Although Carbon Wasp is far from the biggest name in mountain biking, the brand is bringing something rather fresh to the table thanks to its ability to make its carbon frames by hand – a level of customisation. Despite being a little rough around the edges, the Truffle-120 delivers a thrilling, hair-raising ride that’s set to please those who like to push lightweight trail bikes or even attempt the odd cross-country event, but it takes a bit of tinkering to get it there.
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Carbon Wasp Truffle-120 - Technical details
Carbon Wasp says that the Truffle-120 is a bike that’s built to do it all. At its heart is a carbon frame that’s handbuilt in Yorkshire, and therein lies the magic. Because it’s handmade, Carbon Wasp is able to offer a degree of customisation and that’s incredibly rare in the world of carbon mountain bike frames.
Using pre-preg carbon fibre, there are four frame sizes available and the customer’s choice of chainstay lengths, ranging from 435mm up to 460mm. The combination covers many bases when it comes to bike sizing and ride tuning. However, if you’re after a specific result, the team at Carbon Wasp can whip you up a custom lower shock mount, if you ask nicely. This is ideal if you want to add a longer-stroke shock or play with the geometry a little.
Carbon Wasp can also tinker with the headset interface, allowing the installation of an IS-56 for head angle adjustment, and it can come with or without down tube storage.
But the custom options don’t stop there as Carbon Wasp attacks the subject of paint rather differently too. Instead of physically painting the frame, it uses a coloured wrap as standard. Solid colours come free of charge but for an extra cash injection, the company can help in sorting out more complex full-colour designs. While it’s not quite as tidy as a full-on paint job, owing to seams where the vinyl ends, it’s a fantastic way of showing off the beautiful carbon frame’s weave without it being overbearing. Additionally, fresh wraps can be ordered for an extra £80, so you’ll be able to refresh your bike as and when the time comes. This also means that you don’t need to get a protective frame wrap as, essentially, it’s already done.
Moving on, the Truffle-120 boasts all of the mod cons, including UDH (Universale Derailleur Hanger) compatibility, internal cable routing with internal guides in the chainstay, a zero-stack tapered headset as standard, and clearance for a 2.6in tyre at the rear. It runs a BSA threaded bottom bracket, can accommodate 30.9mm internally routed dropper posts, and it uses Boost, 148mm rear hub spacing.
Each frame is handmade to order, and customers can expect delivery within two weeks after ordering, give or take.
As for the geometry, there’s really not that much to moan about as standard. There’s a 65.5-degree head angle across the size range, as well as a 76-degree actual seat tube angle. A large frame boasts a 480mm reach. With those figures in mind, it certainly fits the short travel trail category to a tee. And before I forget, the bike’s designed to run 120mm of travel with 29in wheels.
Carbon Wasp Truffle-120 - Componentry
Now, the Truffle 120 comes as a frame-only and with a Cane Creek Inline DB shock if you choose. However, the guys at the brand built me up a bike with a RockShox SID Ultimate fork with 120mm of travel, Shimano XT 12-speed shifting with Shimano’s XT two-piston brakes. That’s with a host of other bits and bobs from Nukeproof and such.
Adding to the build kit, I threw on Fulcrum’s Metal Zone carbon wheels and blew up a pair of Maxxis Forekaster tyres. Altogether, that makes up what I consider a lightweight trail/downcountry rig. One that should be a hoot on the trails but without becoming a pig to climb.
As for the weight, the full build comes in at 13.5kg, but it could easily be made lighter with the careful choice of a few components. I reckon a sub-12kg build is certainly on the cards.
Carbon Wasp Truffle-120 - Performance
First and foremost, Carbon Wasp has done a great job of the geometry. For a lightweight trail/cross-country bike like this, it’s pushing the envelope and edging it into full-blown trail territory, but there’s a method behind the madness – it’s balanced but capable beyond its means. While I don’t have an effective seat tube angle measurement to refer to, it’s fairly steep, so much so that I’ve pushed the saddle a little further back on the rails than I usually would, for more comfort. Regardless, the steep seat tube paired with the chainstay length meant that I rarely had to shift my body position around to maintain and manage grip at either end of the bike.
Up a hill, the Truffle-120 remains planted, and it’s fairly easygoing. On all but the steepest of inclines, both wheels stay glued to the ground, while the rear suspension is supple enough to keep the traction coming. My choice (and Carbon Wasp’s recommendation) of a 450mm chainstay is also to credit for the bikes. However, the suspension is quite lairy under pedalling loads. I found that there’s quite a lot of movement from the shock when pedalling and while it didn’t feel as if it sucked too much energy, it’s not as solid as some of the best trail bikes out there. However, winding on a good handful of low-speed compression calmed things down a little, boosting power transfer with only a little sacrifice to overall small-bump sensitivity.
