actual tunnel, stunning bike!

and how is it staying upright? 😯

milk with knives or maybe photoshop?

Pact (or Kingdom)?

Sploosh.

#battlecat

Yea!! (nearly put 🙁 after the latter)

Nice looking bike. Can’t help but think that dropping the down tube down a little to make a bigger triangle around the head tube area would improve it, but I’m neither engineer nor framebuilder! Just looks odd with that much headtube below the downtube.

Pact

There can be an issue with crown-top controls and downtube clearance

Cables need a trim…

Real horrorshow.

Bent seat tube is just so wrong, as is the wheel size. No thanks!

How much are they? Does anybody know?

How much are they? Does anybody know?

If you have to ask… 😉

If its a pact then I think they start at a grand for the basics then increases as you start tarting about with tweaks.

It looks like a gate.

Cheers.
Battlecat has taken a while to come together but it’s looking great and both riders who have one currently are loving them.
This was one of the first customer pitched projects. It’s a bit odd as it runs an 83mm BB and 157mm rear spacing to give excellent tyre clearance and great rear wheel strength. We did this despite Boost being announced as we wanted to offer the wider pedal stance for bigger riders.

We can do custom versions based on this, or ground up designs.

The downtube is 50mm diameter ti, which can’t be bent currently, but the combination of head angle, headset, and slightly higher weld position means it all works fine.

No time for a bit of the old in and out love, I’ve just come to … ride down things while smiling.

Looks ace Brant.

Wandsworth Bridge roundabout?

I reckon so…

As featured in Clockwork Orange

You can see where the original light fittings have been replaced.

Looks ace Brant.

i await your impartial and non biased review 😆

Looks like the frame is too big for that rider?

i await your impartial and non biased review

Don’t tend to review custom frames. Sort of pointless when you only have one size to work with.

I LOVE my Pact 27.5 plus. It rocks.

Hi there,

This is my bike, so I thought it prudent to do a few replies (shuffles papers, like Chris Morris on The Day Today)…

scotroutes – and how is it staying upright?

rewski – milk with knives or maybe photoshop?

– correct with the Photoshop/milk/knives guess. It’s an unconventional method of retouching but I find it to be effective.

CaptainFlashheart – Nice looking bike. Can’t help but think that dropping the down tube down a little to make a bigger triangle around the head tube area would improve it, but I’m neither engineer nor framebuilder! Just looks odd with that much headtube below the downtube.

– Scotroutes was correct in saying that this is for fork clearance. I run standard Pikes but the frame does also have clearance for boost forks (which I didn’t buy cos I can’t afford).

suburbanreuben – Cables need a trim…

– They need more than a trim! I’d run out of both ‘widgets’ AND ‘grommets’ (not to mention brake fluid) when I built the bike and was too skint to replenish my stocks. I’ve just been paid, however, and it’s top of the ‘To Do’ list.

shermer75 – How much are they? Does anybody know?

– cost is £1200, and that includes geometry changes (which is pretty friggin’ sweet). So if you like the look of it but want the top tube a touch shorter/longer etc, that’s included.

JonEdwards – Wandsworth Bridge roundabout?

Bregante – I reckon so…
As featured in Clockwork Orange

– yeah Wandsworth roundabout. Incidentally, it’s also one of the best BMX spots in the whole of the UK don’tchaknow.

molgrips – Looks like the frame is too big for that rider?

– nah it’s perfect. I’m 6ft 4in and have a long torso, so wanted a 19in seat tube but a long top tube. The seat is only half way up because the last thing I rode before taking this picture included a bit of the old up/down (as opposed to ‘just down’ or ‘just up’). A dropper post is obviously on the shopping list but I’m skint just now innit.

Any more questions, just ask. Ste

Having just read that last post, it occurred to me that I probably should have started with one introducing/explaining the philosophy behind the bike. So here you go:

Battlecat – a big, fast, light bastard of bike

When Brant asked for ideas for Pact, I suggested building DH rear hub spacing (157mm) into a long/low/slack 29er hardtail. I was/am sick of being told that i HAVE to have carbon rims to counter the increase in lateral flex that larger wheels bring. My reasoning is that, if you have a rear hub with wider flanges (pfnar), then that extra width makes a stronger hub/spoke/rim triangle ‘marriage jobby’, and as such, aluminium rims would have less lateral flex issues.

When shopping for a DH rear hub it’s interesting to note that flange (pfnar) width varies massively from brand to brand. The narrowest is Hope (53mmmm) and the widest is Shimano Zee (106.6mm!). There are essentially two schools of thought here: the Hope hub can build a dishless wheel (which should last longer) whereas Shimano is going for lateral stiffness.

