Patrol Mountain has taken input from riders and testers from around the world and brought the geometry of their 691 right up to date.
I do bring this up as often as I possibly can, but a few years ago, when pandemics were something only movies talked about, I had the opportunity to fly to Bali and ride bikes. Writing for a mountain bike website isn’t all free kit and travel, but now and again some of the perks are just awesome.
Meeting Patrol in Bali was actually my second time coming face to face with their bikes, only the first time around I didn’t actually know what I was looking at. A few years prior, I was at Fort William sneaking around the pits and looking for things to pap when I stumbled into the pits of a team with a bike I kind of recognised. I remember Ross and I discussed what it might be, but didn’t want to disturb the team right in the middle of World Cup preparation. It turns out it was a Patrol downhill bike, possibly the first Indonesian MTB to take part in World Cup racing (this was before Polygon was on the scene, I think).
Anyway back to Bali. Now that I realised who the brand of that mystery bike was, I was a little sad to see their new range had removed the DH bike but very excited to see a new eMTB and a new enduro platform. That enduro bike was the originally 691, a 6 inch travel, 29er (6 for travel, 9 for wheel size, and 1 for the level of the build). It was a fun bike and a great entry to the enduro market for Patrol, but it was far from perfect.
2022 Patrol 691 Evo – Frame and Build
Of the many brands I have come to know and speak to on a frequent basis, Patrol does an excellent job of listening to rider input and making the right changes to improve its range. At that launch in Bali (I told you I bring it up a lot) many testers praised the original 691 but suggested perhaps it might corner better with a lower BB height.
After receiving the 691 last year and spending more time on the bike, I also added that a slightly longer reach would be appreciated, and a few tweaks to the geometry might make the 691 really confident and fast in the rough.
To my surprise Patrol took this input on board and announced the Patrol 691 Evo at the start of 2021. The Evo in the name refers to the evolution that the bike has gone through to bring it to what it is now, and reflect the new lower and longer approach.
Whereas the original 691 had a -12mm BB drop the Evo gets -27mm and the reach has grown to modern standards too. A medium Evo has a 455mm reach compared to the originals 446mm and the size large bike I have measured at 475mm rather than 466mm. What hasn’t changed is the 65-degree head angle and 76-degree seat tube, which in all fairness are still pretty good by today’s standards, and ensures the 160mm travel, 29er still feels lively on less challenging terrain.
The rest of the Patrol 691 Evo’s frame is just as it was on the original bike. The suspension layout is the same, there is room for a bottle cage in all sizes, and the bike features internal cable routing throughout.
There is one item I mentioned that might be worth changing that didn’t make the cut though. Superboost! There is nothing technically wrong with the Superboost standard, but it does make switching wheels complicated, especially if you already have a bunch of quality Boost wheels in the shed. It’s not the end of the world though, Superboost wheels are available, and there are even conversion kits to increase the spacing on a standard Boost hub to Superboost.
An area that I quite liked on the original 691 was the longer than standard chainstays. For years many brands tried tucking the rear wheel under the rider as much as possible, but as front centres grow, we’ve seen a couple of brands also increase the rear too. I understand the benefits of a short rear end, but on a 29er enduro bike with 160mm travel the aim of the game is speed, and for speed you need stability. Patrol gets this and each size S-XL 691 Evo has a chainstay of 445mm (that is more than the reach on the original size small 691!).
If you’re looking closely you can see that the 691 Evo still has clearance on the seat tube for a front mech. This is because some riders in Indonesia still appreciate having a 2x on the front. It looks a little odd down there, but I can’t say I’ve seen any issues due to the design, nor have I flex any flex from the BB area. Speaking of the BB, you get a proper breaded shell and in fact, the specification of the 691 Evo is excellent.
As I briefly glossed over at the start, the 691 Evo name actually gives customers some clue of the features of the bike. The 6 refers to the amount of travel with is 6in or 150mm, the 9 in the name refers to the 29in wheels and the 1 tells us that this is the top of the line build. Actually, there is only one level of the build available for the 691 Evo, and it fits its top of the line brief.
Although Patrol might not be a well-known name, the company that owns Patrol, United, is a HUGE manufacturer of bicycles and so has some pretty good links to OE brands like Shimano and Fox, which is probably why the 691 Evo has some quality kit as standard.
Up front, we have a Fox 38 Factory Grip 2 fork with silky Kashima stanchions producing 160mm travel. The rear shock is a Fox Float X2 with 2 position compression lever, and the dropper is an X-Fusion manic post with 170mm drop (150mm on S-M bikes).
