Markus Pekoll's 27.5" Mondraker Summum
BIKE CHECK
Markus Pekoll's
Mondraker DH Racer
Mondraker DH Racer
WORDS & PHOTOS: Matt Wragg
San Romolo is the most important downhill track you have never heard of. It's on no major race circuit, either international or national - you simply couldn't get the infrastructure in place to make it work. Yet each winter may of the world's top teams, riders and manufacturers head there to dial in their settings for the season. It's a brutal test of body and bike, an unending, high-speed series of rocks that stretch even the best riders in the world to their limits. We caught up with Markus Pekoll on a test session there as he worked with Marzocchi to dial in his new Mondraker Summum with 27.5" wheels.
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 While this may look similar, this bike has an entirely new front triangle with revised geometry. |
Pekoll's Summum may look like the current version, but while the tubing profile is unchanged, the entire front triangle has been altered to take the larger wheels. It's something that bike designers stress time and again - you can't just put bigger wheels on a bike and expect it to work. The head angle for the new bikes has been reduced to 64 degrees, but the team riders have dropped in 1 degree reducer cups to take it back out to 63 degrees - the same as they were running on the 26 version. At the start of the morning Lukas, the team manager, mentioned that the bottom brackets were lowered for the new frame, but when we asked him later for specifics he ducked our questions, not wanting to give too much away. We would be extremely surprised if the bottom brackets weren't lowered to compensate for the change caused by the higher axle height with larger-diameter wheels. At the back the rear triangle is unchanged, but the bike is only usable in the longer 450mm chainstay setting as there isn't enough tyre clearance in the 440mm setting. It is this improvisation at the back of the bike that reveals the true nature of this bike - it is a stop-gap, a temporary fix to dial in the geometry the racers want for an all-new downhill bike that the team say isn't too far away...
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| For the new bike, the top tube on the Forward Geometry bikes is even longer, but the team is pairing that with a standard Renthal stem |
Even Further Forward Geometry
One of the most interesting changes to the bike is the top tube length. The team are using the Forward Geometry version of the frame, which has a slightly longer top tube than the normal version. On this new bike with revised geometry they are still using the Forward Geometry frame, but have had the top tubes made even longer than they are on the current production bikes. Cesar Rojo, the designer behind Forward Geometry, intended the longer top tube to be paired with a 0/10mm reach stem to correct the reach to that of a bike with more traditional geometry, yet even with the new, longer top tube the team are pairing it with 45mm stems. Asking Pekoll about why they are doing this he explains that, "The short stems might are good on my enduro bike, but for World Cup downhill the slightly longer stem means I can get more weight onto the front wheel."
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| For a World Cup racer, Markus is quite restrained with his bar height, running 10mm of spacers under the crown and a 38mm, 780mm Renthal bar |
Components
As part of the MS Mondraker team, Markus is one of the riders who has been helping Marzocchi dial in their new range of suspension products. At the front of his race bike is their top of the line CR380 C2R2 Titanium fork, with their new Moto coil shock controlling the rear. To save those precious few grams for World Cup racing, he uses a titanium spring. We didn't get a chance to see Markus' timings, but his teammate, Damien Spagnolo, had shaved 10 seconds off his time on a two and a half minute course thanks to the tuning from Marzocchi's in-house genius, Pedro.
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| Marzocchi's new CR380 fork has a dedicated 27.5 chassis, with tweaked offsets and increased clearance to take the larger-diameter wheels. |
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| Mavic supply this set of 'Special Service Course' (translated from French to English this means 'Special Race Service') 27.5 Deemax. Speaking to Markus he said that they are the same as the current production wheels, but with a slightly expanded diameter. |
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| As the MS Mondraker team aren't fully SRAM-supported athletes they are still running XO and don't yet have the new XX1-derived, 7-speed drivetrain. Formula provide the brakes, SDG the custom team-branded saddles. Markus is running Crank Bros Mallet pedals and keeps a moto lap timer on his bar to keep an eye on his pace (although there is a Freelap system at San Romolo, so he wasn't using it when we saw him. |
 | While we aren't surprised to see a company as willing to push the boundaries of bike design as Mondraker adopting larger wheels, the bike feels like a watershed moment in many ways. Mondraker don't have the budget of some of the bigger companies and it's clear that they have decided that the long-term development of their downhill bikes will be based around the larger wheels. Feedback from Markus Pekoll is unambiguous - with the revised the geometry, the bigger wheels mean they have been able to make a slightly better bike than the one they had before. What he was riding here in San Romolo is an evolution of the current bike to set the geometry they will use for the forthcoming bike. From what the team say, the new bike is very close and team manager, Lukas, describes it as "beautiful." Mondraker have always produced some of the wildest bikes in mountain biking and we can't wait to see what they have up their sleeve... - Matt Wragg |
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I commented that cos I'm a big tall guy, putting a standard stem on one would be a good idea cos of the longer TT.
