What was the reason for getting rid of your last frame? Was it too short or too steep? Did it have the wrong wheel size? Did you want to switch to a gearbox? or god forbid! An e-Bike? If you answered “yes” to any of those reasons you’re certainly going to be interested in what German brand Kinetic Works has at Eurobike.
Kinetic Works only has 1 frame in its catalog, yet that’s enough for the brand to offer a standard Shimano drivetrain bike, a Pinion gearbox bike and an e-Bike with whatever motor you want on, what’s even better is that if you decide on one drive option now and choose to switch in the future you can and you won’t need a whole new frame.
The Quintessenz is your typical long, low and slack enduro bike with 160mm of suspension travel, but because the suspension system uses a clever geometry shifting cylinder and mounting plates for the bottom bracket area, customers are able to quickly and easily switch from derailleur gears, gearboxes or e-Bike motors, with no other modifications needed to the frame, well except the addition of 3D printed clamps for a battery…
Ulrich Bahr, the man behind Kinetic Works, told us that back in 2000 when he was patenting his own geometry shifting technology he already knew that the time would come when riders would want the option to switch drive options, so designed his bike to be as adaptable as possible.
The 2 removable plates which make up the BB, main-pivot and mounting area for the geometry shifting piston, cost around 100 Euros a pair and can be designed to suit any current or future e-Bike motor or gearbox, essentially future-proofing the bike.
For additional flexibility, the Quintessenz can be built as a 26in wheeled bike, 27.5in or 29er, we’re not sure it will accomodate fatbike wheels though.
The models we saw at Eurobike feature a manual geometry shifting system which means the rider has to dismount the bike, undo a lock nut then adjust a threaded ‘shaft’ that then adjusts the head angle, seat angle, and wheelbase of the bike. Final production models will use a hydraulic system for on-the-fly adjustment and will offer riders a slack 62º head angle for the gnarly stuff and steeper 65º head angle for climbing.
The adjustment also adds as much as 70mm to the wheelbase (depending on the fork) for improving stability, and will also affect reach by as much as 40mm.
Kinetic Works plans to release the bike in Europe soon with prices starting at 2050 Euros for the frame and rear shock, then increasing depending on which plates and drive system you intend to use. The company also hopes to offer full builds in the future too. Let us know what you think about this future-proof bike in the comments below.
More info over on the Kinetic Works website.
