VIkkelä
agile by name, agile by nature
We never benchmark other bikes!
We don’t make committee bikes in the shadows of big brands. We fight the status quo, and shape the world to our liking. We ride hard, create bikes with passion, knowledge and hard work. We do not care what others are doing or what market research says. We believe in passion driven design without compromise.
Our vision is simple – More is more
When Pole CEO, Leo Kokkonen sat down to design the Vikkelä his goal was to create a long travel, super fast, agile trail bike more capable than anything before. Vikkelä picked up where the legendary Stamina left off, but now with extra added, More is More.
The Vikkelä and our e-bike Voima were developed along side each other and share a common platform. Designed around the 190mm travel of a single crown fork, the Vikkelä delivers an abundance of speed, control, agility and fun in one package. This is a bold claim, but we guarantee this bike will make you smile bigger and ride faster than ever before.
SPECS
- DH geo with steep seat tube angle
- Trail bike riding characteristics
- World cup race ready spec
The results are impressive
- Fast
- Agile
- The bike brings a smile to your face
| Frame size | K1 | K2 | K3 | K4 |
| 1. Head angle | 63,5° | |||
| 2. REACH (measured with 135mm headtube) | 450 | 480 | 510 | 535 |
| 3. Top Tube | 561 | 591 | 621 | 651 |
| 4. BB “DROP” | 0 | |||
| 5. Seat tube angle | 80° | |||
| 6. SEAT TUBE LENGTH | 360 | 360 | 400 | 420 |
| 7. Max insertion depth | 153mm above the BB | |||
| 8. Stack | 635 | 648 | 648 | 648 |
| 9. Wheelbase | 1283 | 1313 | 1343 | 1368 |
| 10. Chainstay length (effective) | 455mm | |||
| 11. Head tube length | 125 | 135 | 135 | 135 |
| 12. Fork offset | 44-51mm | |||
| 13. Front Center | 857 | 887 | 917 | 942 |
Free global shipping on all complete Vikkelä builds
CNC machined
it’s NOT THE SAME
WE MAKE OUR FRAMES FROM SPECIAL ALUMINIUM
We use the highest tensile strength aluminum available. Our 7075-T6 aluminum is almost twice the strength of aluminum used by big companies to save money.
WHY NOT CARBON?
Carbon is not recyclable, and the manufacturing process is toxic to humans and the world. Aluminum mines (look for bauxite mines) are not so lovely either, but mining is always harmful to the environment. However, our material is more resilient to impacts, wear and tear, and it’s recyclable forever. YES, metals recycle forever. You can look that up. Robots make our bikes, and our automation processes are constantly increasing, leaving more time for humans to do jobs that they love.
BONDED? Yes, it’s glued in two halves
What makes us unique is that we have patented special bonding and manufacturing methods to make our products more robust than other bikes. Yes, we had issues with our technology when we started, but we’ve learned a lot. The bike you can buy now has meticulously evolved and has nearly nothing similar to the bikes we made several years ago. We are so confident in our manufacturing that we give our frames a five-year guarantee.
RACING AXLES
UPGRADABLE | 30% STIFFER
WHAT ARE RACE AXLES?
Sensei suspension swingarm does not have bridges between each side. Instead, we have a patent pending bridgeless swingarm. Our axles have bores that create a rigid construction for the swingarm. The upside of this design is that there’s massive tire clearance, ease of service, and we control the stiffness EXACTLY how we want. Racing Axles makes the swingarm 30% stiffer.
WHY STIFFER
Stiffer is not for everyone. Most riders are better off with a more compliant frame. A Stiff frame is something that does not give in and is not easy to bend. A very stiff frame would mean a bike that is very accurate in turning at high speeds and is not so forgiving of the mistakes we make. We have learned that a nimbler rear triangle is easier to corner at low speed. Overall the bike is more tolerant of errors and more comfortable.
WHO IS THE RACE AXLES FOR?
Racers, big boys, and fast riders. You know if you need them.
A true ALL Mountain Bike
Riding ALL mountain means that this bike excels on every adventure you can think about. Vikkelä is meant for riding trails, bike park and racing enduro. During the test process, we rode our local Finnish flat trials, rode and won four Trans Madeira Races in the most versatile environments we can think of. Our ambassadors rode the bike in tight Welsh switchbacks and harsh New Zealand mountains. The more you ride this bike, the better you become handling it. The big travel gives you more opportunities, and gives you freedom with one bike that you can get used to riding.
