Thought Experiment: The Squishiest Mountain Bike
Suspension is good. As statements go, that's about as uncontroversial as they get. It's undeniable that when bike designers started adding damping to mountain bikes, the sport improved and bikes became significantly more capable and fun. Although some riders still look for suspension-free thrills, it's safe to say most of us probably would have given up this sport long ago if we were forced to do it with rigid forks and frames.
Can you have too much of a good thing though? Forks and shocks aren't the only suspension items engineers and entrepreneurs have attempted to fit during mountain biking's history, although these alternative ideas haven't always been a runaway success. To celebrate the niche and not-so-niche products and, to be honest, for a bit of a laugh, we tried to assemble the squishiest bike possible. The result is an abomination. Enjoy.
Frame: Structure Cycleworks
Travel - 153mm / 151mm
Some bike frames are totally rigid, some have a few pivots and linkages, some even have flexy seatstays but there aren't as many that squish as much as the Structure Cycleworks. The frame features a fairly regular Horst Link design rear suspension, but it's up front where things get a bit weird.
Structure call this linkage fork the WTF, which of course stands for 'Without Telescoping Fork'. The claimed benefits of this are that it reduces antidive and makes the bike slacker as it cycles through its travel. This basically makes it the opposite of a hardtail and therefore perfect for this article. If you want more info on the wild design, read our six-month review, here.
More info, here.
Handlebar: Fasst Company Flexx Aluminium
Travel - 5°
Starting at the front of the bike, we're speccing Fasst's Flexx bars. The bars hinge halfway along their length and use elastomers to offer 5° of travel. This translates to different amounts of travel depending on how long you run them, so we'll of course be running them uncut in the 810mm downhill version. The bars are available in carbon or aluminum and we'll be speccing the aluminum version as there's probably slightly more give.
More info, here.
Stem: Redshift Shockstop
Travel - 20mm
Gravel biking has done many things for the road cycling community, but perhaps most amusingly of all it has introduced them to all the bad ideas mountain biking forgot years ago. At the top of that list are suspension stems.
Redshift is one brand bringing this tech to a new audience through its Shockstop stem. Designed to reduce fatigue and strain when rattling along backroads and gravel tracks, the stem offers up to 20mm of travel with 5 levels of elastomer resistance to tune it to your liking. Two models are available a +/-6° version in 80mm, 90mm, 100mm, 110mm, and 120mm lengths and a wild +30° high-rise version in 100mm length only.
Another option would have been the vibration damping Hammerhead stem.
More info, here.
Grips: Rev Grips
Travel - Vibration Damping
Completing a cockpit of cushioning comes the Rev Grips. These grips are suspended from contact with the handlebars and use shock-absorbing inserts to reduce vibrations and therefore the bane of arm pump.
More info, here.
Seatpost: Cane Creek Thudbuster
Travel - 90mm
It would have been tempting to go with a dropper post here, after all, some of them have in excess of 200mm travel, but when you have the height set the seatpost is generally as solid as a rigid post. Instead, we went with the classic Thudbuster from Cane Creek.
Historically a favourite of hardtail riders looking for a bit of butt cushioning, it has also been adopted by a new crop of eMTB riders that spend more time seated than riders on regular bikes. We'll be speccing the recently released long-travel version that offers 90mm of squish.
More info, here.
Saddle: Bike Yoke Sagma
Travel - Vibration Damping
On top of that Thud Buster we're going to have the Sagma saddle from Bike Yoke. This German brand started by making upgrade suspension links and then transitioned to becoming a component company in its own right. Its Sagma saddle was released in September 2019 and it uses a special chassis molded from carbon fiber reinforced nylon that contains a pair of elastomer cushions. The cushions allow the saddle to rock back and forth slightly with your pelvis as you pedal as well as damp some of the vibration which normally would transfer through the saddle to your nether regions. The cushions are replaceable and BikeYoke offer different hardnesses to suit your preference.
More info, here.
Bonus: Amazon Padded Seat Cover
Why not?
Hubs: Gokiso
Travel - Vibration Damping
If you think a hub would be immune from suspension, think again. Gokiso is part of Japans' Kondo Machine Corporation that also produces bearings, for jet engines and it's this highly precise background that has allowed them to create some of the smoothest running hubs in the world. The hubs have been tested at 300km/h and apparently the bearings didn't even fail when they were run at 100km/hr for 100,000km. They also impressed a CyclingTips reviewer, who said they, "offer the lightest, most precise action I’ve ever experienced in a wheel."
