Morewood Bikes have slipped quietly into Australia over the last six months, through new import outfit Bling Industries. Definitely more of a ‘boutique’ frame (we’re talking $2700 for a Mountain Cross frame here), these frames have a heritage that sets them apart and is something quite special. The Morewood name comes from the founder, creator, and builder of the frames, Patrick Morewood. Although unknown here, Patrick is a big name in South African DH racing having been the national champion for three years running. Not only is Patrick entirely responsible for the development of the Morewood brand and the design of the frames, he actually constructs every frame himself. Every frame is built by a national DH champ – imagine if your frame was built by Rennie or Hannah, pretty cool. The material of choice is 6082 T6 aluminium alloy, apparently “the finest weldable alloy available” according to a review in Mountain Bike Action listed on the Morewood web site.


More and more have started to appear on the race scene, both in DH and MtnX, with team rider Dave Inabinet capturing two podiums in elite MtnX this season as well as pulling 8th in elite DH at the National Champs. Speaking with the importers, Chris Southwood and Drew Hamilton, they revealed that they have been cautious so far, only bringing in limited numbers of the frames. “We really just wanted to make sure we had confidence in the frames before we committed to bringing in larger shipments”, says Drew. “Having ridden them for six months we’re stoked and now we’ll be making a big push to get them out there”.

There is a strong South African flavour to the frames – with the Morewood HQ based right in the heart of KwaZulu Natal Province, the frames feature Zulu names and come stickered up with the Sth African flag. I got my hands on the Ndiza ST (pronounced Endeeza) for a couple of weeks. Ndiza means ‘fly’, and the frame is built specifically for MtnX racing and dirt jumping. It has 115mm (4.5”) of rear wheel travel with a Manitou 4-way Swinger air shock. I’ve given the frame a good thrashing at the dirt jumps, MtnX tracks and a few local XC loops… here’s the low down.

The Ndiza ST I was riding is the personal bike of Chris, one half of Bling Industries. This particular frame was actually the 2005 model, but in reality it is almost identical to the 2006 model. I was riding the smaller of the two sizes and, at six foot tall, I was right on the threshold of being suited to the next size up. Checking the Morewood web site they recommend that anyone under 5’ 11” opt for the small – the larger frame is a full inch longer in the top tube but has the same 16 inch seat tube. Personally small/short bikes are what I prefer so I felt at home.


The bike was built up with a mid level parts kit including: RockShox Recon 351 air sprung forks (set at 110mm travel), Mavic XM 321 rims, Shimano LX 2 piece cranks, E-13 chain device, Shimano DX flats, Shimano XT discs, Morewood lay back seat post and a SRAM X9/X0 drivetrain. Good stuff but by no means the lightest/blingest stuff out there. One highlight was the “I LOVE PUMPING TRANNIES” sticker on the top tube, a touch that Chris added himself.

The front end was set up low with no spacers under the 5 degree rise stem and only 1 inch rise bars cut quite narrow – a racy setup which helped the whole bike feel low slung. Actually the whole bike is low slung, the bottom bracket sits just under 13 inches and the stand over is awesomely low for a full suspension bike thanks to a 16 inch seat tube. Hopping on and straight away this frame felt like it had more in common with a hard tail jump frame than any other dually I’ve ever ridden. The top tube was right out of the way, the bar height was low and the rear end felt short. The car park test revealed that initial impression of hardtail style maneuverability were right – I could pop a manual and hold it with ease. The catalogue claims the Ndiza has 17 inch stays but they feel way shorter.


Construction wise the frames are really an exercise in simplicity – one whopping big pivot and clean simple triangles. The mainframe is quite traditional in a lot of respects – a big square down tube, coupled to traditional, round top and seat tubes. There is a neat gusset under the down tube but no big glaring reinforcements. The same simplicity applies to the rear end – it is a seemingly traditional triangulated affair, the chain and seat stays neat, square box section tubing. But closer inspection brings out the attention to detail which is the real appeal of these frames – there is certainly no unnecessary fluff, but the essentials remain and they are very well executed.

The pivot arrangement is one of these areas - the big pivot on the Morewood is a well thought out system. Morewood have utilised what they have termed a Stable Pivot Interface (SPI) for the pivots on all of their frames – exactly the same pivot system is found on their DH bike and trail bikes. Checking their website SPI revealed itself to be a system with a large floating axle which runs through the frame. Large machined end caps slot into the bearings and 8mm bolts hold the whole thing together. The advantage of this system over others, they claim, is that you cannot damage your frame by stripping out the threads of the pivot in the mainframe. The large axle this system uses also brings huge stiffness benefits as there is massive contact between bearings, axle and frame. Either way, the frame passed the ‘grab the rear wheel and flex it side to side’ stiffness test. There is almost no discernible flex other than the rear wheel. On the subject of the pivot, the big pivot housings on the swingarm are a beautifully done – massive CNC machined plates with interlacing triangles which look great. Patrick Morewood has spent way too long on the CNC machine here! The pivot caps sit flush with the swingarm and the whole area is as neat as you like.