More is more
With Sensei suspension, you will pedal efficiently up hills and charge down super technical downhill tracks. In contrast, the bike is nimble enough to bunny hop over fallen trees on regular trail rides. There is no such thing as “too much bike” when we talk about Vikkelä. Sensei’s clever design makes the bike playful and fast at the same time.
Bigger is better
Since 2017, we have built all our mountain bikes with 29 inch wheels. We have tested every combination of wheel size on our test tracks and during competitions. We came to the conclusion that with our geometry it’s most beneficial to use 29″ wheels on both ends of the bike.
CATEGORY 5 SAFETY
FIVE YEAR FRAME WARRANTY
EFBE Tri-Test®
EFBE is one of the worlds most well-known test facilities. The test grades range from one to four. They also include tests for extreme jumps, downhill trails at extreme grades and speeds exceeding 40 km/h. Vikkelä has passed them all and was awarded CAT-5 Tri-Test Certification.
We are so confident with our product, we offer a five year frame warranty for all Vikkelä framesets.
AGILE / fast / fun
Why is Vikkelä agile?
Since Pole Bicycles started, our geometry has been our speciality. Our geometry is designed to allow the rider to manoeuvre the bike with ease. A high bottom bracket and cockpit make it easier to lift the front end, corner, and ride steep sections fast.
What about loading the front if your cockpit is high?
Our founder Leo Kokkonen couldn’t find a word for the feature he wanted to describe. So he invented the word “Trail-Patch”. The “Trail-Patch” is the area that you have in use within your “trail” when you turn your front wheel and lean the bike. The “Trail-Patch” Reel was viewed more than one million times on Instagram. A high cockpit, with the right geometry and kinematics helps the rider to have constant grip at the front of the bike. The rider also doesn’t need to “load” the front wheel when they need more grip. In other words, the Vikkelä is more balanced than other bikes.
Adjusting the stiffness of the swingarm
There are two axles inside the main frame that control the swingarm lateral stiffness. We have made several version of these axles and ridden them in various conditions. With hard testing we found the best compliance for the bike. The rear has enough compliance to have grip always but grip can be broken for drifts, jibs, and schlarps
SENSEI SUSPENSION
MEET THE NEW MASTER
ENTER SENSEI
Vikkelä has an overall suspension design, that has the capability, and capacity for mild and wild rides. The pinnacle of modern mountain bike suspension design, with optimum pedaling efficiency and no compromises in kinematics or geometry.
A peek under the hood reveals what’s behind the highly efficient nature of the SENSEI suspension. Anti-squat hovers slightly over 100% at SAG, no matter what gear you are in. We are pretty pleased to say that no other system has behaved in a similar manner. And it’s not a coincidence, as suspension kinematics design is an interplay of many interdependent variables.
The SENSEI anti-squat properties provide a solid platform for pedaling in all gears and also minimizes pedal-kickback. These features combined give a predictable suspension behavior and ride-feel which are the cornerstones of a high-performance suspension platform. Read more about Pole’s Sensei suspension
BOTTOMLESS FEEL
Even the longest suspension travel is no use if it’s not controlled. The SENSEI suspension platform uses every millimeter as efficiently as possible – just what’s needed, no more, no less. This is ensured by carefully designing the leverage ratio to meet the desired requirements in all stages of the available travel.
- To provide unparallel sensitivity and traction, the first part of the travel starts with a high leverage ratio of slightly above 3.0.
- In the ever-important mid-stroke area the leverage ratio curve flattens out to provide support for cornering and pumping. In this part, the suspension operates around 2.6
leverage ratio which is considered optimal for modern shocks. - When approaching the end of the travel the leverage ratio curve flattens out evenly to provide bottom-out resistance. The leverage ratio provides mechanical progression over the entire stroke!
- The rider can fine tune the progression with an air shock. The suspension becomes more progressive on low speeds by adding tokens to the positive air chamber, and removing tokens from the negative chamber.
Sizing
COLORS
Sizing
Taking into consideration height crossovers, we have created a size chart matrix that not only covers the rider’s height but incorporates your riding style too. The result is a simple way for you to best choose the bike size to fit their needs.
