Bike Check: Remy Morton's Chainless 26"/24" Mini-Mullet Park Bike
When we first reached out to Remy to get the details and thoughts behind his wildly unique park bike he was out of cellular range and digging deep in the bush for an upcoming video project that will no doubt leave you in awe of his silky style. The Queenstown local was an up-and-coming downhill racer until a massive crash at the 2017 Loose Fest reset his perspective on riding. After showcasing his skills on jump tracks and revisiting the monstrous jumps at other Fest Series stops, he quickly adapted his downhill bike to something more specific.
Remy specifically chooses to run shorter cranks, no transmission, and smaller wheels, even if that means searching the used market for old suspension forks. Major influences for these seemingly odd choices come from motocross, like a more centered stance and snappy handling wheels.
We chatted with Remy to find out more about why he rides such a particular bike setup and how he came to realize what components work best for him.
Commencal Furious Details
Frame: 2022 Commencal Furious, size medium, 200 mm travel
Fork: 2014 26" Fox 40, 203 mm travel, red spring
Shock: EXT Arma V3 shock, 550 spring - factory tuned
Controls: Chromag OSX bar 780 mm width, Director stem, & Overture saddle
Brakes: Hope Tech 3 V4, 200 mm floating rotors
Pedals: Chromag Dagga
Cranks: Hope Kids cranks 135 mm length w/Hope BB
Hubs: Hope Pro 4
Tires: Maxxis Minion 2.5" front, Duro DH 3.0" rear, tubes at 40/45 PSI F/R
Rims: We Are One Composites Coup 26” front, Sun Ringle Double Track 24” rear
More info: https://www.commencal-store.com
Frame: 2022 Commencal Furious, size medium, 200 mm travel
Fork: 2014 26" Fox 40, 203 mm travel, red spring
Shock: EXT Arma V3 shock, 550 spring - factory tuned
Controls: Chromag OSX bar 780 mm width, Director stem, & Overture saddle
Brakes: Hope Tech 3 V4, 200 mm floating rotors
Pedals: Chromag Dagga
Cranks: Hope Kids cranks 135 mm length w/Hope BB
Hubs: Hope Pro 4
Tires: Maxxis Minion 2.5" front, Duro DH 3.0" rear, tubes at 40/45 PSI F/R
Rims: We Are One Composites Coup 26” front, Sun Ringle Double Track 24” rear
More info: https://www.commencal-store.com
 | The most impressive mod I’ve ever made to any bike I’ve owned would be the 135mm Hope cranks. I first tried those with 27.5" wheels, which felt incredible. That made the rear end feel really long, harder to manual, and more effort to whip though. I could adjust my riding style to that setup, but I knew that if I used a smaller wheel on the back, it would put everything into proportion. The instance I dropped into the first corner with the 24" rear wheel it blew my mind. Now, the BB sits 19mm lower than standard, but having the short cranks kind of equals out my body positioning. The benefit of having a central body position on such a low frame is mental. The bike accelerates quickly on both jumps and corners compared to 29" or even 27.5" wheeled bikes. Being built specifically for park riding I couldn’t ask for a better result! |
Many hours went into polishing the crowns and stem to match the factory finish of the alloy frame.
Remy prefers Chromag's smaller 31.8 mm diameter combo. He's running an uncut, 25mm rise OSX bar and 47mm length Director stem. The bar roll is fairly neutral as he likes to align the vertical rise with the head angle.
Proflow Suspension helped to dial in the fork settings specifically for predictability over jumps. Remy is running a red spring, the firmest available, and the rebound is fully closed. He tried using offset bushings on the shock to revert the geometry to the stock 27.5" wheeled setup, but preferred the lower, planted ride height.
| The suspension feels solid and slow, except once you’re up to pace it’s as planted as my race-tuned shock. It’s incredible. |
EXT's Arma downhill shock gets a custom tune and a 550 lb spring to absorb huge impacts. Remy says that when you sit on the shock it feels like a slope bike - slow and solid.
Even the hanger has been removed for the odd grind and a 4-cross spoke lacing pattern on the rear wheel increases the lateral stiffness.
Remy found that a rubber stopper used on some slopestyle bikes to keep the cranks in place caused too much friction to move about the bike in the air. The shorter length makes relocating the pedals more natural for foot-off dangles too.
135mm length Hope Kids cranks help to keep Remy's stance square, closer to a motocross bike. He says it's the most significant component that has changed the ride feel.
A 26" Maxxis Minion up front and a massive 3-inch wide 24" Duro DH tire makes this park sled a mini-mullet. The pressures are set to 40 and 45 psi front and rear. The rear tire is actually made for unicycles and the rim was retrieved from Whistler, but sat in his shed for seven years. Remy gives credit to the FAF Crew for pioneering this kind of setup. From the outside, it may come across as a bit of a dirt bag build, but there is plenty of logic behind it. The small rear wheel accelerates faster, making it less effort to pull up on jumps.
Between Remy's incredibly specific chromed-out bike, a Red Bull helmet, and exposed tattooed legs with tall white socks, it's impossible to mistake him for any other rider out there.
| I also have a massive appreciation for all of my sponsors for allowing me to be out of the ordinary and be myself! Huge love to you all! |
Author Info:
Member since Mar 16, 2001
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no, a dedicated SS hub is not possible on this frame because no one makes one
Me: 24 aint dead?!!!!
www.pinkbike.com/photo/6045516
This is why I’ve taken my “downcountry” bike, stiffened up the suspension no end, ripped the dropper post off it, chucked a BMX seat on it and I’m setting it up singlespeed as a kind of mini free ride rig to just go and play around in the woods on. I hate climbing anyway so it’s back to basics, push up the hill and send it n the way down.
Good to see more people tinkering.
I bought a Giant Trance 2 29er from work last October and rode it stock for a while, soon realised that I was using maybe 2 or 3 of the 12 gears most of the time because I’m not into climbing, just the fun coming down the hill (but my local trails don’t warrant the need for more than 140mm travel, really). I also realised because of this, the dropper post spent most of the time in the “down” position. So I ditched the gears in favour of a singlespeed setup, ditched the dropper for a BMX seat and post. And I set up the suspension quite stiff and with extra volume spacers to maintain that playful, BMX feel I like. So now I get weird looks when people take a look at my bike, but it suits my riding style very well. It’s basically a 29er slope style bike at this point but fun for me. Maybe I’ll switch to a mullet wheel setup at some point to give that a try, just because it’s something else to play with and it interests me to see what difference it will make in my riding.
Schwalbe as well: www.amazon.com/Schwalbe-Folding-Tubeless-Performance-TwinSkin/dp/B07FK7MPGZ/ref=sr_1_9
The bike part shortage is really getting outta hand..
However the Mullet set up can f**k off!
Death row? What a brother know
Once again, back is the incredible rhyme animal
The uncannable D, Public Enemy Number One“
Digging this renegade shit
And I have blown up a mech and had to go chainless to get out a couple times. Don't recall feet just blowing off left and right trying to go FOFO in those cases.
m.pinkbike.com/photo/21868356
What a time to be alive!