According to his (engineer Luis Arraiz) new tech column on Dirt it all comes down to rearward axle path. He compared graphs from several bikes and the k9 gets like 140mm of rearward axle path. But yeah the Instant Center looks really high. K9 has been developing it for the last 2 years, with constant dyno testing of the CCDB, Bos Stoy and Vivid shocks at Oxford Brooks Uni (we raced against them this year at Formula Student Silverstone, let's not ask who did better at the comp...) and field test including lots of telemetry. This bike is causing a lot of fuse in the UK, it's a ugly bike with poor graphics, so it is all about how it will perform, not hype or trend. They promise to give full charts of tuneability tips acording to race conditions and the shocks come revalved for rider specs. At 2900£ for the frame with CCDB i won't imagine how much more would it be for an aluminium front triangle. I thought a steel front triangle would make you proud Mr. Mad "Oh, I make steel bike frames that look like freagging sculptures"Mechanic

hahahah thanks man...you know im all about the steel, but its not really very mainstream so it took me by surprise. plus it sorta makes more sense to me to make the front outta ali and the back outta steel cause steel being twice as stiff, smaller diameter tubes (ie the chainstays/seatstays) suit, where-as the front triangle can fit massive tubes, hence it being suitable for ali. but i like the way it looks anyway, im a fan of the smaller tubes.
i do wonder why they used 15CDV6 steel instead of cromolly tho...maybe something about supply or whatever cause using 7000 series ali they obviously arnt too worried about the cost.

*I meant, the bike has a rearward axle path during the first 140mm of rear wheel travel.

You've got a very valid point. But i don't know what to think anymore... I saw the german/austrian teams running on Formula Student in Silverstone this year. They're know for their senseless pursuit for lightweightness. A team was running 1200g carbon fiber 13" wheels, another one had a double wishbone suspension made from 8mm OD tubes, M6 rod ends and rocker arms truss style from 2mm thick 4130 plate. There was also TU Vienna, with their 180kg car running a regular carbon fiber body and spaceframe chassis, the space frame was made with carbon fiber tubes... They don't teach us that in school.