For example, if you are 182cm tall and prefer a bike for all-out speed, we would suggest the size K3. If you spend more time at the bike park or prefer a more agile riding style, take the size K2.
Electrophoretic Clearcoat
We listened to our customers and the message was loud and clear: They want their RAW finished bikes to continue to look amazing for longer.
Wet paint and anodizing aren’t an option. We never want to cover the pure awesomeness of the CNC machined surface. So we created an area in our new manufacturing warehouse and invested a good deal into industry-leading equipment that can offer a long-term solution. A unique and innovative surface treatment system.
Going Electric – This is NOT anodizing
After extensive studying and testing, we chose to go with Electrophoretic Clearcoat. Something you haven’t heard about before? That’s not surprising, because its use in the bike industry is unique and as far as we know, has never been done before.
This type of surface treatment is mostly used in industries whose applications have to resist mechanical strain and environmental impacts like salt. It’s also commonly used in the jewelry industry. The coating system has a hard surface and completely clear looks the same as the RAW finish.
As the name suggests, the process involves electricity and exposing the processed part to different solutions. First, the surface is cleared from aluminum oxide and other materials present in the alloy, like zinc, copper, and magnesium. Then an electrical circuit is made between electrodes and parts being processed.
When voltage is introduced to the solution, the clearcoat attaches to the surface of the parts. Finally, the parts are cleaned and placed in a low-temperature oven to remove any moisture and residue left over.
The resulting finish is durable, and impressively only a few microns in thickness. High tolerance parts like bearing races and threads are also completely unaffected by the process.
Environment-Friendly Solution
As with our in-house CNC manufacturing process, we wanted to keep our environmental impact as a high priority and as low as possible. In general, the business of surface coating involves chemicals of the worst type, and we wanted to stay with the most environmentally friendly option possible.
When it comes to green factors, electrophoretic clearcoat ticks all the boxes. As it’s a fully closed system it does not involve any heavy or toxic chemicals and all wastewater is securely stored in tanks and recycled later.
The whole treatment is done in-house, so it also gives us complete control of the processes and by-products.
True Gold
Raising the Standard
Production at our new on-site surface treatment facility is now fully operational. All CNC machined frames ordered from 2021 will have the new clear coat Electrophoretic lacquer applied as a standard procedure. We call this Raw Clear.
Along with the standard Raw Clear lacquer with this new process, we can create colors too. Currently, we have True Gold and Storm Grey. True Gold and Storm Grey are available as an additional option and can be included on all Voima frames for a limited time.
Custom cut and fitted frame protection tape is also included on all colored framesets as standard (True Gold and Storm Grey). Raw Clear frames do not come with protective tape but is available at an additional cost.
All Voima battery covers are supplied in Storm Grey as standard. Raw Clear and True Gold are available for an additional cost.
Storm Grey
Raw Clear
For more information, feel free to drop us an email at helpdesk@polebicycles.com.
PROTECT YOUR ride
factory engineered frame protection FILM
Our attention is on the final details
We don’t leave you hanging and make you to deal with frame protection with third parties. We have you covered with our factory-engineered and installed frame protective films and guards. We include the protective film with all custom colors, and you can have it added to the Raw Clear option also. In addition, you can finalize your frame with chainring and frame protective guards if you are going to shred in harsh environments. Our guards are practical and effective.
Vikkelä frame build-up guide
From workshop to trail
Pole CEO and founder Leo Kokkonen goes through the building process of turning a Vikkelä frameset into a ready-to-ride super-fast, long-travel, agile do it all MTB.
What riders say
Real world experiences
What The RIDERS say
“The capabilities of this 190mm bike place it at the forefront of mountain bike development.”
“The geometry and linkage design enable it to climb like a mountain goat and once you’re up there, any trail is fair game. The versatility will definitely surprise you.”
“It’s obvious that Vikkelä rocks when descending. What’s really surprising though, is how quick it turns.”
VIKKELÄ FAQ’s
VIKKELÄ FAQ’s
Our products are only sold online directly to our customers. This is how we can ensure the best possible service standards. Our customer service is there to help you but they don’t work 24/7 yet. If you are browsing our website at the darkest hours and you have some questions, here are some most frequently asked questions that people ask. You might find answer to your question here as well.
