Interbike 2010 - Corsair Dominion

 you can also change the shock and fork on the stolen bike and pretend its the slopestyle one.. a thiefs dream bike

 I totally agree. Where I live, there are no big mountains - just small local DH where a 6-7" park bike would be ideal. BUT I don't want to give up on the idea of having a full-on DH bike either, for the occasional trip to the mountains. And as we all know, keeping a high-end bike that only gets used occasionally is expensive and not really practical (since they get replaced every 3-5 years anyway), so I think this gives you great options.

 That's my life completely, I ride a 5 inch trail bike most of the time, and then 6 inch or so on the shore. Every now and then I'd like to have a full DH rig, but not enough to keep a $5000+ bike sitting in my garage for the 5 or 6 days a year that I'd use it....

 such a smart move by corsair! looks dialed! cant wait to hear more about it and test one myself

 and it reminds me of a transformer!

 Shock placement looks a bit dodgy on the SS build, swingarm going to hit the reservoir?

 haha...... 69 degree head angle

 wheres the laundry mat

 great idea but now you need 3 forks and 3 shocks or less but you could buy another bike for that cost....imo.

 ^yep def cheaper for the manufacturer...good idea,very cost effective;for the company

 thats the one that was stolen out of interbike, wasnt it?

 yes it was

 I like how if a manufacturer makes three different bikes for three different applications they're labeled as trying to "increase profit" (as if that's a bad thing) and if they make ONE bike for three applications they're also labeled as trying to "increase profits". Well thought out guys. And oh, one day you'll realize that "increasing profit" is the only way to stay in business.

 Those bikes are BEAUTIFUL! And I love the idea of owning one bike and a couple shocks rather than 3 bikes. Great innovation and definitely a bike to keep in mind for the next upgrade!

 what are the travel options?

 apart from its not a single pivot.

 i still love my konig... but i may have to pick up one of these!

 The design of the Dominion is almost 30% more expensive to produce then the Konig due to the types of design and cost of cncing every shape that isn't a tube. The Konig is one type of bike and that's it. No front derailleur, no shock options, no adjustable chainstays. A Dominion can accept four lengths of shocks which can't be included and is up to the consumer to "chose" the brand the like the most. It makes no sense to buy 300 rear shocks of a brand and size a rider doesn't want. Paint and graphics is more about the longevity of a paintjob through a years worth of abuse. No paint means options to paint or do what ever you want in the long run. Without including shocks and paintjobs the production time to get frames to the rider is cut by 25% and in the long run you get to chose what ever you want the bike to be.

I understand this is a very expensive sport and I could guess that 95% of the people in it can't actually afford to maintain and build all the bikes they would like to ride. The Dominion is a long term answer to the cost of riding.

Pablo

 Thanks for the thoughts Pablo. You're a cool guy man.



I'm thinking Konig $1500, take away $200 for shock and paint is $1300 to make, import, disribute and retail the frame.

If the Dominion is 30% more expensive to manufacture, that gives me a price of $1690 (or less). I live in Taiwan and I know that bikes are cheaper to produce than Western MSRP suggests because retail prices here are shedloads lower than in Western countries. Upto 50% less than the exact same model in the UK in some cases.

I feel this should be reflected in your local prices but sadly they seem to be set the same as US prices. If Giant, Scott, Specialized etc can do it for less here surely you can too!

Don't get me wrong I'm fully into the idea, I think it's great and I really want one, but I also think it's set to be priced a little bit too high. I'm not saying they're as good but I can literally buy a Glory 01 or similar complete bike for about $300 more than a Dominion frame is likely to cost. Economies of scale I know but money talks and a free pair of Boxxers is pretty appealing!

 I think you've done a fantastic thing with this bike and I'm still planning to buy one when they come out. I'm just trying to appeal to you on behalf of the 95% of riders who can't really afford the bike they want. Not many potential buyers are really going to change their setup as often as they could with this bike and in all honesty most people who buy it aren't going to keep it for more than two or three years before getting a new bike (such is the nature of consumerism). They could but they won't, because if they can afford this now they can afford a new one down the track. For me it will be pretty much one set up, maybe two shocks but only one fork.



I understand your point about I can choose my own shock and paint sceme and of course I would prefer to do so, but I think the reduction in production cost created by the decision to not include a shock or paint should be passed on to the consumer. Obviously not including paint and a shock is going to save quite a bit of money and I hope you can pass that on.

I love it, all I'm saying is please just drop the retail price a bit... please! $1700US a hit and you can still pay the mortgage! Think of all the extra frames you could sell if you dropped the price by $300...

