BikeBiz Bicycle and cycling retail news
Brodie has announced its entry into the big-wheel arena with the Khan and Crib 29ers.
The former carries a 70-degree head angle, 100mm Manitou Tower forks with 51mm offset and short 437mm chain stays. The more affordable of the two, the Crib, is specced with an 80mm Suntour XCR fork.
It’s been a lengthy process to bring the bikes to market, with the brand holding off a release until they could fine tune the front end. Brodie’s product manager Bruce Spicer said of the journey: "When you’ve practically spent more of your life on two wheels than you have on two feet you become particular in how a bike should ride and perform. After riding many different early 29’ers from various brands, I was convinced the 29’er just wasn’t where it should be. Plagued by suspension and frame limitations, they were either too raked or too twitchy; they just didn’t ride like a Brodie should.
Spicer added: "The art of having a bicycle steer the way you want it to is having the “trail” of a bicycle fall within a certain range. The trail refers to the imaginary line through the center of the steerer tube and the vertical line of where the center of the hub lies. Fork manufacturers can adjust where the hub lies by offset (by hub placement on the fork legs and/or fork crown spacing). The longer the trail, the floppier the steering and vice versa the shorter it is, the twitchier the feels. When designing our 29’er two key aspects were critical, the fork trail and the chain stay length.
Both models are in stock with Brodie now, who are contactable on 0800 779 1772.
Brodie has also just revealed a new look website.
