So, my CUBE (Stolen) and my Commencal are both paid off, so decided “why not” and have bought a new beast for UK trailcentres and Morzine. I wanted something with decent travel, decent kit and a decent price.

Was chatting to my neighbour yesterday who’d just got back from Cannock Chase and once again he was telling me about how good his was. I’d test ridden his a couple of times and must admit, they always felt exceptional, but always out of my price range..

Made a call to Squarewheels in Scotland, just to see if they had any ex-demo bikes etc.

Bionicon Supershuttle 2 – Mountain Bikes

So, on Tuesday, my new Bionicon Super Shuttle 2 is being sent..

For those who don’t know they use a rather unique push button suspension system, which means at the press of a button you go from 150mm down to 80mm on the front, but at the same time it both stiffens and raises the rear….. then press again and you’re back in full-on DH mode of full travel and squishiness. Takes a couple of rides to get used to… but is apparently second nature then 🙂

So i’m all excited now..

Looks nice, people i’ve spoke to who’ve tried them really like the adjustable travel system

i rode a mates once, for about 8 miles… i was impressed with it, although didn’t gel hugely with the bike overall… However, i’ll spend a bit of time setting this to my weight, size etc and get it right, i think for what i’m after it for, it will be brilliant.

It will be my ‘sunday best’ to an extent, only really for Swinley and trail centre riding, won’t be replacing my Giant 29er as my XC all-rounder…

Well… it MAY…. i’m not sure lol.

Not exactly sure what he means by this one… LOL.

Hi
We’ve tried to fit Shimano SLX cranks to this model in the past, but the Shimano Hollowtech 2 BB is too narrow to work with the suspension system

Here’s some pics though 🙂

I’ve not tried a Supershuttle but I’ve tried a couple of other bikes from the Bionicon range and I love them. Enjoy.

Looks quite heavily built, what’s the weight? (you could always pump it full of helium to lighten it up 🙂 )

29.5 lb or so.

That chainset must weigh a ton, thought about changing it for SLX or similar?

🙂

I’ve thought about many things…. that’s a whole new debate though as it’s not 83mm.. it’s 73mm…. but still clearnace isues… not looked into why..

I have bought a bash-ring for it though so waiting for CRC to deliver that 🙂

It’s a VERY weird sensation and bike to get used to just pootling outside the house… needs some setting up etc yet.

Well the first little jaunt is done and here’s the report…

First things first…. part of me thinks i should have bought a large LOL. It’s just a fraction too small where the seatpost is extended to the min insertion point. However i spoke to Bionicon and they’re fine if i run a longer seatpost.
SO, moving on…. it’s very very plush…. and very very flickable.. the speed i can personally carry on downy bits is definately improved over any of me previous bikes, i find myself reaching for the brakes a lot less on this.

The peddaling is easy and the steeering takes some getting used to… it’s like riding a SM compared to a Harley when in DH mode… the front end feels a MILE out compared to my usual XC style machine… it’s a little weird and takes some getting used to. As you can imagine, it soaks up bumps etc like they don’t exist.. making it a very pleasurably ride indeed.

The suspension system… well i think this is a complete revelation… one you may not be able to get your head around wthout actually trying a Bionicon…the ammout of change in geometry is just ridiculous, you’re almost scraping the floor with your chin in fully compressed mode, then staring up at the sky in DH mode. The only real irritation with it is that you have to stand up to compress the forks to get into uphil mode.. However, when you’re cracking on, you’ll find you do that anyway in day to day riding (or i certainly do anyway)
I also have a small knock when in full climb mode and pushing hard uphills… i think it’s the fork bottoming as it compresses from an almost full compression, but i’l look into that further.

My last little section is a tight twisty fast DH singletrack and the Bionicon flies down it… at a rapid rate. The fact it’s a touch small for me means i can man-handle the thing well and flick it about underneath me with ease and almost graceful posie 😉

At this stage i’m very happy with the purchase.

I’ve fitted a nice little bash ring and also my chainstay protector 🙂

SO yesterday was teh first rideout proper of the Bionicon. Here’s the thoughts and musings.

Firstly… the Full Susser makes SOOOOO much sense. Currently Afan is at the stage where it’s completely rock strewn as the mud has washed away over winter on the descents, so it’s rock rock rock. The Bionicon absolutely wipes the floor with the rocks.

We set off and yesterdays climb of Whites was at my mate an neighbours pace, who’s quicker than me… we climbed Whites in a fraction over 40 mins. Which is pretty handy in anyones world. I later found out, that wasn’t my best move with a heavier beast than i’m used to. The climb i spent time playing with the suspension, ended up finding that the best position for me wasn’t quite in ‘full’ on uphill mode but about 25mm back up. That gave me the best riding position to climb.

Onto the descents…. i was out on Maxxis High Rollers for the first time ever… oooooh they’re some grippy fellas them… absolutely lovely. So, a quick press of the button and the bike is on full downhill mode.. it’s plush, nice and light as a feather underneath you. The flickability and ability to absorb bumps is pretty damn impresseive 🙂 Things i’d once have worried about previously, i found myself just walloping over with ease. It gave me some confidence that i’m maybe not QUITE as rubbish going downhill as i sometimes think… HAd great fun chasing Crust down the hills.. He commented that i was way quicker on the Bionicon than anything else i’ve gone downhill on… which was funny as he was still quicker on the Lapierre than i was lol.

Over the course of the day, the pace really took it’s toll, the boys i was out with were totally relentless in their pace… the climb of the wall was a chore… no rests till the top and i was pretty much spent lol. The descents back over on Whites of Energy and the Northshore level were pretty tough for me.

Sadly, i don’t know WTF i’m going to do… my fittness is as good as i can possibly make it within the time constraints i live within having a job and a familly… but at times, i was simply lacking a bit yesterday… saying that, we started with 5 riders, finished with 3…. so i was happy to be one of the 3.

I’m really really happy with the Bionicon and really pleased i did Afan yesterday, it gave me a much needed confidence boost in descending…

always wanted a proper go on one of them.

I’ve had my Golden Willow for 3 years now! That’s some achievement for me!
I’ve tried many bikes to replace it with (purely as I like to change bikes regularly) however I cannot find anything I get on with anywhere near as well as the Bionicon.
I love it and anyone who has a ride of it seems to like the system. I’ve only ever had one problem with it whereupon I was losing air from the button. Steve and his team looked after me very well indeed and I was back up and running in no time.
The only thing that gets me is that you become locked into Bionicon ie. you can’t just go and buy a new frame if it takes your fancy as the forks and shock aren’t transferable.
That said, I’m more than happy with it atm and have no intentions in changing it any time soon.

Nice but I struggle to believe that comes in at sub 30lb. I was tempted by a Bionicon a couple of years ago, the idea makes a lot of sense to me but I was worried by all the proprietary bits on them (like the forks…) so wuss’ed out in the end

I’d imagine with the High Rollers and tubes it’s right up around 30lb… i’ll see if i can get a decent weighing done and give you the figure.