Bold LINKIN – Integrated tech for the ambitious trail rider

Are you ready for the hype? Hold onto your trucker caps!

“The BOLD LINKIN is the pinnacle of innovation, focused on technical and aesthetic details to emphasise its industry leading innovation and design. Created by passionate bikers and engineered for those wanting a high-end experience of technology and design.“

There’s so much hidden in this bike, get past the first glance at the carbon frame and swing arm, and you’ll discover there’s a lot going on beneath the surface. Is it even a bike, or is it two bikes? With an Inner Link that allows you to choose between 135mm and 150mm rear travel on this single platform, the LINKIN will be available as four different builds, with two spec options for each travel set up. The shorter travel LINKIN 135 will come with a 140mm fork, while the LINKIN 150 will be paired with a 150m fork.

• 

• 

• 

• 

Further adjustability comes from a flip chip to adjust the bottom bracket height by 6.3mm, and 1 degree of adjustment on head angle. But that’s hardly unique to this bike. Let’s go in search of more hidden technology.

• 

• 

How about an integrated tool? Similar to Specialized’s SWAT hatch, the downtube opens up to reveal storage for a Save The Day Kit, which includes a spare tube, mini pump, tire levers and a spot for chain quick links. Another hatch reveals a Syncros MATCHBOX SL-CT Multi-Tool just in front of the bottom bracket. All kept down low, it’s part of the bike’s design aim of having a low centre of gravity. Ticked away in the rear axle is a tool which features a T25, T30 and a 6 Allen key all in one. With these three options you can adjust all pivot hardware and nearly everything else there is to adjust on the bike.

It’s not just the tools that are hidden away – the suspension is too, and this may be of interest to those who have pulled damp, mouldy and stinky tool kits out of other bike storage hatches and are wondering about the welfare of the Save The Day Kit.

Frame stiffness, lowest center of gravity and optimum shock performance are the key benefits to our Internal Suspension Technology. The condition of the rear shock has a significant impact on suspension performance. The shock is always protected from dirt, water and crashes to ensure it is functioning at its best. As a result, the bike benefits from better handling, longer shock service intervals and a more stable, confidence inspiring ride.

Bold

With the shock being internal, there’s a fancy sag setting system featuring magnets – for full Bike From The Future points.

Accessing the shock is possible via a cover in the down tube area. This makes it easy to adjust rebound, compression, shock pressure as well as access to the cable of the TracLoc Suspension System. Setting the right sag can easily be done via a magnet equipped travel indicator on the outside. The end stroke travel can also be checked on the smartly designed travel indicator for perfect bottom out control. Shock bolts are easily accessible from the outside.

Bold

Putting the shock inside the frame opens up design options:

With the shock placed internally, we are able to design an ultra compact linkage system for low weight and high stiffness. The linkage is directly attached to the shock and mounted to an axle inside the frame, meaning the suspension pivots no longer have to be constructed around the frame. This makes our link shorter than any other traditional suspension platform.

Bold

As you might expect from a brand majority owned by Scott, there are shock controls on the handlebars, giving you three shock control modes via TracLoc.

TracLoc manages the sag effect in several ways. Whereas most systems only increase low-speed compression in an effort to gain pedaling efficiency, TracLoc allows you to not only change compression damping, but also to change the spring curve, dynamically altering the geometry of the bike. In Traction mode, the shock is not only firmer, but it has dynamically less travel. The bike sits higher, maintains a steep seat angle for those climbs, and becomes more agile. In addition, the LINKIN has a third mode with a full lockout for going up the steepest trails in the most efficient manner possible.

Bold

• 

• 

• 

Enough about the tech, what about the ride – what are this bike’s intentions? Bold explains – but not before some more integration tech words.

Integration has always been a core feature of our bikes. With the new LINKIN we continue to follow this credo. Upon analyzing forces going into the frame, with the LINKIN we decided to place the shock horizontally near the downtube junction. This ensures an extremely low center of gravity a offers plenty of clearance for long-travel seatposts. In addition to the IST VP suspension technology designed for progressive trail riding, the bike features several other innovative solutions. The “Save The Day Kit” in the downtube, an optimized SAG and Bottom-Out Indicator and geometry adjustment options at the front and rear are just a few. The playful yet smooth handling coupled with a chassis with lots of pop and plenty of support in the mid-travel range provide incredible performance and round out the package for the ambitious trail rider.

Vincenz Droux, Head of Engineering & Design Bold Cycles

Does all this add up to something that catches your eye? Are you an ‘ambitious trail rider’ who wants ‘a high-end experience of technology and design’? You’ve a short wait ahead of you, as bikes are due early 2022.

Bold LINKIN Pricing and Availability

You can choose from four sizes between Small and XL.

• LINKIN 135 ULTIMATE (8.499 €)
• LINKIN 150 ULTIMATE (10.999 €)
• LINKIN 135 PRO (5.999 €)
• LINKIN 150 PRO (6.999 €)
• LINKIN frameset in BLACK or WHITE (4.999 €)

---