I’ve just noticed how alike these frames are:

And your point is………………….?

No point, I just realised that the curvy down tube seems to be the current vogue among the DH frame designers, although I can’t imagine it’s the lightest and strongest solution (although I may be wrong).

1.Fashion
2.Marketing
They are ,after all,lifestyle purchases are they not? 😉

True, I just find it fascinating that fashion plays such a large part in it. There is (apparently) loads of time and money spent on frame development yet all the companies come up with the same solution!

for many years all mtbs looked like this

id like to think that dh frame design has simultaneously and independently evolved to such similar lines because they are the best way to achieve strength, rigidty, light weight, standover, geometry etc

maybe thats partly true but i think its also because everyones just copying everyone else

Take a look at the Transition and Nukeproof in particular. How would you get the shock that low with a straight downtube? It’s all about lowering the centre of gravity right now.

Does look nice though doesn’t it.

why does the nukeproof have such a steep seat angle?

it’s different from all the others due to this.

four or five (is the transition a single pivot with linkage? can’t tell from picture) different back end/linkage biznesses going on in those ‘similar to look at’ frames too.

I liked that daft downtube on the older RM flatline, that looked ACE.

I do like the look of the Norco…and the Nukeproof.

DH bikes look a lot sleeker and less clumsy these days.

Order up the catalogues from chinese bike frame houses, you’ll see 75% of them in there.

They are all ugly

i’d like my DH frame to be designed by a specific designer

i’d like my DH frame to be designed by a specific designer

Why?

Order up the catalogues from chinese bike frame houses, you’ll see 75% of them in there.

tbh i think thats the case with nmost of teh consumer products we consume, there was a doc about the fashion industry on bbc3 a while back at some massive sunglasses factory in asia where they made ray bans, police, oakleys and another 50 brands on the same assembly lines, turns out they also had a design department that designed them too
globalisation innit

Superficially similar, because there are only so many places you can put the shock. The devil is in the details.

why does the nukeproof have such a steep seat angle?

So the back wheel doesn’t bang into the seat tube, and so that the swing link pivot is supported by the seat tube.

Saddle is in a kind of similar place, but it’s not swept forward/back like other bikes. Pagey wanted it a bit more kicked back too, but I never got it sorted.

Seat angle is really the angle from the BB to the middle of the saddle. Clearly some of those bikes take a convoluted route to get there, though I think you’ll find the angle is pretty similar. The Nukeproof has a 72deg seat angle.

Order up the catalogues from chinese bike frame houses, you’ll see 75% of them in there.

Pretty sure most of those are Taiwanese not Chinese.

Sure, they all look similar, but look in detail they’re all different. Suspension pivot locations are ALL in different places.

Therefore they’ll all be totally different to ride.

although I can’t imagine it’s the lightest and strongest solution (although I may be wrong).

I can’t imagine how you could be wrong, its not like all the folk that designed (and built) them do it for a living…

thanks Brant. They look lovely. 😀

Scalp comes out looking like one of the best of the bunch.

Looks a little bit like there are only so many hydroform moulds to choose from…

I saw a zerode the other week. Quite interesting design (one of the sponsored riders was trying out his newly finished build in Swinley of all places). Runs a slightly modified Alfine as a gearbox.

It could be worse…

Every one of those frames requires a bendy DT for shock clearance although some are a little more accentuated than others. None of them are out of a catalogue although some use stock tubes. If you look at them up close you’ll see they are all very different in terms on engineering design. As retro says, devil is in the details.

wish I had the patent on that headtube juction…