The owner looked at me like I was a prat.
To most (certainly uk) LBS owners-
The reason there is only one local bike shop left that I'll spend any real money at, is not because Chain Reaction and Wiggle are so much cheaper. It's because the rest of the LBS's are patronising c#nts. Stop treating your costumers like they are a dim witted inconvenience and they may be more loyal.
Sorry to go off topic.
Nice bike!
Don't even get me started on that side of things..... nope, too late-
What the f#ck is with the hatred towards customers who have some interest in cycle maintenance etc and can ride a bike? When I had no idea LBS seemed to love me. Now I know what I'm on about and ride most days all of a sudden, I'm a prick! I take my full tool kit everywhere now cos last time I asked to borrow a BB tool you'd think I'd asked for their first born child's right foot! This is not an isolated incident and all these places had me as a good costumer prior to being either slyly or overtly offensive.
My rule now is, if they don't treat me the same when I want a pair of grips as they do when I'm looking at a bike, they can do one.
Deep breath.
There are good shops here but they're few and far between.
Im born and raised Vancouver but living abroad now. I was in town last week visiting family and friends and popped by DUNBAR Cycles
and they were super cool and prices to boot. Totally friendly and not a sarcastic note in the bunch as they sorted me out. Thanks DUNBAR!
Oh-ya, that ride looks sick!
Also. What about North Shore Bike Shop? They seem legit.
From a money making standpoint, shops should realize that anyone of these guys could potentially come back in a week and buy a $2000 bike from them. Whenever I'm working the floor, I try to come at customers with this mentality. And even if they don't spend top dollar at the shop, who knows when I'll get a flat halfway down the local trail, and the only guy that has a spare is the one that recognizes me as the d*ck from that rude bike shop.
Positive mechanics and sales guys at your LBS make a positive local biking community...thats my two cents!!!
(I try bring those "Brett Tippie Good Vibes" to work as much as I can!!!)
After trying the bike she let some air out of the tires, and tried some more. When she returned she asked the sales person what brake this was, due to no lettering other than shimano, while pointing at the left side of the bars and the guy said 'That's the front brake!'.
Yesterday I tried the same bike and pointed out that there (again) was way too much air in the tires, felt like 1.5bar, the girl from the shop said that everybody who rode the bike would say this, but her boss is adamant about that pressure.
Few months ago, same bike shop, I was looking to get some bolts for an ISCG05 chainguide, went into the workshop which is across the street, asked the guy what bolts I would need for an ISCG mount and he said it depends on what brake I had. Yeah, exactly. I tried to make him understand what I was on about but he did not know what bolts go with an ISCG05 mount. And he is working at THE bike shop for big bikes in the nearest 10km.
Two minutes in the internet -> M6 countersunk.
*massiverolleyes*
Too whoever ^^^ up there who was complaining about the shop not letting them borrow a BB tool, i'm not suprised the shop gave you that response. They aren't there as a charity. They are there to make money. If someone wanted to learn how to take a BB out, I would show them how to do it and usually then they would buy the tool and do it themselves. If someone is keen enough to get that involved with fixing their own bike then more big ups to them. But to come into a shop and ask to borrow their tools is a bit disrespectful in my opinion.
