First impressions are funny things really, we only ever get one chance at them and while they have little basis and are often completely inaccurate, we seem to cling to them even in light of better judgment. So with that value in mind, here are my first impressions of DMR’s Sidekick complete. The second part of this review will pop up once I’ve had a chance to give this little beast a comprehensive work out, but in the meantime this preview should help wet your whistle.

DMR calls it “red”, I’m more inclined to go with orange but whatever it is it’s bright; you won’t be missed riding this thing that’s for sure. My colour-blindness aside though, this machine revolves around DMR’s long serving Sidekick frame, the tough little brother of their famous Trailstar. Devoid of any nasty plate gussets, the front end of this frame is beautifully clean, in fact the small brace behind the seat tube junction is the only element that detracts from the flowing elegance of this cro-mo creation. Technically, this is actually the “Sidekick 2” and whilst the geometry and most of the frame seems to have been carried over from the first generation frame, the head tube has been reinforced to cope with the stress of bigger forks and bigger riding. Acronyms and marketing terms not withstanding, the Sidekick comes across as an honest, durable frame for the dirtjumpers and street riders out there. 

Whilst DMR’s frames have been seen around Australia for quite some years, this is the first time that they’ve been sold as complete bikes, and by complete bikes I mean almost completely DMR. Aside from the brakes, fork and some drivetrain components everything on this bike has DMR printed, stitched, etched or machined into it, no generic bits on this $2395 rig.  

Starting at the top, the cockpit consists of a Headstock stem clamping alloy Wingbars, with Ziptie grips underhand. Contact at the other end is taken care of by DMR Expert saddle sitting atop their alloy micro-adjust post, with the famous V8 platforms supporting your hooves. The stem is a trick looking bit of work, clean at the rear with the clamping mechanism tucked safely away from vulnerable appendages. The bars are wide, and with a very pronounced upsweep they won’t be to everyone’s liking but they suit me just fine. V8s have never been a personal favourite of mine due to their relatively small platform, but there’s no doubting that they’re tough and offer plenty of grip. 

Rolling stock is all DMR too: Revolver hubs laced to DV rims, all wrapped up in Moto Digger rubber. The hubs are a sealed and pleasantly smooth affair with neat bolt-up axles and the disc only rims seem tough, if maybe a little weighty. The Diggers feature a more pronounced tread than the Moto R/T tyre and will hopefully be a good compromise for both trail and street work.

The drivetrain shows the first sign of outsourced components, with a SRAM X-7 rear mech and shifter combining with the DMR Crisis cro-mo, ISIS crank and DMR chainguide to make the wheels go around and round.The Crisis cranks are a tough looking unit, as are most tubular cro-mo cranks, and their ISIS spline interface means plenty of choice in bottom brackets.

Of course a bike is of little use without a fork, so DMR threw on a Manitou Stance Static in the interest of keeping the front wheel attached, and Hayes HFX-9 6” brakes take care of retardation. 

So exactly what does that tasty sounding spec amount to in the real world? Well hopefully, a solid, reliable hardtail that can be used for a bit of everything. The smaller Sidekick is definitely more street/jump focused than it’s larger sibling, but sharing the same, reasonable top tube length will hopefully mean that trail rides are not out of the question. 

Throwing a leg over the Sidekick, I felt immediately at home. I know it sounds clichéd, and maybe the fact that my usual ride is a Trailstar had something to do with it, but it is the truth. If anything, this bike feels like my Trailstar should feel, the wider bars and longer stem really opening up the cockpit. 

This is only part one of this review, but even in the small period of time I’ve spent on the bike some things are glaringly obvious. Aside from what I believe to be excellent geometry, the drivetrain feels solid, very solid. As expected, the cranks are stiff, and shifts are smooth and effortless. This is my first extended usage of SRAM’s Impulse triggers, but adapting was ridiculously simple and I must say I’m very impressed so far.

Whilst the finishing kit has also done it’s job flawlessly so far it’s not all peaches and cream. I’ll be honest, I’m not a fan of Hayes Nines. I love my Mags, and I quite like the feel of Nines when they’re working, it’s just that I’ve had some run-ins with temperamental Nines in my time. Unfortunately the cloud still seems to be hanging over my head, and whilst the rear brake is bedding in nicely the front brake seems more interested in squealing at me like an angry banshee than actually doing anything to slow me down. They are a new brake though, so I’ll reserve judgement until they’ve had plenty of time to bed in and make themselves at home. 

The only other component that has rubbed me the wrong way is the Stance fork. It’s stiff, and tracks well but it is badly undersprung , a problem that is only compounded by it’s total lack of basic adjustment. I know that fork companies have a long history of specing soft springs in the products, apparently to satisfy the “average rider”, and that when buying a new bike you should budget for a new set of springs. This isn’t a cross country fork though, it’s not even a trail fork, it’s meant to be a beefy “freeride” fork and I honestly believe that soft springs are about as useful on a setup like this as Paris Hilton is at a university; sure they might be fun to bounce up and down on to start off with, but when the time comes to get down to the real work they’re not going to offer a lot of assistance. Please Manitou, spec your freeride forks with appropriate springs! No one wants to ride parks or dirtjumps on something resembling nanna’s sponge cake. 

So, for the most part the first impressions are pretty damn good. The Sidekick is a tight little bit of quality kit and I can’t wait to log some more miles on it, over every sort of terrain I can get to. Stay tuned to farkin.net for the second instalment in this review, when a heap of extra time in the saddle means I’ll be able to shed a lot more light on the Sidekick’s ability.
In the mean time we've got a free wallpaper for you to download below, enjoy!