Part of that action comes from the hub's design, and more specifically its suspended axle. A ribbed sleeve or external ribs function as springs, separates the axle from the influence of the rest of the wheel. Unfortunately, this design does nothing to isolate the shock from the trail reaching the rider but instead is designed to keep the axle perfectly straight. More info on the design can be found in Cycling Tips' article, here.
The hubs are non-Boost and only works with Shimano 11 speed so there are definitely some limitations here. The biggest limitation here is probably the price though, they cost around $5,000 USD for a set. Ouch.
More info, here.
Spokes: Berd
Travel - Vibration Damping
Berd spokes may look like string but they're actually made from ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene, or UHMWPE. These spokes are claimed to be more durable and lighter weight than traditional steel spokes while also offering improvements in ride quality. How much? Well, Berd believes it is a measurable difference and our reviewer Dan Sapp compared it to the difference in feeling of a high-end steel frame compared to a high-end carbon frame.
More info, here.
Rims: Spank Vibrocore
Travel - Vibration Damping
Spank's Vibrocore rims look like pretty standard aluminum hoops from the outside but you'd have to take a hacksaw to them to see the really cool part. I'm talking of course about the injected green foam, or proprietary, biodegradable, complex foam core of precisely controlled density as they would rather you call it. This is designed to absorb chatter from the trail and offer a smoother ride than a comparable design.
More info, here.
Or... Superwheel
If all that sounds a bit rigid to you, there's always the thermonuclear option of fitting the SuperWheel. An Irish inventor claims to have invented a bike wheel that offers pedalling assistance without the need for a motor and battery. We're yet to be convinced that it actually works, but free energy or not, there's bound to be some squish from all those springs. If you want to wade into the details, take a look here.
Cranks: BikeDrive
Travel - N/A
Of course, putting springs into bike components is nothing new as this BikeDrive proves. The RetroBike forums did some digging into this gem and uncovered a description of how it works. Apparently, the springs absorb energy in the dead spot of the pedalling rotation and then expels it when it's needed. It also apparently helps you maintain a circular pedal stroke over rough ground. If you fancy testing it out then a pair can be bought on eBay for $450, here.
Pedals: BioConform BIUS1
Travel - Float
Most clipless pedals have an element of float to them that allows you to wiggle your foot around without coming unclipped, so why can't flat pedals do the same thing? Well, that's where the BioConform BIUS1 comes in. The springs allow the platform to move along the axle, which in turn apparently takes pressure off the hip and knee joints when pedalling.
The rest
Time to fill in the gaps. The Structure gives us 2.6" of tire clearance so we'll be speccing the widest, softest rubber we can combined with a meaty tire insert so we can drop the pressures as low as possible. We couldn't find any suspended brakes or a drivetrain but if you can think of any niche products that fit the bill, let us know in the comments below.
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please god wear these for the test...
Just because you said that, we're gonna have some angry rigid rider up in here shouting about how he/she is superior because of masochistic reasons.
As a wise old musician once said, "I'll be mellow when I'm dead!"
One of the coolest things about any kind of more limited bike, whether it’s a fixie, single speed, xc hardtail, etc, is that riding hard is about what you are doing as a rider not just how fast your bike is going. My rides on technical trails may be slower with my fixie but they are at least as intense in effort, skill and riding on the edge on control, and usually harder in terms of abuse on body and bike. And I don’t have to go as far to seek out the gnarliest trails to go hard either.
If so, I guess I'd take anything he writes with a salt mine.
The Structure is nice but 2.6" is a compromise in ultimate squish compared to a squishy beast like that!
zcoil.com/freedom-classic-black/?sku=FW-02020-M090&gclid=Cj0KCQjw_dWGBhDAARIsAMcYuJwclEZNRbvAhfle1urBlD5o1obppsKjV7HYwCR-VK6ddxYY7RNotagaAhktEALw_wcB
IIRC, They rode the thing off a roof top and the combined suspension did what it should have on compression, but the rebound was super unpredictable and it threw the guy off.
Other than that, no fat tires with slow reezay compound and with Huck Norris over Cush Core?
Add some Revgrips