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Found: Bold Cycles Linkin Trail full suspension concept hides the shock inside frame

Written by Tyler Benedict
22 Comments
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Bold Cycles Linkin Trail full suspension mountain bike with rear shock hidden inside the frame

Launching out of Switzerland, Bold Cycles’ is making a statement with its debut bike, the Linkin Trail.

Yes, it’s a full suspension frame, but the shock is completely hidden inside the seat tube, driven by the upper rocker arm. The carbon frame has ports in the headtube to let air inside to cool the shock, with exit vents just below it. Behind that, a Boost 148 rear axle makes room for a 27.5+ tire or a less rotund 29er. Travel is 130mm, and it’s got all manner of trails in its sights…

Bold Cycles Linkin Trail full suspension mountain bike with rear shock hidden inside the frame

The shock inserts from the bottom of the frame, putting air valve and any damping controls within reach after removing a protective cover plate.

Bold Cycles Linkin Trail full suspension mountain bike with rear shock hidden inside the frame

Inside the frame is a DT Swiss shock, developed in partnership with Bold Cycles.

Bold Cycles Linkin Trail full suspension mountain bike with rear shock hidden inside the frame

The purple-ish lines show the airflow through the frame to help cool the shock. Without some method of moving heat off the canister, air and oil pressure could rise under heavy use and harsh the ride.

Bold Cycles Linkin Trail full suspension mountain bike with rear shock hidden inside the frame

Even with the room for tires, it’s front derailleur ready and Side Swing compatible for Shimano’s latest.

Bold Cycles Linkin Trail full suspension mountain bike with rear shock hidden inside the frame

Bold Cycles Linkin Trail full suspension mountain bike with rear shock hidden inside the frame

Even the packaging is elegant, which suggests a direct to consumer model. Their website says things go live May 8th, which should be soon considering they’re a quarter day ahead of us. More as we get it.

BoldCycles.com
Tyler Benedict
11,281 articles

Tyler Benedict is the Founder of Bikerumor.com, where he’s been writing about the latest bikes, components, and cycling technology for almost two decades. Prior to that, Tyler launched and built multiple sports nutrition brands and consumer goods companies, mostly as an excuse to travel and ride in new places.

Based in North Carolina, Tyler also loves the Vanlife & family adventure travel and is always on the lookout for the next shiny new part and off-grid adventure.

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22 Comments
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Bog
Bog
9 years ago

Despite some of the complications that come with that shock location, it looks like a killer ride. So clean looking!

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Andrew
Andrew
9 years ago

Why?

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Gillis
Gillis
9 years ago

When does the Park version come out?

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OTB
OTB
9 years ago

Cool. Is setting optimum shock pressure / sag going to be a pain with the shock tucked away like that?

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Ilya
Ilya
9 years ago

How are users supposed to adjust the shock or simply switch the lockout?

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M.C. Slammer
M.C. Slammer
9 years ago

Airflow? I see moisture, dust, and mud getting the inside of that frame all gummed up. Is there some kind of performance benefit or convenience that I missing here? This appears to be a major inconvenience.

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Ripnshread
Ripnshread
9 years ago

Oh so freaking nice…hiding the strut is always an issue…so clean..I want one.

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Matt
Matt
9 years ago

Who are they hiding it from? Trolls?

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Hugh
Hugh
9 years ago

I have a couple of questions regarding installation of the rear shock: 1) How much lubrication is required before installing the shock into the frame’s bottom? 2) It appears that the opening in the frame’s bottom is large enough to accept this DT Swiss shock, but can other shocks from Fox or RockShox be inserted into the frame?

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Brian
Brian
9 years ago

I have a stupid question. You have all that space, why not a second water bottle mount? And don’t say “just carry a camelback. Doesn’t hurt to have another mount.

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Tim
Tim
9 years ago

Looks clean, and getting the shock inside will protect it from muck. That pivot near the seat tube looks awesome, too- it’s absolutely huge. Personally, if I had this frame, I would put an old inner tube over the top of the seat tube to make a gasket to keep water from dripping in there. And hopefully if there’s a slot on the seat tube, it faces forward so muck flung forward by the front wheel doesn’t get into the frame.

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xc-fr
xc-fr
9 years ago

looks really great and clean. WOW !
BUT the inner seal of the shock will not get enough grease in this position (upside down). I’ve done this (shock upside down) with Monarch and RP23 at a spark to have more space for the bottle. both shocks squeacks after some rides until I shacke the bike to get grease to the inner upper seals of the piston. i guess it will be the same with the DT shock, it’s just a question of time.

what about a shock with a lever (RP23, RT3 …)

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xc-fr
xc-fr
9 years ago

hey, why use a regular reverb and not a stealth?

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WK
WK
9 years ago

Shut up and take my money!

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Henrik
Henrik
9 years ago

Why is nobody saying anything about what apears to be ned “all mountain carbon wheels” from DT… In the spline series

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Craig
Craig
9 years ago

This is very cool. However the shock stroke appears quite short. I wonder what the ratio is to travel? There must be some internal trickery inside the shock to aid damping, (if it’s a high ratio that is).

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i
i
9 years ago

How does one access the upper shock mount? I probably do more maintenance on shock pivots than any other part of suspension…
It looks nice, but I don’t see any other benefit to hiding the shock like this. And there are several drawbacks. Pulling off a cover just to access the adjustments? Really?

Judging from comments here and at other bike sites, there is a substantial crowd that doesn’t really care if their bike works or not so long as it looks good (evidence: the existence of crank bros); I’m sure Bold is catering to these types.

Also, if they made a way to pack up a bike as easy as that looks… Make it out of some sort of rigid plastic and I’ll buy one, I pretty much don’t care how much it costs.

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i
i
9 years ago

Never mind, I see in the Pinkbike blurb about it (where they actually rode it) that there’s a window on the NDS for accessing the shock hardware.

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pmurf
pmurf
9 years ago

This is awesome. I’m sure there is validity to both side of the hidden shock argument, but in any case, it looks like an exceptionally well thought out solution given the design goal they had. And that animation….holy cow!

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edge
edge
9 years ago

Looks clean but I prefer my shock where I can access it since I wrench and tune my own bikes.

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grasspress
grasspress
9 years ago

great looking bike! i’ll wait to see what experienced and unbiased reviewers have to say about it. so far so good.

i echo concerns about debris entering the tubes from the air flow vents and how to clean the interior. also, i’m interested in what the reviewers have to say about adjusting the shock canister and how aggravating it might be.

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PACKMONGER
PACKMONGER
9 years ago

just looks like a whole heap of cleaning trouble to me. Airflow holes are gimmicky too. best cooling would be open to the elements all over. a design solution to a pure aesthetic problem that may just then create functional use.

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