Other nice touches include the upper shock mount which runs along half the length of the top tube and is also cross bolted for stiffness (the bolts also serve as the guides for the gear cable and rear brake line). The long weld area of the shock mount should help dissipate forces along the whole length of the tube and should help with durability in this high load area. The neatly machined plates bridge the top and down tubes acting as neat and aesthetically smooth plate gussets On the subject of shock mounts, it is really good to see the use of stainless steel high tensile bolts in this area – bending shock bolts are a pain in the butt and big 8mm bolts are the way to go. One cool point on a bike designed for a beating such as this was the junction of the down tube and bottom bracket shell – the down tube almost completely encases the bottom bracket shell giving heaps of weld area.


The rear end features neat machined dropouts with 135mm spacing. There is of course a replaceable derailleur hanger which doesn’t look as beefy as it could. It’d be nice to see a chunkier model on a bike which will probably find itself bailed more than a few times over gaps!

Finish wise, the bike is powder coated rather than sprayed. This should produce a more durable finish than a painted frame although it doesn’t look as smooth or glossy. Having said that, the white coat was in good knick for a well used bike. The stickers are laid directly onto the powder coat with no clear coat over them which means they cop a bit of a beating. Conversely it makes them easy to replace – Chris’s bike was onto its second set. The guys at Bling Industries carry a few different colours (the purple stickers on this frame are a bit of a one off apparently). The team white colour isn’t my favourite but at least white doesn’t go out of fashion – the Morewood web site also has orange listed as a colour option.

Ride wise……this thing is a freaking ninja bike! I set the whole rig up nice and stiff, with minimal sag on the rear end and around 100 psi in the Manitou shock’s SPV chamber. Like wise with the forks, lots of air for an aggressive ramp up at the end of their stroke. The idea was to try and maximise the lively feel of the frame – give it a set up that would make me ride aggressively like this frame was meant to be ridden. With a firm set up like this, the bike was a rocket in a straight line – not an ounce of sprinting power was lost to suspension bob. The placement of the main pivot is forward and high, so under heavy sprinting chain tension keeps the rear end almost locked out. Getting up to terminal velocity was not a problem, you’re only held back by your legs. The bike was running single ply tyres front and rear which helped with the great initial snap – heavier tyres would have only detracted from the acceleration.

At the Homebush 4X track the Ndiza felt right at home (although the aggressive tyres were a bit squirmy on the hard pack surface) hitting the tight berms of the inside lines. As the frame numbers would suggest, the low BB and slack head angle (67 degrees) loved to be lent in hard. The rear wheel bias of the rider position did mean you had to remember to weight the front wheel though – the short stays made it easy to come out of the berms in a big fat manual. Here the low front end set up definitely is the way to go – you can be that much more aggressive, with you weight planted low it definitely makes you ride from a more central position. Manualling through sections was intuitive – the front wheel comes up so easily and you can keep it there while you put down the power if you want to. As the rear end compresses the balance/manual point of the bike seems to increase and it will just sit there, merrily coasting through whoops and doubles. It really was a good feeling, the suspension didn’t intrude or do anything suprising – it was nice and inactive under power, but compressed nicely in the tight corners lowering the BB and shooting you out, it took the sting out of flat landings and cases without making the bike lazy at all. The Manitou shock is a beauty too, quiet and smooth through its stroke with really good progressive ramp up with the bottom out resistance wound in.


The final test I put this bike through was the XC test. Living right next door to Manly Dam in Sydney there is a heap of quality trails on the doorstep. It was here that the benefit of the traditional looking front end of the Morewood came into play – an uninterrupted seat tube is a great thing. The Morewood seatpost was a good sized 370mm job and jacked right up, even with the 16 inch frame, it gave good leg extension. With the right sized chain ring you can ride this bike XC without too many dramas. The light weight (the frame comes in just under 7lbs) and efficiency mean that longer distances aren’t a real problem. But honestly, good leg extension and efficient riding aren’t what this frame is about and I found myself wanting to lower the seat all the time to hit up technical sections. It was a funny feeling riding this bike on XC trails. I looked at everything a little differently – every rock became a lip, I was searching for sections to gap and manualling through the dips and over rough sections, the trail became something to play on. Tight turns were roosted, foot out and rear wheel drifting through single track corners, weight on the front and let the stiff rear do its thing! It’ll ride cross country but it is not a cross country bike -if you are looking to do epic loops there are better bikes, the single ring and short top tube are hard work on long climbs and the short stays mean the front wheel wants to lift on steep inclines. But if you are into one or two hour rides and you are more interested in roosting the sh!t out of tight turns, and you like to go back and hit up sections again and again to work out the best line then the Ndiza is sick. It is a single track demon – ride it with the seat a little lower than normal and the same old trail will be seen in a very different light!

So overall impressions? Well obviously impressed. The frame is tight, stiff and beautifully finished. As a MtnX bike it is nuts. The handling is aggressive and fast without being twitchy. It jumps well, it corners brilliantly, it will sit on its rear wheel all day long. It certainly looks like it’ll last a long time too with the massive down tube and thick head tube. There is definitely something to be said, it would seem, for keeping it simple and doing it well – an emphasis on attention to detail and handling. Simply put it is just a hell of a lot of fun to ride in a lot of different situations from the dirt jumps to the trail and most things in between. It’s not a do everything bike, it won’t freeride or DH or epic (though Chris did ride it in the Mont 24hr race)! But neither should it be classed as a pure MtnX race bike, it is far too versatile for that and you’d be wasting its capacity. Simply put, it is a kick arse frame – think of it as a race bike you can trail ride, or a trail bike you can jump rhythms on, or a jump frame you can race on.



Discuss this article here.