Pole Stamina prototype is rolling in
We published one month ago that we have Stamina. Now we have made it. The bike is now first of it’s kind, and it is built to go fast.
The Facts
- The shock is moved inside the front triangle. The advantage is that we can make more straight seat tube and have better clearance for the seat post cable. Also, the shock is now away from dirt (not that it was a problem anyway)
- New links hold the bearings inside so that there are no visible seals outside. When the bearings are covered, there are less mechanical failures to the seals on the bearings. There are no double seals and never will be. The double seals would also seal water inside and reduce the bearing life.
- Seat tube angle is 80º (effective 81º). It’s hilarious that in 2014 we started to play with 76.5º and every time we went steeper angle the bike worked better.
- Head tube angle is 63,5º
- Chainstay length is 455mm
- Reach is 480mm (Medium)
- Hed tube 135mm
- Wheelbase 1306mm
- Travel 180mm in both ends
- Shock is 75mm x 250mm
- Seat post – 34,9mm
The feel
We have not yet made any timed runs but it’s safe to say Stamina is the king of the bikes. As the engineer, I felt immediately how well it rode just from the loading dock (this is our standard brake-in test for all our new bikes)
I rode the Stamina on our test tracks for several runs, and I immediately found out that the grip is outstanding and the balance is something that I have not experienced ever before. I started to take new lines and cleared new gaps on the trail that I usually just rode wheels on the floor. The flex for the frame is now spot on. I could feel now the perfect balance of the sideways flex and the suspension working together on the slippery off-camber root sections of our home trails. Our time of the year is not perfect at the moment for filming or testing, so we are going soon for a testing trip where we meet with our Enduro race team.
What is the Stamina for
Stamina is the ultimate bike to go fast. When we visited Whistler BC, we knew that our ultimate trail bike needs more travel. Our goal was to start the day by pedaling up 800 vertical meters and then ride park the rest of the day. The more top of the world runs, and A-Line runs we could do in a one day, the better the day was. I would not recommend this bike to people who think that they are just riding now and then. Even though it is a very capable trail bike, it would take the fun out of your trails because it’s so stable and smooth that every regular trail becomes a highway. This bike is purely designed to be raced on.
-Leo Kokkonen, the engineer
