Mountain Bike Magazine – October 1993
Strategy: The $599 small bike from Barracuda is the most traditional looking of the 3 [bikes reviewed]. The company designed their line for use as race bikes or as bangers for experienced, aggressive riders. They enlisted the help of a 5-foot, 1-inch pro Lisa Muhich.
The frame angles offer no surprises. The trick comes with the elongated top tube and a stem spec’d especially for the short rider. The bike is equipped with a stock negative rise stem (to offset the high placement of the head tube) that is also shorter than usual (to compensate for the longer top tube). Out 12-incher has an 80-millimeter stem.
Barracuda backs up this policy with a handy stem replacement program. Before you buy, any ‘cuda dealer will perform a no-cost stem swap to dial in your fit.
Outcome: Our experienced riders liked the aggressive stretch of the ‘cuda. None of them reported any handling problems related to the high head tube.
On uphills however, the front of the A2R tended to unweight – sometimes even rising into tiny wheelies.
Barracuda’s Chuck Grob told us that the front-end unweighting might be caused by the 16 ¼-inch chainstays, which are slightly shorter than you’d expect (16.5 would be standard for these dimensions). But the longer top tube should balance the equation and cancel this heavy-in-the-rear effect. It doesn’t, but on the battlefield and elsewhere our riders were able to adjust into a more-forward and lower riding position that kept the wheel grounded. This subtle position shift seems to be required. It’s just one more indication of this bike’s racing ambition.
Because of this, we wouldn’t advise the first-time buyer to bet on Barracuda. It feels aggressive and nimble – perhaps too much so for someone looking for beginner’s comfort and stability.
In fact, although we like Barracuda we wouldn’t advise buying this bike. If you’re experienced enough to seek this type of handling, you’re experienced enough to want a slightly better mudder. We’d step up to one of the company’s higher-priced models.
