[Hesh To Steel]

I was reading the article on Sicklines about their SSO project build and there's some really interesting stuff in the interview with DW that's part of the article. I was searching for some pictures of some of the stuff that he mentioned and came across this:

2005 or 2006 DHR frame with round tubing. Never knew this existed.

The DW interview also mentions that for Sea Otter 2005, Rockshox had created a 6" travel air sprung boxxer that was supposed to go on the SSO, but ended up being used for Nathan Rennie's Nomad. Never seen or heard about this, does anyone have a picture?

Also appreciated would be any pics of one-off/proto/team only DH stuff. I know there's a bunch of industry folks that post on here that have some interesting stuff on those harddrives...

 

[Ringer]

http://www.santacruzbicycles.co.uk/img/news/syndicate180406_03.jpg

 

[BmxConvert]

Foes did a multi-link DH bike years ago. I'd be really interested in seeing more on that, and of course anything else that is "rare or one off" is always fun too.

-Kevin

 

[LukeD]

 

[igz-]

I have quite a bit of One-Off stuff on my M6...

 

[S.K.C.]

I was reading the article on Sicklines about their SSO project build and there's some really interesting stuff in the interview with DW that's part of the article....

2005 or 2006 DHR frame with round tubing. Never knew this existed.

Also appreciated would be any pics of one-off/proto/team only DH stuff. I know there's a bunch of industry folks that post on here that have some interesting stuff on those harddrives...

...yep - Kirkcaldie actually did some testing on those if memory serves me correctly. Turner had some of the round-tubed frames ano'd bronze (or was it powdercoat?) and then built up as completes for I-Bike (06' I think). The new round tubing saved weight over the previous boxed tubing while maintaining the same degree of strength. Not many may remember but the DHR came with round tubing prior to 02'.

There are a lot of proto bits floating around the pits at WC's - you just have to keep a keen eye open for them.

I've got a TON of proto pics I've snapped up over the years... I'll try and post some a bit later.

 

[ianjenn]

...yep - Kirkcaldie actually did some testing on those if memory serves me correctly. Turner had some of the round-tubed frames ano'd bronze (or was it powdercoat?) and then built up as completes for I-Bike (06' I think). The new round tubing saved weight over the previous boxed tubing while maintaining the same degree of strength. Not many may remember but the DHR came with round tubing prior to 02'.

There are a lot of proto bits floating around the pits at WC's - you just have to keep a keen eye open for them.

I've got a TON of proto pics I've snapped up over the years... I'll try and post some a bit later.

Local girl Jenna K has Colin Baileys old round tube 2005-2006 it is painted and the thing is TINY!

 

[SCABRIDER]

just made this camera mount. it screws into the [now] tapped hole in the front of my easton stem. holds my flip video camera, or any other camera i guess.

 

[Hesh To Steel]

I remember reading about the Gemini Twin on Vital's recent Cannondale/Doug Dalton feature. Sweet. That frame was never released to the public, right?

 

[rigidhack]

Had Frank at Sinister do this one up for me a while back:

I have a custom XL Sinister F-Bomb on the way shortly (longer top tube to accommodate me).

 

[EVRAC]

 

[Sov]

...Turner had some of the round-tubed frames ano'd bronze (or was it powdercoat?) and then built up as completes for I-Bike (06' I think).

Are these the ones you're referring too? They look sweet!

I've also attached a pic of a remote reservoir DHX Air on a square tubed DHR. Pretty cool imho, kinda like a heavier duty version of the RP23 that Gee Atherton ran at the worlds this year.

 

[gemini2k]

I have a custom XL Sinister F-Bomb on the way shortly (longer top tube to accommodate me).

You lucky man. I'm waiting for him to finish designing that VST bike to make me a custom XXL one. How tall are you and what was the geo you went with if you don't mind me asking?

 

[Trekrules]

 

[Acadian]

I've also attached a pic of a remote reservoir DHX Air on a square tubed DHR. Pretty cool imho, kinda like a heavier duty version of the RP23 that Gee Atherton ran at the worlds this year.

no it wasn't.

Gee's bike didn't have any external reservoir. it was a custom Float with external lockout.

 

[Sov]

I know, hence why i wrote the 'kinda like a heavier duty version of..." bit

 

[LMC]

the cannondale fulcrum..

edited after being scolded by yuroshek

The Fulcrum came out in '97 IIRC. the point of the design was so that the chainwheel size could be altered with no effect to the chainline in relation to the pivot point, LHD cranks drive a secondary axle, which then drives a 3rd chainwheel cocentric with the BB. Im not too sure of the idea behind the linkage design.

It was raced by the cannondale factory team, then the frames were sent to be crushed. En route one bike was intercepted by the mountain biker International guys who begged, borrowed or stole it from cannondales European rep. They tested the bike and reviewed it in the mag.

Again IIRC Cannondale didnt see a funny side to this and pulled their advertising, which (along with the broken GT Lobo they reported on and other things) Led to the demise of the mag.

