Arriving to much fanfare back in February of this year at the London Bike Show, new British bicycle manufacturer Trillion Cycles has some ambitious goals on what it wants to achieve with its new line of bikes. Looking to produce all of its frames within the UK, Trillion has initially launched with just three models; a singlespeed urban bike called the Node, a titanium road bike called the Twenty Two, and this long travel enduro hardtail called the Prime.
We first got a look at the Prime back at the London Bike Show, though more recently we caught up with the crew from Trillion at the Fort William World Cup. There they announced some changes to the original design concept for the Prime, including tweaked geometry and new adjustable dropouts that would allow the use of both 27.5in and 29in wheels.
Now we’ve got a Prime in for a full-blown test, in order to put assumptions to the side and see how it actually handles off road.
“Prime is Trillion’s British built steel AM hardtail designed to be a stable, capable and solid build whilst still being a heap of fun to ride! Using a cocktail of Reynolds 853 and Colombus Zona we’ve built a rig we believe to be capable of tackling the best of what UK trails have to offer whilst keeping the weight surprisingly light” – From Trillion Cycles.
Trillion Prime Features
- Made in the UK
- Reynolds 853 steel front triangle
- Colombus steel rear end
- 27.5in and 29in wheelsize compatible
- Max tyre width: 2.6in
- 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
Before we go any further, we should stipulate that what we’ve got here is a prototype frame, and so the finish isn’t quite what you could expect from a production quality frame. In particular, some of the paint is pretty patchy around the main junction points, and while structurally sound, the weld aesthetic is not what you would call slick. That point wasn’t made clear when the Prime popped up in Fresh Goods Friday, so it’s worth reiterating here.
Regardless, Trillion has most certainly been listening to your feedback and has alluded that there are some further changes coming with production models. They’re being a bit cryptic about it, and apparently we’ll find out more in August, so we’ll keep everyone posted once those updates have been confirmed. In the meantime however, we’re keen to rag this bike on our local Calderdale singletrack to see exactly what it’s like to ride.
Trillion has designed the Prime around a 160mm travel fork. Interestingly, complete bikes will come with a RockShox Yari RC 29er fork, which Trillion has spec’d in order to allow for compatibility with both 29in wheels, 27.5in wheels, and 27.5+ setups. This was a deliberate design move, and so the frame geometry has been set around the 160mm travel Yari 29er fork, with the idea that riders can experiment with different wheelsizes without need to change forks.
Along with the sliding dropouts and the ability to take 29in or 27.5in wheels, Trillion is keen to flaunt the versatility of the Prime chassis. Of course with the 44mm head tube, there’s room to slide in an angle-adjustable headset, so further tweaking can be had with the head angle and frame geometry for those who feel the need to.
Anywho, enough of the glamour shots. You’ll be happy to know that we’ll continue to test the Trillion Prime over the coming weeks as part of a three-way group test for Issue #114 of Singletrack Magazine. If you want to get your hands on the full feature as soon as you can, then head to the subscription page to line up a digital subscription for as little as £1.49 per month – oh yeah!
Need moar info? The Trillion Cycles website is your friend.
Trillion Prime Specifications
- Frame // Reynolds 853 & Colombus Zona Steel
- Fork // Rockshox Yari RC, 160mm Travel
- Hubs // Mavic XA Elite, 110x15mm Front & 148x12mm Rear
- Rims // Mavic XA Elite, Hookless, UST Tubeless
- Tyres // Mavic Quest Pro UST 2.4in Front & Rear
- Chainset // SRAM X01 Eagle 32t
- Front Mech // N/A
- Rear Mech // SRAM X01 Eagle 12-Speed
- Shifters // SRAM X01 Eagle 12-Speed
- Cassette // SRAM XG-1295 Eagle, 10-50t, 12-Speed
- Brakes // Hope Race Evo E4, 180mm Front & 160mm Rear
- Stem // Renthal Apex 35, 40mm Long
- Bars // Renthal Fatbar Carbon 35, 780mm Wide
- Grips // ODI Ruffian Lock-On
- Seatpost // RockShox Reverb Stealth, mm Diameter, 170mm Travel
- Saddle // Fabric Scoop Flat
- Size Tested // M/L
- Sizes available // S/M, M/L, L/XL
- Weight // 12.13 kg (26.86 lbs)
Comments (6)
Comments Closed
Hides bad welding with crap paint…..slow clap.
The renthal 35 fatbar is 800mm.
@MSP – you are correct sir; the Fatbar 35 Carbon comes stock at an 800mm width, but this one is cut to 780mm.
Using sliding dropouts doesn’t really make it compatible with 29er wheel does it?! Sure, they’ll go in but the increase in BB height will be in the region of 25mm. With 650 wheels it’s around 306mm static, 330mm with the 29er wheels is silly!
How much!! That’s like 2 Shan Gt’s….
Not sure either about the BB with 29ers…
£1349 for a steel hardtail frame? Will it be twice as good as Cotic Soul? Six times as good as a 456? I know it’s not all about the money but even so…