I love my LaRuta! LOVE her!

80mm of silky smooth TUNABLE travel, yet only slightly heavier than a hard tail. With the proper sag sent on the Rp23 the traction is unbelievable. The suspension stays active while climbing and doesn't load up in the technical, rather floats over the roots and rocks typical of the north east single tract. I am able to stand while my loser riding buddies have to sit on the steep climbs. The tight footprint with the short stays is extremely and surprising stiff latterly, which makes her extremely agile and flickable.

The LaRuta is a marriage of beautifully simple efficient design and impeccable craftsmanship. With perfect welds, custom butted down tube, 44mm ultra stiff head tube for zero stack headset, water jet cut leaf plate as well as s-bend stays all adds up to one incredible and sexy ride.

I asked and Daryl designed mine to be a fast race weapon. The beauty is that Daryl can design to fit your size, needs, and riding style. Its a truly handmade custom!

Alexander J. Roskin

The problem with the La Ruta is that it has nothing to sell but absolute performance. That is tough these days. It is a full suspension bike without sealed bearing pivots, linkages and licenced suspension. It's missing all that bling that companies use to sell bikes. What my La Ruta does is to absolutely disappear under me when I ride it.

I think that pedal bobbing, inch-worming and brake-jacking would become an issue on the La Ruta if you try to get more than 3" of rear suspension going, but the bike PROVES that you don't need more than 3" for a cross country setup. It tells me that the elevated pivot location on a bike with 3" of rear travel is a myth. I have had people ride behind me and comment that my rear suspension is always working, but never "bobbing". Not having to use the pro pedal function is a sign of a well balanced bike.

I think that the La Ruta flexplate creates a floating pivot that is actually NOT in line with the flexplate, but somewhere "out there" in virtual space. When you accelerate or brake, the plate does not flex in a simple curve. It takes on more of an s-bend which will curve differently, depending on the forces coming from the rear triangle, the trail and the rider's body language. I'm not smart enough (nor do I care) to analyze this moving pivot point. It just works.

As an Engineer and business owner, I have come back to the basics in most things. I may be a builder, but I actually make my living by watching people. I have found that it is a human tendency to solve problems by adding layers of complexity. Whether I am motivating an employee or working with a client, my advice generally boils down to one word - SIMPLIFY. Strip away the layers of complexity and leave just what you need to achieve the goal. Adding a layer of complexity is not bad.....as long as it is the proper layer. It's been said that the best solutions are always the simplest solutions. This is why the La Ruta works for me. It is a minimal package that just works.

Chris Algeo

The La Ruta is fast! This bike gives me the geometry to be blazingly fast on a descent without compromising ride quality ascending. Three inches of suspension with the 29 inch wheel is a winning combination. When I flip the Fox RP23 over to ProPedal I get the hard tail I like for climbing out of the saddle or longer seated climbs. Then flip it back for a descent or rocky section. The lateral rigidity is all there - it simultaneously defies logic and is brilliant in its simplicity. It is beautifully constructed, the welds are consistent in material deposition and symmetry.

With the La Ruta I can descend as fast as my old bike, a Giant Trance 1. What really blows me away is it's speed and agility on singletrack. The La Ruta flows down single track in a way that allows me to gear up and sail faster than I could before.

I am a die hard XC fan and have been mountain biking for nearly 25 years. I believe in earning your turns. On door-to-door rides the La Ruta doesn't wear me out. I was recently out on a 85 mile loop and couldn't believe how the La Ruta performed. Body fatigue was low and the bike felt great. I wish I would have had this for the Leadville 100. It's a perfect bike for the Tour Divide or the Arizona Trail 100. I can't wait to get out on another long one with my La Ruta!

Zack Zeiset

The Funk La Ruta is a super light, efficient, simple, but very effective cross country full suspension design. The combination of 29er wheels and 3 inches of travel make for a smooth and light ride in virtually all conditions. Make no mistake, this bike does not ride like your typical softail rather it is true full suspension.

The McPherson strut suspension is very plush and active for descending, firm and efficient but still active for climbing in pro-pedal mode, and it rides like a really nice Ti hardtail when fully locked-out. The latest platform shocks help this simple design work really well in a variety of cross country and trail riding situations. I used the Fox Float RLT shock with a high volume sleeve to achieve a somewhat linear spring curve that allows me to use virtually all the suspension on most rides even though I only weigh 150 pounds. I've owned a lot of bikes with sophisticated suspension systems, including four-bar, VPP, and DW Link, but it is truly surprising how effective this simple pivotless La Ruta suspension works. While there is some slight pedal bob that is noticeable when the shock is totally open, it is virtually unnoticeable when the pro-pedal is engaged and it is still very active for dealing with rocks and roots.

The frame is surprisingly stiff laterally when cornering and tracking through singletrack and rock gardens. The solid Ti pivot plate at the bottom bracket adds considerable stiffness to the rear end of the bike without the need for a seatstay bridge. Headtube gussets and oversized top and down tubes add considerable rigidity to the front end of the frame as well. With a radically sloping top tube, the frame also has good standover clearance for a 29er.

One of the best features of the La Ruta is the option to build it with custom geometry. I used a fairly relaxed headtube angle of 70 degrees (matched to a 46MM offset Reba fork) and short chainstays. This combination makes for a very stable descending bike that rails corners and is still nimble through switchbacks and tight technical sections. It has tons of rear tire clearance for high-volume tires in super muddy conditions as well. My frame, built with a double-butted down tube, 30.9 seatpost tube, headtube gussets, Fox RLT shock with a large volume sleeve, and the seatpost collar, weighs only 4.4 pounds. This allowed me to build-up a sub 22.5 pound racing bike with real tires and reasonably durable components.

The La Ruta has a really wide sweetspot for riding conditions. It's a light cross-country racing bike that you love to ride day after day while you're training or just out having fun. With heavier duty wheels and tires it can also serve as a great trail bike during the off-season. As there are no pivots to maintain, it is quiet and maintenance free as well. The titanium welds are truly a work of art, and the craftsmanship that goes into the frame build really stands out. Finally, the durability of the titanium design leaves me worry free when riding in really rocky technical sections. This is easily the best bike I've ever owned.

Antony Bahr

An avid XC racer and confessed weight weenie, I found FUNK Cycles by keyword search "lightest full-suspension MTB." And they delivered on that claim when I received my 4.2 lb La Ruta (size Large) in Feb '06. I put it together with full XTR---nothing exotic---and it weighs in at 22 lbs!! (rim brakes and Stan's tubeless). That's lighter than most hardtails! And this is no soft-tail, novelty full-suspension; it has about 3.5'' of real travel. It's so simple and worry-free. Titanium tubes and welds are beautiful and don't have the impact fragility of carbon. And the ride is as stiff and responsive as anything I've ever ridden. Fox RP3 shock zeroes out all pedal feedback so I'm done with all that "virtual pivot" jazz that just adds a bunch of heavy, complex linkages and pivots. Can it be raced? Since I started racing my FUNK last Summer I've placed 2nd in the Chainring Massacre 6-hour solo race, 2nd on a 4-man Expert team in the 24 Hours of Rocky Hill, and swept the Texas fall XC series (Sport) to earn my Expert upgrade for '07. It's a solid weapon. Can't imagine ever riding anything else now.

Jeff Carmody, Austin, TX