 That bike looks dialed. How long till I can buy it? and what price range would it be for?

 Around $2000 usd without a shock and they will be available between March-June.

 Thats awesome!

 lol so much for nice and affordable... 2000$ frame and 3 shocks and 3 forks? thats easily the cost of 3 bikes

 well if i were to get this bike i would use the freeride version for dh and freeride and the slopestyle for dj's and obviously slopestyle. if you deck the bike out (and when your spending this much on a frame your bike is clearly going to be coming out $5000+) all you would need is to buy an extra shock and an extra fork. that would be 2200 at max so technically you would have 2 bikes worth 5000+ and you would only be spending approx. 2200 fr the second one. i think its an awsome idea

 hey mate you have total cheesedick tats

 Thanks mate!

 yeah samsquatch i guess youre right but thats still pricey.

 I have to agree, as is said "jack of all trades, master of none"

 Another new model from us is the Ambush which is our "slopestyle/4x" specific frames set which will be shown in more detail later. The Dominion will not be our DH "race" specific frame but represents an enormous study and design commitment to an area of versatility I can offer. A medium Dominion weighs in at 9.7 lbs with steel coil 9.5" ete shock and steel hardware with 73mmX135mm spacing. The old Konig frame design Zink's running is actually very similar in weight and design and he's doing fine on it.

The commitment I've given to this project is about versatility to us as riders when purchasing the frame. The freedom to create what you want it to be without weight/geometric disadvantages is what I wanted my friends to experience. DH/FR/SS all encounter similar forces and have to have the same lifespans so frame weights are within a pound depending on shock types and lengths. Since the Dominion isn't our pure SS design, the "option" of getting it to a SS geo and travel is always an advantage to who ever chooses to buy it. These new designs are also a reaction to an industry that has created a culture of athletes that can't afford this sports product and travel. I felt it's a worth while attempt to design addition features into a frame that would otherwise be only one thing to one type of rider and as rider I've always wanted to explore all type of trails and riding styles.

Feel free to ask any questions about the new bikes and the new website will be up in about a month to give a more precise explanation about all the new models and purposes.

Pablo

 whitetux... Don't get me wrong I'm ALLLL for a rider buying three$ Dominions and setting them up differently

 Fox used to have a shock like that, the AVA or something, you could change length of body and stroke length to fit any frame.

 C'mon kids, your myopia is shining through. Lest you forget that Corsair already makes bikes that are specific to each application. This one just gives you the freedom of having one frame that can be modified to address each discipline. It was never meant to replace having 3 bikes, BUT there are people like myself with multiple bikes and parts where something like this would save lots of space. Also, I like the idea of having a bike that can be a DH sled one day, then a bike park killer the next, all while retaining the same cockpit controls, seat, cranks, pedals, etc. Also, if you can afford a bike like this in the first place, the cost of an additional fork and shock to expand its capabilities is not too far-fetched.

 Haters gonna hate.... I really like the idea of this, surprised no one has done it till now. Really a bike like that isn't far from what a lot of people are doing with their mid travels, but taken a step further. Good to see a designer post up such a well written response too.

 I really didn't pay attention to any other companies product range when I became motivated to create this new chapter of Corsair 2.0 . The only influence behind the Dominion was serving the riders(us) confidence and their wallets... Designing has been the greatest form of making my friends happy that I could ever be blessed with and when trying to make us as riders as happy as possible you really have to listen to the environment a hundred times more then you normally would. The environments of riding and manufacturing when done right really become the designers of the bike over yourself and that's where connecting to your friends becomes more important then the product. I don't care about bikes(I do).. just their relationships they create and inspire.

The Dominion/Ambush project combines the best technologies I could create with geometry formulas that gives freedom at all levels. Freedom for the rider to create any bike they want when they want. Freedom to travel with one frame and a couple forks and shocks.. Freedom for the bike-shop/distributor to tailor the frame with whatever rear shock that fits their region and customer... Freedom to style and keep a crisp new looking expression of graphics.. whatever they may be... Freedom for Corsair to be able to afford production runs without purchasing 1000 rear shocks of a single brand that a region of the planet may not want... freedom to keep a "green" outlook on the environmental effect of painting frames...I don't want to waste anyones time and money.. The people behind Corsair 2.0 have spent an irrational amount of personal time to give "us" the riders the freedom to enjoy alllll the mountains, dirt and gravity have to offer.

