Finland’s Pole Bicycle Company was best known for its progressive geometry and clever folding frame designs, now, however, the brand is also known for calling out Chinese carbon frame makers (at least those who don’t seem to follow environmental standards) and shifting production to Finland where it produces it’s unique CNC machined full suspension bikes.
The first CNC machined bike from the company was the Pole Machine a 160mm travel 29er enduro bike, we actually managed to get a first look at a downhill version of the Pole Machine at Fort William earlier in the year.
Pole machines the Machine frame in two halves which are then bonded and bolted together to create a unique asymmetric full suspension frame. Now with what they’ve learned from the Machine, Pole is working on a new bike named the Pole Stamina.
The Pole Stamina looks very similar to the original Machine, but we’re assured that there are some major differences between this and the original one being an increase in rear wheel travel from 160mm to 180mm meaning 180mm travel front and rear.
Pole’s founder, Leo Kokkonen says the increase in travel is simply so the Stamina can be ridden faster than the Machine, an already proven race winner.
The suspension linkage of the Pole Stamina will also be different to the Machine. Apparently, the upper link is 100% new as is the lower link and interface to the rear triangle. The changes have been made to make the rear of the bike more symmetrical while also increasing the seat post diameter to 34.9mm. Moving to the wider seat post standard has meant that Pole can use a shorter seat tube and save material, very important for a fully CNC machined bike.
Up front, the Pole Stamina will use an internal headset rather than the Machine’s external headset design. Pole will machine the headset surfaces after heat treatment to ensure correct alignment. Moving to an internal system means a neater overall look and a slight reduction in weight.
There are even changes to the bearings, meaning that they are now all hidden from the elements for improved longevity, while improved cable routing means that the famous Pole ‘foldability’ is better than before.
Pole is always pushing the boundaries of geometry and we’re promised the steepest seat angle that they have ever offered, suggesting a competent climber despite the huge amount of travel. Current figures also have the head angle quite slack but these figures might change and Pole hasn’t made the numbers publicly available just yet.
The final Pole Stamina detail is in regards to sizing, again we don’t have the figures to hand, but Pole says it will introduce a new sizing policy for the Stamina and may offer in-between sizes for a perfect fit.
As it stands, the Pole Stamina hasn’t been tested yet but it has already become the basis of future Pole bikes including a shorter travel trail bike and even a Pole eBike. Further details can be found over on the Pole website.
Pretty exciting stuff from Finland don’t you think?
Comments (5)
Leave Reply
Post Comment
So they’ve designed a bike (a nice looking and distinctive bike) but haven’t tested it. In fact judging by the use of renders they probably haven’t even built one yet.
@eddiebaby certainly not tested it
So it’s a posh version of a scribble on a napkin then?
There was supposed to be a smiley at the end of that. Don’t they appear in comments? Anyway, just more vapourware then. Why not say planned rather than say there are all these differences to the machine?
Finbarr Saunders would have a field day with that bike name.