A visit to the Answer/Manitou, Sun/Ringle and Hayes room here at Presscamp confirms that its design elves have been busy and we got to see a good selection of its new wares. Some is available now and the rest will be appearing later this year.
Manitou has been quietly making some decent forks despite not shouting about them that much. There’s the new-ish 29er Tower fork, which comes in 80, 100 and 120mm versions. The Tower features Manitou’s Hex-Lock system, which is a clever bayonet way of doing a thru-axle. Insert the hex axle, turn it 90° and then close the QR. Manitou reckons it’s as stiff as a 20mm bolt-up axle. The Hex Lock comes on the Tower and the Marvel forks.
Answer has a new ’20/20′ handlebar coming out. It features a 20mm forward sweep and a 20° rear sweep. This is designed to give a Jones bar style fit without having to swap your stem out. No doubt people will point out that similar ideas have appeared in Brant-designed stuff in the past.
The 20/20 bar comes in a 720mm width and should be out shortly
Hayes has been making disc brakes for a very long time. They claim to have made the first bicycle disc brake, but no doubt Hope will have something to say about that. Anyway, through all this time, it’s rotor design has remained the same, so it was time for a redesign. The new rotors are built to dissipate heat better and also to weigh in a bit lighter – saving 20g-43g depending on size.
Hayes also has a new, simple brake alignment system called the Crosshair. You attach the brake as normal, just loose enough on the Post-mount bolts that it can still move. You line it up against the far pad, then tighten the 2mm grub screws until the calliper is neatly centred on the disc. Tighten the bolts and there you go – one centred calliper.
Hayes also has a new, one-piece ‘cross mechanical calliper called the CX Five.
Sun/Ringle has a very close relationship with Stan’s rims, so you might be surprised to learn that all of Sun/Ringle’s mountain bike wheels some with Stan’s BST (Bead Socket Technology) for full tubeless-ready riding.
The Sun/Ringle Charger Pro will come in the trendy new 650B size as well as in 26in and 29in. There’s a new hub that takes 9/15 and 20mm axles and all the rears too. It’ll come with Stan’s fluid, valves and two extra spokes just in case of accidents.
Comments (6)
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Were there any floating rotors in the new design?
Not that I got to see.
“The wheels will come with caps to fit any axle sizes”
ANY axle size? Or just the common ones?
9mm QR and thru-bolt, 15mm, 20mm presumably, and what about 24mm, 25mm, lefty, any other obscure standards?
Any ‘normal’ axle size 🙂
9/15/20 front. QR, 142 and 135 bolt thru rear.
no 10mm (135) thru-bolt rear? just 12mm (135) bolt-thru rear?
I think thats correct(ish) naming, though very similar
Bayonet axle fitting – is that the ‘Hartlett’ QR design?