First Look: Nukeproof Pulse DH Bike

Jul 25, 2012
by Karl Burkat  
The Pulse is the product of two seasons of tweaking and testing by Nukeproof.

photo

photo

Specs
- T6 6061 Aluminium Frame construction
- Custom Triple Butted Hydro-formed tubing
- Adjustable Chain Stay Length
- Enclosed 1-Piece linkage
- 1.5” Headtube
- 215mm-210mm travel
- 150mmX12mm rear axle
- 83mm BB Shell
- ISCG 05
- Shock Length 240X76mm
- Chain Stay – 435mm/445mm
- BB Height +17mm
- Head Angle – 63 degrees
- Weight – TBA

photo

photo


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Reviews and Tech First Looks Nukeproof Nukeproof Pulse


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158 Comments
  • 118 13
 don't see why its necessary to put a black background behind a black bike?
  • 29 3
 I think they are going for the 'spy shot ' effect .
  • 66 11
 haha, looks like a mix of the new YT's and a tr450...
  • 18 2
 moody hard as nails look!!!!! you wouldnt advertise a carbon zonda using bright light! why a bike! i like it!
  • 10 2
 Saw the nukeproof team testing this at morzine yesterday, such a nice bike!
  • 4 2
 Looks a little like YT's DH frame, but it is probably going to be double the price!

I'm getting the YT Tues once the 24-hour-madness (hopefully) returns in November. The amount of bling and ultra-high-end parts they are able to sell for under €3000 is just insane!
  • 6 5
 Nobody knows what it means but its provacative, gets the crowd going.... seriously, it looks bad ass in all black with a black background, just enjoy it.
  • 2 11
flag Natpie (Jul 25, 2012 at 7:52) (Below Threshold)
 Come on dark side... we have cookies ! =D
  • 2 1
 saw them testing it at fortwilliam two weeks go Smile
  • 2 1
 This weekend i saw matthew simmonds testing in morzine this bike, allong whith other riders
  • 4 2
 it's like that spinal tap album cover. i hope someone gets the reference...
  • 1 2
 @kno0003 because batman.
  • 3 1
 It's like, how much more black could this be? and the answer is none. None more black.
  • 1 0
 They were riding these frames at the national champs at the weekend, I love the colours of matte and gloss black mixed together!!!!'
  • 2 1
 I just bought a nukeproof scalp and i think the 2012 frame design is really nice looking. I remember them saying they didnt want to change the bike design because the CRC team loved the design. this also looks nothing like the tr450, the linkage/ pivots on a tr450 are inside the curved seat tube area, while this Nukeproof pulse has the pivots/linkage exposed.
  • 1 1
 at a british round at fortbill i went up the gondola with a dude with a bike almost identical to this... its very similar to the scalp but just with an internal pivot. it other than that shaping and minor geometry changes its copyed. still a great bike
  • 1 0
 fuck me thats one nice ride. nukeproof is always great prices too.
  • 1 0
 You'd understand if you were a photographer its called thinking outside the circle, not everything has to be shot on white. you can still make the bike out its lit well
  • 31 0
 matte black next to gloss black must be the sexiest combination ever
  • 22 3
 Got to love nukeproof.
  • 14 65
flag schneiderbox (Jul 25, 2012 at 2:49) (Below Threshold)
 for stealing the tr450's frame design?
  • 52 2
 Dude people were making single pivot , double triangle frames before the tr450 was even thought of.
  • 7 41
flag Sam-smith1 (Jul 25, 2012 at 3:16) (Below Threshold)
 i agree with schencor000, too many companies are beginning to make their DH bikes similar to other brands. e.g norco's new bike looks pretty similar to a trek session or the diamond back 'knuckle box' linkage design looking very similar to the older commencal metas. too much originality!
  • 20 2
 It's way different to a tr450.
  • 34 1
 Ever thought that there is only a very few frame designs that are actually good/reliable/upto the job ?
And maybe that is the reason so many bikes look slightly similar ?