Since I was after more lateral stiffness, I went for a Nukeproof Generator. It’s not as wide as the Shimano (‘only’ 67mm), but it does have sealed bearings and I live in the UK 😉

The nicest surprise in riding the bike is that it’s so light and agile. It weighs a smidge over 26 lbs and that’s with 2.4 WTB Trailboss tyres, Burgtec pedals/bars etc (no carbon anywhere). I’m changing to mud tyres this week, so that’ll make it even lighter.

Anyway, here’s a bike check for now and if anyone has any questions, just ask and I’ll do by best.

Cheers, Ste

Frame – Pact Battlecat
Fork – (don’t tell him) Pike
Headset – Nukeproof
Stem – Burgtec 35mm
Bars – Burgtec Ridewider
Grips – ODI Vans (bro)
Brakes – Formula The One
Gears – Shimano Zee 10sp
BB – Shimano Saint
Cranks – Middleburn 175mm RS7 x-type
Pedals – Burgtec
Chainring – Works Components thick/thin 34t
Cassett – XT (11-36)
Seatpost – Thomson
Seat – Fizik Arione
Tyres – WTB Trailboss 2.4
Rims – WTB KOM i29
Spokes – Sapim d-light
Hubs – Nukeproof Generator

To-Do List:
– Trim brake hoses
– Buy Moveloc Vecum seatpost
– fit Maxxis Beaver or Specialized Storm tyres
– add some stickers

Looks great, a lot like a giant Brodie holeshot (pic below – it’s not mine) one of the nicest hardtails I’ve seen.

stejones, looks ace, nicest looking 29er I’ve seen in a while 😀

Looks like it goes like a train as well.

When shopping for a DH rear hub it’s interesting to note that flange (pfnar) width varies massively from brand to brand. The narrowest is Hope (53mmmm) and the widest is Shimano Zee (106.6mm!). There are essentially two schools of thought here: the Hope hub can build a dishless wheel (which should last longer) whereas Shimano is going for lateral stiffness.

Sir I salute you for being a massive dork – I mean that in a good way. 😀

And thanks for explaining why the bike has an XL-wide back end, I did wonder. Very interesting idea for strengthening and stiffening up the ol’ waggon wheels. It looks like a highly entertaining thing to ride (bit big for the likes of me though). Enjoy!

What I do like,
1. The clean no advertising look
2. 83mm BB hopefully leading to wider stays for mud/big tyre clearance.

What I don’t like,
1. The angle on that head tube WTF!
2. Tubes so over sized like the cheap tubes I use outside of the cycle industry
3. The head tube looks like a that of the old nuke proof reactor (google it the most outrageous head tube design ever shock goes inside and bearings have to be custom made)

Speeder – Looks great, a lot like a giant Brodie holeshot (pic below – it’s not mine) one of the nicest hardtails I’ve seen.

Cheers buddy

nickc – stejones, looks ace, nicest looking 29er I’ve seen in a while

Looks like it goes like a train as well.
Thanks Nick. It does indeed. Although riding Battlecat is a bit more like a Jason Bourne fight scene – lots of dangerous things appear to be happening very quickly (and in close proximity) and yet there is a good sense of general control (until you go round a corner and there’s an old lady walking her dog and you have to engage in ‘aggressive, evasive manoeuvres’ before then issuing a formal apology for scaring the shit out of her wee dog.

mintimperial – Sir I salute you for being a massive dork’
I totally have flange (pfnar) measurements on pretty much every DH rear hub worth looking at. Time well-spent 😀

cannondaleking –
What I do like,
1. The clean no advertising look – cheers
2. 83mm BB hopefully leading to wider stays for mud/big tyre clearance. aye you can get pretty much anything in there.

What I don’t like,
1. The angle on that head tube WTF! Too slack? Either way, you can have it steeper or slacker at no extra cost. I like it this slack as I like DH.
2. Tubes so over sized like the cheap tubes I use outside of the cycle industry They are pretty big but that’s to keep it strong. I’m not sure if you can see from the photo but the top tube and downtube are both ovalised (is that the right word?) – either way the tt is oval and the dt goes from being round to oval near the bb. If you want thinnner/narrower tubes, you can have them though (talk to Brant).
3. The head tube looks like a that of the old nuke proof reactor (google it the most outrageous head tube design ever shock goes inside and bearings have to be custom made) – Haha nah it’s not that outrageous in the flesh. Standard bearings fit no problem. You can have a different head tube if you want, but I wanted it tapered for more stiffness innit.

cheers y’all – ste