Jamis Kromo review

1 year, 7 months ago.

Heavy Duty Earth Moving Machinery

Review by Gilligan

Kromo

The Kromo is specifically designed for dirt jumping:

• burly 4130 chromoly steel frame
• SR Duro DJ-D 100mm fork
• stout, 3-piece WheelPro cromoly cranks
• tiny, heavily padded SDG I-Beam saddle
• 31.8mm Syncros Bulk bar (Wiiiiiiide) and stem

The Kromo is a fun little bike on the trail, with very quick handling due to the super short chainstays and wheelbase. This bike launches skyward at every opportunity, which is a good thing because it is so unforgivably stiff that it will beat you to death if you neglect to bunny hop every other rock in the trail.

There is literally no discernable flex in the entire bike… not even at the bottom bracket. All that stiffness translates to a very surefooted feel on the trail, but it is not very forgiving if you case or drop to flat. But hey, this is not a freerider, nor is it a cross-country racer. It’s purpose-built for dirt jumping.

Willigan was launching every jump on the trail, and he always seemed to get back on line easily, even with the very slippy dry leaves that covered the trails at Raccoon Mtn. He rode the bike pretty much all day, so I’d say he’s sold on it.

I came away very impressed with the SR Duro fork. SR/Suntour has come a long way in the fork department. I’d cautiously say this unit rivals the older DirtJumper Series from Marzocchi, though the SR is not nearly as progressive as the newer ‘Zokes.

About the only components I had issue with were the pedals and grips… I’d go with some nicer Azonic pedals with a bit flatter cages to save the old feet, and likewise with the grips… this thing is begging for some wired-on Ourys, Yeti LockOns or similar fatass grips to deal with the vibrations coming up through the frame… plus you’ll want some endcaps after a couple of bails or the bars will be holepunchers.

Interestingly, the frame comes set up with a chainguide mount and rear derailleur hanger… so you could set it up as a gate racer or hardtail freerider. You’d also want to bolt on a front brake, but it’s ready for that as well. The large size frame (still pretty small for those of us coming from the oldschool XC world) feels like it could handle a taller fork, like maybe in the 120-130mm range if you are looking for slacker handling and more travel.

Check out the full specs at JamisBikes.com

Extended Testing Reveals…

This thing is great fun. I went ahead and got it for Will for Christmas, but I did take it for an extended urban ride a few days prior to the gifting.

I hit some of the bigger loading docks and a few downtown dropoffs, and I have to admit I need a bike like this. As much fun as it is to get out on the mountain bike for a long trail ride, it’s not always practical, especially during the winter months of early darkness. The urban assault ride is a great skill builder, and this genre of bike excels at, well, let’s just come right out and call it hooliganism.

I also got the chance to do a high-speed bomb down a steep gravel forest road. The Kromo was very predictable and confident, easily launching off water bars, railing berms, drifting corners. Pure unadulterated joy on that run.

I priced a few similar rigs at some internerd outlets, and it appears the Kromo is an excellent bargain at $775 retail. Similar rigs build out at $1200 plus… you are unlikely to find a better bargain on a burley little jumper bike.

Everything on the bike seems well suited to its purpose, but I still have to criticize the wheelset. Granted, this was a demo bike and had seen a small bit of test riding… but the wheels were a disaster. Tons of loose spokes, especially in the high-stress back wheel. The wheelset itself has decent enough components, with oversized hubs, heavy duty spokes and extra-long nipples, but I guess the machine that built them was having an off day. Still, nothing that could not be fixed with a spoke wrench and 5 minutes’ work.

Another miss is the stem. It has very exposed bolts on the rear which stick out and inevitably come into contact with kneecaps at inopportune moments. final criticism goes to the setup on the rear brake rotor. It slips a bit on the hub, so when you rock back for a wheel hop, it creaks loudly. I disassembled it, liberally lock-tited all of the screws and let it dry for an hour or so… but it still slips. Not sure whether to blame the rotor or the hub, but something needs to change. I’m going to try an OG Hayes rotor to see if it works better.

Plus side

• Awesomely tough frame with great geometry
• Nicely adjustable and good-feeling fork
• Burly tubular cromoly crankset
• SDG I-beam post & saddle

Being negative

• Knee-killer stem
• Get a grip — really!
• Loosey goosey wheel build
• Noisy rear brake rotor

Posted in Jamis, bike reviews, demos