New(ish) doctahawk owner reporting from the midst of Europe. Large frame, 180 mm yari, currently running 27.5x2.8 minions, 9spd box two shifting and code/xt brakes. My height is 179cm and I'd describe my riding style as semi-aggressive. I've been riding since MTB since 20+ years, and am exclusively riding hardtails since 2014. Next to the Hawk I have two Honzos (2013 & 2016) for reference.

The Doctahawk is just amazing, both up and especially on the downs (obviously). It is a significant progression from my other bikes in the best direction. Both fast and slow downhill sections are bliss, in spite of the additional reach and wheelbase. I participated in several tech training courses, one with a focus on clearing switchbacks, and the bike never felt out of place. I even received the grin-inducing "not sure if you noticed, but he's riding that on a hardtail" nod from the instructor.
Uphill is great as well, which I attribute to the steep seat angle and the perfectly balanced geometry. The slack head angle is definitely not a showstopper in any kind of application.
Whether high speed or low speed (technical) down hill sections, switchbacks, jumps or drops, everything feels great on the Hawk. I have yet to try 29er wheels, they are already built up but I haven't had the itch to mount them as yet.
Can't wait to put more miles into that beast. Thanks to Brad and the Chromag team for creating such an amazing product, and for your support during my decision making process.

Beyond happy with this bike! I was saving for a Rootdown BA when this bike was released and immediately knew it was worth the difference. Admittedly patience was testing waiting those first few months from the pre-order to delivery and I'm sure there were some folks at the office who were tired of answering my bi-weekly, ok more like weekly, inquiries. Brad Howlett- top notch. A true product of craftsmanship. Very thankful for your work. A further test of patience was when the bike was stolen out of the box at a border FedEx facility. I was about ready to cross the border to settle the matter myself, but the fantastic Chromag team found my another frame and got a hold of FedEx, so that I could focus on biking. The very first ride I was impressed and knew that the bike had plenty of room for me to grow into. Certainly I've improved as a rider with this bike and it's allowed me to ride more and still more to go. It's been over two years now, since I first unboxed and assembled the Doctahawk, thousands of miles, three chains, and my fair share of cased jumps and only just this week did the rear wheel give out. A great way to improve and enliven your normal is to go hardtail, save gobs on repairs too!.

Après quelques mois de roulage je peux enfin faire un retour de ce cadre.
Au pédalage, la positon est super, on est assez droit, et détendu. Malgré le pédalier assez bas et avec des manivelles de 170mm il m'arrive que très rarement de faire toucher les manivelles dans des montées techniques. Le grip est excellent. Quand la pente s'inverse, le vélo se révèle encore plus. Plus la vitesse augmente et moins on a l'impression de se faire secouer. J'ai pu tester le vélo à Ainsa, et les seuls moments désagréables sont les passages lents et trialisants. Il faut pouvoir jouer avec ce cadre très long pour pouvoir garder un minimum de vitesse.
Je ne pensais vraiment pas trouver autant de confort dans un hartdail en acier. Bravo à Chromag !

Dernière chose, j'avais opté pour une peinture perso de chez House Of Kolor, et ça rend vraiment (vraiment) très bien. J'espère juste que dans le temps la peinture tiendra, car elle est vraiment magnifique.

I 've ridden The Stylus, Aperture,Surface and now a Doc for almost 2 years very Impressive and aggressive bike had a blast with each one of them major progression along their frames and now the Doc very aggresive bike she likes to go and loves the steeps and very fast I can call it that haha climbs very well a bit on the heavier side with the beefer fork but worth it and still super playful and aggresive and will take anything that you throw at it on the descends very happy with it feels like im on a DH at times Chromag bikes and stuff are always a Gem Cheers!!

I have been on a Doctahawk for just about a year now, and I like it even better now than when I first got it. I didn't get much of a chance to ride one before buying, but trusted the sizing advice I got from Chromag (and I'm happy I did). I'm maybe 6' if I stand up completely straight and went with a L frame, and have settled on a 170mm Lyrik (long arms and legs). The reach feels just right, and I can get my weight forward or back as necessary. Overall wheelbase looked long on the geometry chart but in real life, this bike is a pleasure to ride on just about any trail.

Pros:
- Made in Canada
- The somewhat aggressive head angle and seat angle make for a well balanced bike - climbing and descending
- Personalized paint
- Lots of mud/tire clearance
- Takes standard sized components, no goofy weird sizes
- Not for weight weenies

Cons:
- It takes a little while to get through the paint process, but you usually have to wait for the good stuff/no instant gratification here
- Costs a bit more than a Rootdown
- Not for weight weenies

Rating:
11/10 Highly recommended

New to the 29 crowd, but not disappointed. This bike continues to surprise me, only a few rides on it so far, every ride I push it a little more. Rode SS bike park on it second ride, was afraid to jump it, but it was a pleasure after the first hit. No surprises, felt like I had dozens of rides on it. Handles anything you can throw at it, no limits, only in your mind. Cornering also a surprise, charged like a champ. Love it can't say enough about the product or the service!!
Home run Chromag!!

I've owned a 26er Samurai, a Surface, a Stylus and now the Hawk. I'm don't feel I'm biased to the brand so much as biased to bikes that let me ride the terrain I want. Chromag happens to pump these out. I came up in freeride era so I prefer the dh to climbing. Over the years my bikes have leaned towards over built and I've always owned a hardtail.
The Hawk had my interest since it came out and I wasn't sure if it would be a great all arounder after reading the Pinkbike article about Doc and the handling characteristics. I have the 2020 frame and there were a few small refinements the guys made to the geo that retained the best aspects of the bike for charging crazy terrain, but also introduced the ability to use this as more of an all arounder. In fact, I had no issues adjusting to the bike. I was really surprised at how natural the bike felt right out of the box. I also owned a Pole evolink158 for a week and did not get along with it. I attribute that to the super long stays on the Pole and even longer wheelbase. Yes the Hawk is nearly as long but the CS length seems to be clutch. The Hawk lets you attack the trail heavily relying front wheel traction. The Pole made you stay in the middle and feel more like a passenger than a captain.
I'm in between FS bikes at the moment and honestly, I'm happy on the Hawk. It's made me think maybe I don't need a FS trail bike. My fleet could be the Hawk and a DH rig.
This thing is the next level of modern bike geo.

Super impressed with this bike. I’ve gone through the progression of owning the Surface for a long time, Primer for over a year and now I’ve had about 15-20 rides on this bike and my mind is blown. Not going to lie, I was very hesitant on drinking the kool-aid and hopping on the “long” bike train, but I’m very happy I did. Took me about 6 rides to get it dialed in, but once I got my cockpit dialed it was impressive how quickly it stepped up my game. I’m already hitting bigger features, shoots, rock slabs and drops that I’ve looked at for years and shook my head saying, “nope, I’ll never hit that...” It’s a very impressive bike. Do it! Drink the kool-aid!