Resistance bikes is broke now:
The Resistance Insolent uses top tube as body for rear shock
Why make the top tube into a rear shock body? There’s no doubt a bit of “because we can”-ness about this concept. And the designers make no bones about liking the way it looks. But what about from a performance point of view?
Bike designers have spent most of the past few years removing the rear shock from being a structural part of the frame (to reduce sideloads on the shock which causes binding as well as undue wear and tear). Resistance do more than fly in the face of such ideas. They actively go backwards to such theories.
Perhaps this is why the model is called Insolent. (It is a great name, to be fair).
Resistance Bikes’ explanation: “The integrated structure of the Resistance Bikes frame reduces the amount of material required to achieve satisfactory rigidity.”
Perhaps the key word here is “satisfactory”. Not “unparalleled”. Not “none more stiff”. It is stiff enough to do the job in hand and has the benefits of being lighter overall weight.
Guess they tried too much.