Shimano makes up a huge chunk of the other components. The rear mech, chainset and 4 piston brakes are all from the excellent Shimano XT stable. While Shimano SLX provides the hubs and 1×12 cassette. That’s all really high-quality gear, and shouldn’t sound any alarm bells, as it’s all proven to last even under extremely aggressive riding.
The 29er wheels are built up using SunRingle Duroc SD37 rims and are shod in Maxxis Minion and DHR rubber. Both front and rear tyres are 29 x 2.6in, and couple that with the wide rims and you have some seriously big rubber, a little too big for my preference. Other details include a custom SDG saddle, SDG lock-on grips, Patrol branded 35mm bar and stem.
Patrol 691 Evo Geometry
| Small | Medium | Large | X-Large | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Head Tube Angle | 65° | 65° | 65° | 65° |
| Head Tube Length | 105 | 110 | 115 | 125 |
| Top Tube Horizontal | 566 | 587 | 609 | 627 |
| Reach | 435 | 455 | 475 | 490 |
| Standover | 716 | 719 | 722 | 724 |
| Stack | 609 | 614 | 614 | 627 |
| Seat Tube Length | 400 | 420 | 455 | 470 |
| Seat Angle | 76° | 76° | 76° | 76° |
| Bottom Bracket Height | 349 | 349 | 349 | 349 |
| Bottom Bracket Drop | -27 | -27 | -27 | -27 |
| Chainstay Length | 445 | 445 | 445 | 445 |
| Wheelbase | 1199 | 1221 | 1244 | 1263 |
Riding the Patrol 691 Evo
Sitting on the Patrol 691 Evo after riding the 691 it’s obvious that the changes put you in a better riding position. The change in geometry isn’t huge, so it still feels familiar, just better.
Setting the Patrol 691 Evo up couldn’t have been easier. The recommended Fox Suspension settings are usually correct within a click or two. The rest of the set-up was straight forward with the only extra step being to swap the brake hoses around, which is extremely easy on Shimano brakes and can be achieved without another bleed if you’re careful.
On the climbs the rear suspension of the 691 Evo is a little more active than some enduro bikes on the market, still, for most of my testing, I didn’t really feel the need to use the climb lever unless I was feeling really tired after a long day. I would say though that the choice of wide tyres and rims are more suited to bike park duty than long days in the saddle, and I soon swapped to something narrower and instantly felt the Evo become more lively and eager to make progress.
The longer chainstay and supple suspension help maintain wheel contact with the ground, and even loose, dry, summer climbs are cleared with ease.
On the way back down again the supple rear suspension really comes into its own, soaking up repeated big hits in its stride and never running out of travel. The bike sits quite nicely into its travel and the increased longer reach adds to the overall improved ride quality and feeling of confidence. One thing I did notice, and this is personal preference, was that the front end height was a little too low for me when riding in really steep terrain, but a higher rise bar sorted that out. I also swapped the grips to a pair from Burgtec as I found the plastic core of the SDG very uncomfortable on long rocky descents.
Things that could be improved
- Personally, I prefer 29 x 2.4in tyres and narrower rims.
- Grips with a little more padding.
- The chainstay protector comes away easily.
Things I loved
- I love that Patrol are actually listening to what riders want.
- The specification of this bike is incredible.
- It looks great in the burgundy paint.
Overall
A great value enduro bike that is sure to be a rare sight in the UK, but if you get the chance to ride one jump at it!
Specification
- FRAME // PATROL 691 enduro MTB, 12×157 mm Super Boost, 150mm travel
- FORK // FOX 38 Factory, 170mm travel, 44mm rake, Kashima
- SHOCK // FOX Float X2, 2-pos, 8.5×2.5
- DROPPER // X FUSION Manic, 30.9mm, 150mm (S/M) – 170mm (L/XL)
- REAR MECH // SHIMANO Deore XT M8100, 12s
- SHIFTER // SHIMANO Deore XT M8100
- CHAINSET // SHIMANO Deore XT M8130-1, 32t
- CASSETTE // SHIMANO SLX M7100, 12s, 10-51t
- BRAKES // SHIMANO XT M8120
- WHEELS // SUNringlé Düroc SD37 rims with SHIMANO SLX hubs
- TYRES // MAXXIS Minion DHF (F), DHR II (R), 29×2.6WT, 3C/EXO/TR
- PRICE // $4699 USD
Review Info
| Brand: | Patrol |
| Product: | 691 Evo |
| From: | Patrol Mountain |
| Price: | $4699 |
| Tested: | by Andi Sykes for 6 months |
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