Upstart mountain bike brand Eminent Cycles is the brainchild of Jeff Soncrant and Kevin Sigismondo, who took their engineering chops honed in jobs at Giro, Easton, Bell and Ride 100% and built the bike they wanted to ride. The result is the Haste, a four-bar linkage, 160mm travel, 27.5″ wheeled enduro bike that floats the shock and the rear brake to keep everything moving smooth and supple.
They’re mated to a full carbon fiber frame with their own blend of hi-mod fibers molded into unique shapes and stout tube profiles. The idea was to make the frame very stiff so the suspension could do its job without any binding or twisting to slow it down.
All cables run internally though guided channels to make set up easy and keep them from rattling. Ease of use, ownership and serviceability is another key part of the company – they didn’t want to just build the bike of their dreams, but also build an experience that would keep riders stoked. It comes 95% pre-assembled without excessive packaging. Just open the box, attach the handlebar and front wheel, and you’re basically ready to roll. And it comes just the way you want it, with an online bike builder that lets you choose parts from Shimano, SRAM, Fox, RockShox, Cane Creek, DT Swiss, Industry Nine, Maxxis, E.13, MRP and others. It also walks you through the bike fit to help you choose the right bar widths and other component measurements.
The heart of the bike is the rear end’s patent-pending design. We’re fans of the floating shock design as it typically delivers a very plush, sensitive ride. Here, the upper shock mount attaches directly to the seatstays, so there’s no additional rocker arm to introduce complexity or potential flex. At the bottom, it mounts directly to the chainstays, behind the main pivot, letting the shock “float” inside the rear triangle.
It’s called AFS (Active Float System) and it let them design the axle path and leverage ratio they wanted for more traction, better bump absorption, and reduced rollover resistance.
At the back is the fourth “bar” in the system, which makes for a floating brake design. They say this completely eliminates braking forces from affecting the suspension, so you have fully active use of all your travel on hairy descents.
Other unique touches include an internal post clamp mechanism, which is rare on mountain bikes. They ran it all through the industrial design filter and wanted something that looked and functioned well, rather than just sticking to the status quo for no other reason than that’s what people were used to. The one caveat is that the seat tube is split to make room for the shock to pass through, so it requires externally routed (non-stealth) dropper posts.
A carbon fiber bash plate protects the downtube and hides the cable exit ports as they pass from the front triangle to the rear. It’s equipped with ISCG05 mounts, BB92 PFBB, and angular contact Enduro bearings with double labyrinth seals in high load areas. It’s Side Swing front derailleur compatible, has Boost axle spacing, and fits a Metric shock.
Equipped with a 170mm fork, the bike is designed with endure-style riding in mind. Complete bikes start with one of three packages running from about $5,070 to $6,600. Customizations and changes will bring it up or down from there.
Check their website to build one out or see animations of their suspension in action.
