Author: Seth's Bike Hacks
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Disclosure: Diamondback provided the demo bike, but this review is not a paid endorsement. Last weekend I went up to New York to drop this kitten off at her new home. I’m not even kidding. I took her on the plane, introduced her to my mom’s maltese, and then dropped her off with her new family. I assure you that there were a complex chain of events leading up to this ridiculous intro, but of course, I used my trip up North as an excuse to make some videos. You might have seen these videos and asked about my loaner bike. I rode the Diamondback Release 3, size small, for about 4 days total, during which time I treated it as if it were my own. I used it to get to the trails, mounted cameras to it, and rode everything from singletrack to street. On Saturday I went to North Jersey and rode a very rough trail. I’ve been excited to try the Release because it seems to be tailor made for someone like me. With a 150mil suspension fork and a 130mil rear shock, the Release is designed to take big impacts but still feel light on its feet. Diamondback claims that Level Link, their new suspension platform, is a huge step forward. It’s supposed to make the bike climb and descend equally well, isolating pedaling from suspension inputs. In this video clip you can see that sprinting doesn’t affect the suspension much, but rolling over the terrain does. At over 30 pounds the Release is far from the lightest trail bike in the world, but that didn’t stop me from climbing on Saturday. The bike pedaled so efficiently that I actually thought it was much lighter. Ringwood turned out to be a great place to test the Release since it had a bit of everything. On descents, the rear did feel roomy as promised. With only a few days on the bike, I didn’t get the chance to mess around with volume spacers, and indeed they probably would have benefited me. This tree, which is not part of the trail, was enough to bottom out the rear suspension. On more varied terrain like this long twisty descent, it was an absolute dream. When you snap the bars back, the Release takes off. When you land, it sticks to the ground like a monster all mountain bike. We’re not going to get into exact specs and measurements, but I think the Pike and the Monarch are a good fit for the Release. They just feel right. Actually, most of the stuff on the Release is Sram, including the brakes and gears. The dropper post is a KS Lev Integra, which I have on two of my bikes. It was nice to see internal routing on the dropper post, but all of the cables are highly visible anyway. Speaking of looks, a lot of reviewers have mentioned the color scheme, which makes use of red back wheel. Some people like it, and some people don’t. If I had this bike and wrecked the rear hoop, would I replace it with the original red color, or go with charcoal like the front? This is what I came up with in Photoshop, and I’m still undecided. What do you guys think? Either way, I think the Release has a tough, intimidating look to it. So after two lengthy outings, I can’t give you a long term review on the Release 3. What I can tell you is that it’s crazy fun to ride. I didn’t need to get used to the Release at all; I was instantly comfortable and confident on it. Everything felt right to me, but it’s not for everyone. If you watch my videos you know that I’m not part of the Strava crowd. I don’t get dressed up to ride my bike, and my diet consists mostly of tacos. I’m out in the woods to have fun, to explore, and to ride some stuff that might not be part of the trail. The things most important to me are robustness, versatility, and fun. So, if you’re like me, then I think you’ll like riding the Release as well. I like it more than any bike I own, and think it’s a major step forward for Diamondback. Thanks for riding with me today and I’ll see you next time. See the bike here: https://www.sethsbikehacks.com/product/diamondback-release-3/ New Jersey Video: https://youtu.be/pHdgVBinW2s Long Island Video: https://youtu.be/5XKOHeW72Fo Stickers and shirts! https://www.sethsbikehacks.com/product-category/store/