Andrew Neethling's Prototype Polygon Dual Slalom Bike - Sea Otter 2016

Apr 15, 2016
by Mike Kazimer  
Sea Otter 2016

Polygon Andrew Neethling prototype


Out of all the events at Sea Otter, the dual slalom is the most eagerly anticipated, a chance to see head-to-head battles between some of the world's fastest riders as they duke it out on the berm and jump filled course that's situated on the grassy hillside just outside of the show's exhibition area. Andrew Neethling is one of the heavy hitters that will be rolling up to the starting line on Saturday, this time aboard a new prototype from Polygon called the Dirt SS.

The aluminum frame was built with input from Sam Reynolds, Polygon's resident slopestyle and freeride specialist, but its short travel and stiff frame should also work well on the dual slalom course. Neethling has his built up with a 140mm fork up front to go along with the 120mm of rear travel. Running the slightly longer fork up front slackens the head angle and slows down the steering a bit, which should help with the different demands of slalom versus slopestyle.


Polygon Andrew Neethling prototype
Box Components take care of the shifting with their short cage derailleur.
Polygon Andrew Neethling prototype
There's no uphill in slalom, so a Shimano cassette has been reduced down to seven speeds.


The last prototype short-travel bike we saw from Polygon used a link driven single pivot design, but Polygon went with a Horst Link layout for this bike, positioning the rearmost pivots on the chainstays. The rear linkage has been built to be as stiff as possible to help the bike handle the abuse doled out by Polygon's riders.

Box Components provide the bike's derailleur, shifter, and the spacer that allows a Shimano cassette to be converted to 7 speeds. The 26” e*thirteen wheels are shod with a Kenda Honey Badger in the front, and a low-profile semi-slick design that should be well suited to the dusty, hardpacked course.

Polygon Andrew Neethling prototype
Polygon Andrew Neethling prototype

Polygon Andrew Neethling prototype
BOS' Kirk shock takes care of the bike's 120mm of rear travel.

When will the Dirt SS be available? Unfortunately, the answer is 'probably never.' As fun as owning a slopestyle / slalom bike seems, the reality is that the demand is still very, very small, and at this time there aren't any plans to bring a production version to market.