Look at mx/superbikes , nearly all the frames are identical these days , why ? Because they have found the ' perfect ' shape and design for the job so why make some thing looks 'radical/unique' just for the sake of it when you know two triangles are optimum ?

Example here tr450 and the scalp/pulse , triangle for a front end , triangle for the rear end , a nautrally strong and ridgid shape.
Why make it a figure of 8 connected to a zigzag when you know it's a comprimise ?
  • 4 44
flag domparsley42 (Jul 25, 2012 at 6:10) (Below Threshold)
 @bigburd why is it you comment on almost every single feature on the pinkbike homepage, and reply to so many different peoples comments with your opinion? if you spent as much time on your bike as you do on here you would be nearing the next world champ....
  • 2 1
 My first though just seeing the picture was that it looked just like a TR450, but if you pull up the pics side by side its not really that similar. I think its that curved seat tube area by the shock that makes people think TR450 right off the bat.
  • 16 0
 Well for the past 2 weeks I have been very injured , nearly broke my neck , got massive whiplash injurys and nerve damage in my right arm , so yeah I think riding my bike aint the smartest move in the world.
And for your info I get to ride around 24 hours a week when i'm fit and healthy , I live to ride , so maybe shut the f*ck up and get out and ride YOUR bike as you are lucky enough to do so .

Got any suggestions for things to do ?
  • 4 0
 Would normaly be trail building too but this injury is stoping me from doing so.
  • 6 4
 Looks like a trek. Wink
  • 3 26
flag Sam-smith1 (Jul 25, 2012 at 11:19) (Below Threshold)
 bigburd, no one gives a fuck about your injury.
  • 8 1
 Love you to honey.
  • 7 0
 It uses the same suspension design as the Scalp; just because they cleaned up the front triangle, suddenly it's a tr450 copy? It's just a progression of their current DH frame, and I for one, love it.
  • 8 1
 Its a NUKEPROOF they make sick bikes now move on lol
  • 12 1
 So what if it bears some similarities to a tr450?? Its not a tr450, get over it.
  • 6 1
 Thank god they have done away with that wavey top tube,front triangle looks a bit tr450, but, its a really nice looking frame. likey
  • 1 0
 looks fast
  • 1 0
 looks like a transition but the two companies have their own special tweeks here and there. Kind of like motocross bikes how they all have a similar frame and swing arm layout.
  • 6 0
 looks like a tr450 and yt tues mixedup- but still a dope ride!
  • 4 0
 gah damn, that thing looks like it would sneak into your bedroom at night and slit your throat
  • 5 0
 Fuck sake, just bought a scalp!
  • 3 0
 yep me too haha !
Seen how cheap they are on CRC now ? think it's 1200 with CCDB less thena grand for the vivid one ! BARGAINS
  • 2 0
 this is why.....
  • 2 0
 yea got mine for 900... Hopefully they'll still produce all the bearings and stuff, wonder if this bike can be as reasonably priced as the Scalp, all the adjustments ect
  • 2 0
 I think it will be otherwise it will lose part of what makes them special
  • 1 0
 transition is a push link the scalp uses a pull link (look at moto linkages and what the pros and cons are). pps Nukeproof never said they would do carbon on the gen 2 scalp.

hope the weight is a little less as my scalp even with some nice bits is still on the porky side.

love mine on the high speed rough stuff but hate it in the tight and twisty stuff 1.22m wheelbase on my large.

