InSync Racing is developing a new DH Race bike in Manchester

InSync racing spent the past season racing on rebranded YT Tues bikes but 2020 will see the team expand and race a self-developed frame.

InSync Bikes is the headline brand of Hero Cycles, a huge Indian company that not only builds bikes but also has its hand in the automotive industry. The company is a manufacturing powerhouse, and while you may not know them directly, there’s a chance you’ve seen something or even own something manufactured by the group.

With such a huge portfolio of companies and massive bicycle manufacturing facilities around the world, Hero decided a few years ago that they should work on a flagship brand of bicycles that offers high-quality at an affordable price.

But InSync wouldn’t be a generic brand, instead, it’s a company that has it’s own World Cup Downhill Race Team and a bespoke design and engineering facility based in Manchester, UK.

The InSync downhill team made up of Harry Molloy, Veronica Wildmann and Chris Cumming, has spent the past season racing on a YT Tues downhill bikes painted up with InSync branding, but this is set to change in 2020 with a self-developed DH bike in the works.

This downhill bike will be a race only model, with no current plans to release it to the market, with design and development being handled by Steve Bridgman at InSync’s offices in Manchester.

We chatted with Steve a few weeks ago who confirmed that this race frame is an all-new design based on the requirements of the current race team. The bike will be aluminium and will boast “bottomless suspension feel”. Obviously we’re not privy to the angles, the amount of travel, etc, but Steve has shared a few images with us.

All the design decisions about the new frame have been informed by their experience as riders riding a variety of downhill bikes and drawing conclusions from their likes and dislikes about each one. We’re coming up with a bike for Insync Racing that suits the team’s technical preferences. One of the main focuses of the design sessions has been refining the leverage ratios of the suspension to produce a suspension that gets progressively stiffer throughout the ride. The harder it is hit, the more resistance it will offer in order to give a ‘bottomless’ feel to the suspension that inspires confidence. The geometry of the frame has also come under the microscope, which has included moving the seat tube to a different position to allow the rider much more freedom of movement.

Steve Bridgeman

We also know from our chat that the bike will not feature a flip-chip design – something that is proving popular on MY 2020 bikes, and that we may be able to see the first prototypes as early as next month.

In another piece of InSync Racing news, rumour has it that the InSync Racing squad is increasing next year with the addition of new riders and that the team plans to have a larger presence at World Cup Rounds for 2020.

Keep posted for more 2020 downhill racing news.