A FULL BUILD
PART SELECTION:
THE FORK: While many compatible parts such as bars, stem, wheels (Including juicy, fat 3" tires) were easy to source as they are standard parts, things like suspension were a little trickier so I had to look outside of the normal scope to find what would fit.
The suspension had to meet the criteria I set for it; Big & Beefy, Capable & Air-sprung, and above all, Available - so that if at any point I decided to sink my life savings into creating this bike, I could. Theoretically.
The Paralititan has a very slack 62-degrees head angle for the purpose of keeping it as low as possible, therefore finding a fork which would deal with extra flex was important.
One of, if not the last 12 inch suspension bicycle fork still in production is Risse Racing's Big Foot fork (the one Bender used in his famous Jaw Drop video). While considered, with coil spring and 36mm stanchions, I decided to turn to our brothers in the motorsport department in order to explore other viable options.
The WP XPLOR PRO 7448 is air sprung, features 40mm stanchions, a 12inch stroke and is designed to take big hits. While it weighs approx 7.5kg (For reference the Super Monster weighed ~5.8kg) it is still one of the lightest in the moto world, so I deemed it appropriate for what this project is trying to accomplish.
The biggest hurdle in transpeciation grafting said forks is the incompatibility in the steer tube. This, however, was not a cause for worry, as the best thing about theoretical works like this is the unlimited imaginary budget I have given myself leaving me able to simply say you’d probably have to get some custom crowns machined. Problem solved.
(Far Left) Risse Big Foot 12", (Left) WP XPLOR PRO 7448, (Right) To-Scale, Side-by-side Shock Comparison, (Far Right) Effigear Mimic Gearbox
THE SHOCKThe Shock: I equally did not think it wise to impose 300mm of wheel travel on a shock with 75mm stroke as this would be akin to designing a downhill bike around a tiny XC Shock. Once again, looking at what the motorised riders are running, this time in the world of ATV and snomobiles, I settled on Fox's Float 3 Evol R ATV front Shock. While not rich in adjustment, the huge stroke and air volume render it more than capable for this application, the overall large size also helps with the overall proportion of what is a big ‘big bike’.
GEARINGLow BBs are not possible on 12-inch travel bikes, but with bigger wheels and modern gearboxes, they can be lower in relation to the axles. The development of gearboxes and axle-mounted chainrings has made 40T chainrings no longer necessary, increasing clearance under the bottom bracket - in this case having opted for 26T - in comparison to 40T of old provides over an inch of extra clearance, which was spent on lowering the BB height. A high pivot redirects the travel back and up meaning the saddle is further forward in relation to the wheel upon compression, allowing you to run it lower, giving significantly more room for movement between the legs and contributing to an all-round more ‘rideable’ feel. In this case I opted for the effigear Mimic, due to offering just the right number of gears while having the ability to be run with a standard, non twist-grip shifter.
Big thanks to Effigear for sharing with me the info and resources I needed to complete this project.
Frame With Gearbox & Shock
I see the odd bike release article with a Geo chart which I as a European struggle with as I don't always feel up to the task of converting every dimension I see to metric. This is why I wanted to make this one as inclusive as possible.
A size comparison of the full titan against a SantaCruz V10 to help you picture it in your mind.
THE E-BIKE VERSION
BY POPULAR DEMAND
Having run this design by a number of my friends, a frequent response I got was "You should make an e-bike version."
So here it is:
"Images you can feel the weight of"
FINAL THOUGHTS
My hope with this undertaking is to show how modern advancements in bike tech have the potential to solve many issues which have plagued the huck bikes of old. And while modern 8-inch bikes are extremely capable, how much more would a bike like the Paralititan be? Maybe this will inspire a builder out there to try a project like this, and maybe, just maybe this will help usher in a New World Disorder.
SRAM's .99mm was just the launch point
Waki loved gearboxes, Waki was polish, Waki loved antidote/unno frames, Waki had the graphic design experience to create something like this....
But if the only thing this bike is good for is absorbing the impact of being dropped from a great height, you'd want a 90 degree head angle
This is also a selling point of inverted forks; they tend to not bind at all from lateral or torsional loads.
Note that multiple race bikes over the last 20 years did try out more travel and have come back down to around 200 mm. The Santa Cruz V10 used to have 254 mm travel back in 2008 back, but have since come back down to 215 mm. Intense and Kona had similar stories.
But that is for race bikes, not freeride cliff hucking bikes.
Maybe there is a track where this would work better than a light bike? Teams are experimenting with adding weight already????
"Make it an ebike"
-literally no one
If it was available here and not crazy priced(im expecting expensive though,)
Fun project though!
This is a really great project. I also wonder if there are other forks out there being built for the Sur Ron type of e dirt bikes that could suit.
A couple more tweaks and your huck-monster will be ready to roll... then drop.
I am a bit worried the front end might be too heavy with that fork, but maybe it gets balanced out with that suuuuper long chainstay length?
Also I have to say I don't believe you'd want it to be that slack though, I'm thinking 64 degrees is good on something like this. But I love to see different perspectives for making a 300mm huck bike, I am in the process of getting a custom frame designed, but trying to decide on what geometry I want is taking a bit of time for me to decide on. With a big fork up front and all that stack height, you can't just re-use the same geo as any other bike!
Just to make it heavier
And less practical
And more like a moto
Or get an enduro motorbike and take the engine out and slap some pedals on it
Easy ; )
Sendy
Cable routing through the headset of course
Hello Fox Factory
Yes I’d like to order 50 gazillion volume spacers please
Also ,do ya have any flip chips in stock
I gonna need like uhhh ,idk, 20 or so
How about a top down view? How wide are the "chainstays" with a 3" inch tire, two links, and a pivot, in between them? Heel-rub central back there!
Cool project
"Giraffe Rodeo" indeed
Also, nukethequads!
They also have _much_ smaller wheels. This project certainly looks great, but that particular premise is a bit flawed...
Shimano grab OK but lack the sheer grunt/modulation unless you squeeze super hard.
I have the new hope Brakes arrive not long ago that im due to test shortly, just putting together my 3 new nukeproofs ill be riding for the next 3 months
Been really trying to get my hands on some trick stuff but my order from may last year is still not sent.
Maybe that's what would make more travel work? 48" wheels and 400 mm travel (-:
This bike will never exist except as a computer rendering, and has nothing meaningful to offer in terms of design or engineering.
April Fools was a few months ago-isn’t there some actual content you could post??