First Look: Ghost Bikes AMR Riot 9
Ghost Bikes began their AMR line in 2006, with the intent of creating a well-rounded trail machine, and the Riot is the German company's latest addition to this series, featuring a revised suspension design, 27.5” wheels, a full carbon frame, and 130mm of travel. There are currently only three frames in existence, but full production is slated to begin soon, and the bikes should be available next spring. There will be three versions of the Riot, each equipped with the same frame but different parts packages. We were able to take a close look and get out on an initial ride aboard the Riot 9, which comes decked out in a full Shimano XTR package with Fox suspension for $7300. The Riot 7 will have a slightly less extravagant parts package and retail for $5250, and there will also be an even lower priced Riot 5. | Details • 130mm travel • 27.5" wheels • 68 degree head angle • 435mm chainstay length • 142x12mm thru-axle, BB92 • Internal cable routing • Frame weight (claimed): 2.1kg • MSRP as shown (estimated, without pedals): $7300USD |
Ghost Bikes' Riot Link.
Frame Design and Suspension Layout
The AMR Riot has a full carbon frame with lightweight aluminum rocker links (both sides of the upper link weigh in at only 80g). Ghost's industrial designer used to work for a luxury car manufacturer, and the clean lines and sleek headtube shaping on the AMR Riot certainly wouldn't be out of place on a high end sports car. Internal cable routing keeps the brake, derailleur and dropper post cables tucked away from the elements, and a 142x12 rear thru axle secures the rear wheel and adds further stiffness.
The AMR Riot features a different suspension design than the more traditional four bar linkage found on their previous models. This new iteration, called the Riot Link, uses a chainstay-driven short rocker link to control the last portion of the shock's travel. While still a four bar linkage, this design allows Ghost Bikes' engineers to exercise greater control over the bike's suspension curve. The first 80% of the travel is designed to have a digressive damping profile, providing a pedalling platform early in the stroke and then becoming more linear as the shock moves through its travel. The Riot Link activates during the final 20% of the bikes travel, creating a highly progressive end stroke that makes it difficult to bottom out the suspension. This suspension design also greatly reduces the forces on the upper rocker link, and keeps the mass closer to the bottom bracket for a lower center of gravity. Ghost decided to go with bushings instead of cartridge bearings on the AMR Riot's pivot locations, and found that the combination of Norglide bushings with aluminum axle hardware made for a low maintenance, low friction system.
The AMR Riot has a full carbon frame with lightweight aluminum rocker links (both sides of the upper link weigh in at only 80g). Ghost's industrial designer used to work for a luxury car manufacturer, and the clean lines and sleek headtube shaping on the AMR Riot certainly wouldn't be out of place on a high end sports car. Internal cable routing keeps the brake, derailleur and dropper post cables tucked away from the elements, and a 142x12 rear thru axle secures the rear wheel and adds further stiffness.
The AMR Riot features a different suspension design than the more traditional four bar linkage found on their previous models. This new iteration, called the Riot Link, uses a chainstay-driven short rocker link to control the last portion of the shock's travel. While still a four bar linkage, this design allows Ghost Bikes' engineers to exercise greater control over the bike's suspension curve. The first 80% of the travel is designed to have a digressive damping profile, providing a pedalling platform early in the stroke and then becoming more linear as the shock moves through its travel. The Riot Link activates during the final 20% of the bikes travel, creating a highly progressive end stroke that makes it difficult to bottom out the suspension. This suspension design also greatly reduces the forces on the upper rocker link, and keeps the mass closer to the bottom bracket for a lower center of gravity. Ghost decided to go with bushings instead of cartridge bearings on the AMR Riot's pivot locations, and found that the combination of Norglide bushings with aluminum axle hardware made for a low maintenance, low friction system.
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 A look at the Riot Link in action. As the shock nears the end of its stroke the link is activated, creating a more progressive end stroke. |
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| Another design feature of note is the rear brake mount. To avoid transferring too much braking stress to the frame's carbon seatstay, the rear disc mount is attached at a 90 degree angle at the front of the caliper, and the rear sits over the 142x12 rear thru axle. Ghost's engineers also found that mounting the brake this way helped eliminate the braking noise that can occur with misaligned calipers. |
Pinkbike's Take:
 | Our brief time on the AMR Riot 9 left us intrigued. A nimble climber (no doubt aided by its overall light weight), it also felt quite capable on the downhills, capable enough that we were left wondering how it would handle with a stouter, longer travel fork. This change would slacken the geometry slightly, pushing the Riot 9 towards the all-mountain side of the spectrum. In any case, we're excited to spend more time aboard the Riot when production begins, at which time we'll be able to fully see what this bike can handle. - Mike Kazimer |
www.ghost-bikes.com
Author Info:
Bellingham, WA, United States
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So deeeeeight, please educate me on how having all the stresses transferred through one small bolt, somehow avoids transferring the stress at all? The stresses HAVE to go into the stays. If you want to minimize the negative affects of these stresses you need to spread them over as large an area as possible. This design does entirely the opposite thing. But seeing as you clearly have a degree and huge amount of experience in the material properties of carbon fiber, please explain why this bolt on mount helps. I eagerly wait your rant, i mean response....
Oh and by the way..."If you do not understand (basic geometry).... then don't chime in with your opinions on how to engineer a frame."
You would be correct if the brake mount was not around the axel, if there was only one bolt all stress would be transferred into it, and into the stay, but the mount is locked around the axel with very minimal clearance (maybe 1/4 of a mm) so the stress is shared between the bolt and the axel. i understand your point about rotational force but your seeing it the wrong way, and its hard to explain without diagrams....
even lower than $5250, thats very generous of ghost
Also while many PB members may like to think that the website is made up of mostly DH riders, that just isn't the case either. Perhaps ten years ago when the site was young and the membership was small that was the case, but not any longer.
Also not everyone uses the polls because they are stupid and a waste of time. I don't give a shit if every last person who I follow filled out the poll saying whether they are male or female (true story), I just want to see pics of their sexy new bikes...