ENDURO Long Term Test 2015 | Juliana Roubion – Final Review
Rachael has had her Juliana Roubion Long Term Test bike for seven months now. Juliana state that the Roubion is race-proven and ready to handle any enduro adventures, bold statements indeed. We were intrigued to find out just how good this bike is. Many women’s specific bikes are not necessarily up to scratch for those wanting to shred steep downhill gnar or race an enduro. So, is the Juliana Roubion ‘the one’? Is this the bike other manufactures should be looking to for guidance when it comes to female pinners? After a busy race season Rachael found out/
I took delivery of my Juliana Roubion in October 2014, perfect timing as I had plans to go to New Zealand for three months from January 2015 for many bike related adventures and to take part in round one of the Enduro World Series. First impressions of the bike indicated that I had chosen the right tool for the job, with a carbon frame, a 650B ENVE wheel set and a 1 x 11 SRAM X01 drive train the bike is light, agile and stiff. Coupled with 150mm of front and rear travel courtesy of RockShox Pike forks and a Cane Creek DB Air shock the Roubion is ready to be ripped down rough trails and over technical terrain. Shimano XT brakes and IceTech rotors keep the speed in check in an efficient and reliable manner and finishing touches such as Juliana bars, grips and saddle complete the package. This bike feels and looks top quality, it’s a real head turner.
An ideal bike for me would be slack and low, I’d like it to be relatively long too but seeing as I’m only 160cm tall, piloting long bikes as are popular today becomes a bit of a mission! The Roubion’s and therefore the Santa Cruz Bronson’s all seem to have a very long seat tubes and shorter top tubes when compared to other bikes in their class. After some deliberation I chose to ride a medium Roubion. The bike fitted me well enough although to make the reach ideal I only really had room in the cockpit for a 35mm stem, any longer and I would have been stretching too far for the bars on the medium frame. The long seat tube meant that I would only ever be able to run a 125mm Reverb dropper post. When on the bike I was left wondering if the seat tube length was affecting my riding. The small frame would have left me feeling cramped and unstable though so I think I made the right choice.
The Roubion is a quiet and efficient climber, a characteristic of which I was very glad of when pedalling the 60km of the Enduro World Series race in Rotorua, New Zealand. The stiff carbon frame coupled with those carbon ENVE wheels make choosing lines and sticking to them easy whether uphill or downhill. The full carbon setup did take some getting used to though, I found the ride harsh and have recently experimented with an aluminium wheelset which has provided me with a much more comfortable ride without much weight penalty. In an enduro setting I think all carbon is sometimes too much, the alloy wheelset provided just the right amount of flex. The Roubion begs to be pumped over any hump or bump available however insignificant, it helps you to take advantage of this free speed and rewards the rider by maximising the output with no energy wasted. The creation of speed and acceleration seems to be the Roubion’s forte, put in a turn of the cranks and it surges forward. The weight (or lack of it) makes the Roubion playful and easy to manoeuvre, especially for a smaller female rider.
When pointed in the downhill direction the Roubions performance wavers somewhat. I have found the bike and the suspension set up to feel agile and responsive in the loamy, soft environment of the UK’s forests but take the bike to a rough and rocky trail in the French Alps and it flounders. The design of the VPP (virtual pivot point) and the linkage mean the bike has to overcome quite a lot of chain growth before it will settle into its travel. This therefore provides an uncomfortable and skittery ride with a distinct lack of small bump sensitivity. It doesn’t inspire confidence. I have also come to understand that there is some flex in the asymmetrical rear triangle. Twice I have sent the Cane Creek DB Air shock to be serviced and twice it has been reported that there is scratching on the inside of the air can corresponding with the asymmetry of the bike twisting at the weak point – the shock and linkage. As this is the end of my time with this long term test bike I have been playing about with different shocks including a Rockshox Monarch RL and the Cane Creek DB Inline – the former lacking the tunability needed to get this bike feeling its best.
Living with the Roubion
As I have mentioned the Juliana is a very well equipped bike, it should be given its £6,500 price tag! The Juliana was kept in its original, just out of the box state for the first few months of testing, giving me ample opportunity to see what it was like to own. I soon found some changes to make and components I wanted to experiment with:
The supplied 70mm stem was far too long swapping it for a 35mm Hope AM/Freeride stem. This alteration seemed obvious to me and made me question how serious Juliana were at aiming this bike at the enduro / all mountain market kitting the Roubion out with this length stem? The shorter stem enabled quicker steering and the bike instantly more aggressive in its handling.
After riding and racing the Roubion over the winter months I found the 67° head angle a tad steep and not really conforming with today’s enduro bike trends of ‘longer and lower’. To combat this issue and help the bike get in line with the other unisex bikes in its ‘all mountain category’ I have installed an angled headset from Works Components to alter the head angle by 1.5° This slackened the head angle to approximately 65.5 degrees, which on paper sounds closer to the mark for its intended purpose. The wheel base is slightly lengthened and the bottom bracket lowered marginally, all factors I found helped to increase stability and handling at speed with no discernible effect on pedalling efficiency. A win win situation and the headset has stayed!
Addition of a chain guide and bash guard. The Roubion arrived looking very sleek and minimalist with its Race Face narrow wide 30 tooth chain ring using a spiderless direct mount system. But thoughts of rowdy New Zealand trails and racing the Enduro World Series in mind I added a Mozzart HXR chain guide and bash guard to keep things safe.
Wider handlebars and thicker grips. The Roubion was equipped with 720mm wide bars and narrow grips, no doubt aimed at the smaller riders who, as a female specific bike, with undoubtedly be a large proportion of the brands customers. I’m 160cm (5 foot 4 inches in old money) and even I found the bars to narrow and the grips too small. Fatter grips and the additions of 735mm Deity T-Mo handle bars alleviated the hand ache and created a more comfortable cock pit for me.
7 months in and the Roubion had its first full frame bearing replacement – a little overdue but still given the amount of riding done in this time period, a good innings for the old bearings! The second set have lasted three months however…
The DT Swiss 240s front hub on the other hand is on its second set of bearings without and immersion in water or any other poor treatment.
Experimentation with aluminium wheels have proved a success providing some much need flex and a more comfortable ride. The Enve wheels were light and precise to ride with but created a harsh ride.
The RaceFace / SRAM drive train set up had a good innings, racking up 7 months of hard use before the rear mech said it could take no more! It was replaces with the new Shimano XT groupset which has proved a good looking and reliable replacement.
Bottom line
In summary the Juliana Roubion is a responsive ride with the carbon frame creating a real ‘sense’ of your surroundings, you feel connected to the bike and the trail. The bike feels at home in the loamy, rooty woodland of the UK but as I alluded to above it finds it limits in steep, rocky terrain. Although it handles these scenarios well enough it doesn’t do it with the finesse and composure that other bikes in its price bracket of £6,500 might. In pricing terms my alterations to the bike over the year to suit me would probably drop the price considerably and I think the Roubion would be all the better for it.
I have been searching for the spirit of the Roubion too, although I don’t think it exists in the bike, it’s within the people that love and ride their bikes. There is a sense of community within the girls on their Juliana’s, each one I have met is unique with a common love for riding and support for each other, not an elite club but a bond through bike choice bringing together women on the trails.
You can find more information at julianabicycles.com.
Words & Pictures: Rachael Gurney
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