 

[Banshee Rider]

There must be another dimension of the fulcrum bike that I'm not seeing; to me it looks like a vpp bike with both links moving in opposing directions? Maybe someone can elaborate?

 

[yuroshek]

can you people talk about the pictures you are posting instead of just a picture and moving on to the next? talk about whats going on with the bike, what kinda bike and crap like that. geez, do the work for me people.

 

[Hesh To Steel]

can you people talk about the pictures you are posting instead of just a picture and moving on to the next? talk about whats going on with the bike, what kinda bike and crap like that. geez, do the work for me people.

was just about to post something similar...would be great to know some background about the stuff posted.

Especially this guy:

what's the story here?

 

[nmpearson]

i can't remember everything but...basically there was an up and coming dh rider, stephen millyard from the uk. His dad designed the bike, the one above is version 2. It only has like 5in of travel on the rear. Shock is specially made by a friend who designed tank(i think) suspension. The shock felt blown while just pedaling in a parking lot. Then it became super active while riding and just stuck like glue to the ground. The dad met with one of the big suspension companies like at eurobike 08 and i haven't heard anything since.

Anyone know what happened to stephen or is dad??? was there an 09 bike??

 

[OTB_FO_SHO]

Those photos came from here.

http://mbaction.com/ME2/dirmod.asp?sid=&nm=&type=news&mod=News&mid=9A02E3B96F2A415ABC72CB5F516B4C10&tier=3&nid=0740D88482854D3292B71BD1EB54FB85

 

[MrPlow]

The bike in my avatar is a 1 off so far
The Millyard bike seemed to hype and then just went into hiding. Pitty really, although I think she was a bit porky.

 

[spocomptonrider]

just made this camera mount. it screws into the [now] tapped hole in the front of my easton stem. holds my flip video camera, or any other camera i guess.

Have you actually used this thing yet?? All the footage I have seen from cameras mounted on handlebars is way too shaky to see whats going on or use.

 

[dhr-racer]

about the fulcrum's linkage, it is the same KHS later used on the dominatrax/ DH100 race bike from 01-04

the swing arm pulls the lower one out and pushed the top one downwards, i beleave it gives it a bit of a rearward wheelpath, but the ratio on this bike was very very high and wasnt a very good pedal masher. they added an idler in 2003 to fix this.

 

[rigidhack]

You lucky man. I'm waiting for him to finish designing that VST bike to make me a custom XXL one. How tall are you and what was the geo you went with if you don't mind me asking?

I'm just shy of 6'6". I want the TTT to be 24.6" instead of 24.1". Maybe 1* steeper on the HT angle, but maybe not. Possibly a slightly higher BB. I'm not really a racer, and the small tweaks would make the bike a bit better for the way I intend to use it (FR and non-race DH).

I got a chance to tool around on two of the proto VST frames and they are unbelievably sick. I have not felt anything ride quite like they did. They both pedaled really well, but the way they handled square edge bumps was insane. Like the bump wasn't even there. I suppose the Canfield Jedi with its huge amount of rearward travel might give an approximation of the feeling (I am guessing though). If I was going to have only one bike, I'd be all over a Sinister Poison (the longer travel VST) w/a Totem.

 

[rigidhack]

Had Frank at Sinister do this one up for me a while back:

For Yuroshrek:

Large frame with the standover of the small +5mm for shock clearance. Angled brace to support the seat tube was an idea taken from the prototype Splinter that never quite made it:

(It made an appearance at Interbike in '06 maybe.)

My frame was also made without the usual CNC bits near the BB, but rather with two simple tubes. It was lighter than a stock frame, but kept the strength. I think he had to use the BB shell from an ER, so it did not have ISCG tabs (not a big deal for me).

The demise of the frame came when I took it to a shop to get the bearings replaced. The mech did not loctite the pivot bolts when he put them back in and they backed out on the first ride. The additional tortional stress (flex) cracked the frame from the pivot to the BB shell. I loved that bike, so much that I got another Splinter MX to replace it. Still going strong after heaps of abuse.

 

[gemini2k]

I'm just shy of 6'6". I want the TTT to be 24.6" instead of 24.1". Maybe 1* steeper on the HT angle, but maybe not. Possibly a slightly higher BB. I'm not really a racer, and the small tweaks would make the bike a bit better for the way I intend to use it (FR and non-race DH).

Not bad. I'm just over 6'7" myself. I think I'll try and have him make me one with roughly a 63 HA (we ride some steep stuff) and a 13.8 BB. Still need to figure out reach/TT dimensions, but it'll end up having a gigantic (49.5-50.5 inch) WB I'm sure. 18-18.5 inch CS probably. It'll be a DH machine. I'm not a racer, but of the belief that a DH bike can still jump and huck just as well as a FR, but still carve up turns and rail steep rocks at speed better. We'll see if that works out, ha ha! We'll have to meet up and compare sometime. My goal is to have it so perfect for tall people it'll be nearly unrideable for anyone under 6'4".

 

[Sandwich]

about the fulcrum's linkage, it is the same KHS later used on the dominatrax/ DH100 race bike from 01-04

the swing arm pulls the lower one out and pushed the top one downwards, i beleave it gives it a bit of a rearward wheelpath, but the ratio on this bike was very very high and wasnt a very good pedal masher. they added an idler in 2003 to fix this.