That said, the shock’s openness to move under pedalling loads translates into rather impressive grip on the climbs. I’ve pedalled the Truffle up wet root and rock-infested sections and been impressed by how easy traction came.
It’s a bike that’s heavily influenced by its suspension tune. Unlike a bunch of bikes out there, where you can throw in some base settings and it'll be pretty good, I found myself twiddling dials far more than I usually do. This can be a serious benefit in that the bike can be tuned to be mega plush and planted, or rowdy and super lively – it’s very responsive to how the shock is set up, so some suspension fettling know-how is a must. That's especially as the Cane Creek shock's range of adjustment is as broad as it gets.
Set up with some fairly lightweight wheels and Maxxis’ down-country-centric tyres, the Truffle is an absolute riot. It provides scalpel-like precision that rewards careful line choice while the comparatively progressive geo makes the bike a ride that’s more about how brave you are to push it. Whether I’ve ridden cross-country trail centre loops or heavier going black downhill runs, the Truffle has backed me up, and my stupidity.
The fun factor shows itself in the corners, too. The wheelbase and centred riding position bring a fair chunk of balance to the ride, whereas the 65.5-degree head angle adds a responsiveness to the front end. The amalgamation of the lot had me hunting for berms that I could fire the bike into, as the Truffle communicates its grip levels at both wheels effectively, while the lateral stiffness in the frame and my chosen wheelset, pinged me out the other end, absolutely loving life.
I only found myself getting nervous when it came to steeper, more technical sections of trail, but that mainly came down to how low the front end is. If it were built up with a little more fork steerer on show, I’m certain that would ease my mind.
And that’s the magic behind the Truffle-120 – it’s what you make it. It may be a little rough around the edges when looking at the cable routing, and it could be a little uncontrolled under pedalling loads, but you could put a longer-stroke shock in the bike, as well as a longer-travel fork and have a little more to play with. Add burlier tyres and four-piston brakes and you’ve got something that’s more than ready to take on almost everything the UK can throw at it. It can go the other way too – with the right componentry, the bike could go below 12kg, and then it’s primed to rock up to a cross-country race.
Not everything has been perfect, and something I need to mention is that on this particular bike, the bottom bracket broke from its bonding in the frame. While I would like to think that it’s down to my incredible pedalling power, this frame uses an old-design bottom bracket shell which has been machined down a fair bit to shed some grams, says Carbon Wasp. Since then, the brand has changed the design, introducing more flat edges to provide a better mechanical bond, as well as chemical. Either way, Carbon Wasp has promised that any affected frames will be replaced under warranty.
So while this introduced a fairly nasty creak to my test bike, customers from here on shouldn’t face the issue, and for customers who find their BBs beginning to move, it’ll be sorted under warranty.
There’s also an interesting part of the cable routing, where the chain rubs on the gear cable housing when it’s in the 10t sprocket. This could be fixed by adjusting the cable’s length or by adding a cable tie to keep the cable in place. The bike can get noisy too, due to chainslap and a basic chainstay protector. Beefing up the chainstay protection with a bit of VHS Slapper Tape or similar would quickly rectify this.
Tyre clearance is also very limited. I’ve been running a 2.4in rear tyre, and despite Carbon Wasp claiming space for 2.6in rubber, it doesn’t look like installing anything much larger than 2.4 is realistic without running into issues. Admittedly, I don’t believe a Truffle owner would be too disappointed about not being able to run rubber that fat.
Carbon Wasp Truffle-120 - Verdict
Handmade-in-the-UK carbon frames are few and far between, and even more so when it comes to offering any level of customisation. However, Hope offers a UK-made carbon frame with its HB-130. Of course, this is a fairly different bike to the Truffle, but the frameset will cost you £3,600.
Another brand that handmakes its carbon frames is Antidote. The Poland-based company produces the Woodsprite, which is a 135mm trail bike that’s more on the level of the Hope HB-130. Antidote provides some custom options, but those lie in how the bike is painted, rather than in geometry and features. A frame only will set you back 4,200€.
Starling Cycle’s Mini-Murmur is another option if you’re happy to go steel. It’s a 120mm trail bike that uses a single-pivot platform, and it’s awesome fun. It’s super simple, it looks great, and, like the Carbon Wasp, it’s impressively capable. A frame only (with a shock) will set you back £2,222.
The Carbon Wasp Truffle-120 offers great value by providing something that’s hard to come by on the mountain bike market – a UK-made carbon frame with a level of customisation. Although there are some facets of the bike that won’t gel with everyone, namely the coloured wraps and rough-around-the-edges aesthetic, the pure ride quality that the Truffle-120 rustles up leaves the small home-grown brand with nothing to prove. It’s a bike that’s sprightly, lively and quick to get up a hill, while it confidently squares up to trails and tracks that’ll leave other bikes of this type shaking in their boots.
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