Last year, when we could go places and ride, I spent a week riding the trails in and around Whistler’s bike park on a Knolly Warden. That was a 27.5 long travel big trail bike. Today, Knolly have launched the Chilcotin, which is like a Warden on steroids. If the 160mm travel of the Warden isn’t quite enough for you then the Chilcotin goes 10 higher to 170mm. Oh, and it gets big 29r wheels too.
I’m a fan of Knolly bikes – I’ll disclose that now. It’s not just the way they make their bikes and the unique designs they offer – it’s also the way the sell them. There’s always a frame only option and when they do build up a complete bike the options are simple. They also manage a fine line between a dealer stocked brand and direct seller. Order from them online and they will work with your nearest dealer to fulfill your order, making sure they get the full dealer cut.
They are a small company selling a pretty hefty range of big travel bikes around the world.
For us here in the UK our options are limited to ordering direct and having bikes shipped to us direct from Vancouver. There’s no distribution/dealer network in the UK right now for Knolly but I’m told they are working on it.
Anyway, let’s learn some more about the new Chilcotin from the Knolly presser we have here.
The Knolly Presser
We set out to design the next generation of the Enduro race bike and we’re proud to release the new Chilcotin. The goals were simple: make the bike fast as hell and super manageable even in the worst race conditions. Our new ride features 29’er wheels, a completely new design (the last Chilcotin was a 26’er!), our industry leading patented Fourby4 suspension and two suspension travel options for when you need to push your performance to the next level. The Chilcotin is ready to race enduro and tough enough for large freeride hits.
The Chilcotin uses our most advanced Fourby4 suspension technology and delivers the highest quality of suspension travel available, with a fully progressive curve that will easily manage the biggest hits while maintaining initial sensitivity and Knolly’s acclaimed mid stroke support.
The back end of the bike has been lengthened compared to our trail and freeride models to increase high speed stability. Like all our bikes, our Fourby4 suspension is designed to reduce the effect of brake “squat” thereby enabling the wheel to maintain contact with the ground and maximizing speed through the most challenging terrain. And our legendary pedalling traction is fine-tuned to ensure consistent pedalling performance – even in jank – so you can get on the gas whenever you need to eliminate another second off your time.
The Chilcotin’s geometry is highly progressive but not designed to escalate or play one upmanship with the “longer, lower, slacker” trend. Most bikes in the industry are built (and sold) on their static geometry, which is not indicative of how they actually perform on the trail. We have always focused on the bike’s “Dynamic Geometry”: which is how the bike performs when it’s “in use”, not how it looks on paper.
Adjustable Geometry
There are two adjustable geo settings (slack or neutral), so that you can tailor your set up to match your riding style. It’s as simple as removing a bolt, sliding the shock forward or back and re-installing the bolt. The Chilcotin’s effective seat tube angle changes from 77.6 (neutral) to 76.9 (slack) and the head tube angle changes from 64.5 (neutral) to 63.8 (slack).
Suspension Options
The Chilcotin platform is incredibly versatile with one frame and two fully progressive suspension travel options. This offering allows our riders to set up their bikes based on their riding styles. The Chilcotin 151 build kit features a 160mm fork and 151mm of rear travel. The Chilcotin 167 build kit moves to an aggressive chassis 170mm fork (38 Float or Zeb) and increases rear travel to 167mm for extra back cushion when you need to push your riding to the next level.
Offset Straight Seat Tube Design (OSD)
157Trail
In line with our next generation of recent releases, the Chilcotin features 157Trail rear hub spacing which uses the wide flange 157 hubs with 73mm BB shells. This update provides the most options for tire size and can easily clear tire widths up to 2.6. With the move to 157Trail, heel clearance is exceptional and chainring clearance remains huge at 36T.
Materials
We’re known for building our bikes with super high quality aluminum and this model is constructed with 6066 series hydroformed aluminum alloy tubing. It’s the most advanced weldable tubing alloy available and has a combination of high tensile strength and excellent durability. It’s easy formability allows us to create complex shapes to maximize torsional stiffness and ensure a high performance, predictable ride.
