Just rode the new OSSA....

[Rokoneer]

Went here, since it's ten miles from my house:


and had to sit down and take in this amazing piece of technology:



It is a breathtaking bike to see in person. So incredibly small. The frame and swingarm are made from smaller tubing than you'd think was possible and the whole bike is incredibly compact. For size comparison there was a brand new '11 Beta EVO 290 available so I put the two bikes together and while it's not as apparent from the pictures as it is in person the Beta looks huge and bulky compared to the OSSA:



Mike Komer, owner of the Tryalsshop, fired up the OSSA so I could give it a try:


So ride it I did (yeah I know, no helmet and sneakers.....):


Here's a size comparo of a human being and the bike:


Did I mention how light the OSSA is?:


Riding impression: I'm the most casual of trials riders. Have owned a bunch of trials bike but have only screwed around on them and honed my personal skills, never ridden an organized trials event, but am a huge fan of the sport and the bikes. I'm lucky enough to have a trials only shop close to home and have 20+ year friendship with the owner so I can go over and ride the latest machines....and I do. Personally my feelings are that the OSSA is not very good, it's AMAZING. By far the lightest feeling bike I've ever ridden. Power is very strong, very torquey, very manageable. Clutch is one finger with nice smooth progressive action and the brakes are strong, front very much so, the rear a bit less. I'd say the strongest front brake of any trials bike I've ridden. Suspension (Ohlins shock! on a trials bike!) is very, very good and I'm a heavy dude. I could bottom it, but when you weigh twice as much as the bike that's not too surprising....Both the front and rear ends are incredible easy to pogo, even for me. Turning is the one so-so I found. The OSSA does not turn as far as the Beta or most other current bikes. This is supposed to be remedied on next years bike.

Mike Komer, who has ridden on the national level for 25 years feels the OSSA is the best trials bike he's ever thrown a leg over and he's taking it to the national this weekend in PA.

It's refreshing to have expectations which are already high be surpassed, and the OSSA did that for me. If I had the loot I'd buy one in a heartbeat.

[hobie1dog]

Thanks for all the pics and write-up.

[deminimis]

Those ribs on the rear fender intrigue me. Tell me that's some sort of rubber deal that allows the fender to bend/hinge upward and not break. If so, that's brilliant!!

[Rokoneer]

Originally Posted by deminimis

Those ribs on the rear fender intrigue me. Tell me that's some sort of rubber deal that allows the fender to bend/hinge upward and not break. If so, that's brilliant!!

It is, and they are. There sure seem to be a lot of brilliant things about the bike the more I reflect on it......

Must play lottery, must play lottery.........

[SloCalSpode]

I have to give Mike a call.
There is something very wrong about strapping an Aprilia Climber
to the top of an advertisement board.
Now I know why he charges me so much for spare parts.
He has to get out the ladder and climb 10 feet up to get them down.

Thanks Pete for the write up on the Ossa. There is no way my
bank account would allow me to test ride a new Trials bike.
Cheers, Jeff

[LowPSI]

Thanks for the post Rokoneer. Its good to see that they finally made it here to the USA. Ossa deserve a lot of credit for launching a new trials company and for having the balls to create such an innovative new design. I wish them luck. They have a good man in Mike Komer, he is the best.

I can't wait to see one in person and ride it. Having the bike out in the hands of the average rider will say a lot about the durability. Will it be light and fragile or light and reliable? Only time will tell.

You say the Beta looks huge and bulky in comparison, but looking at your fifth picture down it sure looks like the Beta is a lot slimmer in the gas tank area. Did the fan run alot? I want to see how it stays cool in the summer with the radiator behind the tank.

[2whlrcr]

Any idea on the stability of the bike in sections? I compete on a Beta Rev 250 and I really like the stability of the bike. Yes, it is not the lightest trials bike available. But when I get on a GG, (I had a Pro at one time) I have a hard time holding my lines, or getting deflected off line. My Beta just seems to track better. Sometimes I wonder if there is a thing as too light? I'm a Sportsman/Expert rider so I'm decent, but nowhere near the skill level of the Pros or national Expert riders.

And I used to have a Climber a year or two older than the one on the sign. Matter of fact, Comer replaced the broken center cases on it for me 20 years ago.

[brewtus]

Awesome write-up and pics! I can hardly wait to see one in person.

[markwoodlief]

thanks for writing this up.. this is real world review, not some bs a marketing company made up..