The shop knows me well, doesn't sell BB tools, has a busy workshop without tightening my BB I can't ride (or will certainly ruin my BB). My bike is not in their shop getting in the way. They know I'm not going to run of with it or break it. It's a small favour I'm asking so that I haven't travelled 1.5 hrs in the car for nothing.
I would lend me the tool. Without being a prick about it. But maybe I'm a mug?
The BB tool statement was a bit out of context. It was the continuation of a rant I was on concerning the seeming dislike said bike shops have for riders with any knowledge or interest in maintaining their own bikes.
The lbs does both road and mtb, but they don't stock any bikes/components other than XC oriented stuff.
The guys at the lbs are ok, not super friendly, but not arrogant/condescending.
I don't really go there that often because:
- i do most of my own repairs/servicing
- don't buy much from there unless emergency like tubes / pads, because of the price.
I think lbs prices should be higher than online, because they should include future service, installation and troubleshooting WITHIN the price.
what i'm not cool with is lbs's that will say, right: cost of your new fork + install costs + tuning costs + + + + + + +...
To me that should be the difference between LBS and online. online is cheaper but you need the skills to DIY, LBS is more expensive but better if you don't have time/motivation to learn.
Well Said...f*ck them...
We actually had a case in the store i worked at where a customer had left a crap review on our google page or something, then ended up working for us a few months after! Talk about hypocracy, and that attitude just transpires into a working environment! You work in a place where customer satisfaction is (well should be) paramount! You can really tell when a LBS is doing it right when there's people just talking to customers, laughing and being happy *nawh*.
The actual reach that is distance from pedals to grips has a hinge on it's way inform of a head tube thus it cannot be considered only in terms of fit like arm reach. Stem length has a big effect on bike handling regardless of to tube length. A bike with 430 reach and 70mm stem will handle differently than a bike with 500 reach and 0 stem, even though the actual reach stays the same. What about handlebar sweep angles? It is about the whole recipe, by making a desifn decision one is making an assumption: this will work that way. But it doesn't mean it will work better.
Why Is it that bicyclist think for them is everything different? Its almost like they think because you push down a pedal to propel yourself forward all basic laws of physics change?
Like the stem, tell me one other wheeled Vehicle with significant forward reaching handlebar mount?
Or Tubes. Tractors and mountain bikes.
Or suspension. How is it that Cyclists think the have better traction with out appropriate suspension?
I don't even want to start with wheel sizes... not again at least.
So I think, Trying something out like forward geometry that works so well in all other types of 2wheeld vehicles (moto guys spend millions of dollars for R&D each year) should long been done as there must be a reason and an advantage in it...
btw...I Tried it, It feels great but I would have also prefered a short stem in addition on it. Their forward geo AM bikes have about the same wheelbase as Yetis in an comparable size... @Waki
its a totally race bike, the best bike i never rode.
every week i needed to tight up all bearing screws tough.
i was riding park every single days ( 10 laps a day ) so a lot of riding.
and the frame cracked after few months.
so i had a brand new frame, straith away
The summum is a wicked bike. If your a confident rider it will skip over anything you point it at. I wasnt good enough for that bike.
Wicked bikes and super light for an ali frame. Cesar rojo (who designed the summum) had his built up at about 32lb last year.
No a different note. Whats up "PA37"? Late night??? LOL.
[The pedantic part of me would like to have the phrase "27.5" wheels" eradicated from the PB dictionary. 650B is a more accurate description of the inbetweener size]
The size of the contact patch is dependent solely on tyre pressure.
"For a World Cup racer, Markus is quite restrained with his bar height, running 10mm of spacers under the crown and a 38mm, 780mm Renthal bar"
38mm?
And nonetheless, the forward geometry of the bike is really promising, the only thing that i`m worried about is the change and the ability to fit with this frame, hopefully it doesnt feel so strange as it looks..
www.metroswimshop.com/product.90000.htm?gdftrk=gdfV25409_a_7c3098_a_7c11784_a_7c90000&gclid=CKvvo_jPkL0CFURlfgodUAkAbw
i mean its a pretty small thing to complain about (since its just a stem), but thats still enough to keep me from buying it. i like to have a selection and be 'choosey' when buying parts