There are a number of themes going on at NAHBS 2015, but at least here – Enduro is in the minority. That hasn’t stopped DEAN Bikes from trying their hand at a new 150mm travel platform. Now under new ownership, DEAN Bikes was purchased from John Siegrist by long time employee and welder Ari Leon. John will still be consulting and helping out on occasion but the main operations will now be in the hands of Ari and his capable crew of former employees.
One of the biggest desires from their enduro bike was to build a long travel full suspension titanium bike that actually took advantage of the materials ride qualities instead of hiding it. To accomplish that, the frame has a unique flex stay that should work out to an interesting ride…
Taking the place as a pivot in the four bar suspension, the chainstays are made from a titanium plate. Due to the relief cuts and the shaping of the plate, the chainstay flexes upwards which works in tandem with the rest of the pivots to allow for a full 150mm of travel with a very linear, DH like feel. So far, the company has spent a lot of time designing and optimizing the suspension linkage to work with the Cane Creek Double barrel air and are still in the testing phase of the design.
Centered around a 1x specific frame design, the fully Colorado built 3.25 titanium frame uses a 142×12 rear axle with 27.5″ wheels and comes in around 7.5 lbs for the frame and shock. As pictured the bike built up to less than 29 lbs for a large and DEAN guesses pricing will be around $3500-$3800 for a frame and shock.