and now with adjustable wheelbase. yummy
  • 1 0
 nukeproof is getting so high tier, my first met with this company were how i bought the electro pedals and now i m getting more nukeproof stuff still waiting when they dissapoint me! Hope they realese the dirt bike so this would be my first nukeproof bike.
  • 1 0
 Ummmm....what?
  • 1 0
 Getting so high tier? You do realize they were up there with the highest tier companies parts wise for many years. In fact, some of their parts were considered some of the highest tier stuff on the market at one point. Nuke Proof isn't new what so ever. They are one of the older companies on the block.
  • 1 0
 For everyone who's gonna whine it looks like a transition, I'd point out that aside from the lack of main triangle bracing between the top and down tubes, and that the linkage is concealed rather than in the open, AND that the main pivot is ahead of the BB instead of directly over it. It looks like a Rocky Mountain Flatline to me. Oh wait... it doesn't. But that's still another single-pivot frame of similar purpose, with a similar shape to the frame.

www.bikes.com/DATA/BIKE/999_large.jpg
  • 1 1
 Who cares wtf it looks like. It could look like Obama for all I care. Who really cares in the end. Only people who have no life, or are too caught up in the "fad world" focus on looks. Personally when I hear all these people bawk about looks like this, and looks like that, and this is ugly, or this looks good, I think 100% fudge packing castro district Homo.... or, those modern "hipsters" who try to be like homos, but are too stuck in the closet to openly admit they just are homo.

End of story.
  • 4 0
 massive PROPS to Nuke Proof for sticking with the "Industry standards" for DH
1.5
83
150x12
Smile
  • 3 0
 It looks awesome! And I´m happy to see that the frame is build of aluminium tup
  • 12 7
 It looks like tr450☺
  • 9 2
 it does ...
  • 1 2
 but better!
  • 2 0
 Awesome! I always thought the Scalp needed a more chiseled look. Didn't like the round downtube. I think they nailed it with the NEW bike.
  • 1 0
 Def look like a nuked bike. They going big with the +200mm travel but will those links hold up? Seen carnage on nukeproof before but they making alot of improvements lately.
  • 1 1
 K rather then reply to everyones comment on which bike they ripped off , are you all blind it is clearly a gen1 rocky mountain flatline .. first thing i thought on the pic is it looks like my bike , from the hydroforming the cobra shape , the eyelet on the back triangle the shape of the two triangles save for the one portion that is of a tr450...anyways rant over yalls blind ... and yea flatline was heavy too from this design... bla bla i still like it for obvious reasons
  • 1 0
 This bike looks super sick! It has the look of the tranny tr450 and the performance too! I think this would be a sick build. I bet they could make a killer carbon version too!
  • 1 1
 In silhouette, you'd be hard pressed to tell this apart from a YT Tues if the image was poor quality.

Look at the details like frame tube junctions, and it's got Transition all over it. Dropouts look identical. The seat tube/top tube junction looks very similar. I would call that they're using the same factory, but Transition's welds look so ugly compared to these it's simply not possible!

I always thought the old scalp was a great bike with a shit aesthetic. That top tube bend made it look massive in the front triangle, that alone put me off even considering one. SC have made that double bend look great on the Nomad, I don't know how Nukeproof got it so badly wrong to be honest. I can't be the only one who would buy on looks.
  • 1 1
 they just put scalp on the market about a year or two they already put this on testing, for selling when next year, i know this guys need to create in order to sell, but for the regular ryder´s with no sponsors but their one this evolution is hard to keep up.

Anyway good looking product, and it must ride awsome, congrats nukeproof keep it going.
  • 1 0
 Who said because they release a new frame, you need to replace your old one.
Who said because they release a new frame, this one would be better than the old one.
Who said because they release a new frame, you need to cry about them doing so.
It's called progression in the business arena. Have you ever owned a computer? You go out, buy the latest fastest I7 extreme, and in 6 months it's worth 1/50th of the value. You go out and buy a $70,000 car, and the minute you drive it off the lot it's worth 25% less. 6 months go by and it's worth another 25% less. A few years go buy an you realize that $70,000 car blues for 10-15k.

That's how the world works. Funny, is when people spent 3,500k on a bone stock computer back in the early 90's, they didn't bitch when it was worth almost nothing a few years later.

