The All New DMR SLEDIn a big departure from their previous designs, DMR has launched a fresh from the ground up, all-mountain machine. The bike looks to pack a punch, with 160mm travel, 27.5 wheels, and a slack, long and low geometry. The DMR SLED is an exciting addition to the British brand's lineup. The SLED features an aluminum frame based around DMR's own virtual pivot 'Orbit Link' suspension design, which the company say offers the rider excellent climbing and descending capabilities, virtually no pedal feedback and unrestricted suspension activity when under braking.
The numbers point to a potent ride with a slack 65.5° head angle, roomy reach, and stubby 430mm chainstays to keep things snappy. With riders like Olly Wilkins heavily involved in the development you'd expect the SLED to not only be a characterful ride, but also be able to take most hucks and hits you throw at it.
A key aspect the DMR designers strove for is stiffness. To that end, the SLED features integrally-welded front and rear triangles, 'Collet Style' pivot hardware and a 'Boost' rear end with the Syntace axle system. Being a British brand, durability and serviceability were also at the forefront of their mind, which is why the bike features plenty of tire clearance, internal routing, all ball-bearing pivot points and nice features such as the 'Ride Saver Mount' (pictured right), which is as good at carrying inner tubes as it is toy chickens... There's space for a bottle on the downtube and the Praxis Chain Guide is designed exclusively for the SLED's suspension arc, meaning dropping a chain is even less likely.
The bike will be available in sizes ranging from Small through to Extra Large, with the frame including shock and Praxis chain guide retailing at £1599 RRP. The InfraRed SLED pictured at the top is the stock build-kit bike and it carries a price tag around the £3,500 mark. Pricing (particularly in US and Canadian dollars) has yet to be determined. The very first production frames will be available beginning on the 1st of February, with full builds expected in April.
- "you know the chicken nugget paste?"
"say no more"
ride.io/news/core-bike-17-dmr-sled
I thought this was another one of those blue/ gold dress debates!
looks like a piece of kakka.
So, yea, it's a derogatory term to describe bike designs that are behind the times. Santa Cruz was way behind for many years. They recently started to catch up, but only in baby steps. The new Nomad was the first step, I would ride that bike, but I prefer more poppy suspension designs and a shorter seat tube length. That's why most of my trail bikes in the past have been slope/4X frames like the M4X or Transition Double. I've had several hardtails set up that way as well, starting with my 2nd mountain bike, a Boss 26" wheel bmx that I put a Marzocchi Bomber on in 1997 after becoming annoyed with my Stumpjumper's square geometry. I trail rode that bike, raced bmx in cruiser class, and it inspired me to start building jump filled singletrack in the woods, which I'm still doing today.
The only reasons why most companies frames still adhere to the classic seat tube lengths per size are fear that the general public will have a hard time understanding sizing. Imagine all the casual weekend warriors saying "What do you mean this is a medium? I've always ridden a 18" or 17", this bike is a 15"! It's too small for me!" And, the margin for error of seatpost insertion would decrease without the extra overlap, causing a lot of problems with people breaking their frames due to negligence and demanding warranties. Apparently, DMR doesn't care about that, which is exciting. They are setting a precedent, saying "Here is a low-ass bike for actual mountain biking." Hopefully it will be successful and break the ice for other companies to follow.
BTW, anyone want to buy a medium 2016 Trance Advanced 1? It's feeling a little square to me.
I'm not a SC rider, but why would so many riders flock to AM bikes like the Bronson for the past five years if they were so far behind???
That riding attitude has spread over the last 10 years and slowly more and more companies started to make bikes that offer a more dynamic experience. It's been very slow, though. Mostly smaller companies. The popularity of droppers has opened a lot of people up to the idea of a more dynamic riding style. Even casual riders are finding out that they are more comfortable and confident on progressive style bikes then on traditional static position setups. Larger companies have now finally been catching up over the past few years, and it's come to the point where the people who used to only ride custom builds can be happy with the same stock, mass produced bikes that casual riders are on. It's great!
Yeah because you were the first to concentric a lower pivot around the BB shell.... NOT.
Check the lower link shape which I'm only referring. I'm not referring to complete system nor that we invented concentric systems. Because we didn't. Our system is unique in other ways but that's another story.
www.polebicycles.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Pole_Frameset_EVOLINK_110_NDS.jpg
I think it's good that other companies finds the concetric design good as well.
Peace!
also the threaded BB is a nice touch
1 man in a shed. the reviews of this bike are fantastic and in back to back tests is smoked the top brands on the clock.
fair enough its not vpp but having vpp isnt the be all and end all of bikes
Also it's a shame they had to bolt the lower linkage together from parts, as said above that's going to creak and wobble loose very quickly and those piddly little (M5?) button head screws are going to get rounded off the first time you try and tighten them up on the trail side after it starts creaking and in a desperate bid to silence it you get your multitool out and there's some mud inside the hex recess on the screw. Why not just use full cap screws? Much better engagement.
Sure it's a cheap 'VPP' bike but it just looks a bit shoddy to me.
Also someone needs to come up with an elbow for hydraulic and cable droppers so that stealth dropper cables can be routed fully inside alloy frames like this, not cutting the corner like that. Hideous...
Looks wicked
The rear triangle looks like a copy and paste of the SC and then they used MSPaint to change the BB pivot
Yeah it's looks alright.
How? It's a fixed rear end
This is longer than the Bronson according to the geometry table.
Or is it BroDuro???
I can't remember which is hotter this week.....
My current L/XL has the same virtual TT as DMR's small!!!
Hey DMR, what do you thing the likes of the MTB riders are?
This bike already has a coped DT/TT. I've cracked every coped ht/dt frame i've owned at the coping- it's like a TT can opener.
Lever the fork on a short head tube frame
Then lever the fork on a longer head tube frame with the top/down tube weld area further apart.......
Short head tubes are for the bike industry to save a few yen in production so they can use the same head tube on frame sizes from XS throughout XL