Cameron Zink is an amazing friend and I would never of given him the first prototype Dominion to compete with at the Rampage if it wasn't right. Hope that makes sense and if you have any more questions about it just email me at Pablo@corsairbikes.com

Thanks

P

 I think that says all that needs to be said. Anyone that questions the logic of this bike after the post above needs some serious mental assistance.

 Dominion will be my next frame for sure. I change bikes a lot. And the freedom to completely build up a bike from sratch any way I want for anything I want to use it for is a sweet deal.

 Jack of all trades, master of rampage hahaha

 Cam Zink just won Rampage on one, that should be master of one for a start....

 Ahh man how many opportunities do you get in life for a come back like that hahaha.. priceless!

 that's why its adjustable. 62.5 to 69

 Everyone would. But it's a lot cheaper to own one frame and a couple shocks/forks.

 and if you're flying it's way cheaper to fly with one bike and extra parts. An extra bike box is an extra $100 minimum each way. That's $200 or more extra each trip. They don't charge extra for a fork and a shock in your bag...

 they might have forks from their hardtail and bought a second hand short travel shock to go with their usual dh build

 Alot more people than who can afford three bikes. But its not just the price of the bike that is the problem, its the fact that if you had three different bikes your are looking at some serious bills for maintaining all three and replacing broken parts. If you just have one bike the cost goes down for maintenance. And shocks are only a fraction of the price of what a bike costs and it doesn't cost much money to maintain shocks.

 its still cheaper to buy 3 forks and 3 shocks than 3 bikes, and i mean good bikes like this one. when you buy a bike you have to buy the shock and the forks too....

 for traveling the world its easier to take one bike with a TRAVEL ADJUSTABLE fork and a shock or two than it is to travel with three bikes...

 I understand what you mean by break downs and setups.. the intent is if you do ever choose to want the frame to be anything else other then a pure DH.. then it's possible. At the counter it's a freedom for one rider to buy it as a DH and another to buy it as a FR or a stout parkbike... It's an enormous challenge to design versatility into the Dominion so as not to infringe on the performance values of each style of riding.

 Bionicon fails. Jack of all trades, master of none, but this you can make what ever you want.

 Well yeah, they're good for trails and LIGHT DH, but I don't think it has enough of a step for it. I reckon it'd do well if it had the capability to go from 100-200mm travel, with lockouts etc, but that's probably too heavy.

 I would buy it. I already shift my reign x back and forth from bikepark freeride to AM every other ride. It isn't much hassle at all.

 How many people are rawing their bikes anyway now? Whats wrong with a frame being cheap?

As long as it hasn't compromised anything I cant see what all the negativity is all about. If you where to have two bikes, its saving you $2000 for another frame. Great you have to spend an hour changing the shit over.. but for 2k?!

 " okay, well it looks like corsair are just trying to make bikes as cheap as possible. one frame that they can sell for three different bikes reduces their cost by a massize amount "

I personally think that this is probably a good deal of the motivation for Corsair to design like this and this is a good thing as long as the savings are passed on to the consumer. A large part of the reason that this sport is so expensive is the fact that so many comanies completely re-invent thier product line every year or two. If Corsair can reduce their costs significantly enough so that they can offer a product like this at a reduced price, then kudos to them.

 So, if the cost to the end user (that's you, moonchav06) doesn't increase, and gives you the option to build 3 different bikes for 3 different applications, how is it bad that Corsair reduces their manufacturing costs? Because they won't send you 3 different sets of stickers?

 Sit pablo sit. Good dog.

 Dude, you are the only one talking sit here.

 That's also a new concept from Corsair, you don't put brakes on your Dominiom frame and you get a faster DH bike!

 Brakes only slow you down

 that's their skatepark/street set-up

 2000$

 Man...impressed to see you keepin your cool with all these choaderific little kids here. Not sure I'd even waste my breath here, the ignorance is overwhelming!

Here's my take on all this: I rip 3 seasons out of the year. During those three seasons all I need is a big travel, slacked out frame with a low BB and a dual crown. During the last part of fall, winter and the very beginning of spring(one really long season around here), the only thing I need is a trail bike.
Like someone above mentioned, a LOT of us have a crappy hardtail/short travel bike that we got cheap as a backup/play bike. Sell the frame to one of the choads above and throw the components in a box until the off season and trips. Be pretty nice to be able to go on big ride trips and not have to leave the AM and the DJ bikes chained into a truck HOPING most of their parts are still there when you get back.
And a second fork and shock is nothing compared to brakes and a quality drivetrain. That stuff would already be setup and ready to roll. If you can't swap a fork, a shock and some headset inserts in the time to eat a bowl of cereal, maybe you should stick with coloring books.