But anyways, not trying to be harsh, just sayin'.
  • 1 1
 One more thing people are asking about carbon frames but to be honest i don´t see many advantages in carbon when most of us can´t even afford it, maybe when the industry start to make bikes from a super material expensive like hell that only the world cup factory teams can have it, our very rich people can buy, than the regular riders can own one frame made from carbon fiber.

When i say regular i mean the everyday rider whit a tigth budget like myself and many others across the globe, so what i trying to say is, keep it good, keep it whit quality, but keep it affordable to.

In other words keep it in aluminium.
  • 1 0
 change of name because (money)scalp got destroyed by a tree disease. Shame really, but the trails where neglected and not exactly WC testing ground...
  • 1 0
 The gold dogbones for the Scalp raise the BB height by about half an inch. Does anyone know how much this changes the head angle and how it feels to ride with these?
  • 7 4
 looks a bit like the Young Talent TuEs frame to me ... still sick!
  • 5 2
 yeah, looks like a mix between the new tues and the tr450. i like the current frame better though. it looks more tidy and not that heavy.
  • 1 0
 there should be a carbon tues 2.0 coming soon too!
  • 2 0
 I like the furtive fighter look!! i hope to see it quickly on the rocks!! Smile
  • 3 0
 Cut the crap! I want this bike!
  • 3 0
 Im suprised its not another carbon job
  • 1 0
 that will be coming this time next year Wink
  • 1 0
 tomOk joke? or fact?
  • 1 4
 you can plainly see the welds???? clearly not carbon
  • 3 1
 I dont see where anyone stated that it was carbon...
  • 1 0
 a joke, but i would happily bet that a carbon frame will be coming very soon..
  • 1 2
 Thats what it is engineeringwise:

www.cycles-et-nature.com/images/commencal/hd/absolut_sx.jpg

2 bearings coordinates shifted 4cm.

They also took clues from Scott Voltage frame.

So this thing should ride really really well.
  • 1 0
 Which people claimed was a rip off of a transition bottle rocket... People are dumb. People claim Ellsworths are the same as Konas just because they look similar despite the fact that the suspension works on a completely different concept. Looks can be deceiving.
  • 3 0
 That is one SICK looking frame! Big Grin
  • 2 0
 Seen a few of these at the Irish national champs over the weekend.... Amazing bike
  • 2 0
 Hope they keep this matt/glossy paintjob for the production one...looks awesome.
  • 1 0
 Throw some Dee-Max Ultimate rim on there. You know...the yellow ones with the squiggly lines. Yea, then it'd be even more badass.
  • 3 1
 very nice and interesting suspention design!
  • 3 0
 Sex on wills
  • 2 0
 in black it looks like a carbon frame !
  • 2 0
 If batman rode a downhill bike, it would be this..
  • 2 0
 intriguing tubing profiles, or is it just a game of shadows?
  • 3 4
 People complaining that it looks too much like a TR450, take a look at Norco, and Giant, they have taken Trek's base shape, and changed it to suit the linkage, no one complains there.
  • 6 0
 What really pisses them off is when you tell them that kona had that shape back in 1995.. And yes I know the suspension design is different , but extending the chain stay 30mm past the main pivot and attatching the shock to that is hardly ground braking
  • 1 0
 and abp, if you ever ride a trek squish aggressive trail bike you'll notice how smooth the rear end feels, specially through rough terrain, while cornering and with the brakes applied. kona tried to eliminate brake jack by included a floating brake arm on some of their stinkys a few years ago.
  • 1 0
 Orange copied the brake arm, but it never worked.
  • 1 0
 trek and giant are "sister companies" very closely interlinked
  • 1 0
 good news is that CRC have dropped the prices of the mega and the scalp full builds by 21%
  • 1 0
 best news on this page!!!!

