Mountain Cycle Two-Point-Oh! New Bikes, New Suspension Design, New Look

Written by Tyler Benedict Mar 25, 2011 2:39 p.m. ET

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Started in 1991, their monocoque frames were a common site on the DH scene back in the day, with a slightly less voluminous but still present contingent on the XC starting line. Then they dropped off the face of the earth.

Now, they’re back with a solid lineup of bikes from weight-weenie carbon XC hardtail to 29er to the rebuilt San Andreas 2.0 all-mountain bike above. In between those is the Zen II trail bike, and both it and the new San Andreas 2.0 use an all new suspension design dubbed TuneTable…and it looks and sounds impressive.

Want downhill? They’re trying to have their new Shockwave 2 ready to debut at the Sea Otter Classic. Jump past the break to see more pics and all the details…

The closeup photos of the new suspension are annoyingly just off subject, but here’s the deal: First, in MC’s general manager/designer Gerard’s words:

Our FS bikes remain Single Pivot but utilise a patent pending system called ‘Tunetable’ by the suspension legends at Sotto Design and Engineering. The system has a lot of people slapping their heads wondering why they didn’t think of it and is a tuned rocker that has the shock moving in a near perfect linear path with a nice progressive feel to it. It’s simple and insanely stiff.

Second, in our words: The bottom bracket, pivot and rocker are merged into a single, massive CNC piece called ‘MC Dex’. The single pivot rear swing arm connects to a second rocker with an eccentric movement that’s tuned to push the shock in a linear manner. Appearances suggest that the beefy linkage and frame members are indeed stiff.

The San Andreas 2.0 is a 6.5″ travel All-Mountain bike and carries forward the massive monocoque front triangle that always made their bikes stand out. “Tubes” are formed and butted alloy.

Their new bikes take advantage of modern standards like PF30 bottom brackets and Syntace X12 rear axle on the Zen II and San Andres 2.0, and all of their bikes will use Cane Creek’s Angleset, allowing the rider to tune the bike to fit their environment. The 2×10 cranksets and BB are from Turn Components, part of PraxisWorks, a custom OEM parts manufacturer based out of Santa Cruz, CA.

The bikes will be offered in two platforms:

“Standard” Single Build Spec – a complete bike built without “price point” concerns and spec’d the way they would want to ride them.
RC (Race Chassis) build – Frame, fork, Angleset headset, M35 crank set, wheels, saddle and post, with parts selected to let the bike perform the way it’s intended, but leaving most of the (rider and ground) contact points up to the end user.

The Zen II is their new 5.5″ travel trail bike. It uses the same single-pivot, eccentric linkage design as the San Andreas, but uses a more traditional looking (tubed) front triangle.

The Zen’s photos give a little better look at the linkage (click to enlarge) and the nice little cable management mushroom caps.

Mountain Cycles’ Twentynineandthirteen 29er hardtail is still in prototype stages in this photo, but it’ll have swappable rear dropouts. There will be a geared complete bike painted as shown above and in White/Black. They’ll also have a singlespeed / Gates belt drive model in Red. The sloping top tube design provides a pretty low standover height and lower center of gravity. Based on the supplied crankset, we’re guessing this bike also has some all-mountain aspirations.

Given that this bike is still in prototype form, we do hope they’ll consider running the cables under the top tube and not on the side. Knee rubbers like myself will greatly appreciate it.

They’re also delving into carbon fiber with their Twentysixandsix hardtail race bike. The frame is a 1,200g full carbon frame with matte finish. The complete bike gets custom red anodized cranks, XT shifters/derailleurs and SLX cassette with Avid Elixir brakes. Complete bike price is $3,189.

The dropouts look like they could be opened to insert a belt drive, but you’d need to run a tensioner.

Lastly, they’re offering a carbon rigid fork in both 26″ and 29er sizes with disc brake tabs:

It looks suspiciously similar to the new-ish Syncros carbon rigid fork…

The bikes are designed in California and built in Taiwan. Check their website for complete build specs on each bike.

Tyler Benedict

11,187 articles

Tyler Benedict is the Founder of Bikerumor.com. He has been writing about the latest bikes, components, and cycling technology for almost two decades. Prior to that, Tyler launched and built multiple sports nutrition brands and consumer goods companies, mostly as an excuse to travel to killer riding locations throughout North America.

