Sam Pilgrim's Prototype Diamondback Slopestyle Bike!

Aug 13, 2010
by Mike Levy  
We caught up with Diamondback pro Sam Pilgrim just before he took off to compete in the Crankworx Best Trick comp and got a closer look at his prototype slopestyle bike. Inside you can see all the photos and watch a video giving you the lowdown on this possible 2012 production bike!

Read on...
Like the look of Sam's 2012 slopestyle bike? Watch the video to learn more about it!
Sam Pilgrim on his new Prototype Diamonback

by spoiledgoods
Views: 15,874    Faves: 85    Comments: 16



photo
Sam Pilgrim and his prototype Diamondback slopestyle bike. Don't go looking for this bad boy in your local shop anytime soon, if and when it goes into production it will be a 2012 model year bike. Think of Pinkbike as your own personal time machine!

photo
Pilgrim's bike is set up as a pure slopestyle bike; singlespeed with a tensioner, only a single brake that uses a small 5" rotor, and fast rolling Geax tires. As you can see from this photo, the bike has an incredible amount of stand over clearance that keeps everything out of the way while doing tricks.

photo
Sam's bike uses Diamondback's Knuckle Box suspension system as found on their other high end offerings. The Knuckle Box link lets the engineers choose a shock rate that best suits the bike's application, in this case its super booters and slopestyle courses. This prototype has a jump friendly 4" of rear wheel travel.

photo
The front of Sam's bike is burly! massive hydroformed tubing, a tapered headtube, and huge weld area coverage ensure that he has the utmost confidence when throwing down.

photo
The green machine is a bike nerds wet dream. Hung off the prototype slopestyle frame are FSA's prototype Gravity Light cranks.

photo
An assortment of NS Bikes parts are hung from Sam's Diamondback, including the stem, bar and sweet looking pedals. He holds onto comfy Sensus grips.

photo
Sam uses Halo's burly Freedom Disc wheels that he says holds up great to all the abuse that he can dish out, which is a hell of a lot more then you or me I'd imagine!


Head over to the Diamondback website to see their entire lineup, although Sam's prototype won't be there because its from the future! You can also check out Sam's website to catch up with him and his travels!

I think Sam's bike is going to make a wicked 4X and slopestyle rig, but lets hear what you thinka bout it below!

Big thanks to Lens Rentals Canada as well for sending through some lens's that have allowed me to take some unique shots. In these photos I used a Canon 70-200mm 2.8 IS II, and a 24mm 1.4L II, two very nice lens's! Thanks again to them!

Posted In:
Reviews and Tech First Looks Crankworx Slopestyle Diamondback


Author Info:
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113 Comments
  • 15 2
 Wicked.
  • 16 3
 Similar to the Commencal VIP 4X?
  • 12 0
 Don't let looks deceive you....
  • 8 1
 Well its good to see he is riding a Diamondback rig. At crankworks he was riding another brand which would look weird since he is sponsored by Diamondback.
  • 34 6
 Jeeze 2012? Its 2010 guys, same goes for car manufacturers releasing their 2011 models in 2009. Get in the right damn year.
  • 9 0
 anyone know what his 'nice forks are'? they rock shoxes with the decals covered possibly?
  • 2 0
 KILLLLER BIKE Ö So SICCCK
  • 2 1
 BEN-G i think they are either the new argyle RCT or the equally new Sector forks??
  • 3 0
 I thought I ran Revs
  • 2 1
 he did on his hardtail but obviously sam has to use the latest gear to show it off for his sponsors so its probably the slopestyle designed Argyle RCT imo
  • 3 1
 Fork could be a Sektor. The arch looks too square to be Argyle/Pike lowers.
  • 3 2
 yeah i already mentioned the possibilty of it bein a sektor (i spelled it wrong earlier) but the argyles have been massively revised this year so they might have changed the arch?