not that the bike is bad news, its just nice to see that you can pick up a good nice quality dh bike for so much cheaper Razz
  • 2 0
 I see they have kept the nice fiddly rebound adjustment
  • 3 0
 Bike porn..
  • 3 0
 What cost the Frame
  • 3 0
 Oh hell yes!!
  • 1 0
 Nice frame, still, the rear end is all over the place when u touch the brakes in the Rough
  • 2 0
 Don't give a crap what it does or doesn't look like, it looks SICK!!!
  • 2 0
 it's seems so rigid it makes me laugh!!! love it!!!
  • 3 0
 Its a nukeproof 450
  • 2 0
 would be the sex if it was carbon...
  • 2 0
 that is one gorgeous bike
  • 1 0
 at least it's got boxxers though. I would go right off it if it had marzocchi
  • 1 0
 nice TR450................................................................................. -.-
  • 2 1
 That is some serious sex appeal!!! Well done Nukeproof
  • 2 0
 sick
  • 2 0
 how much?
  • 2 0
 with fries please.
  • 1 0
 man this looks so much better then my TR250
  • 1 0
 Young Talent f*cks with Transition Big Grin
  • 2 0
 hellsome
  • 2 3
 It look like this www.yt-industries.com/shop/index.php?page=product&info=215 also
  • 2 0
 @razor13. nah, the headtube is vaguely but not really...
  • 2 0
 Want...
  • 2 1
 tube profiles make much of a difference?

still looks sharp regardless!
  • 1 1
 prefer the old but gold SCALP. Thought that this would be carbon Frown As they said, GO CARBON OR GO HOME
  • 2 0
 very nice!
  • 1 0
 I wonder how much its going to cost!!
  • 1 0
 White rims or a white fork makes it even sicker
  • 2 0
 I need a kleen-ex
  • 2 1
 "Looks like a TR450"... don't care. It looks better than a TR450 !!
  • 1 0
 Id buy a nukeproof, if they weren't called nukeproof.
  • 1 0
 So Nice wish nukeproof had a distributer in toronto
  • 7 8
 not as nice as the old one to be honest in my opinion but still pretty cool Smile
  • 1 1
 Looks like a tr450 and 951 got buisy
  • 2 3
 Only difference between that and the TR450, is the cross section of the tubes in the front triangle.
  • 2 0
 yea ONLY engineering/function stuff
  • 1 1
 looks pretty sick but looks heavy....
  • 1 2
 it looks like the love child of the yt tues and the new yeti... I like it Smile
  • 2 2
 looks like a nicer version of the tr 450
  • 1 0
 Looks very good !
  • 2 2
 Crap from China..... No thanks.....
  • 2 1
 Dope.
  • 2 2
 17 inch BB height?
  • 1 2
 no they mean it's 17mm higher than last years I guess , think they put the wrong info in the chart . the last scalp has got a seriously low BB ,I hit my pedal so fking often !
  • 4 0
 I think it's means the BB is 17mm above the axle line.
  • 1 0
 That would make sense
  • 1 0
 so that would roughly give it a 13.6" bb? is that how it's read?
  • 1 0
 if it is 13.6 isnt that what the current scalp is ? I should know I own one , I know its 13 some something , looks like they might of made the same bike with square tubes Razz

EDIT : ah the current scalp is 14" dead.
  • 1 0
 don't they list the scalp as having a 14" bb?
  • 1 0
 www.nukeproof.com/en/news/476-nukeproof-pulse-downhill-race-frame-launch

Some better pics with out black back grounds
  • 5 0
 BB height measured from ground to BB center varies with the tires you run, as the diameter can vary. Better to list a BB height/drop that's in relation to the axle.
  • 1 0
 ^^ what he said
  • 2 2
 Tru but bb diameter makes no differance at all... But alloy... Wtf guys, looks sweet but I have the 2012 scalp and it looks sweet.. Need to go carbon if they want to keep up with the times...
  • 1 2
 ummm, it looks a bit like the TR450 right? ahaha
  • 5 6
 copy paste???
  • 1 2
 nukeproof tr450
  • 4 7
 inside out TR 450
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