Based in North Carolina, Tyler loves family adventure travel and is always on the lookout for the next shiny new part to make his bikes faster and lighter.

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Chunky

13 years ago

Hmmm, non of those are doing it for me.

mountguitars

13 years ago

i can’t see how the BB is eccentric. it looks the same to me. needs more pictures i guess or maybe i need to get my eyes checked.

Author

Tyler Benedict

13 years ago

MG, it’s not an EBB. From what we can tell, the linkage pivots on an eccentric axle, which would change the amount of movement in relation to the movement of the swingarm. Look at the small pic on the right for the Zen (click to enlarge) and you’ll the larger pivot with the linkage mounted lower inside that circle.

Varaxis

13 years ago

Where does it say the BB is eccentric? It says the linkage movement is eccentric and the BB is PF30 on the Zen and San Andreas.

yesplease

13 years ago

You are right chunky, all of them are ugly. Puke.

Gillis

13 years ago

I agree with Chunky…these look at least 10 years old. I know it shouldn’t matter as long as they ride well, but I’m a designer so I just can’t help it. I am curious about those massive CNC, red-ano dropouts on the hardtail. Yeah they look removable but they are also huge.

Joshua Murdock

13 years ago

Not gonna lie, these are all pretty goofy looking… I mean, looks aren’t everything, but they are a huge factor in making an appealing and marketable product. In regards the the 29’er, the geometry looks a bit off. It looks more like a dirt jump frame then a 29’er, but I haven’t ridden one, so that’s just an uninformed opinion based on looks. I think it would be great to see an older bike company make a comeback.

Joshua Murdock

13 years ago

I meant to add… the carbon fork looks very nice. Carbon legs and crown? Sweet. Is that a carbon steerer, as well? I can’t really tell. Either way, that’s pretty nice.

G...

13 years ago

The rocker pivots on an eccentric path, which delivers a near straight compression path into the shock.

And yes Joshua, the forks have a carbon crown as well.

In regards to looks…. I could not be more chuffed that the designs are polarizing people – so far people either love, or not, the bikes. Some have come back and say the designs have been growing on them as they look deeper.

As a company, it’s of the sort of design we needed and our aesthetic is totally intentional. There are plenty of ‘me too’ bikes already on the market, seemed little point to introduce yet another batch.

Cheers,

Gerard: General Manager | Design

Gillis

13 years ago

I believe most are being swayed by the looks of the first bike with that big arching toptube. The others look okay to me. Although the carbon xc bike looks more like an old OCLV frame. As a designer I would have liked to see a new take on the original design (not the suspension, just the look and feel of the original). Something to capture the spirit and vision people have of the brand.

just sayin

G...

13 years ago

Gillis,

It’s an interesting one and many different factors come into play.

Firstly, the images are deceptive. Even I look at the photo vs. the physical differently. In the flesh, the SA is tiny and that changes the way it appears dramatically – it’s super dynamic and the TT does ‘things’ not conveyed in the photo. Also, and more than you’d think, the design is actually a nice progression from the original and many have commented on this refection. In regards to the original form, without actually making another monocoque, there was no way V2.0 was ever going to have the same feel and there was no way we were going down the closed path of another mono design – far too many issues with that form of frame.

Second, as a designer, you should appreciate the decision I/we had to make – do we rehash something old, or do something fresh? I can cite more than a few examples in the auto/moto world where the same issues had to be addressed. It’s not easy, made only worse that the original San An is such an iconic bike that spurned so many different forms of copying in its 20 years. The reality is, no matter what we did, people would ‘object’. Certainly in over 20 years in the design field, this has been the most exciting and most daunting design I have ever had to do.

You might get a better feel it you catch these vids: http://www.vimeo.com/designronin

But like I previously said, the fact that the design’s causing strong reactions means that I’m happy and that we have done something original.

Cheers,

Gerard: General Manager | Design

DirtDawg

13 years ago

The San Andreas 2.0 is not what I’d call “beautiful” bikes, but it does depart from the currently prevailing aesthetic in the mountain bike industry, which is always refreshing.

Aaron

12 years ago

I think these bikes look awesome. They look so mucher cooler than than say a Specialized, Trek, or Giant (which I own). The design on those brands is looking more “Honda” everday. Love that the MC GM says that the look is intentional. It will appeal to many. Can’t wait to hear how the Zen II rides.