Sinister Bikes Hardtails

"We built this frame to fit the type of trails we ride and style of riding we like to do."

Sinister Bikes, is a rider owned and operated company, which came to life in December 2000. The company was started when two prototype frames were bought from Storm Racing Cycles. "We really liked the frames, but thought they needed some changes to fit the type of riding we were doing here on the East Coast."




Sinister Bikes, is a rider owned and operated company, which came to life in December 2000. The company was started when we bought two prototype frames from Storm Racing Cycles. We really liked the frames, but thought they needed some changes to fit the type of riding we were doing here on the East Coast. The frames were generic samples from Taiwan, which were bought solely for their angles and dimensions. When we got the first frame we pretty shocked on how closely it resembled another company's design, we even called Storm to confirm that they sent us the right frame. But they assured us that it was the right one and sent the second one to us a few weeks later. After riding the frames for a few months we started to find problems with them and wanted to correct them. We talked to Storm about making some changes, but they weren't interested in the project and suggested that we contact the actual frame manufacturer or find someone else to make changes. This is when we decided to make our own frame and Sinister was born.

We agreed that the prototypes were a good start, but they needed a lot of work. We started with a simple CAD program and made some significant changes. We lengthened the top tube, increased tire clearance, added more stand over height, slackened the head angle, slackened the seat angle and increased the bottom bracket height. We also wanted to change the frames appearance, the prototypes were a little much, tons of gussets, most of which didn't do anything but add extra weight. We originally designed 3 frames, one round tube aluminum frame, one RAD tube aluminum frame and a steel frame, all based on the same dimensions. In the end we went with the RAD frame, it was lighter and a lot stronger than the other two designs. When the final design was set we contacted Easton and they recommended a high quality US frame builder that specializes in small production runs. We had all the CNC work done here on the East Coast and then shipped everything out west for final assembly.

The end result of all this work was our Ridge frame, named after the legendary Bow Ridge trail in Lynn Woods, Lynn MA. The Ridge utilizes Easton's RAD tube set up front and massive 7005 CNC'd yokes, which connect to an oversized rear end. The rear end can handle a 3.0 tire on a 24-inch rim or a 2.7 tire on a 26-inch rim. With all of this tire clearance and the often-nasty weather we have to deal with here in New England, we decided to make the Ridge a disk-only frame. This gave the rear end a very clean and uncluttered appearance. Other key features we incorporated were a very generous bottom bracket height (13.50 inches with a 26-inch wheel), which gives the Ridge ample ground clearance, even for those wanting to run 24-inch wheels. We also wanted to be able to use the bike for different types of riding, so we gave the Ridge an oversized seat post (29.8 mm) and extended the seat tube 2.5 inches past the center of the top tube, which is gusseted for strength.

The overall handling of the Ridge can be summed up in one word "stable". The prototypes were a little short and not very stable at speed. To correct this the Ridge uses a 22.5-inch top tube, which gives the rider plenty of room to move around without feeling too cramped. Next we slackened the head tube angle to 70 degrees (using a 130 mm fork) and slackened the seat angle to 73 degrees, this gave the Ridge the stability that is needed for steep chutes and high-speed descents. Next was chain stay length; the prototypes had very short rear ends, which were great for riding the tight stuff, but weren't the best climbers. We wanted find a some balance point between two, so we played with a couple of adjustable rear end designs, which proved to be an even bigger nightmare. The rear wheel would constantly keep slipping, no mater how tight the skewer was, so dropped the idea. In the end we measured both of the adjustable bikes and found both were set at approximately 17 inches, so we went with it. The result of all of these adjustments and tweaks was the do-all Ridge.

We at Sinister are very happy with our final product; the Ridge has definitely lived up to all of our expectations and has even exceeded a few. We built this frame to fit the type of trails we ride and style of riding we like to do. We know the Ridge is not going to work for everyone and that's okay, we don't expect it to. We're just glad we could make a high quality frame, for people who love to do the type of riding we do. As for the future, we are currently looking to move our frame production closer to home; this will help us to reduce costs and lower the retail price for the Ridge frame. We're also planning on making a few changes to our next run, like adding an ISCG (International Standard Chain Guide) Adaptor, an integrated headset and possibly moving to a
onepointfive head tube.

Ridge frames retail for $1,000.00, which includes a Thompson Elite seat post and seat collar.

You can get in contact with the Sinister dudes here