The Digit Datum is a 140mm-travel trail bike with a novel suspension system that sees the shock, which they also manufacture themselves in the US, tucked up inside the toptube. The load-bearing shock slides on a set of fork bushings - it's a structural member of the frame - and a short link rotates around the bottom bracket to connect the front and rear triangles together. It's a clever arrangement, so we tracked down Tim Lane, Digit's founder, to take a closer look.
I really really like it. I like how it looks, I like how unique it is and I love the simplicity and serviceability. Bit rich for my taste but so is most stuff in this hobby, so whatevs.
@Zany2410: Take a look at observed trials frames, their machined out head tubes look skeletal by comparison, and they're designed to be endo'd and levered on from every concievable direction. Here's one: trial-bikes.com/39685/jitsie-varial-26-frame.jpg
@DirtBagTim: Well i sell ebikes where the battery goes in the frame thru this hole, but its commuter bikes not enduros. tbh i guess i will never ever see one of these here in germany or are likely to ride one
@Zany2410: I think the only time I’ve seen those observed trails bikes was in Germany at Eurobike. I’m hoping to get some European distributors for Digit, so hopefully you’ll eventually see them in Germany again (“again” because the frame in the video went to Eurobike last year and won the Eurobike Gold and Start-Up awards).
Ok, fine. I've been reluctant to post this. Most paywalls are designed for the common browsers used: chrome, safari, etc...Step 1: Google is your friend. Hint: it involves firefox.
The only time the Beta paywall thing has legitimately ticked me off was the article about progression of adaptive cycling and athletes. Those dudes (and dudettes) don't get enough exposure as it is, so it sucks that an article celebrating the growth of the sport is stuck behind a paywall.
You’re not missing much, basically an E-Storia with a two chamber airspring like a Mezzer. There’s about another thousand words of breathless blather which is rather pointless. But that’s the gist of it
@EdSawyer: thanks man. Honestly, my desire to read is mostly hecause I dig the brand, I have used their shocks since 2018, and… I listened to the wwc podcast with the ext boss.. You’ll be more inclined to spend your money into well designed not highly compromised pieces, believe me.. like 80% the stuff is out there .. pretentious market dominators..anyway, If the money of the paywall would go to the brand i read of, i would pay it..
@ReformedRoadie I've been riding with 1800ml in two bottles, a tube and CO2 under the saddle (the mullet allows clearance over a 29er), and an EDC pump/tool. It's enough for 5 hours in the SoCal heat without a pack. Beyond that, for BIG rides, I could carry another liter under the down tube, and of course I can ALSO wear a hydration pack.
Look at all the 'new, bikes that come out, same same...they just tinker with little changes, this bike is forward thinking, outside the box, something really new. Like the linkage front ends, let them work out he kinks, these are 'new' bike stuff.
@DirtBagTim I wish you all the luck with this; it’s great to see some really sensible engineering decisions being made that have resulted in a clean, well thought out design with some genuine benefits. Wish I could afford / justify buying one myself!
I love it.. but the pricing is a little extensive... Hope he is gonna make a longer travel version.. would be very interested to take up a mortgage for it
If it affects your perception of the price, there’s $225 of headset and BB included. Made in USA in small volumes conspires against a low price. If y’all can help buy buying boatloads of bikes I’ll be able to drop the price .
Looks cool but will need a way to keep water/moisture and dirt/debris out of the top tube where the shock rebound knob sticks out. you wouldn't be able to wash the bike without getting water in the top tube and it doesn't appear to have any place to drain.
I was intrigued until the buried detail on Digit’s site that the BB is PF92 with a 30mm axle and the spindle is the main pivot axle as well. All 41mm OD/30mm ID bearings are compromised designs that have around half the load rating and durability of standard BB 6805/6806 bearings (with the exception of BBInfinite 4030 bearings). Shimano specifically designed BB86 to exclude any reasonable off the shelf bearing options for 30mm spindles. Based on this BB/pivot design decision alone, I would not trust the reliability of the custom shock.
@RusMan: I don't have an official answer for that yet, I'd have to do some some tests, safety margin calculations, legal review etc before making an official statement.
However, anecdotally, based on preliminary tests of prototype parts, the air spring chamber has survived 1200psi (which corresponds to bottom out for a rider weighing about 450lb). Most bikes and standard safety tests are developed around a 300lb rider weight limit, and the Integer air spring wall is similar in thickness to other shocks which are rated for 350psi, so TLDR, the max PSI likely isn't an issue. I suspect the I'll end up just saying the max psi is 350psi.
HEY LAWYERS: THIS POST IS DISCUSSION, NOT AN OFFICIAL ANSWER.
Thanks to your comment, all the information given in the previous 190 seconds was wiped out in the last 10. I think the bike was black and something something headtube.
The sloped top surface of the link shown here digitbikes.com/concentric-bb> is intended to direct mud/dirt/water to the non-drive side of the bike rather than into the pivot or drivetrain #antiloamshelftechnology
The Beta review isn’t paywalled. It’s a good read I think.
*Those reviews are of an earlier prototype, the production strut has less stiction, a larger negative air chamber, and many other improvements. I’ll have production bikes in about a month, and I’m hoping to get some long term reviews then.
@bok-CZ: am i f*cking talking chinese or something? of course it's a full shock and it has bushings like a fork stanchion to handle the "linkage" loads.
@baca262: stanchion is a stanchion, damper is a damper and bushing is a bushing. Maybe it's me talking Chinese, so you can just put a weight on your top tube and try out what I'm talking about
Honestly, my desire to read is mostly hecause I dig the brand, I have used their shocks since 2018, and… I listened to the wwc podcast with the ext boss.. You’ll be more inclined to spend your money into well designed not highly compromised pieces, believe me.. like 80% the stuff is out there .. pretentious market dominators..anyway, If the money of the paywall would go to the brand i read of, i would pay it..
We know two things without doing any reading:
EXT makes good stuff.
EXT is expensive
I’m never gonna pay for Beta, it’d have to be significantly better than what PB already offers.
Yeah, not worth it.
betamtb.com/news-issues/why-its-ok-that-the-digit-datum-has-a-proprietary-rear-shock
www.bikeforums.net/classic-vintage/1239456-road-test-bike-review-1991-mountain-bikes-suspension.html
If it affects your perception of the price, there’s $225 of headset and BB included. Made in USA in small volumes conspires against a low price. If y’all can help buy buying boatloads of bikes I’ll be able to drop the price .
@DirtBagTim, surely you mean ‘by buying’, not ‘buy buying’.
Thanks @sonuvagun, you rule too.
It’ll look more like image #4 here: digitbikes.com/bikes/p/datum
The shock needs about as many psi as the rider weight in lbs. 1:1.
However, anecdotally, based on preliminary tests of prototype parts, the air spring chamber has survived 1200psi (which corresponds to bottom out for a rider weighing about 450lb). Most bikes and standard safety tests are developed around a 300lb rider weight limit, and the Integer air spring wall is similar in thickness to other shocks which are rated for 350psi, so TLDR, the max PSI likely isn't an issue. I suspect the I'll end up just saying the max psi is 350psi.
HEY LAWYERS: THIS POST IS DISCUSSION, NOT AN OFFICIAL ANSWER.
The Beta review isn’t paywalled. It’s a good read I think.
*Those reviews are of an earlier prototype, the production strut has less stiction, a larger negative air chamber, and many other improvements. I’ll have production bikes in about a month, and I’m hoping to get some long term reviews then.
I'd prefer Bold's solution, this looks kinda Walmart even though I like how's it executed
what is it with people?