Gear Profile: Diamondback Release 5C

Whether we acknowledge it or not, brand loyalty is a thing. It’s not that it’s helpful or logical for anyone to feel “connected” to gear that sports a certain logo, but isn’t it true that emotion and nostalgia bring us back to brands over and over again, year after year?

I didn’t grow up riding Diamondback Bikes, but in 2017 I demoed and bought a Diamondback Clutch 2, a women’s specific and all-mountain steed. My first day out on the bike was spent on Gooseberry Mesa near St. George, Utah. While my riding is more advanced now than it was then, the punchy slickrock and technical obstacles would likely still present similar challenge to what I felt that spring. But even through the hardest parts, I felt like my bike had my back. 

It’s half a decade later and my riding is ready for an upgrade. Buying a mountain bike is a big deal, considering all the choices and the hefty price tags on the market. Diamondback became an easy point of reference, and it didn’t take long for the Release 5C to shine through.

We can talk specifications, but when it comes down to it, this really is quite the bike and the price is right. I did my own research and then learned a little bit more from an interview with Michael Brown, vice president of product development for Diamondback.  

“The geometry of the Release is set up to tackle many levels of terrain,” Brown explains. “The approach we took when planning this bike was to create a bike that excels on the descents, feels like a dream in the twisty bits and is second to none on the climbs.”  

The geometry and suspension differential creates a balanced feel on the Release, and the 150 mm of travel is ready to tackle anything. Couple that with the shorter 130 mm travel rear end and here is a a bike that enables riders to really take advantage of flicking the bike around, feeling more in control and playful as they happily maneuver through buff or rough trail. 

Brown says the Level Link Suspension system found on the Release 5C is “crafted for the climbs.” With the short link that is “inline” with the chain under sag, unwanted reduction in pedal performance is eliminated. 

“Quite frankly the Release is just as happy to hit a feature-filled double black diamond trail as it is a bermed-out flow trail and the twisty rocky and rooty trails,” he adds. “As a ‘mid’ travel bike, is capable of so much more, or less — it excels on all trails.” 

After riding my new Release 5C a few times (and happily rocking the vibrant color called Orange Vibe Gloss), Diamondback does feel like my brand, and I’m happy to have they’re back the way they have mine.  

The Release 5C is $5,200

diamondback.com

Originally published in the Summer 2022 issue of Spoke+Blossom.

Kim FullerGear, Outdoor Sports