[BikePilot]

Cool, a most-interesting bike. I'm sure I'll buy one when finances/availabilty conincide. I'd do that though even if it sucked just to have a play with the injected two stroke mill. I really hope they allow a great degree of user control over the mapping/programming. That's the one thing that'd kill the deal for me (if they don't and it isn't easily hacked).

[Rokoneer]

Originally Posted by SloCalSpode

There is something very wrong about strapping an Aprilia Climber to the top of an advertisement board.

Oh believe me Jeff I've given him grief about this and threatened that the Climber may mysteriously disappear from the sign this weekend while he's down in PA riding at the national. He then said that the bike is incomplete and missing quite a few parts and when I called him to get the parts it'd be pretty obvious what had happened....Curses,foiled again!

Regarding the stability, I can't really speak to that as I didn't ride any sections and only went over a few logs. I have had a habit of braking frames on a certain marque of trials bikes in the past (rhymes with ass-ass) and I sure didn't want to risk FUBARing the first OSSA to hit the ground here in the US. I will say that the CG is incredibly low feeling and very centered feeling as well. Komer had nothing but praise for the bike, other than the short steering lock, and he'd put eight hours on it riding sections the whole time, so I'd assume that there wasn't a tracking issue for him.

The Beta is slimmer in the gas tank area proper, no doubt, but if you were standing over each bike the Beta gets thicker/fatter directly below that at the engine. Whereas the OSSA gets slimmer in the engine area compared to the upper frame area (can't call it the gas tank since the tank is on the front frame tubes mounted vertically...) I rode the bike for about 30 minutes and the fan came on once and ran for about a minute. This amazed me because like you it seems the radiator is in zero air flow (of course it also amazed me that the fan can run when the bike has no battery)

The Beta is breathtaking to look at as well and I wish I'd been dumb enough to actually ride it to give my opinion of the two bikes as they compare to each other.

[ArcticEd]

For what it's worth, I recently found a 92 280 on Craigslist... It's near Rochester, I think. Really nice guy, and I'd LOVE to have that bike (I had the very same bike, ironically with the very same accessories back then). The owner sent me some pics, and it looks absolutely immaculate... I'm just a little leery about parts availability.. even Comer's gonna run out of parts someday.

In the event anyone's interested, drop me a PM and I'll dig up the phone number for you.

Maybe I'll catch some of you guys at Rausch Creek this weekend.. I'll be there cheering on my son. He'll be easy to spot.. He and Cody Webb will be on the only "Race" model '11 Betas there.


OOps, just looked at the pics again, looks like Mike might have one, too....

[ridenm]

Originally Posted by 2whlrcr

Any idea on the stability of the bike in sections? I compete on a Beta Rev 250 and I really like the stability of the bike. Yes, it is not the lightest trials bike available. But when I get on a GG, (I had a Pro at one time) I have a hard time holding my lines, or getting deflected off line. My Beta just seems to track better.

In my limited experience, nothing seems to turn as well as a Beta. They're doing something with the geometry that makes it more capable than other marques in that respect.

I like the idea of the injection on the new Ossa. Like on the Montesa, the concept of not having to fuss with jetting as we change from 4000 ft (Roswell) to 8500 (top of Sipapu or Taos Ski Valley) has a lot of appeal.

[LowPSI]

Originally Posted by ridenm

I like the idea of the injection on the new Ossa. Like on the Montesa, the concept of not having to fuss with jetting as we change from 4000 ft (Roswell) to 8500 (top of Sipapu or Taos Ski Valley) has a lot of appeal.

Totally agree. The fuel injection on the Ossa 2T is a big deal. Carbs are OK just like points and condensors were OK, but my the injection on my 4RT has spoiled me. Ossa gets BIG props in my book for bringing real technology to 2T trials.

Whats the story on the rear rim? How does it seal air?

[Rokoneer]

Originally Posted by ArcticEd

For what it's worth, I recently found a 92 280 on Craigslist... It's near Rochester, I think. Really nice guy, and I'd LOVE to have that bike (I had the very same bike, ironically with the very same accessories back then). The owner sent me some pics, and it looks absolutely immaculate... I'm just a little leery about parts availability.. even Comer's gonna run out of parts someday.

Ever since I saw Tommy Avhala kicking ass on one at the Watkins Glen World Round back in '94(?) I've lusted for a Climber.

I've seen this Rochester based bike in person and can tell you that it is in very, very good shape. I seriously considered purchasing it and the wheeler dealer in me made an offer which wasn't accepted (probably rightfully so).

Like you I'm concerned about parts availability over time as there are some parts that the Climbers use on a regular basis (fork seals for instance) that won't be getting any easier to source.

But Man they are cool bikes.......