MENTIONS: @Polygonbikes / @urteam


Posted In:
Reviews and Tech Polygon Andrew Neethling Sea Otter


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69 Comments
  • 51 2
 This is the frame I've spent the last month trying to find, 26" short travel bikes just don't exist anymore Frown
  • 8 0
 I'd love one too one day. Have you seen the new Commencal DS bike? Also maybe an old Diamondback Dreamliner/4X would be similar. I like ones with uninterrupted seat tubes so you can still pedal them around if you have to.. This is the Commencal: www.pinkbike.com/news/new-absolut-sx-kyle-strait.html
  • 4 0
 Commencal had some Meta 4X frames last time i checked. There is also the Corsair Konig if you can get a hold of one.
  • 3 0
 There are absolutely still bikes like you want, you just have to look a little deeper than the mass market. Check out the Pocket Rocket...I love mine...www.terraplanebikes.com
www.pinkbike.com/photo/12437066
  • 9 1
 specialized p-slope - dartmoor shine - trek ticket - canyon stiched ... ETC ETC ETC
  • 2 0
 @RedBurn: pslope, shine, stitched best suited for single speed. Ticket is daft low seat height. Current leader is an old double.
  • 6 0
 The old(ugh, really?) Specialized SX dual slalom bikes are probably some of my favorite examples of bike design ever.
  • 1 0
 eh, I'm, talking about the one from 2014, not that old: www.pinkbike.com/forum/listcomments/?threadid=520&pagenum=454
  • 5 0
 do yourself a favor and buy a Pivot M4X, short and long frames. I'll gladly send you a pic of mine. Cheers
  • 1 0
 I love my first gen konig, but the new canyon stitched 360 is just something else. I would love to get my grubby mitts on one of those.
  • 1 0
 @stevenbazaar: I always liked the Pivot M4x. Looks like it would be a fun bike.
  • 4 0
 transition triple, specialized p slope, trek ticket s, commencals new offering was up on the front page not too long ago, ns soda, if you're in europe and canyons not being a pussy about delivery, the stitched 720... there's actually a lot of 26" short travel bikes. In fact there's more now then I can remember.
  • 3 0
 what about a NS Soda Slope?
  • 3 0
 @anchoricex: They're all 100mm travels, the last 2 proper long travel slopestyle bikes are the Banshee Wildcard and Transition Bottlerocket
  • 2 1
 @b-mack: Yes, there are plenty, but very few can be modified like this one to do trail riding.
  • 3 0
 Try an Enduro SX with 140mm Pike DJ, working great for me - imgur.com/HeXSEHo
  • 1 0
 @GorgeousBeauGaston: I have owned 3 of them . Check my album.
  • 1 0
 @enrico650: I use mine for trail riding all the time, in fact it's my only trail bike. It can run gears just as easily as single speed, can run a dropper if wanted, and pedals fantastic...all that and mine weighs in at 26 pounds even with a chromoly frame. I realize some of the more "slope specific" bikes are a little too odd to be a trail rig as well, but a proper gate racer can be a great, small trail bike.
  • 1 0
 A lot of these bikes guys are suggesting are BB pivot and more than usually Way to short. Great for slope but, not so good for out the gate over the bars sprinting The new commy is gonna rip shit!
  • 1 0
 buy a ns soda slope I love mine
  • 1 0
 @nojzilla: Have you rode one? I used a p-slope for just about everything a year ago before I sold it. BB pivot or not they're extremely versatile bikes, I was surprised at how much stuff it did well on. I even took it to a bike park, although the short travel front fork left my arms numb after about 5 runs
  • 1 0
 I'm 5'11 in me boots, a lot of these Slope bikes are way to short. The soda is a sweet bike but more mid range travel?
  • 1 0
 @nojzilla: A lot of slope riders are 6 foot ish (rheeder, soderstrom, semenuk), which is why a lot of the frames come in a long/large size only. Can't speak for the soda but the ticket s & p slope were a little bit longer then I'd preferred (I'm 5'8" and owned both at one point). As far as mid range travel yeah if you want more then 100mm I guess a slope bike isn't your thing, but if you ever get the chance to sit on one by all means do it. A lot of folks outfit Ticket S frames with dropper posts and turn them into trail bikes. Super fun bikes!
  • 1 1
 Dmr Bolt?
  • 2 0
 @groghunter: oh ya! The old SX bikes where the shit. Ive had a sx air and the sx trail, some of my most favorite bikes too.
  • 2 0
 @b-mack: that is a beauty.
  • 1 0
 @upchuckyeager: Thanks man...a whole lot of fun.
  • 1 0
 @anchoricex: yeah im 5' 10 with 50mm stem on my ns soda slope 125mm of super plush travel with rock shox monarch with debon air its mint best of both worlds and my friend that's 6 foot 4 can still ride my bike fine
  • 1 0
 @lab7digital: What about the new transition triple?
  • 1 0
 As I happens I am selling a pivot m4x which sound ideal based on the bike you've commented on Check out Ross's rides on Facebook and you'll see my add for it there
  • 1 0
 You'll have to find pre-owned options. I own the original orange Konig Corsair, perhaps the original full suspension slope style bike and it is the best bike I've ever owned. Corsair has reintroduced the konig which can be set up in either 4 inch or 6 inch setups.
  • 1 0
 canyon stitched aren't that readily available yet, but that's the newest option I'd go for. Pslopes are too flimsy for my big ass. They flex a bit. Soda is good too, you can find those all the time new or used. Also blackmarket killswitch is good.
  • 22 0
 Heck yeah transition triple now this. I hope more and more companies bring back a dj/ds frame and in 26 of course. Please no 650b dirt jump bikes!
  • 2 18
flag calebscott (Apr 15, 2016 at 17:02) (Below Threshold)
 There's a reason they left.
  • 3 0
 @calebscott: Yeah, the industry simply wants to make more money!
  • 2 3
 @bashhard: Yep thats what businesses do. Slope bikes are only superior on a very small range of terrain that most people that are gonna buy them dont have access to. Hard tails are better at the jumps and trail biles are better on the trails.
  • 10 0
 Well it's a combination of 4x being ousted by the UCI and it makes no sense to have wagon wheels on a bike geometry that needs agility. Dual slalom needs a very specific track that's not as easy to build.
  • 10 2
 Are you kidding DS tracks some of the easiest tracks to build. Hell you can have good close racing by planting some poles into a grass hillside. Even a Sea Otter level track can be build in a couple days.
  • 4 1
 @zutroy: well hey must be some other reason do you know why?
  • 3 1
 @zutroy: Do you have any idea how much dirt you would have to move to create the berms you see on the course for Sea Otter?
  • 1 2
 @zutroy: plus you need start gates and timing sensors
  • 1 0
 It's a real shame since DS is an awesome spectator event!!! Short-course head-to-head groomed DH basically, who wouldn't love it? In the box (most XC, many "Enduro", and a few DH) thinkers, that's who. I mean, look at Crashed Ice, for gods sake..... would we watch DH Ice skating or long distance Ice skating? Not that I "approve" of crashed ice or anything but....
  • 10 0
 they should make their trail bike look like this
  • 1 0
 I've gotta agree with you on this one @Polygonbikes
  • 2 0
 Let's stop making bikes that every body wants an say ' errrr demand is low'
When I got back on a mtb in 2007 it was all DH an 100mm 'play' bikes
This polygon looks awesome but I'd suggest a flip chip to swap travel between 120 for plush an 100 for a stiffer gated racing tune