edit: just checked rockshox site it IS a sektor
  • 1 0
 Yeah you can see the QR Lever in one of the large-file ones.
  • 1 0
 its a maxle light . . .
  • 1 0
 We don't get them here, we only get the QR ones :0
  • 4 0
 REALLY?? omg that sucks! you wanna go slap the sram importers of NZ around a bit till you get some of the good stuff! Wink
  • 1 0
 Yeah, wanna know something even more sucky? Our sram distributor only stocks stuff 2 years or newer old. So anyone who breaks their older model boxxers (Even the 09 model, the last old series) has to buy brand new forks Blank Stare
  • 1 0
 DUDE that is soooo lame man! my mate was planning on taking an extended trip to NZ but seeing as tho he has 2008 world cups and older sram x9 he might have to re-think haha (he's always breakin stuff)
  • 2 0
 absolute sickness
  • 1 0
 on the hooker frame that sam was riding, he was running the rev's.
  • 1 0
 when was sam riding a hooker? lol that sounds bad, but seriously i saw someone else mention he rode some other companys bike but when was it?
  • 1 8
flag bigbluebike FL (Aug 13, 2010 at 8:16) (Below Threshold)
 Amazing, apart from the diamondback badge.
  • 7 0
 HATER if you like the bike your like the badge coz THEY MADE IT jeez all the brand whores are out today ...
  • 2 0
 SHADOWcranks-N-bones.. in crankworx colorado sam was riding a cove hooker because Diamondback didnt make him a slopestyle frame yet. but he took all the stickers of the cove and put a big diamondback sticker on the down tube. Martin Soderstrom does that same with ns. he rides this super old cove hooker because ns hasnt made him an ns.
  • 2 0
 oh ok cheers for the info, btw i saw earlier that NS are in the proccess of bringing out a sus slopestyle bike Big Grin that will be one nice bike, guaranteed. thats the sorta thing that used to happen with all the DH riders back in the day, they all had intense m1's with different companies stickers on them
  • 1 0
 ya the ns soda. it looks dirty.
  • 2 0
 but,im pritty shure that Martin Soderstrom got a new cove frame for kokanee crankworx. i think. but for colorado he had is old one.
  • 1 0
 oooh can you link me a picture??

yeah fair enuf, its a good frame, im just put off by the 1.5 headtube coz i want to use it for 4x as well
  • 1 0
 martin new bike www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=669255007&ref=ts#!/photo.php?pid=1703974&id=1239205135&fbid=1597078087059
  • 1 0
 old bike.http://lp1.pinkbike.com/photo/3870/med/mpbpic3870062.jpg
  • 1 0
 The soda looks sweet. This looks epic!
  • 1 0
 first link isnt working Frown are either of these the soda or the two coves he has used?
  • 1 0
 they should make a version for DH ...
  • 1 2
 the crown adjustment knobs on the fork don't look like an Argyle RCT, and Sam's not sponsored by Rockshox/SRAM so I don't believe he'd be able to get his hands on one this early
  • 3 1
 dude weve established that it is a rockshox sektor!!!
  • 1 0
 no it isnt the soda it is a cove again, pritty shure .
SHADOWcranks-N-bones, this was matin's old bike. a old hooker cove. www.pinkbike.com/photo/5422103

