Kingdom Bike Project

Interesting concept. Could be just the ticket for getting an Evil Sovereign in Titanium…..

Check their site and the frankenride concept.

If a number of people are interested enough in any specific design that is listed by them on behalf of a member of joe public they will produce it.

After looking at the singletrack forum and the following evil sovereigns frames have I am sure they would sell bucket loads.

Most people love the evil frame but have a dislike for the sizeable weight.

Go on lobby Kingdom for a Ti SOV, I would definently part with £1000 for the privilege.

Cammykt

Chris is very passionate about his bikes; his bikes are extremely well made with fantastic personal customer service. I have a couple of friends who have been riding/racing their frames this year and they highly rate them.

Been toying with a custom Ti 29er myself, in fact, if the wife would let me have another bike then I would have already placed the order 8)

The Vinyl looks a bit special, time to start saving…

I entered a design to the "frankenride concept" the Mudplugger…some feedback would be great 🙂

I lad in my LBS rides for Kingdom, he has aprototype titanium 4X frame.
Stunning bit of kit. 😀

I'm getting the supreme to test ride and review next month, along with some Howies gear 😛 Can't wait!

Foia looks nice, but only a 140mm pike on a DH hardtail?

I'm waiting for someone to come out with a high end HT frame that'll take a Domain or Totem…

Foia looks nice, but only a 140mm pike on a DH hardtail?

My thoughts exactly… needs to take 160mm at least for Fox 36's or RS Lyriks. Also the 27.2 seatpost limits uppy downy posts and for me the high top tube as opposed to a dropped design limits it's appeal.

I've submitted my wish list… which I suspect will be similar to many other peoples… based on my venerable Balfa Minuteman and very similar to a Sov but in Ti obviously

Interesting feedback. I sent them an email last night re: a Ti Sov so we'll see what they say. Sounds like we could generate enough interest for a dozen or so frames very easily!

for sure!

The first review of the Foia is interesting… if the've not found the limits of Pike forks and single ply maxxis tyres then their not ridding a hardtail hard enough 😆

How about soemthing less extream, a Ti 456 but good looking?

Straight tubes, 31.8 seatpost, straight (ish) seat/chainstays, taper headtube?

Just had an email from Chris at Kingdom. We're looking at doing a shoot-out between my Evil Sovereign and the Foia sometime soon in the Surrey Hills. Should be interesting, and I'll definately report back!!

I think it should be the subject of another thread but what 140mm fork for all these hardcore hardtails that are designed for 140mm forks?

As far as I can see most suitible 140mm forks are of the XC persuasion now and it's not till you hit 160mm and 170mm options such as Fox 36's and RS Lyriks that you'll get a beefy feeling fork for hammering the terrain into submission 😈

Note… I've ignored the Pike as it's rubbish 👿

If they would make either a Ti Sovereign or Ti BFE I along with many others would be stoked and part with lots of £,s to own one.

It would have to be able to run a 160mm fork plus I noticed that the FOIA can run a 1.5 headtube or a tapered version also.

I don't think people would be overly worried if the tubes were as fat as 853 steel pipes on the Cotic BFE downtube thus giving a 31.6mm post , the frame would still be lighter than any HD steel offering

Not so keen on the Foia,s wavy downtube looks a little like some Retrotec frames or the Merlin newsboy frame.

Ti Sov a gogo. Make it…… MAKE IT ….go on you know you want to

Ti Sov a gogo. Make it…… MAKE IT ….go on you know you want to

Yep – you're right I want to! The Evil is such an awesome bike that I'm very excited about testing it back-to-back with the Foia and possibly building a Ti version.

Personally for what I want the bike to do, I'm not convinced a 160mm fork is necessary. If I ride anywhere rocky I'm likely to reach for the full-suss, so for me it's more about a bike for looning about on in the Surrey Hills.

heihei can totally understand your point re the travel.

I live oop North read Scotland and normally run my forks 140ish but when in some scarier routes will run 160mm easily and on a BFE or SOV its the norm to be able run the longer if you need.

