The quest of exotic bikes continues ! And today, we have a full suspension MTB which doesn't want to show its rear shock...
Introduction :
Bold is a brand located in Switzerland which came into the world of MTB a few weeks ago with a brand new inovation : Hiding the rear shock into the seat tube.
This makes a few advantages : those who doesnt like to see a rear shock (some find its uggly... im not of them) will be able to buy a full bike anyway, more usefull : it wont be that exposed to mud, rocky projections and bad natural agressions, which means that it will probably last longer. In addition : it looks so clean !
And to those who want a problem with that technology : the shock is harder to reach (and simply unreachable while riding) even if it has a remote control to keep the settings while riding, and doesnt allow to have a stealth internal seatpost, because of the room the system takes. The clean aspect is a bit reduced by this, but i guess that the brand is working on something to fix that issue for the next model. Other problem : no weight told for the frame alone, i'll consider it is 3 kg as most carbon trail frames...
The frame is also up to date with all new standards we had the past months : boost 148 rear axle, and compatible with 650B plus tyres as much as 29er.
So you understand how it works, I am going to let the pictures talking by themself :
The Shock fits on the bike trough a hole under the bottom bracket. It is cooled by a few air holes drilled into the headtube. Because yeah, air when compressed makes heat, which is dissipated on a normal bike. But here, since it is not free, there is not much to cool it. This is why you can see a few holes in addition to the internal cable rooting in the headtube : to keep that beast cooled.
As you can see, if there was not this litle pivot point, we could thing that its a normal semi-rigid bike, with a big bottom bracket, nothing alse. So lets begin !
Suspension :
The default rear shock on that bike is the X313 from DT Swiss. I'd rather a Fox or a Rock Shox since I dont really know how good are DT suspensions but I'll manage with that ! Maybe a future problem : can we change for an other brand, or the bike is set to fit with DT only ?
Anyways, the fork will be a 34 Fox Float Factory from with 130mm of travel and Boost 110 option. Plenty enought for having fun on your best trails !
Transmission :
To shift that bike I took an XX1 rear mech and shifter. The remaining is much more exotic : E-Thirteen TRS+ 11s cassette with the impressive range of 9-44 (9t, waw I didnt know we could go that low), red wires for the cable, and for my bottom bracket, I took some Race Face Turbine Cinch red cranks with a Hope Spiderless retainer 32T chainring. Bearings are some ceramic balls with a BB92 barell (red of course) from Chris King
Chain is a KMC X11 SL DLC 11s.
ENVE ARE BACK ! yeah again some Enve, but you gotta admit that these are awesome, beautifull AND light. What could we ask more ? Better, they even have some red stickers... I initially wanted to use the Crank Brothers Cobal 3 for the unusuall spokes, but they are not avalaible on boost...
So on the M60-forty wheels equiped with the DT 240 hubs, you'll find some Continental mountain King II tubeless tyres, 29x2.40 sized.
Both are good looking, but no boost for the CB Cobalt... for a pretty close weight ! Make your choice...
Brakes :
To stop the machine, I choosed a set of Formula R1 (not the racing version, which is not as beautyfull of the normal one). Why ? I really love that small design, and the red setting wheel on the lever is just the must of the must to make I fall in love on them. However, I allready used the Hope (they are avalaible on red !) brakes on the Mondraker and they were heavier than the R1.
Rotors are 180mm Ashima Aro with red color that I loved for the brake surface which is a bit different than the other disc (they look way more agressive), because we are not really used to see them and because they are light. Pads are Brake authority.
Other devices :
As I said, a problem with this frame is that you can't have any internal-routed dropper. Nevermind, the KS Lev's cable housing can be turned red which could makes a pretty good looking red line on the frame...
Saddle will be an Ergon SME3-M Pro, with titanium rails, bars will be a Spank Oozy Vibrocore handlebar with a small 15mm rise and 760mm wide. To fit them there will be some Lizard skins grips and finally stem will be a Funn Strippa Evo 35mm 0° red (no need to say it :D).
Talking about Funn, I also gave them the pedal role with the On Side Clip SPD, also red.
Conclusion :
The final setup will cost you around 9 550€. Yeah, it is expensive but the is what you need to pay to have a fake semi-rigid trail bike... I am pretty sure that it will roll very fast in your favorite spots, with a weight of 12.3 KG, even if it is just a supposed value since I didnt find the exact weight of the frame...
UPDATE : Bold replied my e-mail and told me the frame is 3kg, which makes the final weight at 12.3kg.
PS : I hope you liked my new "way" to write my articles, which is, I guess, more good looking with more pics and organised section for each component of the bike !
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