and this was sams cove hooker.http://www.pinkbike.com/photo/5422110/
  • 2 0
 no, it is the rev. on his cove it is the same and i can tell that on his old bike it is a rev.
  • 2 0
 its a cove hooker for shure.
  • 3 0
 wow you guys bitch about the stupidest shit.
  • 2 0
 Shred-Nz is full of shit. The NZ Sram importer, distributor are awesome to deal with. i deal with them pretty much daily. They never fail to deliver the goods i need for my workshop jobs and customers.
  • 1 1
 i dont like it....
  • 1 0
 the Commencal Meta 5.5 uses the box type suspension aswell
  • 1 0
 But it uses a 2 piece link but this looks like a 1 piece
  • 1 0
 They both use the one-piece box design but the commencal has another straight bar between the rear triangle and the box link.
  • 1 0
 thats true
  • 10 0
 Lol the vibe you get from Pilgrim is so funny, hes just always stoked and you can see it when he talks about his bike, Such a goofy fellow.
  • 2 0
 Yeah, dorky as hell, but in a good way. Razz
Seems the type of bloke you'd love to have a beverage with. Wink
  • 2 0
 and he doesn't muck around with all the posh words he just says stuff like big welds and sweet handlebars no discriptive nonsense
  • 3 0
 thats what the designers are thinking about when they are thinking up ideas - then some well paid guy has to convert it into corporate sounding bollocks
  • 6 1
 yo, guys the forks are revelations, im not sponsored by that company so not gonna advertise them haha! The bike is sick, and im so happy know one was completely horrible about me haha, thanks pinkbike!
  • 1 0
 200psi??
  • 7 0
 looks great, too bad we have to wait until 2012
  • 1 0
 Your so right! this bike makes me wanna trade in my voltage fr for one!(i never would. =P)
It sucks we have to wait till' 2012, but, by then i might be wanting to get a second bike =D!
  • 2 0
 atleast i can save up for one Wink
  • 5 0
 aparently he realy likes it and is going to ride it in the contest...
  • 3 0
 i never thought i'd say this... but thats a diamondback bike i actually like!!
  • 1 2
 i still think diamondback, mongoose will never be true bike companies due to everyone knowing them by their cheep and crapy bikes, i know they make some exellant bikes like this one, but i think i will never give them as much respects or such a strong name, like specailized, they just make 100% good bikes, but mongoose and diamond back make like 5 good bikes each, and like 200 crappy ones they sell
  • 6 0
 Ford made the Fiesta and the GT-40. Just because the fiesta sucked, doesn't mean the GT-40 did. To expand on that as well, the Fiesta, while being a P.O.S., worked great for numerous people. If you are just going to ride the flat paved path with your family twice a summer, you don't need a big expensive bike. A wal-mart bike will probally do just fine.
  • 2 0
 whats wrong with fiestas? my dad had a fiesta XR2 when i was a kid and it was crazily fast for such a tiny car
  • 3 0
 surely the best bike companies are the ones that make a bike for everyone who wants one no matter what there budget, at my local park and bmx tracks you see loads of kids with shitty halfords and supermarket bmxes having a blast and you see loads of rich kids on branded bikes just sitting there looking on with scorn becasue they can sfford a better biek than someone else, its pretty lame actually that people are that small minded.
  • 2 0
 If every bike was a Turner, Ibis, Intense of Foes then the bike world would be pretty boring although we would all ride amazing bikes (with some saving up). It's way better for our sport to have companies like Trek, Diamond Back, GT etc who make everything from good starter bikes at around $450 through to top drawer stuff as this inspires people and brings new people into the sport giving us even more good designs, more TV coverage and more legit trail building.
  • 3 0
 If you could only buy really expensive bikes the the sport would die because no-one could afford to start!
  • 1 0
 lol i love sam pilgrim.. his spaces when talking are hilarious and that queer smile he has!
  • 1 0
 shred nz your an idiot, get your facts right before talking shit, the nz sram importer have spare parts ond and new
  • 1 0
 That looks a LOT like the Spesh P.Bikes from 2006 onwards... just with a suspension linkage. Kinda cool.
  • 1 0
 the front triangle looks abit like the ironhorse mkIII, i love diamondback (well ashton) at the moment
  • 1 0
 I thought it looked a bit like a sx trail at first, buy this looks better i personally think.
  • 1 0
 Nice bike, SUPERB bike rider. Saw him ride in Les deux alpes in june, Amazing skill.
  • 2 0
 sweet =]
  • 1 0
 looks awesome,i want one now!!
  • 1 0
 sick looking bike, good luck to him Smile
  • 1 1
 ok it looks good but it is a rip off of the commencal!c'mon guys design your own bikes dont nick other peoples ideas
  • 2 0
 so are morewood bkes just commencal rip offs too? and teh orange st4 and i suppose nicolai elsworth and lappiere are just specialised rip offs yeah?
  • 4 0
 They're all Penny Farthing rip offs!!
  • 1 0
 its a completely different swing arm! the commencal is single pivot! this is 4 bar!
  • 1 0
 Sam is really funny LOL ... I would buy that bike if I had the money
  • 1 0
 And if it were available - got to wait at least a year! Wink

It IS a nice looking whip. I've owned a Mission for a few years now and will have to make it a trail-bike once I can get one of these. I'll also have an '09 Kona Bass for sale around that time...how convenient?

BTW - did Mike Hammond morph into Sam Pilgrim???
  • 1 0
 i like how its "nice forks" obviously not allowed to say lol
  • 1 0
 Thats a sweet front chainring, cant remember what brand it is though...
  • 1 0
 Renthal.
  • 1 0
 The fork is a marijuana manitou
  • 1 2
 Think you will find its a Rockshox Sektor Smile
  • 1 0
 i think you will find there revelations Smile
  • 1 0
 Well, he´s got a nice bike in the end.
  • 1 0
 haha and now hes not with diamond back
  • 1 0
 did this bike ever come out?
  • 1 0
 i like it
  • 1 0
 niceee bikee
  • 1 0
 3 words "I want 1"
  • 1 0
 thats two words and a number
  • 1 0
 i want one now
  • 1 0
 LOVE IT !
  • 1 0
 2 Words, I Want!
  • 1 0
 one number, 2012!
  • 2 0
 One word, GAY
  • 1 0
 its stupid but it doesnt bother me its not like i could afford it anyway lol
  • 1 0
 very sweet set up.
  • 1 1
 soo sick love it Smile
  • 2 3
 Hello Blackmarket Killswitch LOL jk Its A Diammond back.







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