Although mostly exclusive to German-speaking countries, bike brand Centurion has been putting out some cutting edge and sought-after bike for road, cross & trail riding for many years. Their two newest bike lines are a pair of mountain bikes covering everything from cross country to all-mountain with two variations of each. The carbon Numinis was developed in two travel options the 100mm XC that the Centurion Vaude team rode to two stage wins and an overall second place at this year’s Cape Epic, and a longer 120mm travel version for more trail capability. Developed almost 20 years ago as their first full suspension mountain bike, No Pogo name is making a comeback as a new 145mm all-mountain bike. The new bike gets a light carbon frame for aggressive trail riding, but also debuts a new alloy plus-sized version with a Bosch motor for the new E+ e-bike segment…
Numinis Carbon XC
The Numinis Carbon is said to be one of the more complicated design projects that Centurion has ever worked on. That arose from the fact that they built the bike to share the same front triangle, but a pair of rear ends to offer the two levels of travel. Both bikes share a remarkably similar look, it’s almost impossible to tell them apart except for the XC label on the shorter travel bike’s seatstays, with suspension designed to look and feel the same across both travel versions.
To make the design work, the 29er Numinis Carbon XC gets a pivotless rear end that relies on seatstay flex for its single pivot, linkage-driven travel. Getting rid of bearings in the rear end was employed to both eliminate unwanted flex at the rear end, but also to lower maintenance needs. Centurion opted for an inline shock position under the top tube as their cross country & marathon racing team really wanted to be able to fit two full size bottles in the frame to get the weight off their backs.
The Numinis Carbon is built with internal shift routing for mechanical and electronic setups from the hourglass head tube, under the bottom bracket, and through the chainstay, even including stealth dropper routing. The rear brake line stays external to limit the need for brake bleeding.
In addition to two travel options, the Numinis Carbon bikes also get two frame levels, with the 1780g Race Carbon Fiber (RCF) frame being spec’ed on the shorter 100mm bikes that get paired with 100mm forks. Both travel frames share the post mount rear brake, located on reinforced chainstays.
The rear end of the bike with its Flex Link seatstays uses a Boost E-Thru-axle. Both bikes were optimized for 1x drivetrains, and all of the stock builds use single ring setups, but the bike incorporates a direct mount front derailleur option at the main pivot and gets routing for Sideswing derailleurs.
The bike uses contemporary trail geometry with a long frame reach paired with short stems, and adds in a low stack for a race-ready fit. The XC version comes in two complete builds – this top black Numinis Carbon XC with an XX1 Eagle drivetrain, a 6800€ price tag, and a claimed 9.55kg complete weight; as well as an XT version. The team frame is also available on its own in three sizes for 3000€
Numinis Carbon
The Numinis Carbon shares the same front end, but gets an adjusted rear triangle and swing link to deliver 120mm of rear travel out of the same pivotless-rear suspension design. Rear shocks are even the same travel, but geared more towards marathon racing and trail riding the longer travel bikes get paired with 130mm forks.
With weight still a driving factor, the Numinis Carbon gets a slightly more robust carbon layup in its Pro Carbon Fiber (PCF) version, and a claimed weight of just 1880g. The 120mm bikes also get a pair of complete builds, both including dropper posts stock, and the same 3 frame sizes. This top X01 Eagle build comes in at 5600€ and 11.9kg, while a lower priced SLX/XT build will also be available.
No Pogo Carbon
On the longer travel all-mountain side, for its 20th birthday the new No Pogo Carbon also gets a single pivot style suspension layout, but here with more conventional seatstay mounted pivots for a Faux-bar layout. Up front though the rocker drive shock rests on the extended leading end of the chainstays for a floating lower shock mount that promises a more tuned and bottomless suspension curve.
The 27.5″ wheeled, 145mm travel No Pogo Carbon shaves about 700g off of its aluminum predecessor, but that is just the start of its updates. The switch to carbon and the wider Boost 148 rear end let Centurion trim the chainstays down by 5mm for a more agile ride. The carbon trail bike also mixes internal and external routing and uses a large aramid-reinforced carbon bash plate under the downtube to protect the bike from trail debris.
The new bike also adds mechanical shift and Di2 compatibility to the No Pogo trail platform, plus the switch to Sidemount front derailleur compatibility. The bikes all get stealth routed dropper seatposts and gets paired with 150mm travel forks for remote-accessed trail worthiness.
Like the Numinis, the new No Pogo Carbon tucks the post mount rear disc inside of the rear triangle on the chainstay to better protect it on the trail.
Also like the XC bike, the No Pogo Carbon is built to run either single or double chain ring setups, and the top No Pogo Carbon 3000 goes with an X01 Eagle drivetrain for a light 12.3kg and wide-geared build. The next down, this black No Pogo Carbon 2000 XT double build will sell for 4500€ with a claimed weight of 12.6kg, and the black/blue/green 1000 at the top will sell for 3700€ with an SLX double at 13kg.
No Pogo E+
The No Pogo family also gets another new member for 2017. The No Pogo E+throws in a Bosch e-bike motor and fat plus sized 27.5″+ tires for more trail grip.
The No Pogo E+ shares some of the key tech like a Boost rear end and a mix of internal and external routing. To get the suspension movement that Centurion wanted around the big motor, the No Pogo E+ employs a pretty elaborate looking virtual pivot layout that delivers the same 145mm of travel as the other bikes in the family. Centurion tried hard to integrate the battery into the frame design, and it resulted in a somewhat integrated look.
This No Pogo E+ 3000 will set you back 5900€ with its EX1 drivetrain. And here’s hoping you don’t run out of battery too far from home; its 21.9kg won’t be too fun to pedal home on your own.
