Indonesia’s latest enduro rig rocks up to rail UK trails, and just in time for the wet season too, here’s our first look at the Patrol 691.
Patrol is an Indonesian mountain bike brand that is owned by United Cycle. Now we’ll forgive you if you don’t know either of these brands as Patrol is better known in Asian markets, and United is famous for being a major manufacturer of bikes from all the brands you do know.
Apparently, United manufacturers around 1 million bikes a year in its own factories in Asia, so they obviously know how to put together a bike.
Patrol is the flagship brand and specialises in producing off-road bikes for cross-country, enduro, dirt jumps and even quality kids bikes. In the past Patrol even had its own downhill team, but in recent years the brand has moved away from the racer image to embrace a more adventurous side.
Regular readers of Singletrack will have seen Patrol pop up a few times this year. I was lucky enough to visit Bali for the launch of their 2020 range of bikes that included a couple of Shimano e-Bikes, and the 691.
Fox Suspension.
The Patrol 691 is a new bike for 2020 featuring an all-new frame with 150mm of rear-wheel travel, new Superboost hub spacing and big 29er wheels. Patrol offers the 691 in two versions, we have the standard 691 which retails at $3199 USD (there isn’t a UK, or EU price yet) with 1 x 12 SLX drivetrain, and Fox suspension, but there’s also an ’S’ spec option available with XT drivetrain and Fox Performance Elite suspension at $3,999.
Patrol has created an aesthetic for its full-suspension bikes that’s shared across the 691 shown here, the E-Six E-Enduro bike and the shorter travel Patrol 591. Each model shares a similar top-tube design and the same compact linkage driven suspension system.
The compact link and top-tube mounted shock keeps the rear shock well out of the way, and there’s enough room in the front triangle for a full-sized water bottle even with this Fox DPX2 Performance rear shock in place.
That Fox shock controls the 150mm of rear wheel travel available through the 29in rear wheel, while a Fox 36 Rhythm sits upfront with 160mm of travel. It’s a sensible and easy to tune suspension choice, in-fact sensible is how I would describe the complete build of the 691.
Along with the Fox suspension, an almost complete Shimano SLX 1 x 12 drivetrain comes and standard, and because of Shimano’s Microspline rules, the bike even comes fitted with Shimano SLX hubs, in a rather cool ‘Robocop Blue’ finish.
The only deviation from the SLX drivetrain is a set of Magura MT 30 4 pot brakes front and rear. I’ve not had much time with Magura brakes, but they feel powerful if a little flexy due to the composite construction.
Enduro bikes have fully embraced 29in wheels, and the 691 is no exception rolling on a pair of SunRingle Duroc 40 rims with 29 x 2.6in wide Maxxis Minion DHR II rubber front and rear.
Seating is handled by SDG with an SDG saddle fitted to an SDG Tellis cable operated dropper post. Size S and M 691 bikes are fitted with a shorter 125mm drop post, while this L, and the XL, come with a longer 150mm dropper as standard.
SDG lock-on grips are also fitted in a matching brown to the saddle, with Patrol’s own brand bard and stem finishing off the cockpit. The whole build is very smartly thought out, although I feel that most riders will swap about that long stem for something shorter.
The stem is a little long for me, so I will swap it for a shorter one.
A sorted build kit, the right wheels and good suspension are the easy bits though. What about the geometry? Well, Patrol has managed to do a pretty good job here too. I’ve gone for a size large frame which has a reach of 466mm, which is slightly more than the size L Commencal Meta 29 I’ve been riding this year.
The roomy front end is matched to a longer than average 445mm chainstay, suggesting that the 691 is going to pretty stable at full gas. Other important numbers are a 65 head angle, and 76 seat tube angle.
I’ll probably switch the stem to something shorter, but other than that the Patrol 691 looks ready to ride, though I don’t think I’ll be hitting anything as big as the Pemberton railway gap as one rider did on their 691 earlier in the year.
For more details on the Patrol 691 visit the Patrol Mountain website, and if you have any questions ask them in the comments section.
Patrol 691 Specification
- Frame // Patrol 691 alloy, 150mm travel with 12 x 157mm Superboost.
- Shock // Fox DPX2 Performance.
- Fork // Fox 36 Rhythm 160mm.
- Rear Mech // Shimano SLX M7100 12-speed.
- Shifter // Shimano SLX M7100 12-speed.
- Chainset // Shimano SLX M7130, 32t.
- Cassette // Shimano SLX M7100 12-speed 10-51t.
- Brakes // Magura MT30 4 pot.
- Dropper // SDG Tellis 150mm.
- Wheels // SUN Ringle Duroc 40 rims with Shimano M7130 hubs.
- Tyres // Maxxis Minion DHR II 29×2.6 WT, 3C/EXO+
- Sizes // S,M,L,XL
- Price // $3199