The KHS came after the Fulcrum, and I'm willing to bet wheelpaths and leverage ratios were different enough to separate the two bikes.

I read several articles about the fulcrum, all of them in MBA. They tested it a few times, as well as had a few teasers. The bike was exceptional because it was one of the first to use data collection on the fork and shock, it used the jackshaft system to eliminate chain torque, it had the dual link swingarm, needle bearing fork (which sucked) and was extensively machined in the back end. I remember reading that it would take 8 hours or so of machine work to make one swingarm.

They had a second iteration of it the dismissed the jackshaft but kept the dual link swingarm, but never sold it. I've seen two bikes ever come up for sale. One was a second generation blue fulcrum, and the other was a red third generation sans-jackshaft fulcrum.

The Gemini never made it very far. The fork blew and supposedly was the reason Lopes quit DH. They would rebuild it at the bottom and it would blow 30 seconds into the run. The rear end was a good concept, but would lock out under pedaling and braking. I'd love to see it attempted again, by a company that isn't cannondale.

The Millyard may as well have been a practical joke. They wouldn't let anybody look inside the shock, and all the UK magazines got real moist about it. Too bad it's a BB concentric swingarm, which are well known throughout the rest of the world to pedal like crap, have bad suspension action, and lock out under braking. Somehow that bike had none of those problems...my ass. I bet you crack that sucker open and it's a fairly standard air/oil fox4r style damper.

I really hope the Zerode isn't a one-off...but I fear that the small "company" bit off more than they can chew, and it'll crush them.

Still not sold on the VST design. I'm not sure mechanical stops have ever been a good idea, and the idea of using one shock to control both suspension vectors creates a diamond shaped "area" of travel, with the smallest amount of travel available where you would need it most, ie back and up. You'll have full travel upwards, full travel backwards, but when you need to go up and back, like over any normal bump, you're limited by the two forces fighting for travel. Add to that the only people who have ridden it are frank's BFFs and it's never gone further than prototypes, and I'm not sold.

 

[dhr-racer]

The KHS came after the Fulcrum, and I'm willing to bet wheelpaths and leverage ratios were different enough to separate the two bikes.

i totally agree, just thought id post it as it was the closest thing released to a wide market.

 

[Sandwich]

i totally agree, just thought id post it as it was the closest thing released to a wide market.

ok, I wasn't sure if you thought they were identical. No doubt an attempt at a copy, but I'm not sure how close they came. In that light, my dirty little secret is that I've always wanted one...just not enough to part with any cash! I guess the second round (grey vs. orange) they fixed a lot of the pedaling and flex issues.

 

[boogenman]

This is for all you man anus suckers that can't post crap up after putting apic up and to please yuroshek.

Gotta love pinkbike, e-tards and milk in bags.

http://www.pinkbike.com/news/allen-millyard-part-1-2008.html

http://www.pinkbike.com/news/Millyard-racing-bike-2007.html

smoked pork belly

 

[Sandwich]

The geometry of the suspension and new design of rear shock provides a self pumping action which propels the bike forwards with every bump.

That's priceless. Self pumping action.

The shock becomes incredibly hot during riding so a “Do not touch” sticker should be applied!

That's not a good thing.

 

[boogenman]

That's priceless. Self pumping action.



That's not a good thing.

Ever touch a CCDB after a long fast DH run?

 

[IH8Rice]

i rode the C'Dale twin shock bike for about a month and i thought it was total crap. the suspension locked itself out in certain gears and neither shock would work more than a few mm's.
the bike was super plush, but it was way too soft for even someone my size ( i was 175lbs back then)

 

[dhr-racer]

ok, I wasn't sure if you thought they were identical. No doubt an attempt at a copy, but I'm not sure how close they came. In that light, my dirty little secret is that I've always wanted one...just not enough to part with any cash! I guess the second round (grey vs. orange) they fixed a lot of the pedaling and flex issues.

i have to say im the same way. i also heard the gray one was leaps and bounds over the orange one, MTBaction did a test a few years ago with a spec bighit dh, the dh100, an sgs and something else and the dh100 did succeed in a few area's but scared the **** out of them in a few others

 

[Acadian]

all my bikes are one-off...

one off the SICK Richter scale!!

 

[LMC]

The Millyard may as well have been a practical joke. They wouldn't let anybody look inside the shock, and all the UK magazines got real moist about it. Too bad it's a BB concentric swingarm, which are well known throughout the rest of the world to pedal like crap, have bad suspension action, and lock out under braking. Somehow that bike had none of those problems...my ass. I bet you crack that sucker open and it's a fairly standard air/oil fox4r style damper.

thats what im guessing too. they had a tank of nitrogen on hand when it was tested, so im guessing it was a standard air type shock using nitrogen as the spring, wrapped up in the smoke and mirrors of "technology that is used on tanks" etc

 

[Sandwich]

 

[Sandwich]

sad sad sad