Trillion Cycles Debuts UK-Made 29er Hardtail At Fort William

Although Fort William is renowned for downhill mountain bike racing, it isn’t just about the elite athletes. The Fort Bill World Cup is a multi-faceted event, with hoards of fans and bike companies descending on the small Scottish town for a weekend of all things mountain biking. Spectators bring bikes to ride on the trails around the Ben Nevis range, school groups and families arrive to soak up the festival atmosphere, and numerous bike companies setup as event exhibitors, bringing with them new bikes and gear to show off to the public.

One such brand was Trillion Cycles, a relative newcomer to the mountain bike market. We were first introduced to Trillion Cycles during the London Bike Show earlier this year, where we learned about the history behind the new brand and the development behind its new steel hardtail called the Prime.

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Things have moved considerably since then however. Changes have been made to the lineup, and the Prime hardtail has had a complete revision in preparation for it to become available to the public. During the Fort William World Cup, we caught up with head designer at Trillion Cycles, Matt Granger, to talk about the new Prime hardtail and it’s newfound ability to fit big wheels…

Trillion Prime Features

• Made in the UK
• Reynolds 853 steel front triangle
• Colombus steel rear end
• 44mm head tube
• Designed for 160mm travel forks
• 65° head angle
• 74° seat angle
• 73mm threaded bottom bracket
• ISCG 05 chainguide tabs
• Adjustable horizontal sliding dropouts
• 420-450mm chain stay length
• Singlespeed compatible
• Boost 148x12mm thru-axle
• Fully external cable routing
• Available sizes: S/M, M/L, L/XL
• Frame RRP: £1349
• Complete bikes available from £3000

What you’re looking at here is a Trillion Prime 29er. Well, technically it’s the same frame as the regular Prime, it’s just built with 29in wheels. Thanks to the addition of horizontal sliding dropouts from the Polydrop dropouts used on the earlier prototypes, the new Prime frame has enough clearance to fit 29er wheels. So according to Trillion, you can build it with either 27.5in or 29in wheels depending on whatever floats your boat.

The Prime frame will still be made in the UK, and it’ll still be made from a combination of Reynolds 853 and Columbus tubes. You’ll be able to get it as a standalone frameset for £1349, or in complete bike options from £3000. Trillion will now offer three different frame sizes, with the reach measurements coming in at 422mm (S/M), 448mm (M/L) and 470mm (L/XL).

With the 29er build, the Primer offers an adjustable chainstay length that can be opened up to 450mm in the longest setting, and snugged down to 430mm in the shortest setting. Trillion claims the Prime offers clearance for up to 2.6in wide tyres, so plus tyres ain’t gunna fit, but the new crop of Wide Trail 2.5in and 2.6in wide tyres will do nicely.

Trillion has kept serviceability in check with the new Prime frame, which uses a threaded bottom bracket shell rather than a nu-skool press-fit type. Cable routing for the rear brake and derailleur has also moved to a fully external design, with the cables being secured underneath the downtube via alloy bolt-on clamps. There’s still provision for internal dropper post routing, but only from the base of the seat tube. From the exit port there, the cable runs externally with the others along the underside of the downtube.

The Prime is designed around a 160mm travel fork, whether you’re running 27.5in or 29in wheels. And so if you’re running the smaller wheels, you’ll simply end up with more bottom bracket drop. For the complete bikes, Trillion will be spec’ing a 160mm travel RockShox Yari 29er fork across all models, so there’ll be loads of clearance for fatter 27.5in rubber up front, or for the post-modern types, the potential to run the bike with a 27.5in wheel out back and a 29in wheel on the front.

At the Trillion Cycles stand at Fort William, there were a number of Prime frames built up with 27.5in wheels too, including this rather dashing salmon-mouse coloured bike – you dig?

We’ll be getting a Prime in shortly for testing, as we’re eager to see how the UK-made frame handles in the real world. For more information on the bikes and to explore spec options and full geometry charts, head to the Trillion Cycles website.