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Kirklee Unveils First 29er – Di2 Ready Lightweight Carbon “Dream Machine” Hardtail Mountain Bike

Kirklee 29er custom carbon fiber hardtail mountain bike
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Kirklee 29er custom carbon fiber hardtail mountain bike

Just got word from Brad over at KirkLee that they’ve been burning the midnight oil on new designs, and the first to see daylight is a new 29″ hardtail.

“We sat back and thought about what do we want in a hardtail 29er, the things that turn us on,” said Cason. “What you see here are independent seat and chain stays that are ovalized and hourglassed for heel and chainring clearance. The dropouts are custom made for each frame and in addition to relaying structural forces between the stays (non drive side) the drive side (and frame) has provisions for Di2/EPS wiring.”

It uses a tapered integrated seatpost (ISP), but it’s round and can be cut and run with standard 31.6 seatposts at anytime.

Kirklee 29er custom carbon fiber hardtail mountain bike

The head tube uses the Cannondale integrated OPI stem/steer tube system with headset bearings pressed directly into the frame and a 1.5″ steerer tube holding a Lefty front fork.

Kirklee 29er custom carbon fiber hardtail mountain bike

The bottom bracket is a 73mm PFBB30. Top and down tubes are mountain bike versions of their road bike tubes.

Kirklee 29er custom carbon fiber hardtail mountain bike

Rear brake hose runs internally for a super clean look.

Kirklee 29er custom carbon fiber hardtail mountain bike

The carbon layup in the stays is designed to offer good bump absorption. No yoke on the chainstays helps provide clearance for up to 2.5 tires. Dropouts are custom machined from 6061 billet, and they’re specific for each frame size.

Kirklee 29er custom carbon fiber hardtail mountain bike

Like all of Kirklee’s bikes, it can be built full custom with any geometry, and it can be built around a conventional fork. Claimed weight for the 21″ (25.2″ top tube) bike you see here is 18.8lbs without pedals and the ISP frame is 1200g. Every part of the frameset is made in the USA. MSRP is $5,000 frame only.

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Archie
Archie
11 years ago

Wow. Just wow.

xtian
xtian
11 years ago

What an ugly bike!

K
K
11 years ago

Ugly as hell, even their custom Lefty graphics.

Hector
Hector
11 years ago

Love it. Wish it was a 26er.

Hector
Hector
11 years ago

I’ve always wanted to ask:

Does a 29er even make sense for a 5’4″ rider?

I feel like the industry is trying to shove 29ers down my throat. Try searching for 26″ single speed frame and you’ll see what I mean.

David
David
11 years ago

Hector – at 5’5″ I’ve wondered the same thing. Then I started riding a cyclocross bike on my local trails. Pretty amazing what you can ride on a fully rigid frame with bigger wheels comfortably. And I’m running cross tires, I can only imagine how much fun it would be on 2.1+ tires. I had been looking at 26FS and I think I might just change the plan and go 29HT.

Archie
Archie
11 years ago

“Love it. Wish it was a 26er.”
+1

ascar larkinyar
ascar larkinyar
11 years ago

all the shorter gals(5’0″ to 5’2″) on our team switched to 29ers three years ago and have been placing higher up on their finishings.

one reason was smoothing out the rough trails on a lighter bike(less suspension or none) and more comfort on the longer endurance races. none seemed to notice any difference in tight switchbacks or longer wheel base.

pretty much 90% of our team and most of the racers are now on 29ers.

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