I'm buying the new Commencal anyway :p
  • 4 0
 It's so annoying see that almost all the pro freeriders still ride 26'' bikes but the companies just refuse to sell these bikes to anyone else
  • 4 0
 WHY ISN'T SLICE OF BRITISH PIE ON THE HOMEPAGE
  • 2 0
 Demand is small because no on puts on DS races anymore.
  • 2 0
 My collegiate race conference does and its awesome.
  • 1 0
 There are more slalom races than one would think. Mt. Brighton has a series along with with Gravity Soul series. The problem is no media coverage to promote slalom racing.
  • 2 0
 Man that bike looks fun...
  • 2 0
 Yeti 4x......timeless design even after all these years.
  • 1 0
 Wanted one for years! An they stop making them!!!!
  • 2 0
 Oh and that's a proper pimp bike there polygon sson
  • 1 0
 With such a narrow range, wouldn't he be perfectky fine with 3 gears on a slalom track? Big Grin e
  • 1 2
 I must admit, it does look a bit disgusting with that "bend". Polygon are really pushing the envelope with designs, aren't they Big Grin
  • 1 0
 The bend in the seat tube? if so, I thought that was a necessity for tyre clearance at full travel - otherwise chainstays need to be longer?
  • 1 0
 @smuggly: I was refering to the downtube. It just looks broken.
  • 1 0
 Damn, such a nice simple shape. Love it
  • 1 0
 How about the kill switch?
  • 1 0
 i want that bike! Big Grin
  • 1 0
 just a prototype
  • 1 2
 How far is Polygon factory from Trek's? ^^
  • 8 0
 so far, in different countries
  • 4 6
 looks like a ticket
  • 13 0
 Ticket does not use a Horst Link, but both bikes do have two wheels, a fork, a shock, some cranks, brakes ...
  • 1 0
 These looks like comments are just author trying to show off some knowledge and usually ends up the opposite.
  • 1 0
 @kanasasa: ^
  • 1 0
 @Polygonbikes: haha! Smile great looking bike guys! More of this







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