Jamis deviated from the conventional lightweight hardtail when they penned the Komodo. Its Easton Elite Taperwall tube set is the stuff XC racing sleds are crafted from. Its mammoth, ovalized seat and chain stays are reminiscent of the custom hardtails that early-era North Shore freeriders used. Jamis spec'd a long travel Manitou X-vert Air fork to make the Komodo a technical ace, then equipped the same bike with Mavic Tubeless wheels - another racing option. Now, figure in Hayes hydraulic disk brakes and you can fully understand how the first walk-around of a Jamis Komodo might cause confusion.

Because you can't figure out exactly what purpose the Jamis was designed to fulfill, you are forced to set out on your first ride with an open mind. This is when you discover that Jamis may have produced the hardtail version of the perfect trailbike.

AVANT GARDE CHASSIS
In a profile, the Jamis looks like every other hardtail. Its beautifully welded Easton front section is mated to large-diameter, 7005-alloy rear stays that are ovalized, bent and squeezed around the crankset and rear tire. Machine-age rear dropouts (the left side has a standard disk-brake caliper mount) stand in stark contrast to the organic shapes of the stays. Other Komodo contrasts are its lack of vee-brake posts on the seat stays. It's a disc-brake-specific design, but there is no provision for a rear disk brake hose, and screw-on adapters are plugged into its cable stops to route the line from the handlebar to its rear caliper.

You'd think that Jamis' mix and match design elements would create a mountain bike mutt. Instead, the Komodo lives up to its capable look, delivers a very rigid-feeling chassis and has more than enough mud clearance to enjoy the rainy season.

SURPRISE FORK
The 105mm-stroke X-Vert Air has to be Manitou's sleeper fork for the year 2001. Its single-sided air spring is balanced with a small coil negative spring to keep it supple at low amplitude, and its TPC-Plus damping cartridge has the widest range of anything in its class. We are surprised how few mountain bikers, or even Manitou, are talking this lightweight slider up.

TWO STANDOUT COMPONENT CHOICES
Jamis has committed to the UST tubeless concept, and the Komodo is one of the first disc-brake equipped production bikes to feature Mavic's CrossRoc-Disc UST wheel set. The tires are well respected Hutchinson Pythons. The other standout part is its Rock Shox suspension seatpost. The resilient rolling tires and seatpost work in unison to smooth out most minor trail torture.

KOMODO BY THE NUMBERS
No big news, just good news, as far as its frame geometry is concerned. Our 19-inch Komodo has short, 16.75-inch chainstays; a moderately tall, 12.5-inch bottom bracket; a long 23.5-inch top tube; and its head and seat angles were on the slack side at 69 and 71 degrees, in that order. You can order one in five sizes: 12, 14, 17, 19, and 21 inches. Our complete bike weighed 26 pounds.

All told, the Jamis tuned the handling of their $1740 Komodo chassis in favor of the technical bike handler/trail rider - instead of copying the steeper, less predictable numbers that XC racers prefer.

THE WILD SIDE OF THE KOMODO
The magic of this machine is that its tubeless Hutchinson tires roll significantly faster than conventional treads. This fools you into thinking its laid-back frame geometry is more efficient than it is while you are hammering up fire road ascents, or dicing with the racer-boys on a training ride.

The up-side of the Komodo's freerideng frame angles comes when you run into trouble at high speed - or follow a pack of dual-suspended gravity urchins down a tricky chute. It can traverse parallel ruts without skidding all over the trail. When you do stray off course, it can usually find its way back on its own. You feel invincible aboard the Jamis - to a point - and that point ends when you are breaking hard and late. Lake all hardtails, the Jamis' rear end hops and hunts over chatter bumps under braking.

If you come from a BMX background, you'll like the way the Komodo slices around tight corners. In the air, it stays upright, and feels balanced when the wheels leave the earth from almost any angle. This is not a jumping bike per se, but it has the fork travel to soften a hard landing (or save you when you punch the front side of a landing ramp.)

If you do jump the Jamis regularly, be wary of its adjustable Syntace handlebar. We didn't experience any slipping, but our test riders have little faith in the multitude of clamps that adorn the funky design.

Cross-country purists may feel that the Komodo's steering is too sluggish for sprinting - or its laid back seat angle is unsuitable for rapid transitions in and out of the saddle. This is surely true, but there are lighter, sportier hardtails in the Jamis line and, after riding the Komodo in the woods for a day, you'd agree that this is a trailbike, not a racer by any means.

Our only beef with the Jamis is its adjustable handlebar. Yeah, it's cute, but anyone who is buying a sophisticated hardtail like this already knows where he or she wants the grips to be. We'd dump the Lego-looking loser and replace it with the real thing.

WHAT MBA THINKS
In a paragraph, the Komodo's unusual mix of downhill handling and cross-country efficiency is a perfect match for an experienced rider who would never consider owning a dual-suspension bike. Its two extravagances - a comfortable suspension seatpost for all day excursions, and all-weather disc brakes - greatly extend the usefulness of this already versatile hardtail.

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