Sort of covers the scope of every rider out there looking for an HD XC/AM FREE RIDEY TYPE RIG,don't think I missed anyone out there cept maybe some XC whippets.

for those wanting the 160 mm travel on the foia..
have a look at the comments at the bottom of the page…
suggest you might want to be feeding back to the Kingdom website 😉

Another here that would be very, very interested in a Ti Sov. I'd only need forks up to 140mm. Basically a lighter version of the current Sov, except maybe with a tapered headtube, direct mount front mech and a few other choice updates – that would be just about perfect!

What would the deal be in terms of IP infringement though? Presumably you'd need to get in touch with Evil? Perhaps even do it as an official 'Evil/Kingdom Sov', like the new 456ti and Van Nic? That would be awesome.

What would the deal be in terms of IP infringement though?

Dunno about this – whilst a frame manufacturer clearly has a patent on the complete design, I'm sure they couldn't patent the geometry, which is effectively all you are copying. It's highly unlikely the frame would actually look like an Evil Sov – just ride like one that's been on a diet!

I did email Evil about doing a Ti frame and heard nothing back. Also interesting that Lynskey were quite happy to rip the geometry and build me a custom frame.
If you went out and marketed a frame as an Evil Sovereign then I'm sure they'd be a bit touchy, but if you just sold it as a hardcore hardtail that just "happen" to have identical geometry to it, then I'm pretty sure there's little they could do.

Yeah, I sent Evil an email about six months ago suggesting exactly the same thing (and asking about the Sect), but didn't hear anything back either. Guess they're busy with all the new frames coming out soon.

It's highly unlikely the frame would actually look like an Evil Sov – just ride like one that's been on a diet!

That's the thing – I'd want it to look the same as well. The only thing I'd change is the frame material. I still think the official 'built by Kingdom for Evil' route would be the coolest, best-of-both-worlds solution, but I guess that is pretty unlikely.

Just out of curiosity, how much did Lynskey want to do a Sov copy? A lot, presumably…

Regards the travel thing, 140mm is fine on a hardtail, but it's the stiffness of the 36 I like, on my new hardtail, i'll be running a shortened pair of 36's. If they did a ti sov i'd have one tomorrow with no hesitation.

Just out of curiosity, how much did Lynskey want to do a Sov copy? A lot, presumably…

$3595

Regards the travel thing, 140mm is fine on a hardtail, but it's the stiffness of the 36 I like, on my new hardtail, i'll be running a shortened pair of 36's.

Agreed – big difference between the 150mm 32 floats and 160mm 36 floats stiffness wise.

I just put in a design for a Trail/4X hardtail with adjustable head and BB that will take a 160mm fork tonight, about 7pm. Looks like I've got some fans already.
Big it up on their site, and they'll make it.
I'll let anyone interested in trying it have a go at the 4X track and trails at Afan.
Can't say fairer than that.

If they did a ti sov i'd have one tomorrow with no hesitation.

There seem to be no shortage of people in a pretty similar position, myself included. Obviously there's a big difference between people saying they'd buy a frame and actually stumping up the best part of £1,000 to buy one, but surely in this case they really would sell like hot cakes. My fingers remain crossed.

I like the look of the Kingdom bikes allot. Has anyone had a chance to ride any of them yet? I'd be particularly interested in views on the Legion.

I'm liking this:

Vendetta

Any update on the Ti Sov?

…there are other alternatives if you're after something special and already have a design in mind. Chi Ti firm XACD deal with punters direct on one-off frames. Risky, of course, but good fun – have a peek at Spanner Bikes Blog if you're interested…

Any update on the Ti Sov?

Plan is to ride my 853 Sov back to back with the Foia in early September then take it from there. Based on this thread, it would be pretty easy to shift a dozen plus, so could well fly.

I did take a look at XACD and was tempted, but prefer the idea of Kingdom Bikes and their ethos. I wouldn't be too surprised if that is who they use anyway!

Plan is to ride my 853 Sov back to back with the Foia in early September then take it from there. Based on this thread, it would be pretty easy to shift a dozen plus, so could well fly.

Did this ever happen? I’m still very interested in a Kingdom made Ti Sov…

nicemoney – I just replied to your design on the site 😀

ashfanman – sadly not yet. Chris from Kingdom isn’t fully happy with the prototype Foia, so I’m waiting for the production frames to arrive in the next month or so. Once that happens, he’ll get me one to try. I’ll def post once it happens!!