Pivot Shows New Downhill Bike at First World Cup

June 10th, 2010 11:28pm

There was talk in the paddock, but not until this weekend was it public knowledge. Pivot Bikes unleashed it's new downhill bike at the first world cup of the year in Mariboro where Mitch Delfs snagged a 15th place for the brand without the aid of copious amounts of pre-season testing. Bicycle World doesn't have as much news as we would like, but what we do have is this.

The DH rig features a Chris Cocalis interpretation of the DW link suspension with a custom tuned Fox RC4 shock. Having personally raced the Pivot Mach 4 (see test elsewhere on the site) for a full season now I can't wait to climb aboard this thing. It looks sick, and 15th place right out of box shows you that this is no experiment. The pictures prove it, the results so far speak for themselves. Here is the tech stuff as we got it in bullet point format.

Suspension:

• dw-link suspension design with position sensitive anti-squat
• 8.15” (207mm) rear Travel
• The Phoenix is designed to have an ultra plush feel and compliance on par with the world’s best downhill bikes. However, it has a distinct advantage in overall control and pedaling efficiency. Square edge bump absorption is incredible and the suspension remains stable and controlled in even the most extreme conditions.
• Although based on the World Championship winning Sunday, the Phoenix is not a Sunday! The Sunday took the concept of using a position sensitive shock as a bottom out device. Phoenix DH shares a similar leverage ratio curve for the first part of the travel, and then remains slightly progressive through the end travel (The opposite of the Sunday). The Phoenix DH runs slightly higher spring rates and a curve that is more in line with what we developed for the Firebird.

Geometry and Handling:

• The Phoenix DH features a 64 degree head tube angle, 13.6” BB height, and 17.25 Chainstay length.
Dropouts are changeable and will allow for both a change in chainstay length and BB height. As we develop the bike with our World Cup Downhill team, we expect that some riders may opt for even a slightly lower BB height on some courses where as riders wanting to use the bike in a more park type setting might choose to raise the BB to about 13.8” with a slightly shorter chainstay length. The removable dropout option offers a lot of flexibility to tune the bike to the rider and the course.

Adjustable Head Angle:

• The Phoenix DH headtube is indexed and head angle is easily adjustable at 0, and +/- ½, 1, or 1.375 degree settings via a new adjustable head angle design. More details regarding this design will be released to the media on Monday, June 21st.
• The shock and main linkage are mounted as low as possible in the frame. The shock housing/main pivot/bottom bracket area are designed to allow easy access to all damping adjustments on the Fox RC4 shock.
• The Phoenix DH’s low center of gravity and low BB give the bike excellent cornering and handling characteristics. Combined with the dw-link design’s position sensitive anti-squat, we can achieve the handling and cornering benefits of the lower bottom bracket without the negatives of a low BB height on other designs

Frame Stiffness:

• As with all Pivot frames, frame stiffness and durability are a key part of all our designs. The Phoenix DH takes this to a whole new level.
• 1.5 Headtube with massive oversize thin wall hydro-formed downtube.
• 2 part hollow BB/seat tube/main pivot forging is both lightweight and incredibly stiff. Plus all front triangle pivot locations are machined on one part, making the pivot locations extremely accurate.
• Rear swing arm features two piece hollow forged box uprights. The rear triangle is stiff and accurate with all pivots being located on the main uprights. This design is incredibly stiff and lightweight.
• Lower link uses 17mm diameter main pivot pins and double row EnduroMax bearings for maximum durability and frame stiffness.
The upper linkage features 16mm diameter hardware and double row EnduroMax bearings for maximum durability and frame stiffness.

Design Details:

• Optimized lightweight design. Complete test bikes are sitting at 39lbs. Team bikes should come in at about 37lbs.
• Standard 83mm Threaded shell with ISCG mounts.
• 150mm rear spacing with 12mm through axle.
• Fox RC4 rear shock
• Two frame colors with multiple decal color options