The Chilcotin also features internal routing, an open cockpit downtube protector and water bottle mounts.
| Medium | Large | X-Large | ||||
| mm | INCHES | mm | INCHES | mm | INCHES | |
| Head Tube | 98 | 3.9 | 106 | 4.2 | 110 | 4.3 |
| Stand Over | 710 | 28.0 | 750 | 29.5 | 790 | 31.1 |
| Seat Tube L | 405 | 15.9 | 456 | 18.0 | 503 | 19.8 |
| Ef Top Tube | 632 | 24.9 | 660 | 26.0 | 688 | 27.1 |
| Wheelbase | 1225 | 48.2 | 1254 | 49.4 | 1282 | 50.5 |
| Stack | 626 | 24.6 | 633 | 24.9 | 637 | 25.1 |
| Reach | 464 | 18.3 | 490 | 19.3 | 516 | 20.3 |
| Head Angle | 63.8 (Slack) | 64.5 (Neutral) | ||||
| BB Height | 338 (Slack) | 347 (Neutral) | ||||
| Effective Seat Tube Angle | 76.9(Slack) | 77.6 (Neutral) |
| Chainstay Length | 438.0mm / 17.3″ (Slack) | 436.5mm / 17.2″ (Neutral) |
| Fork Length (Incl Headset) | 586mm | |
| Front Travel | 170mm | |
| Rear Travel | 167mm | |
| Wheel Size & Max Width | 29″ x 2.6″ | |
| Dropout/Hub Spec | 12 x 157mm | |
| Seat Post Diameter | 31.6mm | |
| Seat Post Insert Depth | 300mm+ | |
| Dropper Post Range | Size Medium: 175mm drop; Size Large and XL 175mm – 200+mm drop | |
| Fork Offset | 44mm | |
| Headset | 44mm upper & 56mm lower | |
| Post Collar | 35mm | |
| Frame Material | 6066 Aluminum, Custom Titanium Hardware | |
| Internal Cable Routing With Di2 Battery Compartment | Yes | |
| Upper Chain Guide Mount | E-type direct mount (removable) | |
| Chainguide Tabs | ISCG05 (removable) | |
| BB Shell Spec | 73mm / threaded | |
| Chainline | 55-57 with 56.5mm optimal | |
| Rear Brake Tabs | Post mount 160mm | |
| Two Geo settings | Slack or Neutral | |
| Bottle Mounts | Yes |
*to view the Chilcotin 151 Geo & Specs: https://www.knollybikes.com/chilcotin151
SIZING, PRICING, COLOURS & AVAILABILITY
The Chilcotin comes in medium, large and extra large and we’re offering two build kit options: DP and EC kits. For this release, we’re serving up two great colour choices including Moody Blue and Raw, and the Chilcotin complete bike pricing starts from $5300 USD. It will be available for sale this December at your Knolly Bikes Dealer and online: www.knollybikes.com.
Singletrack UK notes on pricing and shipping
As stated on the Knolly website all bikes are priced in US$ and not Canadian $. This is worth remembering when pricing this up. The base model Chilcotin is priced. at US$5300, which roughly converts to £4075 at time of publishing. But, as Knolly also make clear, outside of the US and Canada customers will be responsible for paying any landing charges, import duty and VAT. These are cost you are likely going to face paying to the courier company that drops it off.
We spoke to Ken at Knolly about the likely landed costs to a UK customer of the $5300 Chilcotin. Knolly are very experienced at sending bikes around the world and so working out an estimate is something they are used to doing for international customers.
Ken reckons that the base level, fully build Chilcotin for $5300 would today work out to approximately £5435. the frame only option would be approximately £1910 delivered to the UK. These figures could change daily depending on exchange rates and any changes to import duty. As would seem obvious, check all the numbers before placing your order.
Oh and let’s not forget the required marketing video edit
Knolly Chilcotin Gallery
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Please say that 157 Trail is superboost!
Let’s hope that Shorelines will stock them again. I bought a 2017 Delirium and it was by far the best long travel bike I’ve ever owned and really regret selling it.