Tested: Lenz Behemoth

Lenz Behemoth / / / $1,825, frame and shock;
303-857-9151; lenzsport.com

Devin Lenz has been quietly producing aluminum full suspension bikes in Fort Lupton, Colorado, since 1995, doing all his own fabrication in-house and kicking out a few hundred frames a year, with models ranging from XC race bikes to full-on DH rigs. When 29-inch bikes began to grow into a noticeable phenomenon, Lenz introduced the Leviathan, a 3-inch-rear-travel, four-bar-linkage design. Now he’s venturing into longtravel terrain with big wheels, offering this 5-inchtravel Behemoth as something entirely unique in the market.

This is a big bike. Not fat, weighing a reasonable 32.3 pounds as pictured, but long and tall. It has a whopping 45.75-inch wheelbase, a stout monocoque downtube, beefy-box section seat- and chainstays and a pair of real big wheels. The bottom bracket sits a tall 13.75-inches above the ground, but is surprisingly still below the plane of the axles.

Combining the rangy wheelbase and solid chassis with a gigantic pair of hoops and a relatively sedate head angle spells S-T-A-B-L-E. Stable as granite. It takes an act of congress to knock the Behemoth off its chosen line. And even then, there would have to be considerable debate in congress and possible enactment of Presidential veto powers to make things move. Point it, sit back, ignore all obstacles, maybe take a nap, and let it rip the hill a new one.

The basic four-bar rear suspension, controlled by a Manitou Swinger 3-Way shock, sucks up everything in its path. Small-bump performance isn’t quite as buttery smooth as some other bikes, but a pair of huge wheels running less than 30 p.s.i. goes a long way toward smoothing that end of things out.

Being big, long and mellow handling, the Behemoth might at first glance seem like a poor climber and that tight terrain might be a lessthan-pleasant environment. But the gentle green giant actually climbs as well as any other bike around this weight and travel, and behaves itself with a good degree of dignity while doing so. Switchbacks are negotiable, but the bike isn’t going to snake through real tight turns as well as a bike with three fewer inches of wheelbase. It is so stable and solid, however, that it never feels unpleasant on tight terrain. It just has slightly slower reflexes, so to speak.

The Behemoth is a unique bike. It’s a longlegged trail beast that just hoovers up fast, rough, wide-open terrain. It is stable on the ground and in the air, and well-enough behaved everywhere else that it makes for a friendly all-round bike and feels at home on almost any trail.