Mick Hannah has been a strong competitor on the World Cup circuit longer than many people have been riding bikes. He's been racing at the top level for over two decades, starting in BMX and then upping wheel sizes to the mountain bike.
For the 2019 season, 'Sik Mik' Hannah is once again on the Polygon UR team, along with his younger sister Tracey, rounding out a stout roster of riders.
With his experience, Mick has undoubtedly played a vital role in product development over the years for various brands, Polygon included. We recently caught up with Mick in Rotorua to check out his XquarOne DH bike and see how he had it set up. With the bike's NAILD R3ACT suspension, it's certainly one of the more interesting looking rides out right now. Mick was also running a 29" wheel up front and a 27.5" wheel out back. This is something we have heard a lot of talk about since the UCI's rule change this last year, and we're all curious to see how much we actually see it between the tape
on the clock this season. Mick says that it's the only set up he's experimented with, but likes the way it rides so he's sticking with it as is for now.
This is the second year that the team has been running this frame. Mick was on a size large last year but has switched over to the XL for at least the time being.
Mike Kazimer did an in-depth first ride on the XquarOne last season and explained the system well. Here's his quick, "how it works" if you don't feel like surfing back to
the article: "The swingarm is attached to the front triangle by a short aluminum link, and the shock is driven by a yoke that wraps around the seat tube. That description would work for a number of dual-link designs, but there's one more element to this system – an aluminum stanchion tube that the swingarm slides over. No, it's not another shock, just like the two short rods on Yeti's Switch Infinity design aren't tiny shocks either. Instead, this layout allows for the bike to have a consistent amount of anti-squat (between 98 – 110%) throughout the entire gear range.
In theory, that means the bike should still pedal well even if you're at the bottom of the cassette and need to throw in a couple of extra pedal strokes to get speed for a jump, or putting down the power for a final sprint to the finish line. The NAILD design works best with a shock that has a very low amount of compression and rebound damping"
Trickstuff's Maxima brakes on board to deliver copious amounts of stopping power. Galfa pads and rotors, 203mm. Mick's handlebars are at 780mm. He'll occasionally run a narrower bar, especially for urban races.
Tire pressures are 26 in the front and 27 in the back. Tubeless with Kenda Hellcats and no inserts of any sort...simply air. There's a 29" wheel up front and a 27.5" out back. Snug clearance on the SR Suntour fork. E*thirteen wheelsets keep things spinning.
Custom shock set-up from Fast Suspension with a 550lb spring.
75 psi in the fork. Riders are constantly trying out different set-ups and Mick says the track in Rotorua makes the front of the bike want to dive a lot with a lot of the holes in the faster steeper sections. He runs more damping and more volume spacers there to keep the bike from diving.
The eye-catching suspension design on the XquarOne delivers 220mm of travel. The R3ACT system provides a lot of pedaling efficiency and anti-squat even when you're deep into the gear range.
Box Components' 7-speed rear derailleur coupled with E*Thirteen cranks.
An integrated fender helps to keep the muck off of the suspension.
MENTIONS: @sickmick83 /
@Polygonbikes
It is funny how the head angle seems steep. Should be slacker with the smaller rear wheel. Maybe it was "too slack" and they reversed angle set it?? (pry just the picture)
m.pinkbike.com/photo/17074326
m.pinkbike.com/photo/17074328
I have mine on the way, and this is the first time heard of someone with this bike.
Greetings!
The bike is inherently low already and I think that seat tube really exaggerates the angles for the rest of the bike. A 29" fork should work ok, but I get on with 27.5 wheels just fine.
I know it's a weird looking bike, but after sprinting on it and taking some rock sections on I was really impressed to experience the stiff, bottomless, active suspension. Cool that more of these bikes will be out in the wild.
Cheers and don't listen to the haters!
Does dump mean shit?
Shit off a chairlift?
Love the Box Components slogan, "Be Different" very much puts it right in perspective.
(OR maybe it's like when your brain is exposed to a traumatic event and there is a natural coping mechanism that lets you live with tragedy...)
Naild
R3acT2Play
XquareOne
Its like their target audience are 15 year olds or something.
Finally, calling it XquarOne DH with NAILD R3ACT suspension is hurting the reputation of these bikes. Come up with more normal names for your weird frames.
Nice to see the team giving Box a chance to proof in the World Cup and always nice to see these Trickstuff Brakes on more and more World Cup bikes!
Hybrid build or MX (whatever you want to call it) is perfect for steep downhill tracks! My wife runs their Canyon with 29 front and 27,5+ rear and this Thing flies down the hill!
m.pinkbike.com/news/aaron-gwin-box-shifter-and-derailleur.html
Coincidence?
MAN -- that's a Marin knock off or what?
www.pinkbike.com/news/marin-wolf-ridge-first-ride.html
Read the first sentence.
www.pinkbike.com/news/Redalp-Downhill-Bikes-2012.html