout/derailleur hanger along with plugs and ports for the internal cable routing to a front derailleur and/or a dropper seatpost. Tubeless stems were not included. The X-Fusion McQueen RL2 fork is fantastic for a bike in the sub $2000 price range. It looks cool and is wonderfully stout and buttery smooth with good small bump compliance. At the same time, low-speed compression damping seems to be well tuned as I don’t find the fork diving into corners too much or overly squishing out when I apply the front brake. When pulling up the front wheel for manuals or wheelies, there is a bit of a thunk as for fork fully extends. The overall geometry of the bike provides a neutral, stable, but sporty enduro feel, neither too steep, like it’s REI Novara predecessors nor floppy like many older long travel bikes. The chainstays are short enough to provide decent climbing traction and ease of popping up the front wheel, while not being so short as to be problematic holding the front wheel down when climbing steep trail sections. At this point, with one trail ride completed, I’m impressed. Not only did the bike’s component spec and ride quality surpass my performance expectations, the 27.5+ tires, the X-Fusion McQueen RL2 boost fork, and the conservative geometry completely thrilled me.

I had a Trek WD for many years. It was time to upgrade but I wasn’t sure I wanted to buy another then Trek. After check other brands and the reviews, I ended up trying 2 other brands other then Trek. But as you know, testing a Mtn Bike with truly feedback only happens on the trail. Which I did but only after purchased the bike. Let me tell you, this Bike is absolutely awesome, I’m totally in love. It’s a great product and the support, help and customer service is unbelievable!!!! We ended up buying 2 :)

I bought this bike 3 weeks ago with no mountain biking experience. I ride quite a bit, mostly on paved surfaces before now. And I have ridden my whole life but I don't know name brand parts and glaze over when people talk about specific components. What I am saying is I am not an expert. But I can tell you that I absolutely love this bike. I have had nothing but thoroughly enjoyable adventures on this. I am in Flatland( Ohio) so I'm not climbing mountains. But we do have an abundance of rocks and roots with a bunch of creeks thrown in for good measure. I swapped out the petals for clip ins. That was new to me so I fell a bunch. Worth it. All in all I am happy with the purchase and of course the great service and knowledge from the REI staff.

This is my first mountain bike so take this as a grain of salt. Overall good comfortable bike for basic trail riding. Will have to work with the suspension settings and tire pressures because the bike feels too bouncy over rough terrain. Tires have pretty good grip though you can break the rear loose when climbing uphill sooner than expected. Brakes feel a little lacking... harder to lock up wheels than expected or wanted to slide the bike around. I’d recommend this bike for new and intermediate riders. I feel advanced riders will want more feel from their bike (firmer ride, better braking). Overall happy with the bike for the price and hope I can dial it in for a better ride in the future. Will work with the REI techs when I bring it in for the free 6th month checkup.

I've been MTB for nearly 3 years, getting my start on an REI-purchased Catalyst 1. It was a good bike to get started and I shredded up hundreds of miles of trails on that little entry-level bike while building basic MTB skills. As my components were starting to age and wear from heavy use I knew it would make more sense to replace the bike and upgrade vs. start to slowly upgrade components on the heavier frame of that bike. The decision wasn't easy. I had it narrowed down to pretty much a Cannondale Dujo 1, Trek Roscoe, and DRT 2.1. Of all the 3, the DRT has the least flashy paint job but depending on your POV that can be a good thing or a bad thing (less likely to stand out to would-be thieves than a bright red bike for example). Superficial aspects aside, I landed on the DRT 2.1 because it was the only bike that, in this price range, had no compromises in components. Many bike manufacturers will piecemeal components for the sake of cost savings so in this intermediate price bracket it's hard to find a bike that has solid gear sets, brakes, suspension forks, rims, tires, etc., All have their strengths for sure but most of these bikes will scream "upgrade me" in some way for this price range. Not so with the DRT. The all SLX groupset including the brakes, crank, etc., is quality through and through. I'm loving the 1x design for weight and simplicity. The shifts are crisp and predictable and 11 gears is more than enough for my needs! The X Fusion RL2 air suspension fork, while not necessarily the household names of Rockshox or Fox found on other bikes, in my testing it was extremely plush yet stiff and eats up both the small bumps in the trail as well as the rooty and rocky terrain with ease. Being 200 lbs, I have mine set at 100 psi and that seems perfect with just the right rebound (which is adjustable). Being able to easily lockout the suspension on climbs is awesome! The plus sized WTB Ranger tires are in and of themselves a huge win for me and gives me more confidence heading into the muddier winter months in the southeast. REI will do a very inexpensive upgrade to tubeless for which these tires and rims are fully equipped to handle - planning to get this done in the next week. The WTB Scraper rims are solid all around and if you do some research come recommended and even standard on some much much more expensive bikes and are also perfect for a tubeless setup. Especially helpful on a hardtail where running a lower PSI in tubeless tires both help the tires grip obstacles and provide the feeling of having a full suspension bike in many scenarios. The frame is nothing special, but it does appear strong and is relatively lightweight for an aluminum frame. the internal cable routing keeps things sleek and for me the lower center is perfect for my standover height (I have a M frame and am 5'10" w/ a 29" inseam). The only downside vs. the Cujo 1 was the lack of a dropper which I really wanted for downhill and more technical riding I aspire to. I will be adding a dropper soon and the frame is ready for the cable to be routed for an easy upgrade down the road - so if you want this be prepared for a $200 upgrade. At the end of the day, if you priced out all of the quality components on this bike you'll see that the price is a good value and REIs warranty and service are spectacular. So while I may not stand out in a crowd with my "willow" colored bike, I'll know i've got a silent winner in a solid all around MTB!

I don't often write reviews, but this bike this bike! It is by far the best hardtail I have owned. Great mix of components, great geometry, and the 2.8 tires really soak up the extremely rocky trails we have in the Arizona desert. I am very tough on my bikes, and after 2 months of abuse I have not had a single issue. Do the tubeless conversion right away, it only costs a few buck and it takes less than 10 minutes per wheel!

I'm 5'4" - tried out both the small and medium -- went with the medium. It's great. My shorter 12 year old even likes it and keeps trying to trade for my components. We downhill at a ski resort in Idaho where the trails are extremely rocky and this bike has held up well. Bike handles well on rocky single track -- NO PINCH FLATS! I've dumped it a few times with no needed repairs. I also took it on a paved rails to trails where I thought I would struggle to keep up -- I just pumped the tires up hard and it was fine. I'll have to eventually hack-saw the seat post a bit shorter for downhill.

I just received this bike on tuesday, I took it out on wednesday afternoon! First off the entire time i was riding i had a giant smile and even up the uphill sections. This bike is so capable. The boost spacing makes the rear very stiff which helps so much with control and climbing. The front boost helps with those turns and steep downhill section. The fork is butter and super compliant and smooth. It took all the rock gardens and burns like a champ!!! this thing is a super sweet shredder but yet I'm even more pumped to set this thing up for bikepacking! I'm planning one for next month and hopefully be able to write up something somewhere about its ability to bikepacking, and if the the way it rides now is any indicator it's prolly going slay at bikepacking too. The SLX groups is so slick and great at shifting and the ranges on the 11speed make climbing a breeze. Anyways if you dont like having fun on a bike look somewhere else. But if you like ot have fun in whatever type of outnain biking you do this is your bike. you dont need something special or fancy just somethign solid and good just like this DRT 2.1 and if you don't believe me about the smiles I'll include a photo of the smiles!!!!